FICTION and FANTASY - 05 AMULET

 

                                                           💀   TAYITA  💀

                                     AMULET

         It was an October evening in the year of 1962 , time of deepavali festival in INDIA ,an old lady Devaki AMMA was walking back to home from temple after performing evening pooja.As she was walking by the avenue  near to her home in MARALKERE village situated in south Karnataka she saw that her grandchildren RUDRA and TUNGA were bursting firecrackers and were enjoying with their friends ,after a few seconds a deaf old person appeared walking in the same avenue and the kids started to throw the firecrackers at him and started to make fun of him and his deafness ,to this the granny got upset and walked her way home.

It was half past 9 in night and the kids arrived after their enjoyment of bursting crackers and washed their hands and feet and went to have dinner with their parents and grandmother.

Their father Veerappa and mother Shanthamma served the kids with sweets prepared on the occassion of Deepavali.The kids were really happy and joyful after their playful evening of bursting crackers.But granny was upset with the kids for their behaviour towards the deaf old man towards whom the kids had thrown the fire crackers.The Granny had food and left to her room given to her in first floor of the house which housed most of the old things of the house including Granny herself.

The kids after having a delicious dinner left to their room to sleep. But around half past 11 in night RUDRA was making some noise in the room and TUNGA was not able to sleep.

Tunga asked - RUDRA why are you awake?

Rudra replied - due to bursting of too much crackers ,Iam getting headache and not getting sleep.

Tunga said- Oh ,Ok but I enjoyed the evening.

Rudra replied - Yes even I enjoyed. Especially the way me and my friend SOMA threw firecrackers at that old deaf fellow was more exciting for me.

Tunga said- lets go to granny and ask her to tell us a story so that we both can go to sleep.

Rudra agreed and both of them climbed the wooden stairs and went to first floor of the house where granny was sleeping.

Granny was awakened by the kids arrival and she lit the Lantern she had so that she can see who is walking around at that time of the night.

Rudra and Tunga appeared in front of her and Granny was relieved and looked at her grandchildren and said -You little ghosts of MARALKERE ,why are you walking around at this time of night?

Rudra said - We were not getting any sleep ,so we thought we will come to you and ask you to tell us a story.

Granny replied  -Do you little thieves think Iam like a Radio to provide you with entertainment?  And angrily told the kids to go back to sleep.

But Tunga held granny by her hand and requested for a story.

Finally Granny gave in and told that she will tell a true story of her young days when she was around 18 yrs old and when she lived with her parents and grandparents in the same red tile roof house with two cows ,where they lived now.

Granny started with her story -listen kids it was early 1900s and it was BRITISH era in our country , but their administration offices were not near our village as it was very underdeveloped village at that time. But it was very tough time to survive for farmer families like ours.

It is not about the poverty or British raj I want to tell, but want to tell you both about an old lady WITCH who lived outside our village in the dense forest area.

After hearing this the kids shifted closer to Granny with scared looks on their faces. Even Tunga regreted asking Granny for a story.

But the granny was having fun and she continued- Our Village and nearby 4-5 villages were threatened by the lady Witch as the main road connecting to all the villages and the near by city passed through that dense forest area and everyone had to travel for their business via the same road and the Witch use to catch hold of people and eat them.

Many villagers who had just escaped the clutches of the witch described her as shape shifter and some even told that she was the most beautiful woman /witch they had come across in their life time.

It was half past 12 now midnight and kids were wide awake and listening to the story, and granny continued in the light of lantern-

Once the surrounding village heads gathered during a common village fair in our village and decided to perform a POOJA to KALI devi to get rid of the Witch but it was of no avail and the killings and disappearance of villagers continued for the next two to three years.

And then one day an old woman arrived to our village and was sitting near the tamarind tree near KALI devi temple in our village and was taking rest. The other old ladies of the village enquired about her where abouts and she narrated a heart wrenching story of how her village of 500 people was destroyed and people were killed by the Witch of the forest ,and how she was the only survivor now who has escaped the killings and has come to our village for shelter.

To this the village people offered her a small place near temple to stay and the temple PUROHIT (PRIEST) arranged food for the old lady.

It was almost a week after the old woman had arrived to our village ,some even thought that she was the WITCH.

To crack this mystery me and my 4 friends Meena with tall height ,Ramu with squint eyes  ,Rajappa with smart mind ,and Kantanna with a short leg (limp) ,decided to pay a visit to the old lady in the middle of the night.

To this Tunga bounced from her place and asked the Granny -didnt you get scared?

To this granny replied -No.(Even though she had got scared to Death.)

[Thats how we Indians instill brave thoughts in our kids.ofcourse not all thoughts]

Then the two kids were really proud of their Granny and asked -Were you the mastermind?

To this granny replied -No ,it was Rajappa.

Then the granny dusted her bedsheet and continued her story -

Then we all went to the old lady's place with Rajappa's plan to crack the mystery of identity of the old lady .But to our astonishment she was not the WITCH.

She was a regular lady in distress.She even served us with fruits she had and  narrated how her villagers had planned to get rid of the WITCH but had failed miserably.

She even told us that her village head( with an amputed thumb) had spoken to the Witch and how she had informed him to send only proper people that is who didnt have any physical disabilities. And also the old lady told us that the WITCH would hypnotize the person whom she use to meet and then perform her ritual and kill them and make them her feast.

To this all 4 of us looked at Kantanna ,and he smiled in his mind thinking that he is safe.

[Typical mentality of all us]

Unknowingly the village PUROHIT had also walked behind us and he was listening to our conversation near the door of the small hut where the old lady was given shelter.

After that we left to our houses.

But the Purohit had met RAJAPPA and told him to inform all important village people to gather near the village temple entrance the next day.

The villagers had great respect towards PUROHIT and all of them gathered as they were informed by RAJAPPA.

The PUROHIT announced that from now onwards we will not have problem from the WITCH lady and that he had found out a way to get rid of her.To this he requested all villagers to provide him with three young kids from the village ,for this everyone stepped back.

The Purohit said it is the last remedy that we can apply or else whole village will be dead in coming days.

The villagers had discussed among themselves and asked PUROHIT to select any three kids he would feel right.For this the Purohit declared that he will put the names of the kids of the village in front of KALI goddess and would ask village head to pick any three folded leaves with names on them and would choose those kids for final sacrifice ritual for the WITCH and would end the problem for once.

