Dead Cat digging into the plant

http://www.abhirajgupta.in/dead-cat-digging-into-the-plant.html

I woke up at 8.00 in the morning and saw my father panting in the drawing room. He called all family members and said, “I am going to tell you something. Please listen carefully.”

We all were surprised as generally father does not come panting inside drawing room. He is very old and goes to his room immediately after watering plants even if it for 10 minutes.

He said, “I went near one of the plants kept outside and saw cat paws in the soil. I dug the soil in the flower vase and saw a cat inside. I was terrified but dug more soil and took out the cat.”

We all listened with great interest and were constantly staring at him without blinking our eyes as if it was some suspense story.

My father asked, “I am unable to understand what I should do?”

My mother said, “Throw away the dead cat and sprinkle Gangajal (holy water) on the plant and inside the soil. And then you take a thorough bath to avoid any curse in future.”

But he was not ready to do this. We all advised him the same thing and finally he agreed.

Later on the scavenger came and we asked the guy to throw the dead cat somewhere in the ground so that it does not rot outside our house.

Sometimes there are strange events like this that we come across and not able to think what should be done.

We still think about this incidence whenever we come across any cat or we see any mark in the vases soil.

 

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Taking Kailash’s ashes to Kailash-Part2

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We met in the evening at 5. Piyush asked me, “Why don’t we steal ashes that must have been kept in the Urn. Otherwise ashes will be taken to Haridwar the next day”.

I did not like the idea. I asked what would happen if we were caught stealing the urn. We would be ashamed in front of everyone- our parents, relatives, our neighbours. I just could not digest this idea.

Now Piyush started. Obviously he was angry. One of his best friends was not present among us and his friend; I was not listening to him. He threw a soft punch on my face and I became imbalanced and fell down on the floor just next to the first stair. If it had been a few inches away my face would have been bleeding. I was furious now and was about to smash him when he spoke very softly.

“My dear friend, why don’t you try to understand? We will have to do for our best friend. What is the point of this life if we cannot think about our best friend”?

I thought about it for some time and said, “Yaar you are right”.

We had to do this for our best friend. Our best friend never wanted to part with us and we could not think of his funeral without us.

The plan was decided and I had to steal the ashes.

Next morning I went to Kailash’s house when his father had gone out to buy grocery. I could not go through the main gate as I was a thief not a visitor or a member of the family. I checked the central window of the side wall and tried to open it.

Fortunately in one shot I opened the window and peeped inside the room. No one was there. Only his mom should have been at home. I did not hear any noise. I went to the entrance of the drawing room where everyone was praying. I was nervous. What would happen if anyone sees me as many people knew us?

I withdrew from there and went back to the room.

But.

Piyush was watching me. He waived his hand to ask if I had the ashes.

I went back to the entrance of drawing room. I didn’t have any choice now. I had to do this.

I searched for the urn. Fortunately it was kept on the table attached on the right wall of the drawing room.

I was standing at the right place now. The table was about only an inch away. I waited for the right moment.

Suddenly there was some noise of tyres screeching outside the house. Within minutes there was some commotion in the drawing room.

In about two minutes I was out of the room from where I peeped inside.

I and piyush ran from there within seconds and didn’t see anywhere. We didn’t want to take any chance. We had the ashes.

We had to run for the railway station. We had to take Shatabdi express for Gaurmukh. We had very limited time as we had to come back the next day otherwise we would have come in the limelight.

We reached railway station and checked timings. Shatabdi was scheduled for 12.35 in the noon. We checked our watch. It was 1.10 and the train had already left. We checked at the counter if there was any seat available in case the train was late. The counter guy didn’t look at us and simply said, “No seat is available”.

Late arrival and departure of trains somewhere from an hour and 10 hours is very common in Indian Railways.

Our chance of getting the train was very bright even if we were late. We again inquired but this time we were in style, “Bhaiya theek se check karo, seat available hogi”.

The counter guy became irritated. There were many people behind us in the queue. The middle aged man said, “Theek se check kiya tha, tabi bataya tha”. People behind us started talking among themselves and we felt embarrassed.

