And now for something completely different…

And now for something completely different… I accidentally rubbed ketchup in my eyes. Now I have Heinzsight. I tried to come up with a carpentry pun that woodwork. I thought I nailed it but nobody saw it. Singing in the shower is fine until you get soap in your mouth. Then it's a soap opera. The Black-Eyed Peas can sing us a song but the chick peas can only hummus one . How much does a chimney cost? Nothing, it's on the house. Once upon a time there was a King who was only 12 inches tall. He was a terrible King but he made a great ruler. My friend Jack says he can communicate with vegetables. That's right ... Jack and the beans talk. I want to tell you about a girl who only eats plants. You probably have not heard of herbivore. I was struggling to understand how lightning works and then it struck me. Six cows were smoking joints and playing poker. That's right. The steaks were pretty high.

GuruNanak - Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

HE is the way which brings a smile of satisfaction on the face of the needy through "sharing"..... HE is the "wisdom"which helps us to choose the right over wrong..... HE is the "hope" which makes us feel that everything will be fine..... HE is the "light", which shows us the presence of the supreme power in all of us..... HE is the "guidance", which holds our hands to realise the spiritual support we need at every single moment......... May we all continue to have HIS blessings Always 🙏🏻 Guru Nanak Dev ji de Parkash Purab diyan lakh lakh vadhaiyan j

Harnessing Psychological Skills

https://www.dailypioneer.com/2023/columnists/harnessing-psychological-skills.html

What will happen if Brahmastra in its full power is fired on the Sun?

What will happen if Brahmastra in its full power is fired on the Sun? Brahmastra in Rāmāyana is capable of destroying the entire universe forget the sun . Ravan and his brother demon Khara had enough power and strength in their arrows to split the sun in half . Using my sharp arrows, I can bring down stars from the firmament. When enraged, with death as my dharma, I can take on Death. I am not interested in retreating without using my sharp arrows to kill Raghava, who has been agitated by his strength, or his brother, Lakshmana. My sister will satisfy her desire and I will drink their blood. It is because of Rama and Lakshmana that the catastrophe has resulted. Earlier, I have not faced defeat in any battle. I do not utter a falsehood and that is evident to all of you. Even if the king of the gods is angry and advances in a battle astride Airavata and with the vajra in his hand, I can kill him, not to speak of mere humans.’ (3–22) ‘I think that in your madness, you have not heard about my valour and prowess. Using my two arms, I can raise the earth up into the sky. I can drink up the ocean. Stationed in a battle, I can slay Death. Using my sharp arrows, I can shatter the sun and fragment the earth. I can assume any form at will. Even mere collision of arrows from Lord Rama and Ravana were threatening the entire universe The seven oceans were agitated by the sound of clubs, maces and bludgeons and the wind created by the tufts of the arrows. The residents of the ocean, in the nether regions of patala, were agitated. All the thousands of danavas and serpents were distressed. The entire earth, with its mountains, forests and groves, trembled. The sun lost its radiance and the wind did not blow. All the gods, the gandharvas, the siddhas, the supreme rishis, the kinnaras and the giant serpents were worried. They said, ‘May there be safety to cattle and brahmanas. May the worlds remain till eternity. When Vishwamitra invoked Brahmastra triad of world's were terrified When all these were pacified, in anger, Gadhi’s descendant invoked brahmastra. On seeing that weapon, on seeing that brahmastra had been invoked, all the gods, with Agni at the forefront, the divine rishis, the gandharvas, the giant serpents and all the three worlds were terrified I can't speak on behalf of Mahabhara

Respecting aged Parents

What are some ways to show respect to your aging parents? A son took his elderly father to a nice restaurant for dinner. While eating, the old father spilled food on his clothes several times. Other people eating in the restaurant were looking at the old man with hatered, but his son was calm. After eating, the son took the old man to the washroom without any shame. Cleaned his clothes, cleaned his face, combed his hair, put on glasses, and then brought him outside. Everyone was looking at him silently. Then he paid the bill and went out with the old man. Then another old man who was having dinner called out to him and asked - Don't you think that you are leaving something behind here? He replied – No sir, I am not leaving anything. The old man said - Son, you are leaving here a lesson, a lesson for every son and hope for every father. Generally we do not like to take our elderly parents out with us. And they say - What will you do, you can't walk, you can't even eat properly, it would be better if you stay at home. But have you forgotten that when you were little, your parents used to carry you in their lap. When you were not able to eat properly, your mother would feed you with her own hands, and if the food spilled, she would show love rather than scolding. Then why do the same parents start becoming a burden in their old age? Parents are the form of God. Serve them and love them because one day you too will grow old. #Always respect your parents.