The same evening the village head visited the PUROHIT and requested him not to put his son's name among the leaves as he loved his son dearly.To this the PUROHIT agreed.

And till the next morning almost every parent visited PUROHIT with same request for their children and the PUROHIT agreed.

RAJAPPA was called by the PUROHIT the next morning and told to write only three names on the leaves repeatedly.It included RAJAPPA,RAMU and KANTANNA 's names.

To this RAJAPPA begged the PUROHIT to leave him out of this ,but PUROHIT told him that he will not get into any trouble and promised him that he would take care of everything.

Finally all villagers gathered near the temple and the 3 leaves were picked and it had the names of RAJAPPA ,RAMU and KANTANNA .

The whole village was relieved except the parents of the three selected ones.

But Kantanna knew he was safe. And RAJAPPA knew that Purohit would save him.Thus the only person in danger was RAMU and he was sure its his last few days now.

The PUROHIT told the parents of the chosen ones to come to temple in the night which was a full moon Night and they all arrived as advised.

The parents with heavy heart begged the PUROHIT to leave their children.The Purohit promised them that if their kids follow as per his advice ,everyone will be saved.

Finally he took 4 AMULETs which had sacred mantras written over them and handed over them to the kids.

Then the PUROHIT narrated to the kids that 15 days from  today on NEW moon night they all should go to the forest and kill the WITCH.He also informed that the 4th AMULET has to be tied to the WITCH and remaining the kids should wear for their safety.

To this Kantanna's feet were drenched with water.

Kids giggled at this Granny's funny line.(As they understood Kantanna peed in pants)

Then Rudra asked -Granny did the kids do as asked by PUROHIT or they left the village?

To this granny yawned and continued with a smile -

No replied the Granny. She said that the 3 kids were given all the ROYAL treatment for the next 14 days by the villagers.

And the day finally arrived ,RAJAPPA ,RAMU ,KANTANNA took blessings of villagers and left to temple which was at the border of the village.The Purohit and village head waited with a bullock cart near the temple.

The Purohit told to RAJAPPA that after around half past 11 he should drop RAMU and KANTANNA near the forest area and return to village without looking back.And  also told KANTANNA to wear high heeled sandal on his deficient side so that nobody will identify him easily as a person with a limp.

And then he told RAMU and KANTANNA that one of them should tie the 4th AMULET to the WITCH so that she will leave the forest or perish forever.And handed over the 4th AMULET to KANTANNA.

After this RAMU was sure now that he will be the one whom the witch will eat if anything goes wrong.

The 3 kids took blessings from PUROHIT and VILLAGE HEAD and left with the cart.

Around half past 11 around midnight RAJAPPA dropped RAMU and KANTANNA near forest area and drove back with lightening speed.

RAMU and KANTANNA were walking around the forest area with raised heartbeat and sweaty hands as they were  scared to death and wanted everything to finish of as early as possible.

After an hour, a strong wind blew near the two walking kids and a beautiful and melodious voice called the kids.The kids turned around to look for the person ,but they were not able to see anyone.

A lady in white dress with a beauty of goddess walked in front of the kids and the fragrance she poured around her was heavenly and she asked both the kids that what they were doing in the forest in the middle of the night.

The kids lied and told that they were lost. And around the same time there was some noise behind the kids and they both turned around and looked that another woman walked near them with same features.

Now the kids understood that they were wrong ,and there were two WITCHES in the forest and thats why the near by villages were getting emptied at such a faster rate.

And the beautiful women took the kids to their abode near by and asked the kids to have some fruits which they had ,and the kids sat at an edge of the bench of  the small two roomed  hut were the two women lived ,and were shivering to their bones thinking that they will be eaten alive by the Witches.

The one Witch came out from inside of the other room and asked RAMU and KANTANNA to go inside the other room one by one and get Prasad (food offered to god) and told them that after that they can sleep in the hut for the night.

Ramu with trembling feet walked inside the room and the lady who was inside turned towards the boy and looked into his eyes and started to turn into WITCH  form and held RAMU's hands firmly, and the other woman outside had held KANTANNA's hands and was about to take him also inside and eat him.

By this time the outside woman also had turned into her WITCH form and at that time KANTANNA panicked and tied the extra AMULET he had to her hand and the WITCH started to turn into flames.

But inside the other WITCH held RAMU and started to chant mantras to have her prey, by looking into RAMU's eyes to hypnotize him. But to RAMU's surprise after sometime she also started to cry and shout ,and then perished like ashes in to the winds.

Then both the kids rushed outside the Hut and the HUT also disappeared to their astonishment after a few seconds.

Both of them ran towards the village and didnt look back.

By the time of sunrise they had reached near temple entrance where the PUROHIT and RAJAPPA waited.

Then the two kids narrated the whole story to the PUROHIT. And even he was shocked to hear that there were two Witches and that the kids were lucky enough to escape from the jaws of the death.

And in the end RAMU asked PUROHIT that why did the second witch die ,as the only extra amulet KANTANNA had was tied to the WITCH who was with KANTANNA.

To this PUROHIT told that the amulet which RAMU wore had already made the WITCH weaker who was with him ,and as RAMU had squint eyes the witch was not able to concentrate to hypnotize him and was killed by her own powers, as she failed to hypnotize her prey.

To this both RAMU and KANTANNA looked into each others eyes thinking that how lucky they were.

And the PUROHIT took the 3 kids to their homes ,and the whole village rejoiced as the Witches were finally dead. And the fellows with squint eyes and limp had became the heroes of the village.

By the time the Granny had finished her story ,RUDRA had slept off and TUNGA was about to doze off.The Granny took the kids to their room and tucked them in their blankets and left to her place in the first floor.

The next morning the kids were playing in the verandah of the house and saw the same old deaf man walking past their home ,towards whom they had thrown firecrackers. Tunga went inside to her mom and asked to give some sweets left over from the past day and took them and went to give to the old man. By seeing this the old Granny who was performing her morning pooja was very happy seeing that the child had understood that whoever it may be whether a blind or squint eye or deaf or limp or old or weak everyone is important and anyone can come to help whenever there is a need and anyone can become a hero or a saviour. And thus nobody should be treated inferior.

