Beyond The Water
(Translation of Hindi Novel - Jal Tu Jalal Tu)
Flap Matter
It’s the winner who is acclaimed as a champion by the world, A HERO! But what about the identity of the loser? Even if the player loses by the difference of a hundredth of a second he has to go back, his dream of being on top of the victory stand totally shattered. Dreams age fast and become hoary. Just as a neglected land is covered with weeds and wild grass, water decaying in cavity and puddles is covered with green moss, a man, deprived of his dreams is engulfed in a mist of gloominess. Sometimes in this gloomy fog of depression, there is a combustion that ignites sparks that are constantly a blaze in the heart of that person for years. They can either give it a scorching jealousy or a glowing conduct.
Rasbi had used all her tactics to stop her adventurous son Kinjan from following his obsession of gliding into gushing boisterous waters of the mighty Niagra and flowing with the stormy current. Little did she know that once youth is deprived of its aspirations, the only thing that is left in it is a sense of failure?
Yes, when there is no water in life, only fire remains.
And then each moment of life falls drop by drop into that fire and is charred. With each breath, one chants only one “mantra”, O water ! Thou art omnipotent.
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BEFORE THE OUTSET OF A TOILSOME JOURNEY
Water has great strength. In the right weather it pierces through the stone hard seeds and forces it to blossom into a full grown tree. Few drops are enough to extinguish the proudly flaring tongues of fire. If it percolates into the heart of a shell during “swati nakshatra” it is sure to turn it into a pearl.
Water newer let’s go it hold on humans. At times it has made blood lose it thickness and be just water or has butchered relationship among them.
This novel tells story of a woman whose mother was snatched away from her in her childhood just for a bucket full of water. Hence when the stormy gargantuan waters of the Niagras in America tried to entice her son at the cost of risking his life against its turbulent wild raging current she came very near to losing her sanity in panic.
The novel also has the story of an adolescent, an adventurous young man who was infatuated with the desire to gulp the indomitable gigantic forceful current of the Niagra down his throat just as Hanuman, the son of wind had dared to put the burning Sun into his mouth.
The white sheet of the novel is also spotted with black and yellow stains of those unsuccessful lives, which in the cycle of birth and death lost their life forces and staggered. Thus they were deprived of the ultimate element that is there in every being and were reduced to mere “souls”.
The novel will also ask you, what is nationality? A woman, whose destiny is inseparably tied to her father, her husband and her son, and she roams along with them from Country to Country.
Crossing frontiers, who decides her nationality? What’s her religion, what is her caste? And it will try to tell you what a woman is? What is her identity?
I am afraid your involvement in such desolate question may hardly leave space for entertainment. Still, I beg of you and it’s an appeal, do not get tired while reading it of a fairy like innocent girl run too far in a garden running after butterflies, protect her invisibly lest an unblemished adolescent might kiss her, in the loneliness of velvety lawns, a young man relaxing in shade might not challenge God.
This novel is not only the story of water; it is also the story of water drying up. When water dries up, the earth dries up as well and man is also set on fire set on fire. Even water it scorching in fire of repentance. In the heat of jealousy, conscience itself evaporates. When there vapors form into a cloud and knocks at the door of God, the surprised Almighty nervously looks down. He again fills the dry rivers, streams and ponds. The happy go lucky young man looks out for a chance to meet carefree young woman and fertilize an ‘egg’ in their womb. Life goes on. Heavens are relieved.
Nature gave human her own disposition when she created human beings; trees, leavers, all reflecting her image. Streams of water, along with such outlets that will take away dirty water, mille screams to nourish new born, sweat water to bathe and drop from body, streams of blood as a bond of relationship, dirty streams to throw dirt out of your being.
These stream crash barriers and flow from uppermost top to bottom. They form barricade between the sky and the earth, boundaries between a constant source of supply for salty sea water and marts of ships for the aspiration of super human beings who make history.
***
(1)
There were eleven persons in that room, all tourists from different Countries. Their languages were different and so were their views. But at that particular hour their line of thought was the same. Most of them believed that these were suicides and such suicidal acts must be stopped at any cost. Who knows there might have been attempts but now they had become history like the dead warriors who lost their lives in wars.