MAHABHARATIYA RAIL- A TALE OF PARRALELS

MAHABHARATIYA RAIL Characters: Lord Ackworth – Narrator of the tale (voice over only) Pandava brothers – Yudhishtir, Bhim, Arjun, Nakul, Sahdev Duryodhan – Oldest of the Kaurava brother Dushyasan – Younger brother of Duryodhan Karna – Confidante of Duryodhan, well-wisher of the Kauravas Shakuni – Uncle of the Kaurava brothers Dhristrashtra – King of Hastinapur Vidur – Minister to King of Hastinapur Sanjay – Charioteer of Dhritarashtra Lord Krishna Singh – Ruler of Dwarka and Kutch, well-wisher of the Pandavas (The stage is pitch dark, as the title song is played in the background) Mahabharatiya Rail ... Mahabharatiya Rail ... Mahabharatiya Rail ... AAAA ...AAAA ...AAAAA … This is the Railway Saga This is the Railway Saga Railway Saga Railway Saga This is the tale of EI Railway* (Eastern Indian Railway) The is the tale of BB Railway* (Bombay Baroda Railway) The is the tale of GIP Railway* (Great Indian Peninsular Railway) This is the Railway Saga This is the Railway Saga Railway Saga Railway Saga AAAA ...AAAA ...AAAA … (As the title song fades a wheel appears on the cyclorama) (Voice Over by Lord Ackworth) Let me introduce myself. I am the third son of the Reverend William Acworth of the Hall, Somerset, and Margaret née Dundas. My Christian name is William Mitchell Ackworth. I was born at Rothley, Leicestershire, where my father was the vicar. This was in the Good Lord’s year 1850, precisely seven years before an uprising took place in India. The Sepoys termed it a “Mutiny” and a large number of native historians refer it to as the “First War of Independence”. But we in Great Britain view it more as a disaffection of a few powerless and enfeebled principalities, led by an old, incapacitated and an ineffectual Moghul whose suzerainty spanned barely twenty kilometres from Red Fort to Palam. The man claimed himself to be the Emperor of India, which was no more than a shaggy dog story. He was a king who would rather have been a poet, scion of a once–wealthy dynasty who would have rather been a mystic. This purported king had the gumption to marshal forces against the East India Company, which was quelled mercilessly by our forces and he was imprisoned in Rangoon before casting his mortal self and penning some Urdu couplets. While all these tumultuous events were taking place, I was educated at Uppingham School and Christ Church, Oxford and was armed with a master’s degree in modern history in 1875. Public affairs were my forte and I became involved with the Conservative and Unionist politics of London. In 1886 I was elected as a member of the Metropolitan Asylums Board. When the first elections to the London County Council were held, the party nominated me as their candidate. My other interest lay in the railroad system. In 1889 I wrote a treatise on Railways of England which was followed by Railways of Scotland the following year. In 1905 I published a book, Elements of Railway Economics, which was widely used as a textbook. With this corpus of literature and my contribution to railways I was knighted in 1921 and appointed the chairman of the Committee on Indian Railways. The report of the committee was voguish as the “Ackworth Report”, and led to the reorganization of Great Indian Peninsular Railways, and creation of a separate Railway Budget, an arrangement which was not prevalent in British India. For my singular contribution I was appointed as the Knight Commander of the Star of India in the year 1922. (Title Song in the background) This is the Railway Saga This is the Railway Saga Railway Saga Railway Saga This is the tale of EI Railway* (Eastern Indian Railway) The is the tale of BB Railway* (Bombay Baroda Railway) The is the tale of GIP Railway* (Great Indian Peninsular Railway) This is the Railway Saga This is the Railway Saga Railway Saga Railway Saga AAAA ...AAAA ...AAAA … (Voice Over by Lord Ackworth) The story is set prior to the separation convention and the reorganisation of Indian Railways. The dominion and gauges of Great Indian Peninsular Railway (an extensive network consisting of Eastern India Railway, Madras Railway, Bombay Baroda Railway and Central India Railway) spread across the swathes of this vast land. Peace, tranquillity and prosperity prevailed in the hinterland, bijou towns and cities, loading terminals and the railway system at large. Cumulative loading was in excess of 200 million tonnes. The record of 195 million tonnes set a few years back was smashed, a matter of immense jollity to the rulers that is us, the British. The Lords have endowed me with a spesh ambrosia, developed with fuels such as electricity, coal and diesel which empowers me to be cognisant of the past, the present and the future. For it is only I, Lord Ackworth, who knows that time is of essence. The natives refer to me as Samay. Samay as per Indians is the Kaal Chakra or the inexorable wheel of time. Only their God, Narayana or Lord Vishnu, the preserver of Creation is conscious of what happened in the past, events occurring in the present and what lies in the womb of the future. Narayana left the railway systems of Mathura, Brindavan and Agra to establish a principality in the western part of the land at a place called Dwaraka. He is also known as General Manager of Dwaraka and Kutch. The control office is strategically located on an island, which safeguards the kingdom from competitors. I cannot reveal any further details about Lord Narayana, also known as Lord Krishna Singh, without obtaining Finance Concurrence. Let me tell you Lord Kuber, the Master of Railway Wealth is extremely exigent and has to be indulged. He does not easily vet any proposal or sanction any project uploaded on the IRPSM (Indian Railways Projects Sanctions & Management) website. Thus, my lips are sealed. However, as with kingdoms in the past or with the ones which will mushroom in the future, fissures have appeared in this palatinate too. King Dhritrashtra Singh on account of certain physical disabilities was superseded and was made General Manager of Eastern India Railway, his younger sibling King Pandu Singh was made the Chief Commissioner of Great Indian Peninsular Railways; the Supreme Commander of the Railway system post the uprising of 1857. This development rendered King Dhritrashtra Singh distraught and devastated. King Dhritrasthra Singh was now merely looking after Northern and Eastern territories of the railways, though he never stopped dreaming of occupying the top spot by virtue of being the older sibling. He hankered after power and challenged the anointment of his younger brother in the Honourable CAT*. But OSD (or Officer in Search of Duty), the venerable Bhishma rejected the appeal using the powers granted to him by the Lords. Another of these powers was the boon to live and serve the railways indefinitely. Tragically, King Pandu Singh could not breach the loading target as he was ensnared by a winsome operating officer who was also a successful danseuse, when he saw her at the railway club swimming pool. He ignored the entreaties of his wife and collapsed in the Central Control office. The Chief Commissioner of Indian Railways though valorous and sagacious, was a man with a roving eye. He had been warned by his teachers, sages and OSD Bhishma to concentrate on achieving the loading targets and stop entertaining lascivious thoughts. He did not pay heed to these warnings and unfortunately his life was snuffed out by a myocardial infarction. The operating officer fractured her leg and was incapacitated. Dhritrashtra became Acting GM and chief Commissioner. Senior most Pandava scion Yudhishtir was put on fast-track to take over. OSD Bhishma was tied to the throne by the strings of loyalty to the ruler and has the boon ichha retirement. Time is limited. Come; let me take you to the Railway Staff College Gurukul where the Kauravas and the Pandavas are being educated under the watchful eye of Guru Dronbhansali. (Song) We all are playing badminton, daily in the evening-2 Bhim ne shuttle cheen li, cheen li Bhim ne use phenk di, phenk di Sr DFM shuttle pass nahi ki, pass nahi ki … We all are … (Enter Guru Dron) Guru Dron – Respected Shakuni, ruler of North Western Province Railway which had its umbilical cord with the Northern Railway all royal railway-princeling probationers, during the course of two years you have studied subjects like Establishment Rules, Finance, Engineering, Operating and Conduct rules. Senior Pandava, Yudhishtir has passed with flying colours and secured a distinction in Conduct Rules, Bhim in catering, Nakul for Stores and Material Management and Sahdev in Engineering. I am happy and proud to announce that Arjun is awarded the gold medal in Foundation and Induction. Sadly, Kauravas number 5, 14, 68, 95 and 99 have failed their training programme. I sincerely hope that all the young officers will work in the field with as much dedication as you had shown during your training. I now request Shakuni to present the gold medal to Arjun. Arjun – (to Yudhistir, smiling and a little pompously) Bhratashri, I was not expecting it. Yudhistir – Dear Arjun, let me remind you that all four of us helped you cheat in the exam and thus you topped. Therefore, this medal belongs to all of us too. Arjun – As you command, respected brother. (Prize distribution is completed, the Pandavas exit) (Music, we all are playing badminton …) (The Kauravas collect around Shakuni and start complaining) Duryodhan – (in a whining tone) Did you see that Mama Shakuni? Arjun took away the gold medal as always. (angrily)And that Bhim … he always defeats me at Ludo and Carroms. Dushyasan – That’s right Mama Shakuni. And should I dare to complain, brother Bhim beats me up! Shakuni – My dear nephews, why do you keep coming to me with your crib-delegation? And honestly, what is a gold medal worth? Stop picking my brains! Duryodhan – (exclaims angrily) Mamashri! It affects our seniority. Did you forget the 60-40 ratio? I know it wasn’t there during your time. Dushyasan – That’s right Mamashri! Shakuni – Well then, show some enterprise! Take Bhim to dine at RK Caterers kitchen and then dump him in the polluted Yamuna. Dushyasan – I hope the river won’t get emptied! Duryodhan – (excitedly):Hey! shut up! What a strategy Mamashri!! (Exit all three) (Lights off and music) (Aaa, Aaa, Aaa, Aaa, Athshree Railway Saga) (Music fades, Voice Over) Lord Ackworth – Strange are the ways of destiny. What Dr. Fauzi could not do, Bhim Kumar succeeded. He emerged stronger and fitter after eating the food at RK Caterers and drinking water from the Yamuna. (Music) (Aaa, Aaa, Aaa, Aaa, Athshree Railway Saga ) (Enter Dushyasan, Duryodhan and Karna) Dushyasan – Myself Dushyasan, Kaurav Probationer. Hello Karna. Duryodhan – Brother Karna! Why didn’t you show up for the Induction Training? As a result, Arjun, succeeded in winning the gold medal. Karna – Friends, I was away appearing for the Mains again. My training got extended and I missed the Civil engineering class. Professor Parashuram Shreedharan got annoyed and cursed me. He proclaimed that at some time when I’m in a very tricky situation, my saloon* will derail and nobody would provide a crane to help me out during that crisis. Duryodhan – Not to worry my friend. I’ll speak to Pitashri and see that he gets an element transferred from Railway Board. In any case Railway Board is overpopulated with officers and peons. You’ll be posted straight away to Senior Scale, in Delhi Division on an ad hoc basis. (Lights off and music) (Aaa, Aaa, Aaa, Aaa, Athshree Railway Saga) (Voice Over) Lord Ackworth – Time passed by. Postabhishake of all the probationers was completed. But the sword of APARs hung like the Sword of Damocles over the heads of the young officers. Emotions were running high. Competition between the cousins was at its zenith. To maintain harmony, the kingdom was split into two. The Pandavas were allotted land in the northern and north-western parts of the country and the Kauravas retained the rest of the GIPR. The Pandavas had to start from scratch, beginning with laying the tracks. But the industrious Pandavas not only created the infrastructure needed, they exceeded their loading targets, a fact which infuriated the Kauravas to their tethers end. (Song) Ab ladenge hum aur tum Teri sitti pitti gum Hum karenge aisa chakkar Ki loading bhool jaoge tum Humma, Humma, hum jeete, Aur haare tum (Enter Duryodhan, Dushyasan, Shakuni and Dhritrashtra) Duryodhan – Pitashri, you rushed into dividing the kingdom. It was quite unnecessary and a wasteful exercise. Now their operating ratio is higher than ours. We had to concede territories from our network to them after suffering heavy losses in interchange and increased wagon holding. Dhritrashtra – Son, what else could I have done? I wanted to stop the reckless interchange mania between you and them. But still you lost. Hone your skills in railway operations under the tutelage of Guru Dron. Duryodhana – He keeps all the secrets to himself for his favourite Arjuna, not even for his son Ashwathama, who is on our side and loathes the Pandavas as we do. What is the point of such a Guru? Dushyasan – All our BCNs* will now be booked to Jagadri workshop and all our CRTs* which could have become Tiger Rakes will be booked to Moradabad for ROH*. Taatshri has already signed the circular! Shakuni – Beloved nephews, I have a formula, a special formula through which their yards will get congested, their points will burst, tracks will get fractured, tracks will get twisted. The punctuality of their passenger and mail express trains will go for a toss. Box turnaround will increase, JUMBOS will stagnate … my dear nephews they will be destroyed!! Duryodhan – But what is that formula, Mamashri? Shakuni – (triumphantly) It is called the Close Circuit Rake formula. Dhritrashtra – But isn’t it against the principles of the Operating Manual? Duryodhan – This is a latest circular, number 58, which you cannot see Pitashri. (Exit Kauravas, as they confabulate) (Lights off and music) (Aaa, Aaa, Aaa, Aaa, Athshree Railway Saga) (Enter Pandavas) Yudhistir – Finance Commissioner Uncle Vidur, Thanks to Mamashri Shakuni’s tactics and the CC* rake formula, our condition has become like that of an unconnected consignment. Nakul – I don’t think we were as stressed even during the Departmental exams. Sahdev – Hey! Why don’t you check –up D’Costa …Maybe we’ll find some clue. Vidur – (pondering over the problem) We will send Jyeshta Pandu Putra, Yudhistir to Australia. He will learn all Heavy Haul operations, which will help to improve your line capacity. (Lights off and music) (Aaa, Aaa, Aaa, Aaa, Athshree Railway Saga) (Voice Over) Lord Ackworth – Thus, with a combination of Financial Commissioners’ Vidur’s sagacity and acuity, once again the evil plans of Shakuni were thwarted. Benefactor and champion of the Pandavas, ruler of the Western Kingdom of Dwaraka and General Manager, Dwaraka and Kutch Railway GM Shri Krishna Singh (He who has knowledge of all the manuals, codes and knows all the rules just like me) advised the Pandavas to participate in the Panchal Sarai Yard Swayamvar and perform the R.E. or Rajsuya Electrification Yagnya. Join me as we witness the grand spectacle of Swayamvar. (Lights off and music) (Aaa, Aaa, Aaa, Aaa, Athshree RailwaySaga) Dhrupad – Panchaal Sarai Yard became mine after years of labour, years of intense tapasya. I hereby proclaim that I will hand over this yard to that worthy rail servant who can answer one simple question. (dramatic pause) My question to all of you is, “What do you see?” (A few seconds pause as the contestants look around) Duryodhan – (in a smirking tone): I can see the yard! Dushyasan – I can see an Electric loco. (Karna stands up to answer.) Arjun – (interjecting before Karna can speak) You are not eligible to participate because you did not complete your Induction Training and your inclusion among the blue-blooded officers is also questionable. You are on ad hoc appointment unlike us who have struggled to reach this exalted position. (Karna walks away in a huff) Bhim – I see Moti Mahal and smell the aroma of butter chicken Yudhistir – All that I can