Preface:
Once upon a time when I was a small-little boy I remember reading a short passage from the epic Mahabharata; the story of Yaksha Prashna. The mighty Pandavas were serving twelve years of exile in a forest and at the end of their exile period the Pandava princes came across a Brahmin who complained that a deer has taken his Arani (The pair of wooden blocks to generate fire by friction) on its antlers and therefore he was not able to light the fire for performance of Vedic rituals. The valiant Pandava princes set out to retrieve the Brahmin's Arani and followed the hoov-marks of the deer.
In the quest of the mysterious deer, Yudhisthir, became exhausted and thirsty. Therefore, Sahadeva, the youngest, ventured to fetch water and found a beautiful lake. The lake was devoid of any living creature except a crane (Baka). When Sahadeva attempted to take water from the lake, the crane spoke, "O Sahadeva! The water of this lake will turn into poison if you take it without satisfactorily answering my questions."
Sahadeva, in arrogance, did not pay heed and hurriedly took water from the lake. Upon drinking the water which appeared crystal clear, Sahadeva died instantly of poisoning. The next Pandava, Nakula followed Sahadeva, found the same lake, saw dead Sahadeva, and was also warned by the crane. But Nakula also ridiculed the baka and died after drinking the water. In the same manner, both valiant Arjuna, and powerful Bheema, met the same fate.
Since none of the brothers returned with water, Yudhisthir embarked in search of his younger brothers and water. Upon following the same path, Yudhisthir came across the lake and found all his brothers lying dead. Before searching for the killer of his brothers, Yudhisthir decided to drink some water from the lake. But when the crane warned him, Yudhisthir harked back and listened intently. He instantly realised that the crane holds the answer to the turn of events. In virtuosity that Yudhisthir represented, he proceeded to answer the questions put forth by the crane.
But before putting the questions to Yudhisthir, the crane revealed itself as a Yaksha (nature-spirit). The Yaksha asked 18 questions with philosophical and meta-physical ramifications.
I am a chapter:
While reading the wicked questions to my utter surprise I came across a very innocuous one : What is faster than the wind? I read it carefully one more time, twice to be absolutely sure, thrice to lock the answer for Amitabh Bachchan's sake. Having studied science and the speed of light my lightening quick answer was: Light! "EUREKA! EUREKA!!" (No! I did not run around naked. Please keep your fantasies reserved for late nights. This is a family blog.) I just looked around expecting for a round of thunderous applause, few soothing pats on the back and lively Derek O' Brien to jump out of the TV with a trophy and declaring me the undisputed winner of the national quiz championship. But there was none to be. Poor me! Amitabh Bachchan and Derek O' Brien were too busy. Even my grandmother and grandfather did not oblige. They kept staring at me through their ten inch photo-frames. I was all-alone, left to study more.
Anyway, I did not care; cheered myself up and decided to cross-check my answer...just for the sake of it. But even before I did so, the tube-light in my mind suddenly flickered on. A new question arose, enough to make Einstein proud; If light is faster than the wind then what is faster than light?
It was a tough one. I put myself in Yudhisthir's shoes and could very well understand the trauma he was going through. "What could be faster than light? Einstein?" I asked myself seeking for help. I gave up after thinking for a while. Einstein was dead. He did not reply back. Nothing came to my mind except for a minute of imposed silence and the new movie of a young-suave Salman Khan with Madhuri Dixit wearing a red-hot saree posed beside him for the ultimate showdown.
I started drooling. The whistle of the pressure cooker brought me back to life. I glanced at the book with squinty eyes as if cheating in an exam. Read the answer, slapped myself and observed two minutes of stunned silence.
Light was out of the question; it was no where near the correct answer. The witty reply given by a nonchalant Yudhisthir was: MIND.
The question stuck with me forever and so did the answer; my mind was never the same as before and neither was I.
Once upon a time when I was a small-little boy I remember reading a short passage from the epic Mahabharata; the story of Yaksha Prashna. The mighty Pandavas were serving twelve years of exile in a forest and at the end of their exile period the Pandava princes came across a Brahmin who complained that a deer has taken his Arani (The pair of wooden blocks to generate fire by friction) on its antlers and therefore he was not able to light the fire for performance of Vedic rituals. The valiant Pandava princes set out to retrieve the Brahmin's Arani and followed the hoov-marks of the deer.
In the quest of the mysterious deer, Yudhisthir, became exhausted and thirsty. Therefore, Sahadeva, the youngest, ventured to fetch water and found a beautiful lake. The lake was devoid of any living creature except a crane (Baka). When Sahadeva attempted to take water from the lake, the crane spoke, "O Sahadeva! The water of this lake will turn into poison if you take it without satisfactorily answering my questions."
Sahadeva, in arrogance, did not pay heed and hurriedly took water from the lake. Upon drinking the water which appeared crystal clear, Sahadeva died instantly of poisoning. The next Pandava, Nakula followed Sahadeva, found the same lake, saw dead Sahadeva, and was also warned by the crane. But Nakula also ridiculed the baka and died after drinking the water. In the same manner, both valiant Arjuna, and powerful Bheema, met the same fate.
Since none of the brothers returned with water, Yudhisthir embarked in search of his younger brothers and water. Upon following the same path, Yudhisthir came across the lake and found all his brothers lying dead. Before searching for the killer of his brothers, Yudhisthir decided to drink some water from the lake. But when the crane warned him, Yudhisthir harked back and listened intently. He instantly realised that the crane holds the answer to the turn of events. In virtuosity that Yudhisthir represented, he proceeded to answer the questions put forth by the crane.
But before putting the questions to Yudhisthir, the crane revealed itself as a Yaksha (nature-spirit). The Yaksha asked 18 questions with philosophical and meta-physical ramifications.
I am a chapter:
While reading the wicked questions to my utter surprise I came across a very innocuous one : What is faster than the wind? I read it carefully one more time, twice to be absolutely sure, thrice to lock the answer for Amitabh Bachchan's sake. Having studied science and the speed of light my lightening quick answer was: Light! "EUREKA! EUREKA!!" (No! I did not run around naked. Please keep your fantasies reserved for late nights. This is a family blog.) I just looked around expecting for a round of thunderous applause, few soothing pats on the back and lively Derek O' Brien to jump out of the TV with a trophy and declaring me the undisputed winner of the national quiz championship. But there was none to be. Poor me! Amitabh Bachchan and Derek O' Brien were too busy. Even my grandmother and grandfather did not oblige. They kept staring at me through their ten inch photo-frames. I was all-alone, left to study more.
Anyway, I did not care; cheered myself up and decided to cross-check my answer...just for the sake of it. But even before I did so, the tube-light in my mind suddenly flickered on. A new question arose, enough to make Einstein proud; If light is faster than the wind then what is faster than light?
It was a tough one. I put myself in Yudhisthir's shoes and could very well understand the trauma he was going through. "What could be faster than light? Einstein?" I asked myself seeking for help. I gave up after thinking for a while. Einstein was dead. He did not reply back. Nothing came to my mind except for a minute of imposed silence and the new movie of a young-suave Salman Khan with Madhuri Dixit wearing a red-hot saree posed beside him for the ultimate showdown.
I started drooling. The whistle of the pressure cooker brought me back to life. I glanced at the book with squinty eyes as if cheating in an exam. Read the answer, slapped myself and observed two minutes of stunned silence.
Light was out of the question; it was no where near the correct answer. The witty reply given by a nonchalant Yudhisthir was: MIND.
The question stuck with me forever and so did the answer; my mind was never the same as before and neither was I.