We sat there for some time and decided to ask if there was any other train to Gaurmukh. The next scheduled train was at 3 o’clock. The train was Gaurmukh Kanti.

We went outside and had our lunch.

We waited for the train. As usual the train was late this time also.

Surprisingly it was late by 20 minutes only.

We boarded the train. The train was crowded and had halted here for only 15 minutes. We got our seats.

Gaurmukh was about 5 hour’s journey.

Luckily Piyush had map in his rucksack. We checked the map to check the stations that would come before Gaurmukh so that we do not miss it in case we fall sleep.

After some time we went to the toilet. The train was very crowded and people were sitting on the floor making it difficult to reach the toilet.

We managed to reach and felt relieved. We struggled again while coming back to our seat.

It was 5 in the evening. We were feeling hungry a bit. We had Namkeen mixture and few assorted biscuits. We were having it when suddenly ticket checker (TC) came. Badge on his pocket had Bhan Singh as his name engraved on the batch. He came to our seat and asked for the ticket.

Piyush was now feeling a bit happy as few biscuits had entered in his stomach. He very easily put his hand in his shirt pocket to take out the tickets. He felt uneasy and looked at me. I was not bothered as earlier he had shown humour many times. He shook my shoulder and started searching all pockets and his rucksack.

Now I had a hint that Piyush was serious this time. I asked him to check each and every pocket again. He asked me to check my pockets also. I was sure I didn’t have the ticket as Piyush had kept the ticket in his pocket after getting it from the counter.

Bhan singh was looking at us with his right hand in his trouser pocket.

We stared at one another for some time. Now we felt embarrassed and thought of next action. He looked at Bhan Singh with low eyes and became nervous. The TC said, “why both of you are travelling without a ticket. People like you make us feel ashamed and people loose trust if we do not come for checking”.

Piyush was nervous. I told the TC that it must have been lost while going to the toilet. But TC was not ready to listen. We were told to pay the fine of Rs 600 each.

Piyush put his hands in his trouser pocket and took out the amount.

The purse was not there. I felt irritated and started shouting at Piyush, “what is happening? Can’t you take care of your belongings?”

Piyush had no answer. I calmed down myself otherwise things would have gone weird.

I took out my wallet and found only 2 notes of Rs 500. Nothing was surprise. I had asked Piyush to keep money and then we had to share at the end of the journey.

Our rucksacks had some money but that was for emergency and for getting back to home. We didn’t want to use that money.

We pleaded with TC. He simply said, “It happens almost every day with one or another passenger and especially with people of your age”.

We had to get down at the next station. Everyone was looking at us and our faces were red. We got down at the next station.

The next station was Garhpeera. We had not heard about it. We opened our rucksack to check if the map was still there.

Yes, it was there.

We were about half way from Gaurmukh. It was evening and rather dark. It was a small town. We enquired mode of transport for Gaurmukh.

There was none.

                                                                                                                           To be continued…

You have to decide-1

http://www.abhirajgupta.in/you-have-to-decide-1.html

Prabhu Dayal, the sweeper was smoking in the hospital store room. Suddenly Sheetal, the nurse came into the room and was annoyed to see him smoking.

He was frightened to see her.

Sheetal said, “Prabhu I am going to report this to higher authorities. You repeatedly make mistakes and there is no choice.”

Sorry madam, I will not do this again.

But Sheetal was adamant. Prabhu cried and took out Rs 100 note and handed it to Sheetal. Sheetal saw him for few seconds and then left the room.

As soon as Sheetal crossed the corridor, she saw Dr Kishore quietly entering the room where he saw patients.

The moment Kishore saw the nurse, he froze. Sheetal came near him and asked why he came late.

Kishore said, “I was struck in the traffic. But I want to say one thing .Sometimes God can spare me but I cannot be spared from your eyes.”

Sheetal smiled and asked, “why you repeatedly come late. Poor patients have to wait for long time before they get treated.”

Dr kishore took out wallet from his left hip pocket and handed Rs 500 note to the nurse.

=========

Sheetal was from poor family and had been serving the hospital for last 10 years. She had seen many ups and downs in her life.

She left the hospital at about 4 in the evening and went in the direction of her little cottage which was a walking distance from the hospital.