see is the track circuit. Nakul – I can only see Guru General Manager. Bhim – (sarcastically) That is all that you can ever see! Nakul – For sure! After all he is the one who helped me get my posting through the sports quota. Sahdev – I can only see Guru Divisional Railway Manager. (Arjun steps forward) Arjun – All that I can see is the Hump Signal. Dhrupad – The yard is yours Arjun! Heartiest Congratulations! Heartiest Congratulations! Yudhistir – As is our tradition, this yard will also be shared by all of us! Arjun – As you command, jyesht bhrathashree! Henceforth, this yard shall be known as Panchali. (Song) Ye yard bada hai mast, mast Nahi isme koi gol mod Nahi kar sakte hain tod phod Iski line, Iski line bejod, jod Ye yard straight kambakth bakth Ye yard bada hai mast, mast Shri Krishna Singh – Dear Arjun and my dear Pandavas, it has become vital for the Pandavasa to perform the RE or Railway Electrification Yagnya to ensure progress on the Grand Chord * and Main Line. This will help you to modernize your working. Moreover, this already has the blessings of Maharishi of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Bedi. The RE yagnya has been included in the Pink Book* too. (Lights off and music (Aaa, Aaa, Aaa, Aaa, Athshree Railway Saga) (Voice Over) Lord Ackworth – The Railway Electrification Yagnya performed by the Pandavas under the guidance of their benefactor Lord Shri Krishna Singh was a stupendous success and the Pandavas achieved acclaim far and wide. As a result, there was a lot concern and turmoil in the Kaurava’s Central Control. Come let’s take a look at their affairs. (Duryodhan rushes onto the stage looking desperate) (Song) Mujhe neend na aaye, mujhe chain na aaye Pal, pal mujhe Arjun sataye Na jaane kahaan Karna kho gaya (4) Duryodhan – (despondently) I cannot bear to go through this anymore. I am going to do something! I am going to take voluntary retirement. Karna – Friend! Why do you worry? With your permission, let me derail four BOXN* rakes within their station limits. Shakuni – (exasperated) Oh Dear, the uncrowned King of Operations! Why do you always speak of derailing trains? Have you forgotten Parashuram Shreedharan’s curse that some heads will roll, likely beginning with yours! Duryodhan – But mamashree, I thought there is no accountability in railways. Shakuni – My dear nephew, at your level it is still there. It is still there … but I have another formula! Karna – (impatiently) With due respect mamashree, all your formulas have been condemned. Shakuni – No, my dear nephews. This is a tried and tested formula. Hear me out. (the Kauravas huddle closer to Shakuni, who addresses Duryodhan) Invite the Pandavas to a Humping Gamble. They will definitely agree to come because the senior most Pandava scion Yudhistir is addicted to gambling. He will never say no. Once they are here, I will apply the Agni formula to win all their lines, yards, loco sheds, sidings and workshops. (Lights off and music) (Aaa, Aaa, Aaa, Aaa, Athshree Railway Saga) (Pandvas and Kauravas come on stage from opposite sides) (Song) Mukabala (2), Ooh Pandav(2) Mukabala (2), Ooh Kaurav (2) Yeh mukabala, humping ka hoga Ab SGT yard daanv par laga, Yeh yard mera hua, ole ooh Formula Kam kar gaya Mukabala (2), Humping ka hoga Shakuni – Dear Nephews, let me first familiarize you with the rules of the Humping Gamble. I will be lowering the signals on behalf of Duryodhan. The team that humps 12 wagons first in each stake will be declared winner. We will declare stakes for each shift. (Looks around at the Kauravas and Pandavas) So, let me begin. I place Mughalsarai on stake for the first shift. Yudhistir – I place Khanalampura on stake. (Both pick up their phones to take position) Yudhistir – Hello Central Cabin? … How many wagons humped? Shakuni – (annoyed) What? Only 10 wagons humped because of non-interlocking? Yudhistir – Twelve wagons? Twelve wagons? Pandavas – (victoriously) Mughalsarai is ours! Mughalsarai is ours! Shakuni – Come on. Let’s declare the stakes for the second round. I place Trivandrum on stake. Yudhishtir – I place Jammu-Tawi and Simla on stake. (both pick-up their phones) Shakuni – What?! Hold-up in Jolarpettai? Trains are not running up to Trivandrum?! Only 11 wagons humped? Yudhisthir – 12 wagons humped! Pandavas – (jubilantly) Trivandrum is ours now!! Duryodhan – (boiling with anger, holds Shakuni by the collar): Mamashree, all your formulas have failed us! If we lose, we’ll have to proceed on deputation to RITES*. Shakuni – My dear nephew, let me now try a new tactic. I will change all their points using CSM* and BCM* formula. (Background noise of the gambling continues) (Lights darken) (Voice Over) Lord Ackworth – So, it was that the Humping Gamble by the Railputras was witnessed by all the Railjan. Shakuni succeeded in his scheming ways and the Pandavas lost their empire. (Song) Na koi yard hamare paas, Na koi siding hamare naam Ham kaise karenge raaj (2) O Dharmraaj (2) (Lights brighten) (Enter Kauravas) Kauravas – The Pandavas have lost Panchaal Sarai Yard too. Panchali is ours now! Duryodhan – Here! Give me the layout of Panchal Sarai. (Dushyasan moves forward to handover the layout plan to Duryodhan) Bhim – (in a fierce voice) Stop right there, Dushashan ! All the Railputras present, hear me! All those who read their papers in the Railway Board Seminar, hear me and all those got their papers written by others hear me. I, Panduputra Bhim hereby declare that during the war I will drink up all the fuel of Kauravas, I will destroy all their pantographs and I will destroy the integrity of their Agni, Rocket, Lotus and Tiger rakes. (Bhim moves a step forward and bellows in a loud voice) This is my Akhand Rail Pratigya! Dhritrashtra – (indignantly) This is unbecoming of a Railway servant. Duryodhan – The losing team may be dismissed from service under Article 14(2). Vidur – Maharaj that would be gross injustice. Instead, I recommend that they be served an SF 11 and asked to proceed on 180 days LWP. When they return, their areas may be restored to them. Dhritarashtra – This seems to be the most cost-effective way out. This has my approval. (Lights off and music) (Aaa, Aaa, Aaa, Aaa, Athshree RailwaySaga) (Voice over) Lord Ackworth – In this manner the Pandavas proceeded on leave. They obtained shelter in Rangiya Division of N F Railway, where the DRM had a very colorful past. Over there the Pandavas took up appropriately low-profile jobs to sustain themselves. Yudhishtir as Chief Controller, Bhim as Catering Inspector, Sahdev as Wagon inspector and Nakul as PWI. Arjun became the de facto nautanki incharge, working without any element or salary in the division. (Lights off and music) (Aaa, Aaa, Aaa, Aaa, Athshree Railway Saga) (Duryodhan, Shakuni and Vidur are in discussion) Duryodhan – (in a thoughtful tone) According to a significant report in my (SITREP) morning position, N. F. Railway aka Non-Functional Railway, has unexpectedly become functional. Loading has increased, catering has improved … Keechak Singh, the formidable Trade Union leader has been eliminated as a result of which the labour problem have been redressed. Shakuni – It appears that your cousins, the Pandavas seemed to have discovered a source of productive employment during their leave period … Listen to me dear nephews, I have another formula to tackle them. Our agent, TXR* Rangiya will take the seminar papers there. He’ll mark all their wagons DVW* as a result of which their performance indices will drop and their loading will plummet. Duryodhan – Aevamastu Vidur – But there is an indigenous loco developed by S. Mani in NFR. It’s called Yamraj … pardon me Gajraj. It runs on tea leaves, is thus cost effective and hauls BTPN rakes. (Lights off and music) (Aaa, Aaa, Aaa, Aaa, Athshree Railway Saga) (Voice Over) Lord Ackworth – The Pandavas complete the period of Agyaatvas. And they return from N.F. Railway. They had passed through fire and brimstone and emerged stronger and wiser, having acquired manuals to counter the wily Shakuni and their cousins. (Lights off and music) (Aaa, Aaa, Aaa, Aaa, Athshree Railway Saga) (Dhritrashtra seated on his throne and Yudhishtir speaking to him, Shakuni, the other Pandavas and Kauravas are also present) Yudhishtir – (addressing Dhritrashtra) Jyeshth Railway Adhikari, we have completed our period of LWP. I request you to regularize our leave period. I also request you to do justice unto us and return to us our kingdom. But … if you find yourself unable to do so, then let me tell you, a mere five sidings will be enough for us … the rest you may keep with yourself. Duryodhan – (interjecting before anyone else can): Five sidings?? You won’t get a single sand hump out of me! Yudhishtir – (perplexed) But why not? Duryodhan – (singing) Meri marzee Panchali mere saath rahegi, meri marzee Jise chahunga salary doonga, meri marzee Mai tumhe confidential doonga, meri marzee Yudhishtir – (in a grave tone) Then war is inevitable! (Lights off and music) (Aaa, Aaa, Aaa, Aaa, Athshree Railway Saga) (Music fades out, whistle of a WDM2 sounds) (Voice Over) Lord Ackworth – Before the war begins, Duryodhan and Arjun decide to pay a visit to General Manager of Dwaraka and Kutch, Shri Krishna Singh to seek his assistance. (Arjun and Duryodhan walk into Lord Shri Krishna Singh’s chamber where he is napping) Duryodhan – (pompously) Dwarakadheesh is always asleep. (Arjun prostrates before Lord Shri Krishna Singh) Shri Krishna Singh – (affectionately) Arjun! Tell me, how was your sojourn in the N.F. Railway? Arjun – O Keshav, you are of course aware that SAG officers are surplus over all railway zones, and surprisingly even in N.F. Railway as officers from Railway Board have been shunted all over. Therefore, I decided to make an entry via the cultural quota by training at a Dance Academy. But believe me, it was no song-and-dance. In the bargain I seem to have forgotten my operating chops. Duryodhan – (addressing Shri Krishna Singh, interjecting) You are of course aware that war has been declared. I insist that you have to fight on our side. Lord Shri Krishna Singh – Is that so? Why? (Ignoring him, he starts playing the flute) Arjun – (interjecting politely) After serving in N.F., we have the boon of ichha request O, Keshav. So, you have to help us. Lord Shri Krishna Singh – (looking from one to the other) You have put me in a quandary. (thinks for few minutes) On the one hand will be 90,000 of my staff, including stalwarts like the Divisional Secretary and Zonal Secretary, and on the other hand it will be just me. I will not pick up a weapon. I will only guide you on Establishment Rules. Duryodhan – (eagerly) Then I will opt for the Divisional Secretary, Zonal secretary and the 90,000 men. Lord Shri Krishna Singh – Tadhastu! (Lights off and music) (Aaa, Aaa, Aaa, Aaa, Athshree Railway Saga) (Shakuni is seated and Duryodhan walks in excited) Duryodhan – (in a triumphant tone) Mama Shakuni, we are stronger than ever now!! Ninety thousand staff, including Divisional Secretary and Zonal Secretary from Dwaraka and Kutch will fight on our behalf!! Shakuni – You fool! That elusive Shri Krishna has tricked you. Neither do his men have arms and nor has Finance Department given its concurrence for any new purchases. What is the point of an army without any weapons? You always act in haste and repent at leisure. Now I see no purpose in your visit to Dwaraka and Kutch. (Lights off and music) (Aaa, Aaa, Aaa, Aaa, Athshree Railway Saga) (Dhritrashtra seated on the throne and Sanjay seated next to him) Dhritrashtra – Sanjay, Sanjay where are you? Sanjay – (exasperatedly) Sir, when you cannot see me anyway, why should I present myself before you? (pauses to calm himself) Sir, let me proceed to give you the live position of the battlefield. I have the boon of a cellular phone technology, though it is banned by the ministry of Finance at the moment. Dhritrashtra – Tell me Sanjay, what is going on over there? Sanjay – Benefactor of the Pandavas, Sri Krishna is giving Arjun the Railkshetre Divisionkshetre discourse. (Song) Hump kiye ja (2) Damage ki chinta mat kar e insaan, Jaisa hump karega, waisa wagon dega Ram Yeh hai humping ka gyan (2) Arjun – Hey Keshav, how can I fight this war. Neither do I remember Maslow and Herzberg’s Motivational Theory nor do I remember ABC Analysis. I do not even remember D and AR rules! I have forgotten the 4Ps of marketing and also the strategy of Sun Tzu, Kautilya, Michael Porter and Garry and Hammel. I do not recall economics, macro or micro. Today I am a failure (he slumps to the ground). Sanjay – Arjun has not been able to overcome his illusions despite Krishna’s guidance. In desperation Shri Krishna has sent an SOS to the Rajbhasha Adhikari. (Voice Over) Yadaa, Yadaa hi budgetasya, Glanirbhavati railway Abhyuthanam Budgetasya, Senior DAO srujamyaham Bill ruddhanaya Thekedaranaam Dandanayacha Afsaraan Karma Sansthapanaya Sambhvami Railey Railey Krishna – Hey Arjun, you completed your SA grade Promotional course a mere few weeks back and you’ve forgotten the D and AR rules?! You are not behaving as a man of ordinary prudence. Your conduct is unbecoming of a Railway Servant. O Railputra Arjun, hear me and hear me well. New warriors, when they arrive Get the stations cleaned all over again Then they issue new joint circulars But the passengers, they change not Garbage they continue to throw around Can that be reason for not installing dustbins? Rise O Arjun, this is a war for Dharma Today, your duty is to clean up! (Lights fade out) Krishna – O Arjun, you forget that you were a mere Nautanki incharge in N.F., you taught dance. Now I’m going to bless you with the ability to witness a divine sight which will help you to destroy all the Kauravas. (Visual of Krishna’s Vishwa Roop Darshan) Krishna – Remember your Junior Scale days O Arjun, when a mere verbal lashing would give the controllers a heart attack and doctors would rush to treat them. Remember your days as Sr. DOM when you wielded D&AR to clear many ineffectual personnel out of your way. Arjun – But Lord, those who I removed were mere employees. These are my course-mates, my batch-mates and my cousins. Krishna – Let me reveal the secret to destroy the valorous Kaurava soldiers. Recollect your skills as a dancer that you acquired during your time in N.F. Railway. Use those skills before Bhishma and that will put an end to his boon of icchha retirement. He will be forced to step down as Commander-in-Chief. Prepare a siding where elephants are loaded instead of horses and buffaloes. Do this where Guru Dron is stationed. The moment he sees elephants being loaded, he will voluntarily step away from the battlefield and opt for retirement. Karna is in any case cursed by Professor Shreedharan and so his saloon will get derailed. Arjun – (ingenuously) So, we will not send an Accident Relief Train? Krishna – The hooter at State Entry Road colony is never audible. Most railputras end up mistaking an accident for a mock drill. Arjun – O Lord, then how do I defeat Duryodhan? Krishna – Arjun, pay attention. Every time Duryodhan goes on line, he inspects more of the railway housing colonies than he does the tracks. Our spies have it all recorded on their iPhones. When you release this video online, it will go viral. Duryodhan will be forced to hand back Panchal Sarai yard to avoid even worse a fate. This way you will not have to seek permission of PFA and CMD. (Lights off) (Dhritrashtra and Sanjay are seated) Dhritrashtra – Is he enlightening him?? More like confusing him! Sanjay – Sir, if only you had agreed to transfer five sidings to the Pandavas, we could have avoided the catastrophe of this war. Be that as it may, the latest position stands this way. Arjun has used the Heavy Haul Astra and Bhim has fulfilled his Rail pratigyna. OSD Bhisma is lying on the ARME bed and Arjun is taking him towards the washing pit to slake his thirst. Karna’s saloon has got derailed. Bhishma has opted for voluntary retirement and seems to be in favor of privatization. Sir, you have lost the war. (Voice Over) Lord Ackworth – In this way the Great Indian Peninsular Railway was privatized and the Pandavas became