Encountering Count Dracula

Encountering Count Dracula

It was the year of 1964. I had just finished matriculation, taken admission in college and was introduced to the new world opened up by library books meant for " More than school" students.

We had also just shifted our house. Earlier it was the busy & bustling locality of Kathal bari with long rows of houses and front yards full of children of all ages and playing all kind of games - one could join any team and get busy. The new house was in the exclusive campus of the Institute where my father was a professor. The Campus had just been ready with huge Institute building, and about twenty quarters for professors, and a Kachcha road that would bring you to campus from the city - a good three kilometers away. The whole campus of fifty acres was actually the mango orchard of the then Maharaja of Darbhanga, donated to the Institute. On the eastern side, was river Bagmati. The institute and most of the houses were on the northern side. In the southern side, there were only five huge bungalows. Whole area was full of tall shady mango trees.

On the other side of the river was a ceremonial ghat where dead bodies were brought for cremation. In fact the campus area was called Kabra Ghat. Stories floated around for decades how the whole area was earlier infested with bhoot and pishach of all kinds till a siddha come and imprisoned them all with his mantra. So now, while the spell of those mantras continues the area has no fear of any ghost.

That was some encouragement. But what of the disappointment that I faced while occupying my room! Our earlier house had no electricity. In those years, even in a district capital like Darbhanga, half the population did not have electricity despite wealth. But we had seen electric poles while coming to our new house and were excited. Then to find that though the houses had all fillings, there was actually no "Connection" That was scheduled to be available only after a year or so.

Our house was on the south- eastern tip of the campus and in that my room was on the farthest south east corner. Yes, in honour of my laving started college, and in recognition that I would have to burn

Midnight oil for "studies", I was allowed to occupy a secluded room, all to myself. The other four members managed with other two rooms and a big hall, leaving my room entirely to myself. Earlier also. I had the habit of reading till late night, with mother to give me company, while she finished her scores of jobs. But now my room was exclusive.

Then came that memorable day. I had borrowed some books from library among which was the novel "Count Dracula". After dinner, when everyone was retiring to bed I took the Kerosene lamp to the table near my window and started the book. It was a gripping horror story. The narration was superb. I still remember the descriptions of dark nights and wide forests opening up outside the house. Count Dracula would come floating from those forests. While he traveled, his two eyes would shine brightly like two dots of amber, which would grow bigger and fiercer as he came nearer. Then he would come through the window with all his charms & overtake his prey. If he came on moonlit night, his jet black cloak would shine too. Throughout the book Count Dracula kept coming to his victims off and on.

I was thoroughly engrossed in the story. The whole house had long fallen asleep. Occasionally, I would take a quick glance out of my window and would be amused to notice how the outer environment was matching with the description in the book. It was a night with half moon- may be the 6th or a 7th day of the waning fortnight - which meant that the moon had arisen late on the eastern horizon and was now casting a mystical spell of semi - light & semi-darkness. There were some clouds too. On the other side of river, two bodies had been brought for cremation some time in the evening. We had witnessed the flames going up high as the Chita burned through the evening Now, the flames had died down but not entirely. Two glowing spots could still be seen in the distance. Even today I can see them before my closed eyes, whenever I think of that night. It appeared as if Count Dracula was lying low with his burning amber eyes scanning the vast grounds before him, to decide in which direction he should go to hunt for his next prey.

When I finished the book, it was past midnight; one-thirty, may be two o'clock. A slight chill ran through me. The two amber dots in the distance were a perfect match to the description of any Count Dracula waiting to spread his wings and rise and come floating over the vast lawns full of shady trees.

I distinctly remember - I was not scared of the scene outside the house. I had no fear of Count Dracula or any of the Bhoot, Pishach whose stories were leisure - time talks of the campus. But I knew that I had been gripped by the novel and the images would overpower my imagination if I allowed them to sink deep into my thinking process. I must not sleep. I had to wipe out those images - then and there. How was I to counter this image problem? If I allowed these images to, linger, they were sure to come back to me on all future nights whenever I would walk along these roads or any similar location. They could scare me then; at least would take away some of my bold spirit. I had to secure my future from these images of Count Dracula.