Many children were playing in the open ground outside her cottage. They saw her coming and surrounded her, “hello madam, where are our gifts.”

She took out some gifts that she bought and handed over to the children who were very happy to receive gifts. Suddenly Sheetal remembered and asked, “Bhanu, how is your mother now.”

Bhanu was happy. He said, “Mummy is much better now as the medicine you gave yesterday was very effective.”

=========

Next day Sheetal came out of the ICU unit and went outside. Michael was inside the ICU and saw her taking note from one of the staff.

He came out and said, “Nurse, my father is in ICU and is about to die. This is the insurance policy for Rs 50 lakhs.” Sheetal asked, “why are you telling me this. What should I do with this?”

Michael informed her that his father had been ill for last many years and was not improving. He had 3 sisters who had to be married and old mother who was ill.

Nurse became furious and said, “I save human lives and I cannot be murderer.”

Michael convinced her, “I can understand what is going on in your mind. But I do not earn well and have so many liabilities. It will be good if you could end my father’s life so that he doesn’t suffer every day. Ending his life by removing ventilator will make other 4 people’s lives better.”

Michael left the hospital and was thinking what action will be taken by the nurse.

Sheetal was confused. She had not ended any life before. But ending one life will improve life of 4 people.

Sometimes we come across such situation where we cannot decide as one decision can change our life.

If this happens with you what would you have done?

 

Sculptor shuts himself inside a rock

http://www.abhirajgupta.in/sculptor-shuts-himself-inside-a-rock.html

Last year, French sculptor Abraham Poincheval, 44, had shut himself inside a rock carving for a week at a Paris museum. This is among his many acts of isolation.

In his latest act of isolation he climbed into a sculpture of a prehistoric lion man at Aurignac, France where he survived on 20 liters of water along with dried fruit and meat.

As per Abraham, these acts allow people to directly interact with him.

Earlier he lived in a plastic bottle as it travelled along the Rhone River. For 2 weeks he lived inside a bear sculpture.

As every artist has his/her own way of creating a niche and interacting with people, these acts of isolation are Poincheval way.

Water n Metal available now outside our solar system

http://www.abhirajgupta.in/water-n-metal-available-now-outside-our-solar-system.html

Recently scientists have discovered some trace of water and multiple metals on Exoplanet. Exoplanet is a star revolving around a solar system.

Scientists from University of Cambridge in UK & Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias(IAC) in Spain have discovered WASP-127b, a  giant planet with partly clear skies and heavy presence of multiple metals including sodium, potassium and lithium in its atmosphere. This was not available in earlier Exoplanets.

Scientists used Gran Telescopic Canarias (GTC) located in Canary Islands to study this phenomenon.

Radius of WASP-127b is 1.4 times larger than Jupiter but its mass is only 20% as compared to Jupiter and it takes only 4 days for this Exoplanet to orbit around its parent planet.

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be launched in Year 2020 that will further investigate what lies inside WASP-127b. This telescope is a result of collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. This will be scientific successor to the Hubble Space Telescope.

 

Lewis-Guilty or Not Guilty

http://www.abhirajgupta.in/lewis-guilty-or-not-guilty.html

Karan who was on the driver’s seat was waiting for his friend Rahul. Rahul was taking his turn for last 10 minutes on the helpless little black girl. The little girl didn’t see at the face. She was crying and bleeding profusely.

Once done, both friends drove towards the isolated part of the highway and threw the girl and the beer cans on the agricultural land along the highway.

xxx

Lewis was busy at work and came late in night at 8.00. His wife Carolina informed him that angel had not come home from tuition. Lewis said, “Don’t worry. She will come back. Must be playing with friends.”

At 8.30 both lewis and carolina were worried. They called the tuition teacher who told them that she had left the tuition centre at 7.00. Tuition centre was 15 minutes distance from their home.

They called all her friends but no one had any clue about her.

Finally at 10.30 they filed complaint at the police station. Inspector assured them that they would start investigation immediately and some positive news should come in next few hours.

On way back home they met a man who came running somewhere from the open fields.

Lewis stopped him and asked him reason for his running. He informed that a little girl was lying unconsciousness in the field.

