EPISODE 3

Next morning the bus started but every one was really nervous about breakdown of bus. They were keen listening to the moments of bus. At any time the engine might send the thudding moment & once again the hallabulla might happen. One of the passengers felt he heard the thud but the bus was unaffected. He smiled thinking it to be his imagination. And again the engine send a thud but still the bus went unaffected . And once again the thudding moment was sent by engine was no doubt successful of its breakdown.

Patanjali got down the bus, went to the river side & bent down over the water , his face visible on the water waves.It was also visible when the next day he was travelling on a boat house it was his first ride in a boat house, like the one kettuvalam boat house of kerala.

They were safe to travel as anyone would say but something in him said they are precarious. Some ten passengers along with patanjali floated oared by a boat-man,just before dawn while the mist lay on the river&they watched white eguets & cormovantsin the forks of bleached stuned trees.In shadow of bushes he saw something unusual. He saw a hand rised from among the bushes & as the boat approached the land nearer & day light crepta little more & a position where the bushes cleared enough to be watched what was happening he saw some one bending over another. He seemed to be eating the other man. He was a canibal, he thought and shouted " ye canibal ...get out from there." He rose up & was waiting to get an another chance to watch it. The sight was clear. He could see no one there . He could not understand the rational thing.

The river is silent weeping to the dead souls on the bank of yamuna,in the early morning. Corpses some overlapped, burnt & half burnt thud to the nose with the peccant smell of evil crying every one going to there feel the evil crying , the dead themselves are supposed to have been crying , to stop the evil parctise. As water to sulphuric acid , they burn just because they cannot stop being burnt.Oars creaked as our boat man rowed them closer to the ghats . There was a half burnt body drifting sloewly over the river and next to the burningbody, a few feet from it, an othrodox man was bathing & the next discharging his wate all within , to the taste of which the another man praised the god touching his head with water & bowing to it.Corpse after coppse burns and smell & goes. Man after man come & goes & what is remainder is water in the ditch.

Going back into the history , deep into the epics one finds the story of evolution of ganga it is said that ganga is the wish, which coluld clean all the sins. But it now happens that man has become too great sinner whose sins she could not bear any more -not a gram more. As their house boat caame more closer to the ghats, the long silence was broken, the mist began to glow yellower swirling away as bells rang drums boomed , gongs clanged , the steps ghats glistered , light noosed turrents & mushrooming umbrellas came to sight . From across the waters sonorous sanskrit chants touched them with melody. The varanasi woke. The boat touched the ghat & stopped at panchaganga a small knot of devotees stood chanting around a pandit with incense, flowers & a hand-held brass made stand glittering with the flames of tiny oil lamps. Here is a better world. The morning arti has an evocative quantity on all of its own.On the ghats the priests sit under the mushroom umbrellas & offer succor to the bereaved . The vendors sell leaf-lamp diya to float on the water .

From there he moved into the labyainth of lanes & sub-lanes that thread through the canyons of city. Probably varanasi is the oldest as well as the modren living city in the world. Cows jostle men for their way & men sometimes bow their heads over the cows foreheaeds and lead their way. As he passed the lanes & sub-lanes strains of hindustani classical music waft down from a verandah high above he went to a hotel where in a teenager offers a varanasi-breakfast of hard puri like 'kachoris',vegetable curry & sweeet sauce for they are the apple of living city's eyes.A phone call to the control office & a young man of twenty years came to the hotel to guide him to the office

they stopped at the kashi vishwanath temple, with its golden towers & a dome . There are a estimated 2,100 temples in varanasi & many thousands shrines , so one can spend a life time visiting every place of worship.

During the two days of his stay he visited some thirty temples. They collected some water from the river in a container for testing. The office in varanasi the most ill -disciplined . When patanjali first visited the office , there was no watchman , no wffice staff & no suitable lab. There was just a library of books and a palisadeof files.He got a watchman installed. The watch man was a old man ,'arif baig'.He was in great difficulties & needed a job. His sons have left him to the streets & was left to the mercy of pedestrians, he was picked up by patanjali.Now the only one patanjali could admire in the officewas arif. He was punctual.But he thought that there waqs no need for arif to be so punctual when when no one cared to visit the office. But he knew that this office would be the one where he has to command in the future

it was 12:30 the next morning. Patanjali got into a bus after having his breakfast.The bus started but stopped as soon as the engine sent the thudding moment.Once again it was started and this time it will not let them down till at luckwnow ,& if possible till at agra.Patanjali had collected more than enough water.From the river in a big container.He closed his eyes and the next time he opened his yes he was at luckwnow.A young girl led her way inside the bus . He felt that someone occupied his adjacent seat, opened his eyes & to his surprise he saw her beautiful face infront of him. She bent down down to leave her sandals.