The museum-cum-memorial on the main road of a small American town Buffalo was relating the adventurous stories of persons who had dared to jump into the world famous Niagra Falls from dangerous heights in an attempt to go down deep with the torrential flow. No one knew what they were going to gain from this hazardous act, but the world was a witness to what they had lost. Thousands of tourists from all over the world had paid their tribute and signed their photographs with compassionate condolences. The life giving water that is called nectar had swallowed their lives. But it wasn’t the fault of water. Such a risky venture was a blunder on their part. No doubt, all of them must have been ace swimmers, someone closed himself in a wooden box and jumped into water with a lightning speed, someone designed a plastic boat like a submarine and plunged into the waterfall, some made a transparent parachute like chamber and his grave under deep water. None got success and yet they incarcerated their dream of success in history. All tourists who come to see the waterfall come to this museum as well and are astound.
As I came out I was thinking about those who had risked and lost their lives to become immortal. A little ahead there was a big impressive building that provided ticket to those who came to see the famous waterfall. It also had a big market for tourists with all sorts of attractive articles. Cuisines from all Countries were available too. From children to grown-ups, all felt a queer type of excitement. The roads trifurcated near this colossal building. One was connected to the main road that to Washington, the second one was parallel to the massive canal which passed near the whirlpool and took one to the beautiful campus of the Buffalo University. The third one reached the falls.
A very special feature drew my attention usually, in such fast flowing water fish cannot survive but with focused attention, I could see saffron colored tamarind sized fish here and there on the surface of water. The vast broad river carrying such enormous amount of water that formed this great world famous fall was very deep at some spot and quite shallow at other. The rapid force of water was displaying different moods too at different place. Most probably this submerged water burst out in a gush and formed the borderline between two great Countries. Fascinating and inviting buildings of Canada were visible across that vast extent of water.
As evening before, some youngsters while clicking their Cameras rear the main gate of the Buffalo University which is not far from the Niagara had imprisoned a slender branch of a tree unknowingly. Usually, the young tourists visiting places adjust the angle of their Cameras to photograph faces. You never know what is recorded in different Cameras at crowded tourist places and where does it reach. Later some of their things catch the time light and become famous. On that slender branch there was a house of dried twigs and grass. You could call it a nest if a bird had made it. But this was an item made human hands just for decoration.
One rarely noticed it while passing by and yet it was recorded in a Camera unknowingly. So many passersby used that road chatting among themselves, people from different places and from different walks of life.
To catch the beauty of the Niagara its full view, one had to go deep down in a lift and then take a ship that moved on waves in a royal manner like a swan. It was then that one came face to face with the unfathomable sheet of endless water. Its enormous amount and speed gave the tourists a strange sensation a feeling that they were seeing a different world altogether located inside an ocean. Most probably this was the reason why people liked to roam around before or after watching this fall where water seemed infinite, almost eternal. It must have been during such sensitive moments that some people decided to fathom this raging raving water, accepting its challenge with different devices.
It is believed that places where there is a borderline beyond which humans cannot go sprits like to live. It is also said that millions and billions of people come to this earth and then depart from here, but there are a few who are unable to leave this earth due to various reasons like unfulfilled desires that are caused by elation and despondence, injustice, curiosity, miracles, misfortune, doubts etc. and thus join the group of those who stay here. The physical body after finishing its journey remains no more as the saying goes ‘dust thou art to dust return’ but the soul yearning to achieve its purpose, breaks through this cycle of life and death and tries to acquire what it wants through super natural power. Such souls are known as ghosts and spirits.
The photograph of a home suspended from this branch, that a tourist had clicking casually put everyone in suspense. If you just cast a cursory glance at the photograph, it looked very ordinary but it had a unique feature, everything you looked at it the colors and the shades looked different. The tourist sold if to the owner of a studio who was associated with an Ad company and earned good money by using photographs for captivating ads.
Some months passed. One day an excited businessman from Turkey who dealt in fruit trade entered a printing press near his house. His son had returned from Dubai a few days back after completing his studies in business management. Father and son had great plan for extending their fruit business. The father wanted some attractive design to be printed on his packing material. The press persons showed him a variety of designs. That could be printed in fruits boxes. Among there attractive specimen there was a box made of twigs and dry grass. It looked as if fresh fruits had been packed in a big nest of some bird. Such packing gave a natural look to fruits and appeared eco-friendly too not only that the owner of the press informed him that the design was unique and absolutely original as it had been patented by the press.
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