Face With Death

 Face With Death

// Dinesh Jaihind

"Jatasya Hi Dhruvo Mrityur Dhruvam Janma Mritasya Cha."

That is, the one who is born is sure to die and the one who has died is sure to be born.

All the creatures in the world have an age limit.  As soon as he crosses the age limit, he will die due to some reasons.

Death will be yours and death will be ours too and no one is free from this cycle of life and death.

Man knows that he will die one day, but he does not know that he will continue to face death for the rest of his life.

Sometimes a man gets surrounded by such situations for good reason or reason that he starts to fear that his death is certain, then he starts cursing his fate or remembering God and starts collecting more and more prayers for his life!

From childhood to old age, this person probably keeps facing such complex situations like death. Such a dire situation comes up many times in his life!

I am also a human, having passed childhood and youth, I have reached adulthood too!  And from childhood till now, like other people, I too have faced this death many times!

When I remember the struggle of my life to reach near death, then all the pictures from the time I regained my senses start spinning like a movie!

And I start thinking about how a life keeps fighting with death and keeps itself safe from the dark shadow of death. But when the life of every living being gets defeated in the hide and seek of this life and death and the enemy of death wins then one life ends forever from this earth world, it's  very worrying!

Now... when I look back on the movie of my life, I remember that moment in my life when I would have been this same four-five years old! Then a terrible incident happened to me, listening to which my body shuddered and my mind trembled!

It was a cold day. People used to hide in their homes to avoid the cold. Evening had fallen, the dark shadow of the night had enveloped the day.  Before dinner and like children, I was also reading on the empty straw spread on the ground holding lanterns. My uncle was also sitting there reading with me that suddenly the lantern fell on the bed due to some reason, as soon as it fell, the kerosene spread on the straw and the straw caught fire in the blink of an eye!  I started shouting, my uncle came running to the courtyard, shouting "fire-fire"!  My grand- father was outside at the door, on hearing about the fire, came running to the courtyard of the house and immediately rescued me from the flames and got out of the room wildly!  Someone else caught me and then they started putting out the fire!  Here everyone started looking at me!  I was saved, I was not harmed! All confirmed!

This was my first meeting with this unfaithful death in my life!

Now.... I walk with you all to the second meeting of the death of my life-

My second meeting with death is very interesting and exciting!

The matter is of that time, when I was six-seven years old, that is, this incident is some two years after the above incident.

My grandfather was a great man!  He was a very hard worker too!  He used to do the work of fishing in his village for his livelihood. This work continued for twelve months.  Although this work was not the family business of our caste. This work is done by the seafarers here, but my grandfather had made this work his business. So my grandfather always kept a boat. This gave him the advantage that along with catching fish, he could easily harvest the paddy in the water.

It was a cold day! The paddy in the water had been harvested!  My grandfather takes his boat for fish every morning and evening.

Used to go to the chawar (a big lower area in which water stopped) and hunt for the fish for hours.  It's daily work! I joined him on my insistence in the evening consignment! Although he didn't want to take me! But on the recommendation of aajee (Grandmother) he agreed to take me!

We both went ahead of the chewar. Our wooden boat was there. We climbed on our boat.

My grandfather was standing on the first bow of the wooden boat and he left me on the second bow of the boat while driving the boat! I was very happy to sit on the bow of the boat! I was thrilled as if enjoying "boating"!

Everyone knows that there are many types of aquatic animals and plants in water. At that time, oysters and snails also used to be in abundance in this chawar.  Out of curiosity, I used to get hooked on seeing the snail.  Sometimes I used to cry by saying "grand pa-grand pa", but grandfather who was he used to get ahead of his work and stop with his work. I used to be heart- broken!  When I used to see something while sitting on the bow, I used to be tempted by looking snail, oyster, water flower, paddy earring etc. At one place, grandfather stopped the boat and was taking out the trapped fish that when I saw the opportunity and wanted to lift the nearby paddy earring. I could not lift it, but I wanted to lift it by lying on my stomach, then due to the loss of balance I reversed from the bow. I was not about saved to drown in deep water. But I didn't drown, saved.

What does a dying man not do.......

I was a little smart, so I kept hanging with both hands holding the round shaped part of the bow. Sometimes I wanted to raise both the legs and throw it on the molar of the boat, but the small legs, feet could not stand on the molar.

How long would I hang upside down like a monkey! Tired, but kept on calling "grand pa-grand pa"!  But where was grandfather going to listen?  He kept on doing his work very calmly and kept on dancing and spinning the boat!  In this the direction of my boat was from west to east. It was too late, I rolled over and grandfather was not even listening to my call!

Now the shadow of death started swirling in my mind! My heart started getting teary-eyed! Death was dancing on my head and I was seeing that I was about to die by drowning,

I was lucky that a small railway line passes through the middle of my village's chawar and someone or the other passes through the footpath next to that railway line. Passing through that trail, a passenger after marketing came as a messenger for me and started making noise to my grandfather from there. The distance was too much! Even my grandfather could not hear his call. But.......

"me now, had to do 'something' while on earth!"

So the voice of that messenger reached my grandfather. He was astonished to hear his call. He ran from the other bow side to my bow side and grabbed my hands tired and started dragging me with a hundred abuses! After a while I got inside the wooden boat! 

Saved my life, got millions !  I thanked a million to God!

These are the incidents of my childhood related to my village!

But after some time I left the village and went to the city with my father. Along with studying there, my childhood started passing!

One day my third meeting with death occurs again in the sixteenth or seventeenth year of my age!