Classically he coughed & asked "hello , do you wat anything?"
"no,iam just taking off my shoes"
"i see by the way my name is patnjali"
"my name is nafisa"
"studying at lucknow arts college ?"he asked looking at her uniform.
"o yes what are you?"
"pollution control officer in agra"
"who is the officer in varanasi"
" i my self. but my working office is in agra . Now you see, the water in this for testing by myself at agra"
Even as he was talking to her she closed her eyes and seemed to have caugt a nap.

He too closed his eyes but no sooner did he close his eyes than she cried "are you married ?"
"no .not yet",smiling
And then there was not a dialouge between them until the bus came to a halt at sufipur.

"hey patanjali"she interrepted.
"i will tell a joke i know to a person i travel with & be told a joke by him. its my hobby.first of all i would tell you a joke. a very pretty girl had lots of her boy friends trying to date her. one persistant admirer kept pasteting her with phone calls every day.one night he phoned her & said "i would give up any thing for you"for which she lowered her voice and said"give up your hope,don" now you have to tell me one"
"two died & waited at the gate for admission into heaven. the watchman said"there is place for one person right now. which one of you are more humble?"
"not bad . Ok.then bye!"she got down, waved her hand to him & went away.The ride from safipur to agra seemed to him to be writing a massive. Ye he must be admiring for perceiving a liking attitude towards boring things.He believed that every part of mans life is precious.It is boring when you are alone, really enjoyable when you share your feelings withother, when don't haveany one you can share your feelings with yourself-yoursoul & heart.

He is a poet & i is natural for him to have such thoughts . As he is a quintessential observer of human life used to exaine every aspects of other people's behaviour & note them down in his dairy- may be this of some help to him to write a poem or a lyric.Lets see what he did then. He was on his way to the office in a taxi. After reaching agra by train from safipur, the taxi driver was vexed with traffic & pollution he was even vexed with the routine songs in the deck.So he sang a classical song by himself; patanjali noting this kept his fingures tapping on the seat , as a way to enjoy the boring life. Suddenly there were shouts and squeels at one end of road.People were yelling out and fightingwith each other and burning others posters& flags.One young boy 16 year old dipped his shirt in synthetic oil, caught it in flames & again in the tar container .A blast blew him off while the container itself flew into air and then restored to its original position a little later.

The whole area was in a panic no more 5 sec. All the people in the street were breathing smoke.Smoke and burningpapers kept on rolling , on the car top from the front.Patanjali and car driver got down to understand the situation . The the taxi -driver made out something & told patanjali that it was caused by the agitation spectators."pakistan v/s india cocacola cup semifinals.....sir... the agituted spectators cause the menance .First time cricket match is held here..." as the smoke began receding within half a minute, patanjali tried to remove the burning papers that were rolling over the top of car.As he was removing the burning papers a figure flashed before his eyes a girl was moving with a bunch of flowers in the hands.

page xxx

A glimpse of an angel 
A glance for an ogle
A 'gajjal' fiddles at the damsel
When my heart sent the gale
With love lorn heart strings
    heart strings....

1.
Lonely when i look for you
Lonely when iam love sick for you
I feel my love, i feel my love , i see you my love
In these heart strings
Heart strings

Over and over my heart goes on
And over & over my heart went on
As far as it can sustain the strain
When these impulses twirled
Did exodus in a whirl
Then over where they saw the twilight
There they saw the glittering expanse of becon lights
With love lorn heart strings
With love lorn heart strings

Heart to heart add upto love
Love to love add to heart
Love and heart make parley loitering

Heart to heart add upto love
Love to love add to heart
Love and heart make parley loitering

With love lorn heart strings, heart strings
With love lorn heart strings, heart strings
With heart strings.....


Shivering lips and starving bodies
Sparawl over one other
Join aches & bear the brunts of zither
They take them in their sojourn
Look to make things xxx
Take to heals and wings the same longing
Hurdle & stumble in the jungle
They miss the way , miss the way
Hurry on !,hurry on!,&on,&on

The time to drop their fears
Kiss each other with frailing tears
And then the love starts again
With love lorn heart strings, heart strings...
With ailing heart strings...
Heart strings...

Lonely when i look for you
Loney when iam love sick for you
I feel my love, i feel my love , i see you my love
In these heart strings
With heart strings