Lewis asked the man to sit in the car and they all reached the spot where the girl was lying.

They were shocked to see their 12 year old angel lying on the ground with very little clothes on her body. There were few locals who were discussing among themselves if anyone knew her.

Lewis and Carolina were quite for some time as they didn’t know what to do. After sometime Lewis lifted angel in his arms and covered her body with his shirt. He was literally crying and cursing his stars.

xxx

Siddhartha woke up every morning at 5.30 and went to 24×7 restaurant to collect cash from the staff and update records with the total cash collected. It was a part time work of 2 hours. He would come back home, prepare bed tea for himself and his wife Rekha and would leave for his law firm. He was financially not good and hence took up restaurant work to earn extra money.

The law firm was owned by Ranjan Kothari who had built the office about 15 years ago after getting his law degree. But his license was cancelled 5 years back due to his excessive drinking habit. The court had found him guilty. As he couldn’t see his office in ruins he handed over keys to Siddhartha who was working in his firm. Siddhartha, a senior employee was very honest and down to earth. Now Siddhartha had kept a secretary.  Deepti used to handle all office work in the absence of Siddhartha.

xxx

Lewis approached Siddhartha who was his one of the best friend, next morning in his office. Siddhartha was surprised to see Lewis who seemed to be very angry and upset.

Lewis narrated the horrible incident and informed his friend that he would shoot both criminals once he gets a chance.  Siddhartha didn’t like this statement and cautioned his friend not to take law in his hands.

But Lewis was adamant. He repeatedly asked Siddhartha if he would fight his case as he could not afford any lawyer.  Finally Siddhartha agreed.

xxx

Two days later the court date was fixed. Both the criminals were brought to the court. People were sitting on the benches and Lewis was one of them.

After the hearing of the case the police constable brought the criminals to the corridor that led to the exit gate.

Suddenly very loud sound of three shots was heard and both the criminals were lying dead on the floor. They were bleeding profusely. The police constable was also injured as one fire was shot on his leg.

Lewis was standing in the corridor facing both the criminals and the police constable. He had gun in his right hand.  Siddhartha coming out of the courtroom saw all this and was speechless.

xxx

Siddhartha met Lewis same evening in the coffee shop and asked why he did this? It was no point shooting at the criminals in the court premises and that too in front of everyone.  Lewis said he was boiling with revenge and had no choice.

xxx

It was 10.00 in the morning. Deepti informed Siddhartha that Ranjan sir had called just now and wanted him at his residence at 4.00.

Ranjan called Siddhartha every week to take updates on the office functioning and legal cases. Ranjan was not practicing law for some years but being an influential person his legal eye was sharper than Siddhartha. Ranjan on many occasions had advised Siddhartha that won him cases.

Siddhartha reached sharp at 4.00. Ranjan asked, “What is your opinion on Lewis? You will have to prove him insane to win this case. You have no other option.” Siddhartha didn’t get chance to speak.

John Douglas had the same habit as Ranjan and both friends enjoyed drinking the whole day without doing anything. Douglas was a renowned psychiatrist who could do anything to turn legal case in his favour.

xxx

The judge had appointed jury of 12 people who would hear each and every aspect of the case and would decide if Lewis was guilty of murder or not.

After several court hearings the case had become complicated in view of the fires shot by Lewis in front of everyone. State advocate was of the opinion that Lewis was in senses when he shot and he was not insane.

The judge asked the jury if they had arrived at any decision. They said that 6 of them are in favour and 6 are against Lewis.

xxx

Ranjan, Siddhartha and John were sitting at Ranjan’s residence thinking what to do to win this case. Winning this case meant money and fame for them. It meant something for Siddhartha to win this case as winning would have increased his clients base.

Next day the court hearing was started and John was called in the witness box. He looked at the Judge, then at the jury and then at the public. He started speaking by giving his brief introduction and how he had been helping insane patients.

Siddhartha came to the witness box and asked John, “What is your opinion about Lewis?”

John looked at the jury, became serious and said, “if my daughter would have been raped, I had been filled with anger and must have thought of shooting the criminals to take revenge. I believe if your daughter of 12 years would have been raped, you would have done the same.”