And as the Granny was finally performing Pooja for her late husband's photo ,with a smiling face thinking that how her story made her grandkids understand a moral lesson. At that same moment RUDRA looked at the photo of his Grandfather and asked Granny-

GRANNY, DID GRANDPA  ALSO HAVE SQUINT EYES ?

                                                                                             - Dr.B-rainbow-91                          

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FICTION and FANTASY - 04 ANTENNAE

 

                     📡 SPARSHATANTHU 📡

                      ANTENNAE

        I never thought of sharing this story on social media, until I saw a SCI-FI movie today.This is NUTAN a 30 yr old unemployed graduate or one can call me "ENTREPRENEUR" but without a startup idea or without any idea about life, currently residing in Haveri district of North Karnataka (INDIA) with 5 Youtube subscribers to my Youtube channel.

       Now coming to my story, which shook my sense of knowledge we all have about our surroundings. 

        In 2013, it was a cold winter day on November 1st when I decided to visit one of my uncle (Ramaswamy) and aunt (Laxmi) who resided at SHRIHARIKOTA ,ANDRAPRADESH.As my uncle worked in POSTAL DEPARTMENT he was transferred every now and then to differernt cities,and this time it was SHRIHARIKOTA-the satellite launch pad of INDIA.

On 2nd November 2013 evening ,I reached Shriharikota at around 6pm and with utmost difficulty found the address and reached the locality where my uncle and aunt lived using an AUTO from bus stop  which had steam engine exhaust polluting the air.

     As soon as I entered the small gated area of five houses which looked like old Govt Quarters lined up like train compartments with uniform blue paint on their walls, I stumbled upon a small girl who was playing near the first quarters /house, and I  saw that she was playing with a big Dragonfly and had tied its tail to a lengthy thread and had tied the other end of the thread to an ANT, and was taking pleasure of view of ANT'S free air flight without passport and visa.

(Sorry was joking. Disclaimer: No dragonfly or ant were injured in this fiction)

       I stopped the small girl held her hand and asked -"Hey child could you please tell me which of these quarters belongs to Mr.Ramaswamy ?"

     The girl got shockingly disturbed by my words, ran to her house ,and her DAD  Mr.Mutthu with grey moustache came out and pointed out the quarters where I should be going.And it was the 3rd house from the main gate.

     My aunt was sitting in the hall watching her favourite evening SITCOM ,she was angry on me for disturbing her SITCOM time  but as we say "ATHITHI DEVO BHAVA" in INDIA she had to welcome me with smile, and after receiving me into the house she told me to sit in the hall and went to fetch water for me from kitchen.

    After serving me the water aunt told- "Your uncle will be home any minute ,you please freshen up so that you can have tea with your uncle on his arrival from office".

   I nodded with a smile and went to Bathroom in the backyard of the house to freshen up.And then I kept my luggage in guest room.By this time it was 7.30pm and my uncle came back from office and was very happy to see me and enquired about my parents wellbeing and sat down in the hall with me to savour tea and snacks.We chatted till 9 pm ,and aunt called from kitchen to come and have dinner.

   After the little chat with uncle and aunt ,and supper, I retired to the guest room .As it was part guest room and part store room ,few of the old things were also kept in that room.I saw an old  RADIO-cum-Casette player 📻 on the top of dress cabinet, and due to my curiosity took it to examine whether it works ,as there were no casettes in the room ,I tried to put on the radio ,but to my bad luck it also didnt play anything properly due to BAD SIGNAL .I then put it aside and slept.

    

   It was 3AM on November 3rd 2013 ,my uncle and aunt were in deep sleep in their bedroom ,but my sleep broke to a voice.

    "MAYDAY -MAYDAY ,the opponent has seen us I guess ,and we heard the opponent speaking to higher authority and they have named us Intruder A ,Intruder B ,Intruder C.And they are trying to track our activities on regular basis "

     This is what I heard in that 3 AM silence and it shook me to the core.I thought it was someone outside the house and I didnt shake an inch for about 3mins.And then again I heard.

      "MAYDAY -MAYDAY, the opponent is creating  trouble on a regular basis ,and it has become impossible to reach the launch site with the equipment."

      This time I came to know that the sound/voice was coming from the RADIO which I had kept next to me on table before I went to sleep.

       I woke up with courage and looked around.The voice came for 2-3 times more with same messages and vanished.

        The next day I narrated the incident to my uncle.He was shocked.He reported the incident to the Police station and it was informed to the top officials,that the satellite launch site may be in grave danger or under attack,as India was planning its MOM (MARS ORBITER MISSON) spacecraft launch on 5th NOV 2013 from SHRIHARIKOTA.

      Ofcourse my aunt was BBC of the gated community and had spread the news to the 4 houses in the vicinity.

     The next night I was called to an unknown undercover place in the city with my uncle and with the RADIO by the POLICE .To my astonishment it was the NATIONAL SECURITY TEAM of INDIA who were there and they instructed us to stay the night with them ,and asked me to fix the frequency on the RADIO so that they can hear from the people who were trying to attack the launch site on the day of the MOM launch.

    We all retired to the main room after having little refreshments ,and I started to fix the frequency on RADIO ,but to my bad luck it was of no use.Then I suggested the team ,that we should better go back to the Guest room of my uncle's home ,to which they agreed.

   I with my uncle and 2 other officers went back to my uncle's residence.As it was a HUSH-HUSH thing we went in to the house without making any noise outside .

  Then I fixed the frequency and it was about 3AM on 4th Nov 2013 ,a voice message was heard.

      "MAY DAY -MAY DAY ,we will reach the launch site at 3 AM tomorrow and by using the co-ordinates we have received from our secret branch we will make sure the work is done at the launch site"

    Another voice appeared " ROGER that INTRUDER A",and the line was disconnected .

   On hearing this the officers who were with me ,rushed back to their main office to inform about the attack.The police force of the whole city was alarmed.The new whole TASK force was setup to catch the people who were going to damage the country's plan for the MOM launch on 5th NOV 2013 .The INDIAN scientist team was informed that if the INTRUDERS are not caught the mission has to be stopped till further notice. 

   The 5 houses /train compartments of the gated community were shaken of their track due to the news ,and it was informed that it is a secret mission and the news should not spread out of the community/compound walls.

