Now and Then

Some eons ago probably in some other yuga, in a Gurukul , a Guru was very worried about his student. True to his name, the student Sombaresha was very lazy and while he was still in the ashrama(Well... it may mean... Campus...) ,his friends had got their deekshas (Certificates?) and were placed in well off jobs (Some joined the Kings Court as consultants while others had set their own practice) . Sombaresha on the other hand, always failed in the agni pareeksha (Final Exams...). Guru called him to his ashrama and said that the student needed to do more saadhana (Revisions). The words like usual fell to deaf ears.

So Guru decided to try a new exercise, "My Son. Karma follows you wherever you go. If you do good karma, it will help you in your next lives. A Soul, it seems has to go through 84 lives before attaining Moksha (Liberation). I will show you one of your future life. Close your eyes and chant along with me. Lets go to Sarvadhari Samvatsar....Margashira Maash.... Shukla Paksh.... Parashuram Kshethr.....". Sombaresha was lazy enough to ask any question as to what that meant (To my readers, it means present day mangalore)

As the chanting intensified, Sombaresha saw a beautiful girl of 18 years old getting up early from her bed, an hour before the sun rises. The boy gave a knee jerk reaction, "Now! Where am I?"
The Guru asked him to approach things with an unbiased mind, "In that life, You are the Girl !"
The boy was overwhelmed and started dancing , "Wow! That's Great. I don't have to go to Ashram and do saadhanas and get deekshas and bikshas (certificates and alms)"

His joy was shortlived as he saw the girl who went by the name Dhanya, preparing to move out in the cold morning in her bicycle.The boy made a wild guess, "Probably she is moving out to pluck flowers to be placed at the Gods feet."
The girl cycled five kilometers and the basket was full of not flowers, but note Books. The destination was not a temple but a coaching center.
The boy quizzed his Guru, "She seems to be grown up. Why is she not yet married. Is it because she has not yet become a ......"
The Guru had a good outlook of the future, "Stupid! Stop thinking like that! In that age, girls have a lot of ambition and have got ample and equal opportunity to achieve the same."

Dhanya later moved to a college in a crowded bus (Hmm... the boy wished that someone had carried her in a Pallaki). At college, she dissected a frog (The boy feared that she would put it into her mouth... luckily it didn't happen), She dipped a white paper into some acid and made it red( Wow... thought the boy... she didn't require mantras to do that), She along with her team experimented with a self-made dynamo and lightened the entire classroom (The boy was amazed that without singing Raga Dipika, Dhanya had filled that room with light). She then smashed her head over a trignometry sum unable to solve it (Hmm.. the boy wanted to send Arybhata and help her. But he was not there in the ashram).
The Boy was really tired after going through her schedule and wanted to advice the girl, "Enough! Go and take vishranthi (Rest)"

But the word Rest doesn't seem to be in her dictionary. As soon as the college finished, she went to another coaching center as she had to prepare for the Common Entrance Examination. The coaching went on uninterrupted for one and half hours. The boy remarked to the Guru, "Even you don't give such a long pravachan (discourse). It seems that life in that Raja Karagrah (The Prison) is much better"

At last she came home, long after the sunset and went directly to her room where she was served her meals and milk. And again the books were out. She had assignments to complete and records to submit. Sombaresha wanted to stop the screening of the future telecast, "Enough! She can't be Me. Well! Guruji... I don't want that life... Save me Guruji " and saying so, he procrastinated before the Guru.
Guru said, "The Law of Karma has to operate. She has to study, Boy. She is competing with many people to enter a good gurukul (medical college) in future and become a famous surgeon like Sushrutha. That's why I tell you. You can help her to concentrate more easily and study effortlessly by concentrating on your studies now and earn some good karma for your future. Law of Karma does work, my Boy. Believe me"

The boy seemed to agree for the first time, but he had a doubt, "Guru, I may be a bad student. But the karma philosophy also says that every relationship repeats in each life. A mother in this life may become a daughter in some other life. So where were you in my life as Dhanya."
The Guru, "You saw the entire picture through my eyes. I was her neighbour, a young and a handsome gentleman called Prem."
The boy gave a smile and slowly hissed, "Guruji, In that life, as Prem, were you making a pass at me ?."