On hearing this some of the jury members were sympathetic and their eyes were wet. John saw this and sensed that he was going in the right direction.

He continued, “what Lewis did was absolutely correct. He could not think what was right and what was wrong as his mind was occupied with the image of his daughter who was lying in the hospital crying for his father. He had become insane.”

There was a silence for some time and then there was a loud applause in the courtroom. The judge asked the jury to declare their result by 4.00 in the evening.

The court was resumed at 4.00 and everyone was waiting for the decision of the jury. Now everything depended upon jury’s decision.

At 4.15 the jury confirmed their decision and handed over the piece of paper to the judge. The judge looked at the paper and then at the crowd in the courtroom.

Some people were praying and some were waiting for the result.

The judge cleared his throat and read the decision. “The court finds Mr. Lewis not guilty of murder”.

Within few seconds, the sound of claps could be heard everywhere and everyone thanked God for this positive decision.

The court was adjourned and people started going out of the court.

Lewis and Siddhartha left the courtroom and saw hundreds of people waiting for them to come. Press reporters were also waiting to live telecast interview with Lewis and Siddhartha.

After the interview everyone wanted to meet Lewis who had become a hero. A huge crowd met Siddhartha to get appointment to fight their legal cases.

Lewis reached home and hugged his daughter and wife.

Siddhartha reached office and relaxed. He closed office early as he wanted to enjoy evening with his wife.

Taking Kailash’s ashes to Kailash-Part1

http://www.abhirajgupta.in/taking-kailashs-ashes-to-kailash-part1.html

It was Piyush’s idea.

We had to take our best friend’s ashes to Kailash. We wanted to give proper funeral to him.

Kailash was one of the naughtiest in the class. He was good in imagining things and could write stories which he used to write in leisure time.

He had written few stories and competed in intra and inter school competitions. But his teacher and rather our teacher Mr. Mehra always bullied him. Not because he competed in story telling but he was not as good in studies as others were.

This hurt us as Kailash, who was our best friend was good in imagination and storytelling but was never motivated in the school.

Shreya was a good girl of medium built with dove eyes. Her complexion was fair and rather attractive. Shreya liked Kailash for last couple of months but neither of them expressed their feelings. They both were introvert.

One day Kailash asked both of us and asked me, “Sam how I should approach Shreya so that I can express my feelings”?

We thought and finally Piyush said, “Why don’t you take her to the cafeteria and have a cup of tea. Start talking about the routine things, evaluate the scenario after 10-15 minutes and speak up”.

Kailash was reluctant and asked what would happen if she refused.

Piyush and me laughed and told him that now also you have nothing in hand. At least you would know the status of feelings.

Kailash’s eyes had shine now and started thinking of the proposal.

Piyush and I were hiding in the bushes and waiting for the teacher to come out of his home. It was 4 in the evening and we had followed all the way from our school in Vijay Sheher in Delhi to Prahaladpur. It was a distance of about 10 kms between two points.

I started my Yamaha motorbike and picked Piyush and started following the professor. Mr. Mehra had some good habits and did not go home directly from school.

After doing school chores he would leave at about 3-3.30 in the noon and would visit restaurants and bars. We heard from some of the school mates that he was seen with girls also.  Once it was a blonde. Second time there was someone with short hairs and very fair complexion and very short clothes.

I am not sure if my colleagues peeped into the key hole of the door.

Today we had heard in the corridor that he would be going straight to his home. Hence we decided to follow him.

We could have done what we intended without his presence but we wanted him to see and observe what was going on inside us. We had lost our best friend because of Mehra.

Sometimes Mehra beat him up if our friend Kailash was not able to answer any question. Mehra sometimes also abused him and this was something that made me and Piyush angry and provoked retaliation.

About a month back Kailash was very upset when we had to go for triple bike riding on Rx100. It was a very humid and hot evening in the month of July. We wanted to play basketball in the playground where the state corporation had designed very awesome basket ball ground.

We didn’t think it was wise to ask at this time.

We played for about half an hour and saw large number of audiences watching our game. We had practiced the game enough to attract large number of audience.

We were tired and were wiping our sweat when Piyush asked Kailash why he was upset.