rulers of N.E. Railway or Non-Existent Railway. The once glorious kingdom of Great Indian Peninsular Railway was trifurcated into TELCO Corridor, Adani Port Railway and Ambani Rail Infrastructure Corporation. (Voice Over) Akaashvaani – The travelling public reaped the benefits of the trifurcation; world class facilities at affordable rates. But ten years down the line complaints began surfacing that rail services were becoming exorbitantly expensive and a regulatory authority was needed to intervene. A search is currently on by an ombudsman for a suitable regulatory. (Lights off and music) (Aaa, Aaa, Aaa, Aaa, Athshree Railway Saga) CURTAINS 15. CRB ELECTION SECIAL Characters: Sutradhaar – Narrator (voice over only) Vishwanathan Iyer – Executive Director, (Planning) in Railway Board and moderator of the debates. Lord Siri – Economist, thinker and politician M. S. Plaha – Former Chairman Railway Board and Former Chairman, Coal India Paahi – Trade Union Leader (Present day, inside the Central Hall of the Parliament of India) Sutradhaar – A few years ago, as shadows lengthened and evening set in over Luytens’ Delhi, the weather turned crisp and chill. Railwayme who had congregated at Ashoka Hotel for a two-day Chintan Baithak pulled out their woollens after a long day of deliberation interspersed with sumptuous meals and several cups of piping hot coffee and tea served by IRCTC. They finally had a tryst with destiny and had made a solemn pledge to the Indian Parliament and their countrymen. Indian Railways was in dire straits with a falling market share and loss of profitability and a high operating ratio*. A tectonic shift was warranted. The time had finally come for Indian Railways and Railwaymen to usher in radical changes. They had to redeem their iconic pledge and assure the nation that they would abide by the promises made and signed on an indemnity bond at the Chintan Baithak. This was to be executed wholly, and in full measure and not merely substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the all the world was in deep slumber, the Indian Railways and the Railwaymen decided that they would awaken to life and eschew foreign dependency and become absolutely self-reliant and Atmanirbhar. Such moment arrives, but rarely in history, when a humungous organisation steps out from the comfort zone of the old, into the brave new world; when the soul of a transporter, long suppressed, finds utterance under the helmsmanship of a robust Cost Accountant. It was indeed salutary that at this solemn moment all Railwaymen embarked to take a pledge of dedication in the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity with greater zeal. Passion and zeal for their work had been found lacking, as railwaymen though a dedicated lot by nature, began feathering their nests under a political dispensation which was wedded to woolly slogans of populism and concessions, where market dynamics and profitability were viewed with the prism of suspicion. Its decades old history was populated with grandiose failures interspersed with modest successes. Several projects of gauge conversion*, doubling*, tripling, (and quadrupling too, oh! vain ambition!), the much-vaunted Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFCCIL)* and Railway Electrification (RE)* which had been lying in the limbo were provided a fresh lease of life. Fortuitously, through good fortune and ill fortune alike, and inspite of the narrow view of departmentalism, Railwaymen did not lose sight of the quest of forgotten ideals for which they were selected (at the pleasure of the President of India, through the UPSC!). This alone was a source of great strength. Perhaps the seeds of the present lay in the karma of their predecessors. The corporate goal has always been to run passenger and freight services, with freight cross-subsidising the passenger services. The generalists (IRAS, IRPS, IRTS, RPF and RBSS)* were selected through Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), while the technocrats (IRSE, IRSS, IRSEE, IRSME etc)* were selected through the Engineering Services examination. Therein were sown the seeds of overarching departmentalism with each department shadow boxing to gain supremacy. Let me now recall the epochal decisions taken during the two-day Chintan Bhaithak. (Flash back to two years back). (Chintan Baithak, Ashoka Hotel Convention Centre) (Bleary-eyed Railwaymen assembled in the hall look at the screen as Executive Director (Planning) begins. Vishwanathan Iyer, a sprightly young-looking officer, who maintained himself by playing squash regularly at the Gymkhana Club and sustained himself on fruits and soup for lunch and dinner, unveiled Vision 2024 Document called Atmanirbhar Bhartiya Rail). Vishwanathan Iyer – Good morning, Hon’bl Minister of Railways, Hon’bl Minister of State for Railways, Chairman, Railway Board, Members of Railway Board, General Managers of Open Lines, General Managers of Production Units and assembled Principal Heads of Departments, other officers including all Probationers too. This two-day Chintan Bhaithak was undertaken to identify causes for the declining market share, our inherent weaknesses, to tackle the growing departmentalism, inability of Railway officers to speak with conviction to politicians, the IAS, the IPS and the business community. We have to regain our pole position which we occupied during our days of piecemeal loading and humping yards. Let me encapsulate the proceedings of the last two days. It has been decided (with the sarva sammati of the existing Board Members and CRB) that henceforth there will a single cadre, to be called the Indian Railway Management Service (IRMS). All existing services would be merged into this entity quite like rivers losing their identity in an ocean! (Lot of commotion from where the officers are seated). (ED, Planning continues) Selection to the service will be through a common examination to be conducted by the Research Development and Standard Organisation (RDSO) (officers may be appointed or dismissed, as the case may be, at the pleasure of the President of India). Officers of IRMS can rise to pivotal positions such as Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), Principal Head of Department (PHOD), General Manager (GM) of Zonal Railways. A few would occupy the positions of Members of the Board. Cadres of all technical departments and administrative departments would be commixed into one to run the organisation smoothly and efficiently. (Railwaymen were on tenterhooks. Clapping and cheering by a section of the officers) Sutradhaar – This decision will have implications! Officers of the technical services could not believe their ears. Inherently they had what is known as the age-advantage, which meant they would automatically rise to occupy most of the top slots. This would finally put the UPSC lot in their place. Yet, long years of dealing with the Sarkari behemoth (they were the Sarkari behemoth!) made them wary of anything that sounded too good to be true. (ED, Planning continues) Vishwanathan Iyer – Ladies and Gentlemen, please, please, allow me to place all the facts before you. (Dramatic silence) (A few minutes elapse before ED, Planning can continue) Vishwanathan Iyer – Moving on ladies and gentlemen. Inputs would be received from specialists to counsel officers to become more productive and efficient. (Murmurs in the audience even as ED, Planning continues his presentation) Allow me to read out a few other significant decisions taken: (i) Railway finances are in a precarious state. Thus, the formula worked out by Lord Ackworth in 1921 which ushered in separation of railway finances from the General Budget would be scrapped and merged with the general pool. (ii) Inorder to provide world class passenger services, IR will launch Bullet Trains, High Speed Trains, Private Operated Trains and skeletal services of passenger services. (iii) The EDFC* and WDFC* would be completed at the earliest to ferry cargo at a scorching pace. (iv) Business Development Units (BDUs) will be set up to attract fresh traffic as the existing lot of officers and staff have a laid-back attitude and quite unaware of the words “customer friendly”. Sutradhaar – (in a disbelieving tone) They haven’t learnt the concept of fixing time bound targets even now!! (ED, Planning continues) Vishwanathan Iyer – May I request the attention of all present. Coming up next is a very significant decision. The structure of the apex body of the railways, the Railway Board will be radically altered. The motto is minimum officers and staff to deliver maximalist governance. Inefficient and corrupt officers will be sacked summarily. In order to achieve this lofty goal and end the ceaseless departmental turf war, Board members will hold dual charge to improve efficiency and empathise with the misadventures of others. (gasps of disbelief from senior officers). Further, powers of Financial Commissioner (FC) are being reappraised. In the new scheme of things FC, (hitherto a law onto himself, thought Vishwanathan Iyer) would continue to vet all proposals and parallelly report to the Union Finance Secretary as the strings of the Railway Budget would be dovetailed with the Finance Bill. (Plenty of crosstalk as all sections of officers begin discussing things amongst themselves. Officers of the Medical Department and the RPF appear most restless. Not a word had been said about them. Would they survive at all? Or would they get drowned in the general mess, especially in view of the changes in the FC’s role) Vishwanathan Iyer – Medical Services in the Railways would continue to be manned by Director General, Health Services. Of course, BCG, McKenzie, the Rakesh Mohan Committee and a host of others had advocated privatising the health and medical sectors. But this move was opposed tooth and nail by the Trade Unions and keeping their wishes uppermost, the move is on the backburner. The sacred cow of Railway Protection Force will not be snapped from its umbilical cord, the Ministry of Home Affairs. DG RPF would be an officer of the IPS and RPF officers will continue to be selected through UPSC exam. (Much consternation within the Civil Service lot of officers) Sutradhaar – And of course, officers of the RPF Railway Protection Force would continue to be their lowly minions. After all they secured fewer marks in the titanic Civil Services examination. Vishwanathan Iyer – (pauses to clear his throat loudly) Ladies and gentlemen, there are two more singular announcements to made. (all chatter ceases and attention is drawn towards the speaker). Thank you! One, all the General Managers of Indian Railways, Open Line or Production Units, would be provided the apex grade of Secretary to Government of India. Sutradhaar – (exclaiming) This is a world class sop! (Murmurs among probationers and members of FROA*, promotee officers FROA, seated in a single block. “Do they know what they are doing?” “All GMs?” “Has this the approval of the DOPT, the UPSC and the Cabinet Secretary?” “And what about the IAS lobby?”) Vishwanathan Iyer – (nodding his head knowingly) Yes, all the GMs. Sutradhaar – What a master stroke to quell any uprising by the top echelons, railwaymen and trade unions as in 1974. This is essentially a move to ensure no one would foment any trouble. They have yet to hear the coup de grace. Vishwanathan Iyer – Coming now to the last and the most important announcement; one that involves, literally involves each and every one of us officers and railwaymen. (Sudden hush in the room, all wait with a bated breath) (ED, Planning continues) Once the chain of changes come into force, Chairman Railway Board … will … cease to be … Ex Officio Principal Secretary to GOI. (Collective gasp from all officers) Instead, he would hold dual charge of CEO and Chairman Railway Board. (sarcastically) This is incredible. It is tantamount to down gradation of the decisive and preeminent position in the organisation. Of course, this decision has been taken to ensure Sabka Saath, Sabka Ka Haath aur Railwalaon ka Vikaas. That is not all … it has been unanimously decided … the CEO and Chairman Railway Board would neither be selected nor appointed by GOI, … rather the most suitable candidate will be chosen by the process of ELECTION. This will ensure enormous transparency. This responsibility falls upon the august assembly of railwaymen, all officers of the IR. IRMS and Railwaymen have hard work ahead. There is no resting for any of us till we redeem our covenant in its entirety to ensure that IR regains its place of pride. (Cut to present day) (Inside the studio of a rambunctious television channel) Sutradahar – After long deliberation of the proposals, it was decided by the Standing Committee and the Select Committee of the Parliament that the manifesto of change be put to vote by the internal stake holders of Indian Railways, officers and staff of Indian Railways. The government had also decided in its infinite wisdom that that no insinuations of privatization ought to be levied against their grandiose plans. Further the Teflon coat of the government should not be smeared with the tirade of Suit Boot ki Sarkar, sneaking in of privatization, fostering crony capitalism and last but not least the government of the day capitulating to consultants and foreign banks. Thus, it was that elections were held on the very day the indigenously developed T-18, renamed Vande Bharat was flagged off from New Delhi to the ancient Indian city of Varanasi. Several railway officers voted while travelling maintaining all protocols of secrecy as CISF officials guarded the EVMs. Vishwanathan Iyer – Railwaymen of the fourth largest railway network in the world through size, are waiting with bated breath for the results of elections to the post of CEO and Chairman, Railway Board. Two parties have emerged as the frontrunners, the Pro Changers and the No Changers; fairly simple and self-explanatory that! The candidate of the Pro Changers is Shri Ravindra Gupta, Principal Chief Material Manager, North Central Railway and the No Changers have fielded IRTS officer, Shri Anu Singh Mallik, Principal Chief Operations Manager, South East Central Railway. Let me introduce our esteemed panel. Sardar Manjit Singh Plaha, former Chairman, Railway Board and Chairman, Coal India; Lord Siri, eminent thinker and economist and Member of the House of Lords and Pahi, firebrand trade union activist representing large numbers of Railwaymen, especially from Bengal and Assam. Well, my simple and singular question to the panel is this, what do you think about the agenda unleashed? Approved by the Parliament of India, no less. Let me begin with you M.S. Plaha. M.S. Plaha – (energetically, very loudly) Vishwanathan, thank you. Let me state my point of view unequivocally. The proposals as envisaged by the government of the day and seconded by the Railway Board are ridiculous to say the least. When the Indian Railways faced a similar financial crunch years back, the then government had initiated certain definitive changes to overcome the misadventures. Let viewers appreciate the background. All the arteries of the railways were choked as the rolling stock* was stabled on account of low demand and improper planning to monetize the assets. At that point, then Madam Prime Minister of India sacked the then Railway Board and elevated your truly as CRB with the mandate to turn round the system. I was considered a visionary who could usher in reforms, when such a word did not even exist in our lexicon. (Pahi and Lord Siri snigger at the pompous and bombastic opening remarks of the venerable, former giant of Indian Railways) Pahi – What a fart he is … M.S. Plaha – Through the clarity of my vision we achieved targets laid down by PMO. Loading was stepped up; block rakes were formed and I accomplished what was envisioned by the Prime Minister. Please appreciate that there is a clear division of roles between the generalists and specialists. There is bound to be difference of opinion, but that is a healthy practice which provides inputs to fuel fresh ideas. Can we ever compare apples and oranges? The move to merge the services into IRMS is a preposterous idea. God give them sanity. How could the Board and the General Managers have been so pusillanimous? The Pro Changers will be routed in the ensuing elections. Lord Siri – I think Sardar Manjit Singh Plaha continues to be one woolly-headed socialist. The world has changed, so have organizations across the globe. Indian Railways has been the mulching holy cow of politicians, trade unions, the travelling public, railway officers and business entities. Sweeping changes are warranted or CRO and MRO cases on North Central Railway will continue unabated. Let me quote a single example to indicate how the railways are run. In Bangalore, if one were to travel by rail from Whitefield to Majestic Bus stand, it costs all of Rs 2/-. If the venerable Sardarji takes a bus, he would have to shell down Rs 50/- and if our trade union leader Pahi is ferried by a cab, her union would have shell out Rs500/-. Look at the economics! How incongruous and skewed! Pahi – Lord Siri, one single case will not speak for a network of hundreds of kilometres. We will oppose the move tooth and nail. Our workers will be swamped by the corporates. They will be rendered unemployed. All these policies work only in developed countries like England and the US. Lord Siri – Incidentally, you stay in the best of hotels in London and scream homilies about poverty. Pahi – How dare he ... The Lord is behaving in a most obnoxious manner. He should apologize. (She threatens to walk out) (ED, Planning brokers peace and sanity for the proceedings to resume. Lord Siri is compelled to apologize). Vishwanathan Iyer – Gentlemen and ladies, let us maintain some decorum. This show is being beamed on national television. We have now received the first trends from PRS counters of the regional offices of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad. As was expected Pro Changers are sweeping everywhere except Kolkata. Do these trends indicate that in tech savvy centres Pro Changers will garner all the votes? M.S. Plaha – These are mere postal ballots. Let us enter the loading divisions and zones and then the real picture will emerge. Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal. Wahe Guru Da Khalsa, Wahe Guru Di Fateh. Lord Siri – Why the war cry and sloganeering? This is absolutely unacceptable in a debate on such a topic. Sutradhaar – As the debate in the TV studio was stewing, counting was gathering pace at all the divisions, zonal offices, production units. Meanwhile there were some reports of malfunctioning EVMs, but Election Commission of India which had deputed RDSO to provide the machines debunked these charges as baseless. Vishwanathan Iyer – Well, well, well! Charges of EVM malfunctioning, war cries, sloganeering, trading of charges; all part of Indian electoral process. Elections in the Railways are no different. Let me pose a straightforward and simple question to our esteemed panellists. What is their opinion about IRMS — a unified cadre to run the Indian Railways. As per the government it would end the malaise of departmentalism and usher in major reforms and transparency in railway working. So let me open up the debate. I pose the question to Lord Siri. Lord Siri – Thank You, Vishwanath …Hmm ...I think this is an intrepid move by the government. It will usher in major changes, changes for the good. For years the technical services have been subservient to their counterparts selected through the Civil Services Examination. The unified cadre will provide a platform for authentic technocrats to emerge and have a say in the 4Ps of marketing – Product, Price, Place and Promotion; be it passenger services or freight services. This aspect is absolutely dominated by the IRTS and the IRAS who feel a sense of superiority purely by virtue of having being selected through the Civil Services examination. M.S. Plaha – This is an absolutely nonsensical approach. Imagine a Civil Engineer who has worked all his life maintaining tracks and machines, suddenly has to decide allotment of wagons! What a mess it would create. An ace operating officer who spends hours in the control office or in yards, good sheds and sidings knows the intricacies of wagon allotment. You have to understand. Both the departments are monitoring different aspects. This spineless Board, has without any thought or appreciation of facts, misled the Rail Mantri. I tell you the DOPT and UPSC will turn down the proposal. The morale of hundreds of Civil Servants selected through a rigorous examination would be totally demoralized. I hope better sense prevails and the proposal is struck down. Lord Siri – Shri Plaha, are you implying or worse, do you actually believe that those who are selected through the engineering services examination are inferior to their counterparts selected through the UPSC exam? M.S. Plaha – Oh Lordship …this system was created by those masters whom you serve. You can read through the British manuals of railway working and appreciate the system. Incidentally there are several technocrats, doctors and management students who man the operating and commercial departments of the railways. Operating is like the infantry of Indian Railways. Lord Siri – This is neither here nor there. You have spoken a lot without saying anything. … Let me correct you. Operating was the like infantry of the Indian Railways. But today with widespread computerization, why do you prevent technocrats from participating in day-to-day operations? M.S. Plaha – Well, I have seen these (makes an exaggerated gesture with his hands) “technocrats” perform this task in the most low-grade and gimcrack manner as DRMs and GMs. Don’t you realise, officers are groomed to play the pivotal role of PCOM and PCCM. It cannot be injected in someone’s system like a vaccine. Lord Siri – But your operating officers refuse to provide blocks for maintenance of tracks and bridges. M.S. Plaha – (raises his voice sharply) This is a false accusation. The bogey that comes up whenever there is nothing left to say. On the contrary the technical departments are never able to adhere to the block corridors. Vishwanathan Iyer – I think we are digressing. Let me bring in Pahi, to get her opinion. Pahi – (irritated for having been kept waiting so long) All I want is that the interests of labour, unions, trade union activity taken care of. There should be no privatisation of the railways. I repeat no privatisation. Organised labour is absolutely against privatization of railways. Millions of our workers would be rendered jobless. Lord Siri – What a narrow vision you have Pahi! This organization needs money, which the government does not have. Today or a few years later, corporatisation and privatisation is on the cards. There will be private train operators. For your unions to survive and the trade unions to do trading in unions, investment by the private sector is inevitable. Pahi – I once again register my protest, at the uppity attitude of the Lord. Vishwanath Iyer – Ladies, gentlemen and Railwaymen we now have some concrete results: Won Leads Tie Northern Rly No Changers Western Rly Pro Changers South East Central Rly No Changers CRIS No Changers RITES Leading IRCON Leading CONCOR Pro Changers North Western Railway Tie M.S. Plaha – Traffic hai jahan …Railway hai wahan. Wahe Guru Da Khalsa, Wahe Guru Di Fateh. Lord Siri – (irritated) Why do you insist on mixing religion with politics? Pahi – Perhaps this is the only issue that we are in agreement. (turning to Vishwanathan Iyer) Why is he permitted to raise this battle cry every few minutes? M.S. Plaha – Oye … I can use the words of my choice. Twannu operations da pata bhi hai? Gal karte hain … Lord Siri – (nodding his head in disgust) Now he has the gumption to digress into Punjabi. Vishwanathan Iyer – (gesticulating at the panellists, trying to raise his voice above the din) I think the panellists should rise above these petty charges and concentrate on the analysis of the results. Let me ask our preeminent panel regarding their opinion on T-18 or Vande Bharat as it is known, and DFCCIL. Pahi, let’s start with you. Pahi – As far as Vande Bharat is concerned, Loco Pilots, Assistant Loco Pilots, TTEs and Train Superintendents of the AIRF* should man the train. Our office bearers should be provided with free passes to travel by the train. Now, DFCCIL is another story altogether. We have no data as to the number of freight trains that will run. India has borrowed heavily from Japan and the Railways is paying huge amount of capital to contractors who are building the assets. All our doubts should be dispelled. Most importantly if the Dedicated Freight Corridor is executed on time, punctuality of existing mail express and other trains should improve substantially. This means that freight and passenger services will be taken care of … (ending with a flourish) … where is the need for any changes? Can any one answer this question? If anything, additional resources ought to be pumped into Indian Railways. M.S. Plaha – Privatisation is no solution to extricate the railways from the existing financial mess. Private operators would tinker with the Preferential Traffic Schedule* to peddle their goods and services. Essential commodities like food grains, fertilizer, dairy products, fruits, vegetables, sugar and even Military Movement, which is A category, may get compromised. Vande Bharat is already compromised. We have only 2 rakes, running, New Delhi-Varanasi and New Delhi-Jammu Tawi. It has become a turf war between Electrical and Mechanical departments; a major bone of contention between the two regarding ownership. Vishwanathan Iyer – Therefore, does this not augur well for IRMS? M.S. Plaha – This is sheer incompetency on the part of the two departments who wish to feather their nest. People who have never worked in Open Line and have been merely DRMs and Members of the Board are deciding the fate of thousands of traffic officers, in particular Operating officers. Make 100 train sets of T-18 and see how my boys run the trains. The candidate of the Pro Changers, what’s his name? Ravindra Gupta, would not be able to differentiate between a diesel and an electric locomotive. Is he even aware that the train’s regenerative brakes are also expected to allow a 30% savings in electricity costs as compared to its predecessor? Your final question on DFCCIL —my views are quite similar to those of the trade union leader Pahi. It is too early to comment. Pahi – I am surprised at the statement of the much-lionized M.S. Plaha sir. You crushed us in your stint as CRB. M.S. Plaha – That was the order of the day. Sutradhaar – Meanwhile there are reports of violence between supporters of the Pro Changers and No Changers in the coal belt areas of East Central Railway, South East Central Railway, and South Eastern Railway. M.S. Plaha – (scoffing) The Pro Changers must be trailing and their hired hoodlums would be engaged in violence. Vishwanathan Iyer – Well, well, well. We have the results in. I can now announce the results of this unique, first-time election. So kindly permit me to declare the results. No Changers (11) Pro Changers (3) Tie (2) Northern, North Central, East Coast, Central, West Coast, South Central, Eastern, South Eastern, East Central, Eastern, South East Central North Western, North Eastern Frontier, Southern, Konkan Western, South Western Did anyone keep a tally? Eleven zones to No Changers. Looks like Shri Anu Singh Mallik will be at the helm. M.S. Plaha – (twirling his moustache) My operating boys have made me proud today. Lord Siri – (with a display of confidence he does not feel) Let us wait for results of the production units and … (he is interrupted by Vishwanathan Iyer) Vishwanathan Iyer – (loudly and in an excited voice) People of India and all Railwaymen are on tenterhooks. I have the final tally now. But before that … I would like the panellists to state, unequivocally, their view on the three issues raised. Lord Siri – (pompously) Look Vishwanath, I have studied the collapse of major railway systems where Traffic department was undue predominance. Time has come for a few radical moves. First, Indian Railways need to be corporatised and then privatised. There is an imminent need for a common cadre of IRMS to end the languor. Private input alone can revive Indian Railways. Questions like Preferential Traffic Schedule and non-transportation of essential commodities by private players is propaganda by status quoists. Look at the telecom sector. Mobile internet has been such a positive development force in the country’s digital progress, that in 2019, over 73% of India’s total web traffic was coming from mobile phones. Let me draw your attention to another interesting statistic. After privatisation there are 39 airlines operating in India in all. The scheduled airlines are the primary carriers who command a majority of the domestic market share. A majority of these scheduled airlines operate in the budget segment. The hegemony of Air India has been unshackled and there are more players, additional funds, a modern fleet and most importantly it has created many jobs. I am all for privatization. And customer is the KING. Do not treat him like kashtamar. DFCCIL will radically transform the pattern of train operations. IRTS will be finished! Thus, M.S. Plaha is pretending to be unsure. To sum it in one word, privatise or perish. Vishwanathan Iyer – We have had a dramatic day of counting and now the results of production units, training institutes and PSUs are also available. And … hold your breaths ladies and gentlemen, this was never imagined! CRB elections have thrown up a TIE between the Pro Changers and the No Changers!! A tie! …unbelievable … Ravindra Gupta and Anu Singh Mallik have garnered the same tally of votes. And we have a a hung Railway Board. Lord Siri – Indian Railwaymen are developing and evolving. M.S. Plaha – (ashen faced, mumbles) Shocking! Pahi – What will happen to our trade unions? We will protest all over Indian Railways. All tracks will be blocked. Sutradhaar – In view of the hung vote, the results were referred back to the Parliament to take cognizance of the hung Railway Board, (and for further action please!). The Parliament has decided to send the results to the standing committee of Railways to examine the results and determine the future of IRMS and other issues. It was also decided to form an expert committee consisting of Railway officers, corporates, trade unions and managerial experts from IIMs to suggest the way forward with the Director General of RDSO to be the Secretary of the Committee. They have been given six months to submit their recommendations. (One Year Later) Vishwanathan Iyer – Ladies, Gentlemen and Railwaymen! We are back to the drawing board. On the panel are M.S. Plaha, Pahi and Lord Siri. One line each from the members of the panel. M.S. Plaha – To my mind this was the only solution to the vexed problem. Lord Siri – This is a typical bureaucratic solution and I feel desolate that technocrats have lost their place under the sun. Pahi – Trade Unions as usual have received nothing in this battle. (Epilogue) Sutradhaar – It was decided that IRAS, IRPS and IRTS officers would continue to be selected under the auspices of UPSC through the Civil Services Examination. RPF would be part of IPS. All technical services will be selected by RDSO and not through the Engineering Services examination. It was feared however by the technical services that they would superannuate in JAG only and they would remain Group B officers. Answers to this vexed question lies in the womb of the future. Project DFCCIL and production of T-18 would be put on fast track. IAS officers (perhaps a hidden agenda all along of the Government) and several technocrats and consultants would be allowed to occupy the posts of CRB and CEO, Members of Railway Board, General Managers and DRMs. The fundamental question of having IRMS (where it all started) will be decided only after 5 years when Railwaymen are mature enough to exercise their franchise once again! Vision Document 2024 Atmanirbhar Bhartiya Rail would perhaps see the light of the day on that fateful day. (CURTAINS

