Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Autobiography‬ : Journey by Chance : 19

By 1994, the construction of Lodge was completed, finishing was in progress.  Mosaic tiles with granules were given ‘wax polish’ to make them sparkle. During an inspection, Daddaji slipped when he stepped on the fresh coating of wax polish.  This caused a fracture in his hip bone which had to be operated on.  The pain was unbearable due to which he had to pass a restless night.  He had to remain hospitalized for about two weeks.  A person always on his toes becomes helpless in such situations.   He was completely bedridden, lack of any physical activity was troubling him in digestions and getting stools passed. To overcome that Anima was followed by Isabgol, an Ayurvedic medicine. All proved ineffective.  He did not want to take allopathic medicines.  Hence every morning we used to extract stool by inserting finger after putting on gloves. This was a quite nauseating experience.  One doesn’t smell one’s own excreta but the smell of someone else’s excreta is quite foul.  It retains in mind for hours.  I used to offer my sense of gratitude to all the mothers for the devotion they show in carrying out this duty, so unpleasant, though, for years, when she washes the infant’s bottoms or his nappies and without a grimace carry on this duty.  They deserve a big salute.

This incident substantiated the old rumor about the presence of ,Jinn, the ghost, in the Lodge.  People began whispering that the Jinn pulled Daddaji down.  The work which was moving at snail’s pace got further delayed.  It remained suspended for a long period.

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Daddaji informed me that he wanted to distribute the property among all the three sons and he had already discussed the matter with his elder son Roop Narayan.
“Then?” I asked.
“He declined the idea.  He said, ‘we would settle the matter ourselves.”
“Now?”
“He said that he had enough at Raipur and he didn’t need anything.  Whatever property was there at Bilaspur should be divided among the two younger brothers.”

Daddaji wanted to distribute whatever he had among his three children equally. If his elder son does not need it, he could split it between the two. “Wasn’t it right?” Daddaji enquired. I said, 'ok'.
After this conversation between father and son, I began asking to myself.  The elder brother was affluent and was leading a luxurious life while we two, Rajkumar and I were in the grip of serious financial constraints.  He was the elder brother, understood our worries pretty well, then why didn’t he consented for the division of property. This was a mystery which still remains unresolved.

With the passage of time, I could realize that the redemption of our Karmic debt was still outstanding. Was it possible to avoid whatever was destined? It was ten years since I was thrown out of my house, my boat was sinking with each passing day. My boat comprised of my wife, three children, the cost of their education, the pile of interest on my loan and my inability to earn wealth as well. I was totally helpless. The fact is that these circumstances fabricated the base of this autobiography otherwise my story would stand the fate as for others. Otherwise like other life stories, they would have been buried or turned into ashes with the corpse.

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