Kailash had got thrashing from his dad as he was not concentrating on his studies. He said, “I am not getting any support from school and home. What I should do. I think I should commit suicide”.

We did not feel good. We told him he should do what he feels like and make story writing or anything else his passion so that he becomes perfect and stand on his feet.

Kailash was a short but chubby fellow with short hair. He liked wearing round necks with black denims. Sometimes he wore black cap and brown shades.

Fifteen days later Piyush came running to me in his night suit. It was 7 in the morning.

It was very shocking for both of us as we had never thought of this even in our dreams. Kailash was found dead at his home when Piyush went to his home to call him to get ready so that we all three best buddies could go to school together. The distance was only about 10 Kms but roads were very busy with heavy traffic everywhere due to office hours. No one was following traffic rules.

Kailash was not feeling good neither at home nor in the school. Behavioral change was noticed in him and even his special friend Shreya did not talk to him much now. His attitude towards life was negative and hence Shreya did not feel good talking to her hubby.

But she should have remained loyal. That’s what we thought.

If your best (girl) friend does not show interest especially during bad times, it becomes difficult for a boy to live.

Police was questioning Kailash’s parents and neighbours. We knew both of us would also be questioned.

Police had to question us as we were his best friends.

Parents of all three of us knew each other. We had been friends since 8 years. I and Kailash were in the same school since class two. Piyush had joined the school in class three when his Dad shifted here.

We were listening to some Pop and rock songs of Michael Jackson in the cafeteria when Piyush came and started singing Hindi songs and teased us for listening English songs. Kailash and Piyush had a short fight over this issue and I along with four guys came to the rescue of both boys.

For couple of days Piyush did not talk to both of us. He was a reserved person and did not have any friend in the school even after a month. I saw him many times sitting on the bench in the ground during sports period. Even in the class he did not speak much except hi and bye during interval between two periods.

One day me and Kailash sat next to him on the bench and asked why he kept quiet. He did not speak for few minutes and spoke when we asked again. He became emotional and few tears rolled out onto his cheeks. He told us there was a fight almost every day between his Mom and Dad and he did not get much love from both of them.

We all sat quiet for some time. Finally I extended my hand and asked Piyush, “Can we be friends”?

He immediately extended his hand and we shook hands. Kailash was standing and was watching and did not say anything. I said, “Kailash can you please also shake hands”. Kailash stared at me as if he was lost somewhere and someone suddenly jerked him.

Kailash said, “Of course”. He shook hands with Piyush. Piyush again cried a bit. He wept his tears and was happy and said, “Thanks”.

We all three were friends now. Later on everyone in the school knew all three of us as the best buddies.

We were not expecting his parents to welcome us as we were not good friends in the eyes of Kailash’s parents. We were responsible for neglect of his studies.

For us it was better to leave for the school. We went to the school but we were thinking about our best friend. We saw Shreya but she did not ask anything about Kailash. We didn’t feel good but said nothing.

After the school we went straight to our home. We saw many people coming in and out of Kailash’s house. We were surprised that funeral had been done about an hour ago.

Both of us were boiling with anger as no one waited for us for the funeral. How could we be left? We had to be present in the funeral. We were his best friends.

We both parted for our homes as our parents could question unexpected things and we did not want to throw our anger on them.

We met in the evening at 5. Piyush asked me, “Why don’t we steal ashes that must have been kept in the Urn. Otherwise ashes will be taken to Haridwar the next day”.

To be continued…

Evil Spirits

http://www.abhirajgupta.in/evil-spirits.html

I went to the temple today morning where Panditji had to perform Havan. I had visited this temple earlier on the recommendation of someone known in our family. This temple is known for accomplishment of your wishes. You make a wish and it will be done.

The Sankat Mochan temple is located near sector 22 of Rohini area. It does not occupy much area but whatever area it occupies is kept clean and hundreds of devotees throng this temple every Tuesday and Saturday with very long queues spreading over half a kilometer. On other days you will not find anyone outside the temple premises.

I reached with my wife at 8.15 which was 15 minutes earlier than the scheduled time. We touched our forehead on the entrance stair and saw about 10 people waiting inside in front of the main area where prominent idols of God and Goddess were kept. I inquired from the Panditji inside there when Sharma Panditji would come to perform Havan. He told us to sit and wait on the mat lying on the floor.