MIRROR IMAGE-REFLECTIONS - Read more from A TALE OF PARALLELS

MIRROR IMAGE-REFLECTIONS What is an illusion? When we perceive an object through our eyes, it is projected on to our retina, inverted. Our brain interprets this input to deliver an upright image. Is what our naked eye perceives the truth? Is what our brain perceives the authentic truth? Mayhap, these are perceptions which germinate in our mind and the truth lies somewhere in between. ***************** This was the conundrum on which Fujishiro Gozen ruminated all her life. She was on a mission to grapple with this strange, essential truth. What is an illusion? Is an illusion an instance of incorrect or misinterpreted perception? Or is something beyond normal human perception? Fujishiro Gozen always speculated on this question. Her singular transfixation was on one thought, “Is what I see through my eyes reality or merely an illusion? Is it the unalloyed truth or something spectacular which I am unable to comprehend in its entirety?” The wry smile on her face concealed the innumerable vicissitudes in her life. Fujishiro Gozen was often found at a lake near the Temple of Knowledge at Eikan-do. Scantily dressed, she dipped her legs in the frothy, cold water and played with gay abandon. On numerous occasions she would become stark naked and swim in the lake and let go of all her emotions. She found this to be an incredibly therapeutic exercise. There was a waterfall in the vicinity which pumped water into the lake and Fujishiro Gozen luxuriated under the cascading water. She pondered, “Are the objects we perceive through our sensory organs a reality or merely a reflection of our thinking pattern? We are mere captives of our sensory organs.” “If we probe deeper into our consciousness, we discover that perception of the outer world has a limiting effect on our capability to understand the actual experience of our actions,” Fujishiro Gozen thought aloud. Seventeenth Century Japan The stage was set in the Edo period or what is known as the Tokugawa period in Japan, between 1603 AD and 1868AD. It was a period of economic growth and a strict social order. It was a period of ceasefire and an end to wars and strife with the royalty patronizing arts and culture. Japan was ruled by the Tokugawa Shogunate and the country’s 300 regional daimyos, the warlords or vassals under the protectorate of the powerful potentate, The Shogun. Fujishiro Gozen was a prepossessing woman, an onna-bugeisha in the Mutsu province. Tragically, her husband met his end in a battle against the Tsugaru clan. The young warrior robustly defended her small castle called Fujishiro-kan and raised her young son. Fujishiro Gozen’s thoughts again meandered and she mused wistfully, “Are we masters of our self or merely a miniscule part of a larger system? Are we not blessed with any free will? Does this imply that all our actions are merely an illusion of choice? “If my Lord had not been killed in the battlefield, I would not have been anointed in his place and taken up this onerous responsibility. I would have been playing and swimming in the lake at near the lake.” “However, today I am submerged in the whirlpool of tears. I often bewail the misadventures of my life. I am stupefied to think why I had to undergo these cataclysmic events in life,” she mused. “At the Temple of Knowledge, I wonder whether I am a fragment of this Universe or is the Universe embedded within my being as I bear the cross,” she pondered with misty eyes. “I can understand that I am answerable for all my actions and non-actions but are they also a part of some predestined design,” she pondered. The tale of Fujishiro Gozen was spellbinding and often discussed in the classes but in hushed tones. None was willing to stake their claim regarding the veracity of the story for two reasons. One, as a mark of respect for the daunting woman Fujishiro Gozen. Second every head of the Temple of Knowledge did not wish the students to be distracted as they practiced Zazen. The Master of the Temple of Knowledge often posed the question whether Fujishiro Gozen was an apparition, reality or an illusion. Aeons ago in Japan, Zen Master Bankei Yōtaku was sitting outside the steps of the Temple of Knowledge at Eikan-do and keenly observing his preeminent pupil Yunmen Wenyen. The student was observing inhalation and exhalation of his breath and performing Zazen meditation, while he himself was seated in the courtyard and quietly luxuriating as he smoked his pipe. Bankei Yōtaku was to say, “Zazen refers to sitting meditation. It’s a meditative practice which provides insight into the true nature of being. Zazen originates from the teachings of Buddha, who lived in India 2,500 years ago and founded the religion and philosophy of Buddhism.” “The aim of this practice is to let go of all preconceived notions, rhetoric and ideologies. The meditator becomes aware of all sensations and thoughts that arise and pass by,” he added further. He concluded by uttering, “Zazen Meditation is the practice of seeing things as they really are and the tutees become aware that everything is transitory and temporary. It transfigures the mind to remain focused in the present moment. Meditation improves the intrinsic quality life and self in profound ways, and it allows a person to increase concentration of mind. It becomes crystalline pure.” Suddenly his favorite pupil opened his eyes and exclaimed, “Master, Master, I have grasped the quintessential truth. I can feel it and visualize it. Today I find answers to all the queries of the Universe.” “You do?” questioned the polymath Zen Master. “I have grappled all these years and am yet to have a glimpse of the exemplary truth!” “Holy sire, everything in this world is a mere phantom. In my considered opinion everything is ignis fatuus.” The blue stocking Zen Master got up and approached the student while pulling hard on his pipe. As he was passing-by he turned out the piping hot contents of his pipe on top of the neat bald head of the novitiate and banged the pipe down hard. The contents were showered on the tutee’s bald head. The youngster sprang upand caterwauled, “Master, what are you trying to do? My body is burning like hot charcoal. Why are you trying to kill me? Are you covetous that I have discovered the quintessential and pristine truth?” “Ahhhh,” mused the Master, “so the sensory perception of illusion does make you angry?” Fujishiro Gozenin the lake near Temple of Knowledge at Eikan-do Fujishiro Gozen of late in order to rejuvenate her body, mind and soul followed a diligent practice unflinchingly. She began her routine bysplashing her feet in the lake, then slowly disrobing herself and swimming with the current and then against the current and finally bathingunder the cascading waterfall. She ruminated on various incidents of her life. The winsome and alluring lady, was aware there was a Temple of Knowledge on the banks of the water body. But she never bothered to enter the complex to learn Zazen and meditation. Instead, her Zazen and meditation was to remain in solitude and savor being deluged in water. Today she shed copious tears and emerged rehabilitated. One day it so happened that the Zen Master Bankei Yōtaku was sitting outside steps of Temple of Knowledge at Eikan-do and watched Fujishiro Gozen in the lake. He was taken aback at the sight. “Is it an apparition, an illusion? Who was that woman virtually sculpted out of marble,” gushed the Zen Master. When he sat down to practice his meditation the images of the beguiling woman cannonaded his mind. His mind continued to be brimful with innumerable thoughts about the damsel as he configured and constructed an imaginary intense affair with the woman which became passionate as days passed by. The images lingered in his mind. Swirling ruminations of the statuette of the woman swimming au naturel in the lake and bathing undraped undercascading waterfall had a noxious impact on his mind. The Zen Master grew restless as his passion and craving for the enchantress assumed magnified proportions despite practicing Zazen, breathing and rigorous meditation techniques. The Zen Master was unable to live in the present moment and was living with the nymphet all the time. “Was it the unalloyed truth or something which I am unable to comprehend in entirety? It is playing havoc with my mind,” he thought aloud.“What do I do? I am absolutely at my wits end.” He summoned Yunmen Wenyen, his closest student and asked him to release the contents of his pipe out on top of his bald head. Yunmen Wenyen was stupefied and refused to obey his Master. “Yunmen Wenyen, I have become a mental wreck and want to relearn the nuances of Zazen Meditation to realize the quintessential truth,” Bankei Yōtaku was to tell his chosen disciple. The Zen Master then narrated the entire incident of being enveloped by lustful thoughts after watching the nymphet in the lake. “But Master, that was merely an illusion. I too have seen images of a beautiful woman emerging scantily dressed from the lake, swimming in the lake and taking a bath in the cascading waterfall. Many a times she paddles her feet in splashing water,” he added. Bankei Yōtaku looked stupefied as he listened intently to Yunmen Wenyen, now a seasoned practitioner of Zazen Meditation. “Master there was never such a woman who entered the lake. These images were mere illusions. I discarded them the moment I saw them, but sire those images unfortunately got embedded in your mind.” “The reality is that the governess of this palace, Fujishiro Gozen, was a rare personality who had taken up weapons from her arsenal and attacked with her family and perished at the end of the bloody battle. For her courageous actions, she received the rubric Gozen, a title given to young ladies who are generally anointed young women warriors. She was killed in the battlefield several years ago,” added the student. “We were informed about this riveting and spellbinding piece of history by the Master himself,” the young student reminded. “First there will appear to you, swifter than lightning, the luminous splendour of the colorless light of Emptiness, and that will surround you on all sides ...Try to submerge yourself in that light, giving up all belief in a separate self, all attachment to your illusory ego,” were the sagacious words of Buddha. Zen Master Bankei Yōtaku realized that he was blinded by ego with his exalted power and handed over the keys of theTemple of Knowledge at Eikan-do to Yunmen Wenyen and moved to another Temple of Knowledge to learn the nuances of Zazen Meditation. That evening the new Zen Master, took a walk near the lake. He was befuddled to see a naked woman, virtually a mirror image of Fujishiro Gozen emerging from the lake who paddled her feet in the lake, swam in the lake and bathed in the water falls. She gave an enigmatic and a wry smile to Yunmen as she left. The chimera of the winsome lady repeatedly appeared in the Zen Master Yunmen Wenyen’s dream. His sleep was disturbed. Was it an illusion? Was it reality? **************** Postscript: Is all the world nothing but an illusion? What is the truth? What did Buddha discover in reality? Are we all figments of imagination or is it that the seat of the Master is enveloped by ego?