   The next day I was made again to switch on the RADIO at 2AM i.e. on 5th NOV 2013 and at 3AM a voice was heard.

    "Your Highness we are at the NORTH  of the launch site and we will carry out the mission as planned ".

     The other voice on the RADIO said-"ROGER that INTRUDERS".

      The TASK force was told to go to the NORTH of the launch site ,and they fled as fast as they can ,and at 6AM we received a call from the SECURITY COUNCIL office that 2 people are neutralized ,who were planning to sabotage the MOM launch near the NORTH of the satellite launch site of SHRIHARIKOTA city ,and all of us at home rejoiced ,and my aunt who was angry on my visit was showering words of affection as I was made a HERO by the Security team for the "WAVELENGTH" accomplishment.

     At 7AM again we heard a message on the RADIO -"Mission aborted as 2 INTRUDERS  (A and B) down " ,"I repeat Intruders down ,Mission aborted."

      The other voice on the RADIO said -"Report to the centre comrade and wait for the next orders".

        It was of great surprise that the Intruders had a centre and may try an attack later.But that day MOM launch took place and whole country rejoiced.And as I had a major role in its safe launch I was promised recognition award for my service to the country ,and was told to not to mention about the incident to any media or outside person as it was of utmost important security matter.And even the community members were strictly ordered.

    As I was about to leave the next day back to my hometown ,I took blessings of my uncle and aunt and wished them good, and took my luggage ,and greeted few members of the community and strolled towards the gate where an prebooked AUTO was waiting for my pick up to take me to the BUS STATION.

  As I was walking towards the AUTO the child of the first quarters who had met me on my arrival appeared again and greeted me bye .I asked her -"WHAT is your name?'

   She politely replied -" Madhu"

   I said "Sweet name ".And asked her what she felt about the previous day happenings in the gated community.

    She replied -"I am Sorry ,I was not present there near your home ,where everybody was present to witness the RADIO messages which helped the country,although I didnt understand,my DAD told not to talk about it to anybody".

    I with brows widened said to the girl- "Well thats nice, that you will not tell about it to anybody.But were you asleep that night?".

     To my query MADHU replied -" No ,I was busy killing the 3 cockroaches in our kitchen who were roaming around in our kitchen since many days.As my parents were sitting outside that night ,I silently crawled into the kitchen as I knew the Nocturnal roaches would appear and it was the best time to catch them and spray the insecticide over them.So I waited in kitchen that night in dim light, but only 2 cockroaches came out and I sprayed them with Insecticide. And they died ,they were very black and their skin was very smooth with shiny wings ,and the most important their ANTENNAE were not like the common roaches ones ,but were very sharp and long and strong.You know I had named them as INTRUDERS A,B and C ,but to my bad luck C escaped."

    I was shocked for a second on hearing the child's narration.

    Then with dried throat I asked her " Can you show me the dead Cockroaches?"

     The child with a smile replied -"No ,I tied their ANTENNAE to a big DRAGONFLY's tail that I had caught in our garden and ,it flew away with the dead roaches".

      To this I looked at the girl with very sad face and touched her head and said-"Ok ,next time catch Mr.C... sorry....Intruder C ".

      And then  I walked  up to the AUTO which waited for me for the last 15 mins and got into it ,and ofcourse the driver was about to charge me for that waiting time also.Then I reached the Bus stop and got into my booked BUS ,and believe me I didnt sleep,the whole journey I thought to myself and questioned to myself  that -"Was that attack real ?,Were real Intruders  killed? Did I receive the message from the INTRUDERS or COCKROACHES on RADIO ?,DID the Roaches have advanced ANTENNAE for communication which can decode human language and also send signals? ,Are  humans the only ones who are evolved and trying to go in space or the other species are also working in a parellel  manner to us to go into the SPACE to  find ALIEN Life or other Habitable Planet?"

Yeah I know after listening to my story you may ask me -" Are you Nutan?"  or "ARE YOU NUTS?"

                                                                                                                                 -Dr.B-rainbow-91

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FICTION and FANTASY - 03 COIN OF DEATH

                           🪙 Mrutyu Nanya🪙    

                              COIN OF DEATH           

On an evening of October 1998 people gathered around a bus station of a village named UDDIN BETGERI a small village in North Karnataka to witness a historical event for the village that is they were moving the  Weight Machine, which was placed at the bus station  30 yrs back by a renowned company( which made such machines since Bristish era).        

Two people a MALE-nurse and a local press informer were witnessing the process from the canteen window in the bus stand.Four people were sitting across the table of nurse and informer.

The first person among them an  aged fellow around 60 yrs told the fellow canteen table mates that it is good that they are removing that WEIGHT MACHINE , as it is a nuisance to the  village ,to this everyone turned their heads towards the old fellow ,the owner of the canteen Mr.Basappa who sat near cash counter laughed at the statement old fellow made and asked him why he was telling like that about the simple machine which just took 50paise coin to show our weight and also gave a photograph of the film stars over the card which it dispensed with the weight reading.

The old man was still till the room became quite and started to narrate a story-

"Look friends I don't mean to make fun of the machine or myself ,but there is a myth that the weight machine which they are about to remove from the bus station is POSSESSED 👹,30 yrs back when I was working as a tea maker in a shop across this bus station ,there was a saloon next to our tea shop and the fellow who worked there was MAHADEV ,he was a very modern minded fellow ,so he was very happy when this Weight Machine was placed at our small bus station and it also became a matter of pride to our village in those days .But..."

Everyone listening to the old man shouted at his incomplete story- " BUT WHAT ?"

The old man looked at his audience in the canteen having tea and munching on ONION BAJJI. He continued -" BUT ,one day MAHADEV came to our canteen and was in very worried state ,I asked him -"What is it MAHADEV?"

TO which he replied -" I can tell but you will laugh"

I was preparing tea and asked him -"Try me ."

He said- " This morning I went to check my weight in weighing machine placed at bus station, every time it dispensed a card with my weight with some FILM STAR photo and a good note written on the other side of the card but today it said -TODAY IS YOUR LAST DAY COMRADE  - MASTER IS HERE. I didn't get it."