Five minutes later another Panditji came and was sitting on a desk. He called each of us and asked to pay Rs 551 and give yellow slip issued on our first visit. He marked the slip with his sign and entered details in register. We now had to go upstairs.

We went upstairs and sat on large mat lying on the left side of the room. Assistance was arranging for the things to be kept for each one of us. Sharma Panditji came in next 10 minutes. Some other arrangements had also to be done.

Finally Puja started at 9.30 which an hour later than the scheduled time. There were 11 small mats for each one of us. We sat on the mats facing one another and Puja started. We all had to keep our eyes closed with both hands folded near our heart. Within 5 minutes of starting of Puja, I could sense noise of breath being taken by someone that was sounding like ghost.

I kept my eyes shut. Sharma Panditji was enchanting mantras and we had to remember our God and Goddess whom we worship daily.

Images of Lord Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva and Goddess Durga, Saraswati and Laxmiji came to my mind. But..

Within seconds my mind again diverted to breathing sound that was becoming louder and hollowed as if it was echoing. I could not remain my eyes shut and open my eyes.

I was frightened to see the girl sitting in the opposite line. She was shaking and her head was moving in circular motion first clockwise and then clockwise. 2 minutes later the girl sitting exactly opposite me also started shaking and her hands and legs were shaking. Sharma Panditji called people who had come with these girls and were sitting on the large mat. They were asked to take girls outside the room as they had started shouting in echoing mode.

The entire room was filled with fear and everyone was thinking what would happen next.

The moment both girls were about to leave the room, a lady sitting on the last mat in the opposite line started shaking and shouting. Now everyone was in deep fear. She was lying on the floor and was dragging herself in opposite direction just like a snake rattles. Panditji immediately asked the man who had come with this lady to take her also outside the room. Once all 3 were out, the Puja again started. Within minutes shriek sound of all girls/lady started coming inside the room. Panditji asked the assistance to lock the room door from inside so that he could concentrate on his Puja and enchanting of mantras.

The Puja continued for next half an hour during which we all continued to hear shriek sounds sometimes of one person or two persons and sometimes all three people.

We were asked to go outside the room for some time as Panditji needed additional time to prepare for Havan. Not the same room where three people were suffering but open balcony. In fact it was not open balcony but it was roof adjacent to Puja room.

I thought of going in the outside room from where continuous shriek sound was coming. I went inside the room and saw one girl standing on the floor and suddenly throwing her body on the floor with head banging on the floor. Another girl was moving her neck in clockwise motion with her loose hair covering her entire face. Lady was lying on the floor and was crying very loudly. Some people had come from outside wanting to meet Panditji. But since Panditji was busy they sat in the outside room and watched the horrible scene.

After some time we were called inside as Havan had to start. Havan Kund was brought inside the room and 8 mats were kept all around the Kund.

We had to perform as per instructions of Panditji. Panditji had instructed everyone sitting on 8 mats and other people who had come with us to say loudly “Swaha” after every spoon of ghee is poured inside the Havan. Ghee was necessary so that fire does not extinguish but intensity of fire increases with every spoon of ghee.

Havan continued for about 20 minutes. Once we finished another set of 8 people came and sat on the same 8 mats. Same procedure was followed again and eventually Havan was concluded.

We all stood now as Aarti had to be performed. Panditji instructed his assistance to bring all three people inside the room.

We felt horrified. What would happen if evil spirits continued to haunt those 3 people and what would happen if they attacked any one of us?

They were coming inside and we all stared at the entrance door with curious eyes. Now they all were pacified souls with no breathing sound coming. We all felt relieved.

Aarti was performed and we all contributed money whatever everyone had to give. We all took Prasad and were asked to leave and anyone having any doubt could wait and contact Panditji.

Everyone started to leave but looked at those three souls before leaving to check if everything was fine.

Those three people were still quite.

I got a chance to ask Panditji why this happened. He replied, “This is the influence of wind that gathers momentum because of evil spirits present all around.  The spirits are present because sins of people are washed away once they come here and Havan is performed. But you need not worry; evil spirits leaves human body in the process of performing Havan.”