UNLOCKING THE LOCKER - Read more from the Book A Tale of Parallels

UNLOCKING THE LOCKER India witnessed a tumultuous year in 1984. The political landscape of the country was a witness to dramatic metamorphoses. A charismatic and charming youthful leader was catapulted to adorn the highest position of the country. Thousands of eyes had welled-up with tears, millions wailed as he lit the funeral pyre of his mother sporting the sacred thread prominently across his torso. His mother who was the Prime Minister was felled by the bullets of ultras. A trail of violence erupted in the country following his mother’s unnatural death. This was accompanied by gruesome sectarian violence against a particular community. The year also witnessed utter callousness by a multinational company, where noxious gases leaked, killing and maiming thousands of people in a chilling manner. Unfortunately, the CEO of the company fled the country leaving the hapless population of the city gasping for breath. Malham-The Balm, Allahabad, 1985 Sudha Shukla’s theme for the evening was called Malham-The Balm. She was a gifted painter, singer and a dancer, who produced dramatic shows which were a fusion of Hindustani classical music, painting and dance. This style was way ahead of its time. The young, multifaceted artiste, through divine grace was an accomplished artiste, but still to arrive on the world stage and carve a niche for herself. After careful mulling, she had decided to opt for a fusion format to dexterously showcase the socio-political events of the times. Her immense creativity and talent were her tools. Current affairs of the day always captivated her mind. She was particularly interested in the political affairs of her state and the country. She was elected as the Joint Secretary of the Allahabad University and had lorded over the cultural section of the youth wing of the party to which she owed allegiance. “It is paramount that we as artistes do not shy away from current affairs and the subterranean political situation that shape our lives. Instead, as committed artistes we have an onerous covenant to demonstrate to the world various aspects of the human, social and political life of the state and country irrespective of ideology,” she would state loftily. “It is high time we graduate to more serious stuff rather than merely portraying Raas Leela. The Fusion series, spanning the events which marked the national political scenario of 1984, left a profound and indelible impact on the minds of the audience. The sequence of the chilling assassination of a sitting Prime Minister by her security cover, followed by the trail of bloodletting and macabre sectarian violence, and passing of the political baton to a neophyte politician upon winning the general elections with a massive mandate in the backdrop of thousands of people trapped in a gas chamber were successfully captured through Malham. It was an epochal show. Through paintings, music and dance it effectively encapsulated the political and social events of the period in a telling manner and assuaged the frayed nerves of an expectant and agitated audience. The multifaceted Sudha Shukla certainly managed to become the cynosure of art lovers of Allahabad. Glued to the show with avid interest were Pradip Tiwari an emerging politician and his advocate friend Gautam Pandey. Gautam hailed from a family of bureaucrats and lawyers. Invariably, those who could not crack the Civil Services or the State Civil Services became lawyers. This was and perhaps continues to be the tradition in the feudal states, particularly those in the swathes of Northern India. His bosom friend Pradip Tiwari’s kinsmen were all politicians and some of them quite inexorable. Gautam and Pradip were seniors of the beauteous dancer from their alma mater. And not surprisingly, both were singularly bewitched by the prepossessing, Rubenesque Sudha Shukla. Thirty years ago (19 85 -1991) Meanwhile the charismatic Prime Minister lost his way in the turbulence and labyrinth of powers and was mired in the charges of corruption in defence deals. Further, he could not manage various conflicting interests of the majority and minority communities of the country on a disputed land where the majority community fervidly espoused the cause of constructing a temple in reverence of Lord Rama, the scion of Ayodhya who was believed to have been born on the banks of Saruyu River. Meanwhile the ebullient Prime Minister lost power and dramatic events had swamped the Indian political cyclorama. There was another individual who once was part of the cabinet of the beguiling Prime Minister, and that man wore his financial honesty as his Teflon coat. He fired the imagination of the populace across the land, distressed as they were with corruption at high places and the duplicity of those at the helm, especially the shifting stand on the construction of the temple on the disputed land. In this undertaking, he was supported by the left-wing and the right-wing parties. The latter espoused the movement to construct the temple and added the word “pseudo-secularism” to the political lexicon of the country. They were single-mindedly focussed on pushing to form an alternative government at the centre. However, this apparently plain sailing Prime Minister was unable to balance the ambitions of various state satraps and conflicting interests of other leaders of the party. Politics is the art of possible and this Prime Minister quickly revised his strategy to remain relevant. He surreptiously raised the bogey of positive affirmations in government jobs and education for certain deprived sections to strengthen his political base. A report which had been gathering dust since ages was revived which resulted in a social war between the communities perched higher in the social ladder of the Hindu community and those, they considered flotsam and jetsam. There was a veritable caste war in the name of social justice. Simultaneously the right-wing parties, to protect their turf gave a fresh impetus to the temple movement. Amidst the strife, the government collapsed which was followed by a short-lived government headed by a no-nonsense brooding politician. But his government collapsed as the former glamorous Prime Minister was piqued that two measly constables were spying at him, his family and the sprawling bungalow that he occupied. The fiery and self–respecting, brooding Prime Minister chose to quit rather than face unwarranted insinuations. Agni-Raudra Roop, Lucknow, 1992 Malham-The Balm made Sudha Shukla a household name. Her unique combination of out of the ordinary paintings, mellifluous music and breath-taking dance used as the medium to depict socio-political events of the day was a novelty and thought provoking too. This was the high noon of her career as she had carved a niche for herself. She and her troupe now offered Raudra Roop which encapsulated several winters and summers of the tumultuous Indian political and social scenario between 1989 and 1992 in a striking manner. The gathering was riveted to their seats as the dancers, and paintings along with soulful and haunting music dramatized the assassination of the charismatic young Prime Minister by ultras belonging to a chilling group from Sri Lanka. The angst of the “upper castes” which opposed the implementation of the positive affirmation report struck a chord with the stakeholders. Finally, the mayhem and scars inflicted once the disputed structure was dismantled by a fringe right-wing group to sloganeering and ranting by a section of the assemblage who espoused the cause. The cyclorama was besmirched with blood of Raudra Roop. The celestials appeared seething with fierce rage and demonstrated their furious form. The appalling and grisly events tormented the audience no end. It compelled Sudha Shukla to develop yet another Fusion to calm frayed nerves. Tranquillity in Delhi, 1994 The multifaceted dancer soon switched gears and dabbled in metamorphosing Zen stories into her fusion format. She crafted a simple and delectable Zen story which was a transition from anger, strife and bloodletting that had been the underlying theme of Raudra Roop, to the tranquillity and peace as practiced by Zen Buddhism. The result was Tranquility. It was an extremely simple narration but with an overwhelming and deep-rooted impact on the aficionados. Sudha always relied on flawlessness and as usual studied her characters and prepared the script to perfection. She had undergone a series of Vipassana meditation techniques and studied Zen Buddhism to understand Buddha and his teachings. Thus, she got into the skin of the character to assuage frayed nerves. There was once a Japanese father who handed his son a bag filled with nails. He told the boy that every time he burst out in anger, he should hammer one nail into their fence. On the first day, the boy hammered as many as 37 nails! As days passed by, the number of nails he hammered declined which was something inevitable. A day arrived in the life of the boy when he did not hammer a single nail, for he believed that he had not lost his temper at all. He announced this to his father with immense pride. The father merely smiled and told his son, “Now, you pull out a single nail for each day that passes without your losing your temper.” This too, was done by the dutiful boy. And after a lapse of several days, he informed his father that there were no nails remaining to be extricated from the fence. The sagacious father then held the boy’s hand and led him to the fence. “Well done, son! But look at the damage caused on the fence in the exercise of forging and disencumbering the nails from the fence. This fence will never look the way it used to for all these years!” He continued, “Words uttered in anger only inflict scars. One may stab a man with a shrapnel several times. It could be several times, but by uttering three magical words ‘I am sorry’, the wounds disappear.” But anger, arrogance and words uttered in contempt only result in scars which last for a long time. The nails were representative of the events spanning 1989 to 1992, which included the political chicanery of those times, the deviant politics played by the principal characters, the termination of a former Prime Minister’s term and the resultant uproar, the widowhood of his wife and how the family was a witness to two exterminations in the family within a period of seven years, the macabre consequences of the positive affirmation by a Teflon coated leader and finally the split wide open once a disputed structure was dismantled. Each nail had led to inflicting scars and wounds on the society which was with remarkable ingenuity burnished through the Zen story. The onlookers could connect quite easily with the sequence. If Malham-The Balm was the first step, and Agni-Raudra Roop the anchorage of her cultural voyage, the peregrination reached a high noon with Tranquillity. Tranquillity was performed at Kamani auditorium, Delhi and received a standing ovation and Sudha became the toast of the town. She was soon feted with Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and several other decorations and badges. *************** Late in 1994 Gautam Pandey was now a leading advocate, Sudha a prominent danseuse and Pradip Tiwari was now a Member of the Legislative Assembly of the most populous state in the country. The three had had a meteoric rise in their respective fields; their sphere of influence extending into the by lanes of the political capital of the country. Between Pradip Tiwari and Gautam Pandey, it was Pradip who had first expressed his love to Sudha Shukla and she had reciprocated in equal measure. Soon the two broke all barriers of physical intimacy and chastity during amorous moments. Srikrishna Shukla, the Chief Minister of the state was singularly impressed with the political acumen, administrative capabilities and debating skills of Pradip Tiwari. The Chief Minister, like Pradip hailed from Purvanchal, the eastern belt of the state. Pradip apart from certain exceptional qualities was also developing into a Bahubali, the local strongman, who commanded influence over the region through brute power and money. “Sir, Pradip Tiwari with his demeanour could pose a threat to Anand bhaiyya and the dynasty in the future,” Devi Pandey, the political secretary to the Chief Minister shared one day. Shri Srikrishna Shukla parried the remark of his secretary. “I believe he is fond of women and wine. And also savours non-vegetarian food, Pandey. I have come to understand that young danseuse Sudha Shukla and Pradip Tiwari share a very close bonding, perhaps even physical?” he commented instead. **************** Gautam Pandey was in his chambers at the High Court in Allahabad. He was being felicitated by his colleagues for successfully defending his client who was charged under Section 352 of the IPC for usage of criminal force against an individual on grave and sudden provocation. But this was a minor case that he had he won with consummate ease. The leading advocate blessed with uncanny legal acumen had saved people convicted under IPC 302 and IPC 350. He had built a formidable reputation and had a battery of young lawyers working for him. The legal luminary frowned at the message on his cellular phone. Cellular services had just started in India. “HM in town. Meeting him at Circuit House for some work. I will be late, you have your dinner,” was a message the legal eagle received on his phone. “Even though she is married now, she will never change. Sudha has high testosterone levels and ambitious to over reach. Something I am unable to fulfil,” mused Gautam Pandey to himself. After the day’s hectic proceedings, he headed to El Chico in the upmarket Civil Lines area. He had a hot cup of coffee and smoked his favourite cigarette 555 before heading home. HM or the Home Minister was none other than Pradip Tiwari. He had clambered the political ladder through his musclemen and by striking fear in the Purvanchal area. The Machiavellian Chief Minister had been watching the rise of Pradip Tiwari warily. The note of caution sounded by his sagacious secretary made him realise it was time to act. He laid a minefield in a treacherous manner such that Pradip could not disregard it. The strapping Home Minister was married to the Chief Minister’s daughter Bhavana Shukla. And as part of political deal, he was made the Home Minister. Any possible threat from the Janus-faced Pradip Tiwari was further nipped in the bud when Anand Shukla was made both Party President and Deputy Chief Minister in the Srikrishna Shukla-led government. All the power of the state vested in the Shukla family. Pradip Tiwari though holding the portfolio of Home Minister, could not exercise the powers and his muscle to the fullest. He was hamstrung by the father and son duo. Meanwhile Sudha Shukla was devastated with these developments. “How could you do this to me? I am appalled at your actions,” she addressed him agitatedly. He held her lustfully and ventured, “My dear, words may not comfort you, but just imagine how our careers will parachute into the stratosphere. In my new avatar I would be the damaad of the most important Chief Minister of this country. I will one day become the Chief Minister and will trammel upon those who come my way,” he uttered menacingly. Once a Bahubali always a Bahubali. This will provide you a chance to have a whirlwind rise in your cultural sphere.” “I have already made a name for myself through dint of sheer diligence and brilliance. I do not require your assistance,” she said haughtily. Sudha was not convinced by his words but very quickly realised that the die was cast. She had no option in a man’s world. She was also scared of the dark side of Pradip’s personality. She accepted it as fait accompli. “But our relationship can continue only on one condition. You have to promise me a ticket to the Legislative Assembly,” Sudha stated her condition. Pradip Tiwari’s jaws dropped upon hearing this and had no reply. It was sometime in late 1996 Sudha Pandey hailed from a wonted background. Her father was a priest at the powerful Hanuman temple in the Civil Lines area of the city. Pandit Ramcharan Shukla and his wife Radha had borne two daughters and a son. Among the three siblings, Sudha was exceptionally talented and yearned to arrive on the world stage. And she achieved her objective triumphantly. Her father was always chary of Pradip Tiwari and his unsavoury methods of clambering up the political ladder. Without blinking an eyelid, he accepted the marital proposal for his daughter from the estimable Pandey family, dominated by civil servants and lawyers. The pandit was well aware that his prepossessing daughter was once passionately in love with Pradip Tiwari and that their relationship had encompassed physical and emotional dimensions. He was anxious to erase this chapter from the cranny corners of his mind and his daughter’s life too. *************** Sudha Pandey the prominent multifaceted artiste of Uttar Pradesh, made her political foray. She was successfully elected to the Legislative Assembly for three consecutive terms. She entered the portals of the august house in 1996, 2001 and 2006 espousing women’s issues. She had now successfully switched gears, weaving her fusion series using tales from the epics; the very ones which at the beginning of her career she had touted as mere Raas Leela. She