To which I laughed and said - " Poor machine ,it is being used Left and Right by passengers ,may be the cards are over ,so may be they didn't put cards and ink necessary for it.Dont worry about such a silly thing."

To which the Hairdresser MAHADEV took a deep breath of relief and left to his home.

" Next day"- the old man stopped again .

This time the people of canteen looked at the old man with utmost curiosity.

The old man with heavy words told to everyone that the SALOON fellow MAHADEV was dead the next day.

To this everyone moved to the edge of their respective seats and asked -" WHAT ,HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?"

TO that old man replied- " HE DIED OF SNAKE BITE ,BUT THE THING WHICH HAUNTS ME TILL TODAY IS HOW DID THE MACHINE KNOW IT WAS HIS LAST DAY ?"

To this one of the young fellow in the canteen giggled and said -" WHAT you people ?,don't believe in such non-sense stories" and stormed towards cash counter to pay his bill.

Everyone at the canteen started to talk among themselves about the story of old man.

The old man had his single idli with sambar and left.

The nurse and the press informer also  left the canteen.

The officer incharge of the bus station was looking after the safe transport of the Weight Machine.

The press informer went upto him and asked -

" Sir good evening Iam Mr.MURALI KRISHNA ,local press informer ,wanted to take a photo graph of this weight machine for an article ,I also request you and your staff to let me take a photo of you all with the machine. "

To this the officer churned his moustache tip with his fingers and obliged with his head nod.

One of the workers came running to the informer and stopped him and said - Let the machine be taken away ,don't publish about it, its a SATAN ( RAKSHAS). 

But the other staff laughed at that worker and made the informer take the picture any way.

All this time the nurse who was waiting for his bus to home at bus station  was looking at this and was getting entertained. 

The press informer asked the officer -"SIR,before you move this machine ,let me check my weight for the last time ,it will be for the article".

The officer agreed .

But Murali didn't have the coin, he asked everyone for a coin of 50 paise, but no one had the change ,even at canteen there were only 1 rupee coins.

After seeing the informer's sorry face ,nurse offered the only 50 paise coin he had .

To which the informer was very happy ,and he strolled towards the weight machine and inserted  the coin into the slot  provided in the machine, and stood on the platform part of the  machine so that it can weigh him and dispense his weight card.

Amidst this nurse hurried towards entrance of the bus station as his bus was about to leave and climbed up and sat in the moving bus.

By this time informer waited for the card to be dispensed.It came out and it read - Its your last day COMRADE,MASTER will see to it that you reach to your destination. 

The old man from the canteen who also stood at a corner of bus station looked with his wrinkled forehead towards the informer as he took the card and ran away from the bus station  as fast as he can.

The informer was worried the whole night and didn't get good sleep and even developed fever, for which his family members scolded him and told to go to near by GOVT hospital to get medicine.

The informer MURALI left the home in the middle of the night and walked towards hospital which was 2 kms from his home.

He woke up the doctor ,the doctor saw him and gave him prescription after listening to his non sense story of the Weight Machine,which the informer mentioned as the cause for his fever.

The Doctor also told him to go to the nurse in the next room and get  the medicines ,and also told to get an injection for the body ache.

The informer thanked the Doctor and  left to the next room to meet the nurse,to his astonishment it was the same nurse who gave him coin for the weighing machine who was on duty .

He gave him the prescription and said - " Hey its you ,sorry I have to return your 50 paise."

To this the nurse told -" it's ok ,you needed it for your article so I gave it." 

" What's your name?" -asked Murali.

Nurse replied-"Mrutyunjaya."

The nurse laughed at the informer for developing fever for the story narrated by the old man in canteen. 

Then the informer told about the card and its content to the nurse, and the face of the nurse also changed to blue and he also started to sweat.

The informer looked at the nurse and asked-" It's my card ,why you are getting worried?".

To this the nurse replied with the syringe in his right hand -" Even I had gone to check my weight in that WEIGHT MACHINE one week back."

Now the air of  suspense in the room turned into criminal.

The informer looked into sleep deprived red eyes of the nurse and asked with a stutter in his voice -" What did your card say from the weighing machine?"

The nurse with syringe in right hand ,moved his left hand to his back pocket of pant and took the card he had  and handed over it to the informer. 

The informer looked at the card with a scared face as it read - Hello MASTER !! IF YOU DONT KILL THE COMRADE YOU MEET ,YOU WILL DIE WITHIN A MONTH.

                                                    - Dr.B-rainbow-91 

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BEACON- FOR BETTER HEALTH- 6: GOOD BOOKS

 

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FICTION and FANTASY -02 UGLY STONE

                        🪨  KURUP -KALLU 💎

                                 (UGLY  STONE)

                            

On the evening of August 1995 an AUGUST GATHERING was present at GOA , INDIA to honour an ultimate achiever an ARCHAEOLOGICAL LEGEND MR.SHIVA SHIGGAON for his lifetime work as an archeologist who had dedicated his work for his country and its HISTORICAL HERITAGE . As the evening progressed to starry night Chief guest honoured  MR.SHIVA and gave a speech about the archeologist's achievements and how the country is proud to have a citizen like him and how younger generations should learn from his work .Finally the archeologist Mr.Shiva gave his speech which included a heartfelt  thanks to his country and its government and to all the people who helped him in his work in all those 40 yrs of his career. 

As the program came to an end at 10.30pm after dinner ,Mr.Shiva got ready to bid good bye to the crowd and rush to the airport to catch his midnight flight ✈ to his home city  BANGALORE  along with his teen grand daughter NAINA who accompanied him on this trip of his lifetime work's celebration. 

As the archaeologist boarded the flight at 12 AM ,he made sure he sat down at a WINDOW seat with his grand daughter next to him.

Now as the grand daughter had taken a nap during the previous evening at the event she didn't get sleep and was awake with fresh face even at 12AM on the flight and ofcourse Mr.Shiva was also awake and ofcourse how can he sleep after such a wonderful evening. 

As the grandpa and grand daughter settled down and the flight took off,grand daughter started a conversation by congratulating her grandpa and asking him a question "THATHA (GRANDPA) you were felicitated for your life time's work just few hours back , how do you feel?".

Grandpa (Mr.Shiva) replied " Wonderful my child...I feel immensely Happy and Blessed."