I felt satisfied with this answer and left for the home.

World of Zombies-Part 3-The conclusion

http://www.abhirajgupta.in/world-of-zombies-part-3-the-conclusion.html

Incidence 4

There is one more instance where funeral home workers in the Colombian city of Cali got shock of their lives in 2010 when a 45 year old woman named Noelia Serna being prepared for burial started breathing again. She had been admitted to hospital due to heart attack.

This is a Lazarus syndrome where a patient’s circulation returns after some time when the process of reviving the patient failed.

At least 25 such instances have been reported since 1981. The study shows that this happens due to delay in adrenaline administering by medical staff that reaches heart very late.

I have discussed various forms of Zombies and how different studies revealed their staggering torture.

I will now discuss the poison and its ingredients that make up perfect diet for Zombies. This poison creates the undead. Different aspects are discussed below that includes

• The ingredients
• How they are mixed and
• How they are applied

DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME AND ALL “WOULD BE WITCH DOCTORS” ARE ADVISED NOT TO CREATE THIS COCKTAIL AS THIS IS DANGEROUS AND ILLEGAL. I HAVE NOT LISTED ALL OF THE INGREDIENTS.

The ingredients

Various ingredients are toxins from species that include Bufo marinus, Puffer fish, Albizia lebbeck & Mucana pruriens.

• Toxins from toad known as Bufo marinus which is known for being something of a chemical nightmare producing numbing agents and hallucinogens.
• Toxins from Puffer fish (a critical component of zombie potion) that cause paralysis, depressed respiration, reducing circulatory activity. Patients believe that they are floating over their own bodies.
• Extracts from Albizia lebbeck, a species of plant are still unstudied and chemical effect is still unknown though it is also used in potion.
• Extracts from Mucana pruriens, another species of plant that produces hallucinogenic effects.

Mixing

The animal components along with human remains are heated together before being placed in a mortar. After being placed in a mortar the mixture is then heated with plant extracts to produce concoction of a granular consistency which is then shifted to produce the final extract.

Frying, stewing, boiling and baking do not denature the tetrodotoxins within the zombie inducing brew.

Denature refers to not taking away or changing natural qualities. Tetrodotoxins are toxins that are poisonous or destructive to nerve tissues.

Application

The poison is applied repeatedly to the victim’s skin or an open wound or is blown in such a way that the victim inhales it. Some witch doctors add broken glass in the mixture so that if it is placed on a doorknob the skin will break and poison will be more effective.  “Give someone this poison and it kills victim too completely” as told by witch doctor to Edmund Wade Davis, a Harvard ethnobotanist.

This concoction is so deadly that witch doctors wear face masks and cover exposed skin with an oily emulsion to ensure that this poison do not affect  their skin.

Last but not the least these zombies look good to hear and see in movies and TV but I am sure you will not love to come across these creatures in real life.

I hope these articles must be of interest to you. I would love to hear your feedback on this.

To read earlier series follow below links

Part 1-https://wordpress.com/post/abhirajguptablog.wordpress.com/319

Part 2-https://wordpress.com/post/abhirajguptablog.wordpress.com/325

Eggs-New currency of Venezuela

http://www.abhirajgupta.in/eggs-new-currency-of-venezuela.html

Crypto currency is the buzz word today but have you heard of Egg as a currency.

Inflation ravaged Venezuela has its own crypto currency-Egg which has become a common medium of exchange.

Security firm in Venezuela is offering monthly salary of 2 million Bolivar ($10 or Rs 650) and a motivational bonus of 36 eggs a week if guard comes on time and is neatly dressed. A computer programmer drew his salary in eggs and a priest could buy 30 eggs with a Sunday’s collection of donation in Bolivar while he would spend a whole year’s donation on them.

Venezuelans have lost faith in cash as its value nosedives daily. In 2017 money supply sky rocketed 14 times.

As per IMF price will increase 130 times while economy will reduce to half of its 2013 level.

Price of 30 eggs in December 2018 is estimated to be 32,175,000 Bolivar.

Let’s see what lies ahead for a common man.