felt this was more in keeping with her image of a humble servant of the people. Gautam had virtually paled into insignificance as his wife continued her fatal relation with Pradip Tiwari. The relationship between the husband and wife sunk to the nadir and young Aditya, their child, was to see his father in a state of stupor physically assaulting his mother. He was to witness this wretched sight virtually every day and developed great antipathy towards his father. Even though Sudha Pandey was the real culprit, she ingenuously portrayed herself as the wronged individual and poisoned her son about his father’s misdemeanours. But as he grew older, some closets opened and secrets tumbled. He came to know about his mother’s fatal attraction and secret dalliance with Pradip Tiwari, once the powerful Home Minister of the state. It was also suspected by some members of his paternal family that in order to further her political interests she cultivated Anand Shukla the Deputy Chief Minister and allegedly had a roaring affair with him. Meanwhile Anand Shukla was mysteriously killed in a car crash, which devastated the Chief Minister. There was a tussle for political power in the Shukla Parivar. The devastated Chief Minister decided to forsake politics but not before his machinations and chicanery. The wily Chief Minister engineered a coup in the family and got his son–in-law arrested on the charges of eliminating Anand Shukla and anointed his daughter Bhavana as the next Chief Minister and also President of the party. Meanwhile back in the holy city of Prayagraj, Sudha cannonaded Aditya’s mind with the melancholic thought that Gautam Pandey, legal luminary of Allahabad had walked out of their lives and in a drunken state snuffed out his life. For several years, the young man had believed in the veracity of this theory, till one day he happened to read a note that he found in an old diary lying in his father’s chambers. His mother’s extensive involvement in politics meant that she was spending more time in Lucknow and Delhi, while he was in Allahabad and following his father’s footsteps had taken up law as his profession. “By the time you read this I may not be alive. But open my locker No. 555 in the State Bank of India – you will discover some startling facts about our lives,” scribbled Gautam Pandey. **************** Sudha Pandey willed herself not to check her phone to see if Aditya had replied. It had been about three days now. Sudha hated that she was constantly checking Aditya’s ‘last seen at’ status and to her surprise, yes, he indeed had logged in barely five minutes ago. Yet, she could not prevent herself. This sinking feeling to find absolutely no communication from her son had now become unbearable, almost torturous. She was at her tether’s end. And then, just as she sat down in her chair, her phone vibrated. With her heart thudding in her ear, Sudha Pandey unlocked her phone and stared at the screen. Finally! It was Aditya’s message. But when she opened it and read it, she nearly stopped breathing as she gasped for breath. Her mouth was parched and she felt absolutely dry. In desperation she swallowed a few pills of Zapiz and a few sips of gin-tonic. After a few shots her head swam and there was a wry smile on her face. She didn’t know if Aditya was joking or not. Meanwhile she could hear some murmuring sounds outside her plenteous bungalow. Where were security guards she wondered? She was exceedingly unsteady as she got up. The lethal combination of gin-tonic and Zapiz had taken its toll. What was this? Aditya Pandey rushed to the State Bank of India and opened the locker. As he read the note he sobbed inconsolably and sank to the ground. Gautam Pandey’s note stated, “the adversary is not Pradip Tiwari or Anand Shukla but some one more dominant”. The senior Pandey also fervently prayed that his son got his DNA test done. “I despise to call her my mother. You filled my being by spewing negativity about my father. But he was absolutely innocent and naive,” he thought aloud. *************** Aditya Pandey had gathered voluminous information about the misdemeanours committed by his mother. He did not quite know how to deal with it. He required sharing this data with a confidante. And there was one person he could rely upon; the person was his aunt Rachna Pandey. Over the last few years, the two had become very close and were party to each other’s confidential matters. They spent several hours together. Rachna was a spinster and in Aditya she found mental support. Aditya in turn, saw in Rachna Pandey the maternal figure he had never found in his mother. They were always in touch with each other via texts and phone calls. Only ten years separated the two and they seem to be attracted to each other. An Oedipus complex was slowly burgeoning between the two as their confabulations bordered on movies, film stars, models, six packs among other things. Their bonding was in wraps with none aware about the transgressions which occurred. From Rachna aunty he was to address her as Rachna and even R. She fondly called him my A. One night, Rachna Pandey was awakened by a WhatsApp message, “Rachna I need to meet you urgently. It is very important.” The two met the following day at El Chico and an inconsolable Aditya shared some dark secrets about his mother. Rachna Pandey, the IPS officer and Aditya’s aunt helped him in decoding the case. She furnished a warrant to arrest Sudha Pandey on the charges of murder of her husband Gautam Pandey and elimination of evidence. The other culprit was an octogenarian. He was once the formidable Chief Minister of the most populous state of the country. Aditya using his legal skills could ensure the DNA testing of the octogenarian Srikrishna Shukla. The DNA test revealed that Aditya Pandey was the son of Srikrishna Shukla and Sudha Pandey. Years ago, Sudha had caught the fancy of the Chief Minister and traded herself to climb the political ladder, once she realised that Pradip Tiwari had been effectively neutralised and would no longer be able to assist her in fulfilling her political ambitions. Not all the text messages her husband saw were of his friend Pradip and or even Anand. Several of them were of the spirituous Chief Minister. 13. MIRROR IMAGE-REFLECTIONS What is an illusion? When we perceive an object through our eyes, it is projected on to our retina, inverted. Our brain interprets this input to deliver an upright image. Is what our naked eye perceives the truth? Is what our brain perceives the authentic truth? Mayhap, these are perceptions which germinate in our mind and the truth lies somewhere in between. ***************** This was the conundrum on which Fujishiro Gozen ruminated all her life. She was on a mission to grapple with this strange, essential truth. What is an illusion? Is an illusion an instance of incorrect or misinterpreted perception? Or is something beyond normal human perception? Fujishiro Gozen always speculated on this question. Her singular transfixation was on one thought, “Is what I see through my eyes reality or merely an illusion? Is it the unalloyed truth or something spectacular which I am unable to comprehend in its entirety?” The wry smile on her face concealed the innumerable vicissitudes in her life. Fujishiro Gozen was often found at a lake near the Temple of Knowledge at Eikan-do. Scantily dressed, she dipped her legs in the frothy, cold water and played with gay abandon. On numerous occasions she would become stark naked and swim in the lake and let go of all her emotions. She found this to be an incredibly therapeutic exercise. There was a waterfall in the vicinity which pumped water into the lake and Fujishiro Gozen luxuriated under the cascading water. She pondered, “Are the objects we perceive through our sensory organs a reality or merely a reflection of our thinking pattern? We are mere captives of our sensory organs.” “If we probe deeper into our consciousness, we discover that perception of the outer world has a limiting effect on our capability to understand the actual experience of our actions,” Fujishiro Gozen thought aloud. Seventeenth Century Japan The stage was set in the Edo period or what is known as the Tokugawa period in Japan, between 1603 AD and 1868AD. It was a period of economic growth and a strict social order. It was a period of ceasefire and an end to wars and strife with the royalty patronizing arts and culture. Japan was ruled by the Tokugawa Shogunate and the country’s 300 regional daimyos, the warlords or vassals under the protectorate of the powerful potentate, The Shogun. Fujishiro Gozen was a prepossessing woman, an onna-bugeisha in the Mutsu province. Tragically, her husband met his end in a battle against the Tsugaru clan. The young warrior robustly defended her small castle called Fujishiro-kan and raised her young son. Fujishiro Gozen’s thoughts again meandered and she mused wistfully, “Are we masters of our self or merely a miniscule part of a larger system? Are we not blessed with any free will? Does this imply that all our actions are merely an illusion of choice? “If my Lord had not been killed in the battlefield, I would not have been anointed in his place and taken up this onerous responsibility. I would have been playing and swimming in the lake at near the lake.” “However, today I am submerged in the whirlpool of tears. I often bewail the misadventures of my life. I am stupefied to think why I had to undergo these cataclysmic events in life,” she mused. “At the Temple of Knowledge, I wonder whether I am a fragment of this Universe or is the Universe embedded within my being as I bear the cross,” she pondered with misty eyes. “I can understand that I am answerable for all my actions and non-actions but are they also a part of some predestined design,” she pondered. The tale of Fujishiro Gozen was spellbinding and often discussed in the classes but in hushed tones. None was willing to stake their claim regarding the veracity of the story for two reasons. One, as a mark of respect for the daunting woman Fujishiro Gozen. Second every head of the Temple of Knowledge did not wish the students to be distracted as they practiced Zazen. The Master of the Temple of Knowledge often posed the question whether Fujishiro Gozen was an apparition, reality or an illusion. Aeons ago in Japan, Zen Master Bankei Yōtaku was sitting outside the steps of the Temple of Knowledge at Eikan-do and keenly observing his preeminent pupil Yunmen Wenyen. The student was observing inhalation and exhalation of his breath and performing Zazen meditation, while he himself was seated in the courtyard and quietly luxuriating as he smoked his pipe. Bankei Yōtaku was to say, “Zazen refers to sitting meditation. It’s a meditative practice which provides insight into the true nature of being. Zazen originates from the teachings of Buddha, who lived in India 2,500 years ago and founded the religion and philosophy of Buddhism.” “The aim of this practice is to let go of all preconceived notions, rhetoric and ideologies. The meditator becomes aware of all sensations and thoughts that arise and pass by,” he added further. He concluded by uttering, “Zazen Meditation is the practice of seeing things as they really are and the tutees become aware that everything is transitory and temporary. It transfigures the mind to remain focused in the present moment. Meditation improves the intrinsic quality life and self in profound ways, and it allows a person to increase concentration of mind. It becomes crystalline pure.” Suddenly his favorite pupil opened his eyes and exclaimed, “Master, Master, I have grasped the quintessential truth. I can feel it and visualize it. Today I find answers to all the queries of the Universe.” “You do?” questioned the polymath Zen Master. “I have grappled all these years and am yet to have a glimpse of the exemplary truth!” “Holy sire, everything in this world is a mere phantom. In my considered opinion everything is ignis fatuus.” The blue stocking Zen Master got up and approached the student while pulling hard on his pipe. As he was passing-by he turned out the piping hot contents of his pipe on top of the neat bald head of the novitiate and banged the pipe down hard. The contents were showered on the tutee’s bald head. The youngster sprang upand caterwauled, “Master, what are you trying to do? My body is burning like hot charcoal. Why are you trying to kill me? Are you covetous that I have discovered the quintessential and pristine truth?” “Ahhhh,” mused the Master, “so the sensory perception of illusion does make you angry?” Fujishiro Gozenin the lake near Temple of Knowledge at Eikan-do Fujishiro Gozen of late in order to rejuvenate her body, mind and soul followed a diligent practice unflinchingly. She began her routine bysplashing her feet in the lake, then slowly disrobing herself and swimming with the current and then against the current and finally bathingunder the cascading waterfall. She ruminated on various incidents of her life. The winsome and alluring lady, was aware there was a Temple of Knowledge on the banks of the water body. But she never bothered to enter the complex to learn Zazen and meditation. Instead, her Zazen and meditation was to remain in solitude and savor being deluged in water. Today she shed copious tears and emerged rehabilitated. One day it so happened that the Zen Master Bankei Yōtaku was sitting outside steps of Temple of Knowledge at Eikan-do and watched Fujishiro Gozen in the lake. He was taken aback at the sight. “Is it an apparition, an illusion? Who was that woman virtually sculpted out of marble,” gushed the Zen Master. When he sat down to practice his meditation the images of the beguiling woman cannonaded his mind. His mind continued to be brimful with innumerable thoughts about the damsel as he configured and constructed an imaginary intense affair with the woman which became passionate as days passed by. The images lingered in his mind. Swirling ruminations of the statuette of the woman swimming au naturel in the lake and bathing undraped undercascading waterfall had a noxious impact on his mind. The Zen Master grew restless as his passion and craving for the enchantress assumed magnified proportions despite practicing Zazen, breathing and rigorous meditation techniques. The Zen Master was unable to live in the present moment and was living with the nymphet all the time. “Was it the unalloyed truth or something which I am unable to comprehend in entirety? It is playing havoc with my mind,” he thought aloud.“What do I do? I am absolutely at my wits end.” He summoned Yunmen Wenyen, his closest student and asked him to release the contents of his pipe out on top of his bald head. Yunmen Wenyen was stupefied and refused to obey his Master. “Yunmen Wenyen, I have become a mental wreck and want to relearn the nuances of Zazen Meditation to realize the quintessential truth,” Bankei Yōtaku was to tell his chosen disciple. The Zen Master then narrated the entire incident of being enveloped by lustful thoughts after watching the nymphet in the lake. “But Master, that was merely an illusion. I too have seen images of a beautiful woman emerging scantily dressed from the lake, swimming in the lake and taking a bath in the cascading waterfall. Many a times she paddles her feet in splashing water,” he added. Bankei Yōtaku looked stupefied as he listened intently to Yunmen Wenyen, now a seasoned practitioner of Zazen Meditation. “Master there was never such a woman who entered the lake. These images were mere illusions. I discarded them the moment I saw them, but sire those images unfortunately got embedded in your mind.” “The reality is that the governess of this palace, Fujishiro Gozen, was a rare personality who had taken up weapons from her arsenal and attacked with her family and perished at the end of the bloody battle. For her courageous actions, she received the rubric Gozen, a title given to young ladies who are generally anointed young women warriors. She was killed in the battlefield several years ago,” added the student. “We were informed about this riveting and spellbinding piece of history by the Master himself,” the young student reminded. “First there will appear to you, swifter than lightning, the luminous splendour of the colorless light of Emptiness, and that will surround you on all sides ...Try to submerge yourself in that light, giving up all belief in a separate self, all attachment to your illusory ego,” were the sagacious words of Buddha. Zen Master Bankei Yōtaku realized that he was blinded by ego with his exalted power and handed over the keys of theTemple of Knowledge at Eikan-do to Yunmen Wenyen and moved to another Temple of Knowledge to learn the nuances of Zazen Meditation. That evening the new Zen Master, took a walk near the lake. He was befuddled to see a naked woman, virtually a mirror image of Fujishiro Gozen emerging from the lake who paddled her feet in the lake, swam in the lake and bathed in the water falls. She gave an enigmatic and a wry smile to Yunmen as she left. The chimera of the winsome lady repeatedly appeared in the Zen Master Yunmen Wenyen’s dream. His sleep was disturbed. Was it an illusion? Was it reality? **************** Postscript: Is all the world nothing but an illusion? What is the truth? What did Buddha discover in reality? Are we all figments of imagination or is it that the seat of the Master is enveloped by ego?