Now NAINA asked her grandpa " THATHA I have seen so many movies and read so many books about Archeology and Archeologists, and many movies present them as some person or people who are specially blessed or lucky to have searched and found or unearthed historical things in our world ,and have  unleashed their mystery. Do you think it's true?"

Grandpa replied "To some extent we are portrayed in that manner ,but an archeologist 's work is not just fascinating its risky also ,it should also be kept in mind my child."

Now the teen continued" DO you think THATHA that everyone's life has a purpose ?"

To answer to this Grandpa smiled with his DENTIST'S awarded teeth and replied -" Let me tell you a story to make you understand this my smart child."

The grandpa started to tell a story from his past-" Now Iam 65 yrs old  but when I was around 26 years old  I was working on thesis for my post graduation to submit to my UNIVERSITY and had visited a village called Karadibetta a village situated between famous SAUNDATTI -GODDESS TEMPLE  town and SWEET PEDA CITY DHARWARA in North -Karnataka  ,a place suggested to me by my guide as it was village with BRITISH history, as many Britishers used that village as a headquarters to carry out their work, and as storehouse for their weapons and looted wealth from our country.

Grandpa continued as NAINA listened to him with curiosity-" I was given shelter at a village head's house as there were no lodges in that village.The owner's  name was Mr.Nagappa and he stayed with his wife Mrs.Ningi.They welcomed me with huge love and respect as they had no children of their own and were very happy to have me in their company ,for a short period of two days of my stay.Their house was a huge one, and was filled and mounted with old artefacts  on walls and ceiling.

The owner asked me to have breakfast as I had arrived very early morning of a Friday of  January month 1956 .I had breakfast and informed them about my arrival's purpose.

They told me to take rest and told they will call one of their friend Mr.SHEKAR  who will take me on tour of historical places situated in their  village which will be helpful for me.

I agreed and went to the small room they had reserved for me as guest room in their old and huge house to take a nap after long journey and tasty village styled breakfast on arrival -(JOWAR BUNS with pickle and curd)."

During this time the flight's ✈ attendant looked at the grandpa and grand -daughter duo and offered to bring them coffee for which the two nodded in YES.

The girl sipped on coffee ☕ and asked grandpa-" then what happened THATHA?"

Mr.Shiva continued " In the evening the old couple took me to their pooja home in their house and told to perform pooja to their Deity which would bring me good luck in my studies and work, and told me to break a coconut 🥥 as an offering to God on a Stone kept just outside their pooja home to which I abided and  broke a coconut on the Stone as an offering in a single shot and found that the coconut was off or spoilt inside to which the old lady exclaimed it is -"Good luck " as it is  said  if  the coconut is spoilt on inside it brings luck  in their religious belief, to which I took a breath of relief.

I then waited for their friend to come ,and evening  snacks were ready for us to savour ,and the tour guide- old lad Mr.Shekhar showed up.

We sat in veranda of the house and savored on  the snacks and evening "C H A"(tea) after customary introduction of myself to the tour guide.

I asked the old person "Mr.Shekharji I am really baffled about my UNIVERSITY guide 's decision to send me to this village for study 📖 for submission of  my thesis in Archaeology.As I don't know what is so special and what is  there in this small village of yours?"

To which the old man replied "let me tell you a story of our village and ofcourse about our younger days under BRITISHRAJ".

(Yes guys I'm Nolan of Writers "STORY INSIDE A STORY"...HE HE...)

COMING BACK TO STORY....

Mr .Shekhar started his narration by churning Sunna and Thambaku (limestone and tobacco combination used as recreation in some Villages of INDIA )in his left palm with right thumb-

"Look son we were 4 friends or you can also call us freedom fighters -NAGAPPA , MYSELF , SANTYA and SHANKAR. We always stayed together from our childhood days ,and did everything together (old man Nagappa  giggled ,and the lady took-off from veranda and went into kitchen ). This house actually belonged to Mr.Shankar our beloved friend who passed  away in his thirty's and left us.Ok leave it ,before that we use to work as agriculturists and Santya had his own BLACK AND WHITE COWS 🐄  which he milked to earn his livelihood ,and we rest  toiled in the  lands. 

We three once had got a news from our villagers that a new cart containing all the gold looted by British officials was coming to our village and it was supposed  to be kept safe at headquarters, which is actually Post office in today's time as it is a very big building in our village next to our bus stand in our village. 

We 4 friends planned to loot it as I wanted to be rich and santya wanted to buy more cows and Nagappa wanted to start businesses and our Shankar wanted to teach Britishers a lesson and also to take very good care of his wife Ningi ."

"But?"- I  interrupted and looked at both old men in confusion .

To which Nagappaji replied-

"Look son ,don't jump to any conclusions, coming back to story, we all 4 friends went to loot that headquarters on  one night of a NEW MOON 🌚   ,as we had got news that along with gold ,silver and other metals ornaments there was a DIAMOND which was stolen from a king of South Indian province which was worth lakhs in those Times ⏲  and also was  stored in that storehouse of head quarters along with other looted wealth. 

We all 4 decided that Santya will keep the guards outside storehouse occupied and will keep a watch ,and we other 3 will get into the storehouse from above of the building by removing tiles of the roof.

As we 3 jumped in at midnight ,the store was pitch dark and was filled with loot from various parts of INDIA .We all three filled up our gunny bags with the  looted  wealth ,and were about to escape when the guards heard the noise of our movements inside the store house and started-to-whistle to call other guards 💂‍♂️ due to suspicion of robbery.

Santya ran away ,me and Shekhar got out fast ,but our Shankar got caught by them and was shot down to death, and it was a big news for many days to come and Britishers held it up as an advertisement of punishment to those who crossed their paths."

Both old men took a deep breath and were silent for few minutes. 

As the old lady came back from kitchen and asked-" is your story narration over ?" 

And turned towards me and said -" see son tomorrow you go with Mr.Shekharji to that old storehouse and headquarters and look for anything which would help you in your studies."

And she told to her husband -" look ji take him to village market and to village's oldest Jain monastery,  and to your friend Santya's home and get back by dinner time."

To which old man nodded, and we all 3 left to market after few minutes. 

As I visited oldest Jain monastery with both the old persons accompanying me, I told to Mr.Shekharji to explain about its history and importance and made notes about it.