It is the winter months of 1986- 87. At that time I must have been in the first or second semester of class XII. My daily routine consisted of bathing in the Ganges river early in the morning and offering water to the Sun God, then coming home and doing incense and wicking in front of the Thakur (God- Goddess).

I have been latent since childhood and a bit lazy too!

Today both of my demerits are companions of my failure in life and my staunch enemies!  Sometimes in the morning I used to get eyes, then it used to be very late. By the time I reached the river bank, I used to be very late.

But it was necessary that bathing had to be done in the Ganges itself.

Readers! Talking about Ganga Maa, then let me tell you that this is the same Ganges which originated from the Himalaya Mountains and it gets different names in different places. Where I am talking, its name is 'Hooghly river'. This is its local name. Here people also know it by other names.  E.g. Bhagirathi, Padma.  'Padma' is a major branch of the Ganges, which flows towards Bangladesh. Here also the specialty of the Ganges is that hundreds of cities are spread on both sides of it and all the cities are related to the Ganges in some way or the other, as in other places.

I would like to discuss here one more feature of 'Ganga', which is full of curiosity and curiosity and is probably not found anywhere else. That is....... there is a tide in this river, whereas it is seen in the oceans, but there is no ebb of this river but the tide is worth seeing. At that time people used to throng to see it. Those who have traveled to Calcutta for some time must be aware of this incident. This tide has been mentioned in my memoirs.

One morning as soon as I reached the river bank, two or four friends had already arrived.  Two or four more came.  Both their work and gossip started going together. When we got together again, the talk of swimming started. Everyone else there were good swimmers except me. The tide had come and passed two or three hours ago. There was a strong current from west to east. Since I was a weak swimmer and the winter months from that, I accepted their condition so that I would not become a victim of inferiority and ridicule. What was the condition they had placed, as if walking in the well of death and coming back alive.

"To return after touching one of the hundreds of bamboo poles buried in the torrential water, about a kilometer away from the shore."  This was a risky bet, hearing this, I got goosebumps.  Now my life has come. 

R or across.  I was brave and brave then and am still brave and brave.

Yes, it is a different matter that I could not get the opportunity to show my bravery and serve the country.

I thought for a while and took the loincloth and jumped into the field. Then I did not see it and I immediately jumped into the river. In the beginning, I was determined to touch the pillar and floated in my mind, kept on floating. When one yard was left to touch the target pole, then I was exhausted, I was tired.  Taking the opportunity, the sharp edge started flowing with me.  For once it felt like my end was certain! I will no longer survive, will be swept away by the strong currents and die!  But I too was determined to touch the pillar, so finally I remembered my Thakur.

Then pressed hard and instead of touching the pillar, I grabbed it, then breathed out my heart with ease.

When the force ran back in the body, I decided to return from there.

Then, exhausting and giving up, finally reaching the shore, I fell down and fell down. Friends came to me applauding and held me. I shuddered and started breathing heavily. I had won.  Death had conquered! That was the only peace of mind.

………… But till this death did not follow me!  Faced with death, just like Brahma (one of three Gods) had written it in my horoscope!  Then how long would I keep running away from it?

Time passed by!  Study is over! The search for a government job went on for some time.  But did not get any government job! My father's gesture was now towards doing some work-left!  They didn't mind wasting time like this!  I was not used to hearing the truth!  But they kept telling me the truth!  At that time in anger, he sent me to the village!

In the meantime, I got married to a rustic simple girl.  After that I went to Mumbai to achieve the desired goal unanimously.  To do some work there and to establish in the film city as a lyricist.

Continued to try hard too!  Due to more contemplation and hard work, the body started melting.  Neither did I get any job of law, nor could my film career start immediately. Working ten-twelve hours and stealing time to fight as a lyricist, no food of the kind, no rest to the body, no peace to the mind!  All these together were enough to make me sick!

 

Once you have caught the cot, where do you get rid of the cot?  As a result, I ran away to the village! When the body came to life after coming to the village, I fled to Mumbai again, the passion to become a lyricist was on his head! But I was not destined to become a lyricist. I got sick once again!  Then came running to the village! After staying at the village for several months, my health improved in some way, then on the advice of the family members, went to Delhi to the younger brother! There I got employed in a private company. 

But I didn't feel like working!  I was addicted to becoming a lyricist. Then where do you feel?  While living and working there, my health again deteriorated.  Slowly it started drying up.  Hunger was dead!  Everything was going in vain!  Watched and caught the cot!  The power to think has gone down. I went to the doctor for treatment, but due to lack of improvement in health, I also ran away from Delhi and got frozen in the village. 

This time I stayed in his native village for several months.  After recovering, time was passing somehow.........

That's when I came to know that the movie "Hosh" be awake has been released!  I am so glad to know that!  I watched this movie on CD!  I was very happy seeing my song and my name on the screen!  Then after knowing all this, I got excited again and a new ray of hope appeared!

I started making up my mind to go to Mumbai again!  Thoughtfully, one day I also left my village for Mumbai and went there and started trying to struggle again and establish myself as a lyricist. But the same thing was going on in my life that had happened to me before. I could not bear the hard struggle and despair for long and again fell seriously ill.

 

What doesn't die!

Now I start missing my home and myself!  The ghost of films had now gone out of my mind!  Reminds me of home again and again!  In the end, I started praying to God that I can reach safely among my loved ones by any means!

Many many thanks to God, today it has been twenty years since I left Mumbai!  Now I am with my loved ones and am safe!  Death made me very afraid and tormented me a lot!  But every time I fought to the death and avoided it! 

What will happen next, God knows?  But blinking my eyes was nothing new!  Let's see... What happens next?

####

====