Later we all 3 went to Mr.Santya 's house ,as we entered his house a young lad who was Santya's son- Mr.Ram welcomed us.

As we entered in  we saw an old man with a broken arm lying  on a wooden bed ,with fragile body in Veranda ,who was introduced to me as Mr.Santya by the two old men I accompanied. 

By this time NAINA was tired and told to her grandpa -"THATHA I will lie back into seat and will listen to your story "

For this Mr.Shiva smiled to his grandchild and  continued his story.

As we three sat in Veranda of Santya's house we were served Nimbu Sharbat (LEMONADE) as we were tired of walking around the village. 

As we sipped on the drink, Ram asked -How is the drink?"

To which Mr.Shekarji replied -" It's elixir my son ,but not as tasty as out sister and Nagappa 's wife NINGI prepares ,what do you say Nagappa ,that's why Shankar called her with love Nim..."

"Shekhar!?!?" - Mr .Nagappa spoke with very  heavy voice and interrupted the line of Shekarji.

To that bedridden Santya replied " Let him speak  Nagappa ,everybody knows ,NINGI was married to Shankar but as he passed away ,you married her .To the world you are a hero who married a widow .But..."

Santya stopped.

And everybody looked at each other in silence. 

Mr.Nagappa broke the silence after few seconds with a laugh and announced to everyone- that we have to leave as his wife is alone at home, and we left Santya 's house after thanking for their hospitality. 

We dropped Mr.Shekhar to his house and came back to Mr.Nagappa's abode.Had dinner and went to bed.

Next day morning I woke up at 10 AM ,and again I was told to offer a coconut 🥥 as offering during morning pooja after taking bath,and I broke it over the same stone next to pooja home.This time it was a good coconut,and I was happy. 

The old lady gave me stomach full breakfast and ,then old man of the house took me to the biggest building in the  village or the old BRITISH Headquarters or present day Post 📫 office .

Where I made notes about its history and artefacts for about 6 hrs .

And later that evening we visited HANUMAN TEMPLE of the village near the oldest dwelling/ houses of the village.It is believed that in that place many bears 🐻 lived in the past in Lord Rama's period centuries ago ,thats why the village is called "Karadi"(bear) "betta "(hilly place).

The night 🌙 went the same as previous day .and next day I woke up at 10 AM again and wanted to leave the place as early as possible as my work there was done and mosquitoes of the village had romanced enough with me.

I offered my prayers to God in pooja home of the house and offered coconut by breaking in one shot on the Stone.

The old couple were very happy with my good behavior ,and asked me to ask anything which they could give to me as a token of their reminder to me .

Now the sleepy grand daughter NAINA asked -" What did you ask the old couple THATHA?"

Mr.Shiva continued-

" I asked them if they could give me the STONE  next to their pooja home as I would keep it as their reminder, as I felt they were very pious and religious "

To which the old couple happily agreed and gave me the Stone which was around 3 kilos approximately but was very strong as it had not broken all those years to offering of coconuts. 

I packed my bags and books, and was ready to leave for evening train from the village to Bangalore at 5pm .

Mr .Shekhar also came to greet me good-bye at Mr.Nagappa's house. 

The old couple called their house help and told to get the cart ready as the old couple wanted to drop me personally to train station .

We reached the station and I got into my compartment and settled down on the window seat,so that  I can wave Bye- Bye to the old couple. 

The train was 15 mins late as many goods were being unloaded at the station.

The old man came near to window and said -

" Son we didn't pack you anything for the road ,let me get some idlis (rice cakes) available at station for you " ,and he hurried near the only old stall of the station.

The old lady came to the window and said - 

" Son have a safe journey.

But I'm  very impressed with your good behavior and manners ,your parents must be very proud of you.I am really surprised that you asked us for a STONE  as a reminder of your trip to our village."

The old lady wiped tears from her eyes.

I slid near to window to speak to the old lady and said -

" NIMBE NINGI !!!  it's me  your SHANKAR ,you may think it as a miracle or God 's will ,I m born again in this world to see yours and others pathetic life who all killed me without mercy just for some piece of DIAMOND stolen from that British Headquarters.

I know you ,NAGAPPA ,SHEKHAR and SANTYA killed me on that night of robbery .

Ningi was taken aback by the Archeologist's words and was speechless.

I  continued in my uncontrolled emotional outburst-

wipe those crocodile tears of yours ,after I escaped somehow from those Britishers and came back home ,you and other 3 waited for me to acquire the diamond and gold which was with me  ,but  as soon as I entered  the home I planted the Diamond near our pooja home and went up the stairs to my room, where you waited with other 3 for my arrival.And then tortured me to get the Stone, in the fight I broke Santya 's arm and you hit me with an old iron rod  over my head to which I fell unconscious and died.Then you married Nagappa the love of your life just after few days of your husband's death means my death.WHAT A CHARACTER YOU HAVE WOMAN?? YOU ARE THE WORST OF ALL THE 4 WHO KILLED ME. The Stone which I'm taking with me is the Diamond which I got from English men's headquarters that night. So I asked for it and as you guys didn't know about it you gave it away,thinking of it as an UGLY STONE of no value...."

"As I was about to complete my words ,train started and old lady looked in teary eyes towards me and fell unconscious after taking few steps back ,and Mr.Nagappa was stuck at IDLI stall and didn't come to meet me again as train left from station at a very fast pace... "- old man MR.SHIVA looked at his grand daughter for her reaction to this ,but to his surprise NAINA was in deep sleep and didn't listen to the ending of his REAL story.

To which Mr.Shiva slid near window of his flight ✈ seat with a smile to look outside at clouds in night ,as he did when the train  left KARADIBETTA to Bangalore years back ,telling to himself "somethings even Nature wants to keep as secret".

(KARMA HAS ITS OWN WAY OF  DOING JUSTICE.😎)

                                   --Dr.B-rainbow-91

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FICTION and FANTASY -01 TIME TRAVELLER GIRL

                        🧭   SAMAY YATRINI  🕰

                  (Time Traveller Girl)

An evening of  April 1991, sat I at the shore of Lake  Nili kere in the village named Vimanapatna in the city of sweets of north karnataka. Some myth is around the name of the village that centuries  ago a scientist of Kadambar dynasty invented the first plane which was crashed during its flight test in our village and thus the name was given to pay tribute to the scientist and his work.

Oh sorry.....forgot to introduce myself , I am JAIDEV KUMAR a ten year old boy -student of 4th std of govt school of Vimanapatna ,son of a school teacher (science teacher).

My father had once mentioned that I was born on the same date on which the scientist who crashed the plane in our village was born centuries ago.( Don't know whether it's true but that's the way parenting works in India to encourage kids to study...phew).

Yeah I know you connected with me on that one.. 

So the story is not about plane or astrology or parenting, it's about me and my dream of inventing a time travel  vehicle so that  I can travel back in time to tell the scientist about the mistake he did during the flight so that he can land safely and doesn't end up killing himself in crash.But as many say to me that Iam a child of many imaginations and the time doesn't work that way as many theories, phenomenon, hypothesis point out its possible to time  travel to future but to travel back is not possible. And of course many in village thought I'm crazy at 10 what would I be in future with such impossible junk ideas which resembled imaginary  stories of feature films. 

On the science exhibition day  in Jan 1991, at our school I had made an experimental display of how plants release oxygen by using carbon dioxide and it took 2 days to capture the oxygen and I had to lit a match at the opening of  apparatus where the oxygen (little quantity produced due to the small size of the plant in apparatus ) was present beneath the cork placed to block its escape.The spectacled teacher with half dyed moustache  who was judging the exhibition came to me and asked to demonstrate the work I had done for the exhibition, I did ,I lit the match as I removed the cork,it sparkled few seconds at the opening of apparatus due to concentrated oxygen at the opening  and I saw with amazement that this would be my moment of becoming renowned as next scientist of Vimanapatna , as I turned my head up towards the judge his eyes met mine and he asked "Can you show it again?" and I was like -"No sir it was captured after the wait for 2 days ,I can't do it again as I may need 2 days again to demonstrate it".

But the judge nodded in disappointment and told he didn't see anything come out of the opening of apparatus nor the lit match stick sparkled ,as he passed by to the next table  contestant.

My father who was the teacher in my school stood at the door of the exhibition room entry and saw the discontent in my eyes and signaled his hand to me not to worry.(You know he meant S#!t happens).

Sorry for the language..

As I rode back to my home with my father in his HERO bicycle he asked -

-"Son what are you planning for next exhibition?"

I with no intention to tell  my father that I no longer want to participate in such exhibitions I replied - "Time Travel Vehicle".

Father replied - "Great, would love to see that by next year".

 I really had that plan but within a year it was not possible. 

The next day with lots of pain in my heart about my failed exhibit the previous day I sat along the shore of NILI KERE lake to just count the fishes swimming to the side of lake to get their food. 

A girl in her teens  selling tender coconuts also came to the shore and washed her belongings and sat after quenching her thirst with the sweet water of the lake.

She saw me and asked - "are you from around ?"

I with hesitation replied "yes".

( The hesitation is due to the Indian parenting constitution-don't talk to strangers, don't eat what strangers offer and even they can kidnap you).

Yes you again connected with me..

The girl continued -" why are you so silently sitting at the shore alone?"

"DONT you have any friends to play along?"

I said -" I have but I'm not in mood today"

She offered me a coconut. 

Of course I declined .

( Remembered Mom's angry face)

The girl asked again what's the issue ?

I narrated my mini biography and my dream and drama of the day before to her.

She started laughing holding her stomach and after ending with irritating giggles she said-

" FOR such small issue a small boy like you sitting at the shore of lake and worrying doesnt make sense "

My face turned red.

The girl spoke with intense voice -"But"..

I asked -"what but..?"

She replied -"TIME TRAVEL makes sense".

Now I rolled on the shore with laughter,  a coconut selling girl talking about Time travel possibility with a science student like me -I thought in mind .

She packed all her things to leave  and said - " hey- chote babu (small guy) ,every thing is possible in this world of ALMIGHTY ,only thing is you should give a try but with full sincere effort".

And she left.

I also strolled back to my home,it was evening 5pm.

My father was waiting with a charming face (how it looked after clean shave and lots of talcum powder on face ), with my mom ready with make up to leave for a evening movie show of Dr.KUMAR (the superstar of karnataka of whom my parents were great fans).It was an old movie of 1960s which was re-released in colour again .

I declined, but my father gave a look and I had to agree and walked along with them to the near by movie show tent which played the movie .

But all the way I was thinking about the girl I met,she seemed she was not from our village and her accent also didn't match our verbal dialect.And the main thing which poked me inside was her agreement to my idea of time travel -to which the whole village and my  friends had laughed all the time. 

I just sat next to my parents and started to watch the movie once we entered the movie tent ,the hero entered and the heroine danced to his songs and family drama broke out ,in a scene where I was about to get sleep like all the kids of my age would get during a family drama movie ,hero asked heroine if she would like to have some tender coconut to drink? ,to which heroine nodded -yes in agreement. 

And then in the next scene there she was the coconut selling  girl I met on the shore of the lake that day earlier ,selling coconuts to our hero on the screen ,I got shocked ,jumped to the edge of my seat and rubbed my eyes till they became red and wide open .To my surprise it was her ,the same girl I met on the lake shore .

How is this possible I asked to myself?

It's an old movie ,how the same girl  can be there? 

And it was like she turned towards me and smiled in the end of  the scene ,and left after offering coconuts to our couple on screen. 

And I really went n@ts..!!???!!!?

Again sorry for the language..

After the movie we had dinner at restaurant near by and came back home.

All night I didn't sleep.

And after months, I sat at the shore of the NILI kere lake (that is as I mentioned in the start  about evening of April 1991) ,I thought and asked to myself the same question I had been asking to myself everyday since  months that- "Who was that girl?"

"Why she met me?"

"Is she any magic girl? Or Jeannie?

"Did she meet me to convince me to continue my work on time travel?"

" Will I be able to invent a Time Travel Vehicle  and travel back to save the SCIENTIST?"

" Will I ever get to see the girl again?"

"Was she any angel who was sent to meet me by the God?"

Or....

"Was she a -

TIME TRAVELLER - 'SAMAY YATRINI ' ?

       

                            -Dr.B-rainbow-91

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SOCIAL - 02

 

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