I thought and thought and finally deiced on what I had to do. The answer was available on my book shelf. Another book which I had borrowed from father just a day before! That seemed promising to wipe out all images and scare of Count Dracula for ever from my thinking process.

That book was Rajyog by Swami Vivekananda. A profound analysis of the 9th chapter of Bhagvadgeeta! This chapter is described and deals with as Rajvidya, and Rajguhya vidya, i.e. the process of training the mind.

My father being a professor of Sanskrit & Philosophy, I had long since been introduced to Indian scriptures, and mythology. Various concepts of Bhagvadgeeta were not new to me. I could follow the analysis of Swami Vivekananda when he dealt with the subject of conscious, subconscious and the ways to train the mind and thought process.

I read through the book. For me, it was as gripping as the earlier book had been. And it was wiping my thoughts clean of Count Dracula and his images. I kept on reading it.

Sometime in the early morning, mother came to my room and chided me for not having rested. The book was snatched away, the lamp was extinguished and I was ordered to sleep. She promised to wake me up in time for collage.

Throughout these years, the images of these vast fields and trees and the river Bagmati the burning Chita - all have remained in my memory – as they were. But no scary image of Count Dracula. Occasionally I pick up my copy of Rajyog and try to absorb its concepts. And pat myself for having found a perfect solution to Count Dracula.

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published in Harmony, April, 2007

New Strategies for Education

New Strategies for Education
WHAT ARE THE OBJECTIVE OF EDUCATION?

A)From the point of view of the SOCIETY or the NATION-
Is the society gorwing richer?
Is there enought material production and materialistic gains?
Does the socio-economic system permit equitable distribution of wealth and production?
Is there a reduction in the drudgery of the common man?
Does the environm,ent permit pursuit of excellence?
Does the environment permit inculcation and establishment of ethical and personal value systems alongwith pursuit of freedom and fearlessness?
Do the prople have a sense of commitment towards:
a) the society,
b) the cultural and philosophical heritage,
c) the nation?
Do people regard contentedness as a cherished value?
Does the society uphold truth as the ultimate goal?

B)From INDIVIDUAL’S point of view:-
The education for an individual,
- Must make him better equipped to earn his living.
- Must encourage him to the pursuit of excellence.
- Must build up the sense of belonging towards the society and the nation.
- Must build up the sense of compassion and friendliness towards others.
- Must bring in appreciation of social harmony.
- Must inculcate dignity of human life and human labour.

What system of Education can give us these? Read More

Devdasi -- An attempt at Economic Rehabilitation.

My work with Devdasis of Sangli and Kolhapur has been narrated at:
The Integrated Rural Development Programme for Women in Developing countries:
What more can be done?
Published as a chapter in the book "Women Development & survival in the third world" Edited by Halesh Afshar Longman Publication U.K.(1989)
A feature article was based on this experiment :
Eradicating the Devdasi Cult- Article by Vimal Patil in Femina and Illustrated Weekly.
RIPA, Jaipur used it as the base for a seminar discussion -1990,

Sati, the real Legend

Sati, the real Legend
Daily Pioneer, Delhi.

Ordinarily the word Sati has come to be associated with a backward looking, non-developmental mind. There is no dearth of words to describe how the illiterate, uneducated, dumb women of our country fall prey to the vision of Sati.

This is an issue where I consider the intelligentia guilty on more than one count. Firstly they have not made proper assessment of the enormity of the problem which is both quantitative and qualitative. We have nearly fifty crore women in the country out of which more than twenty crore are illiterate, and uneducated. Those who are educated are either steeped in tradition without knowing where the original idea came from or are extremely critical of present day tradition but have not tried to look into the origin and enlighten others about it.
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female feticide and illiteracy... the 2 curses on a MAP

Oh! to be born and educated
Published Mainstream delhi July 2002]


To be born and to be educated are the most fundamental rights of anyone.The fast declining rate of female to male sex ratio as has been brought to the fore in the latest census of 2001 has created a wide- spread alarm among the government circles, the voluntary sector and academicians all over the country. There is no doubt that this kind of decline is not natural but is a result of rampant sex detection tests and female feoticide.
Apparently it would be expected that fmr (Female to Male sex ratio) should increase with increase in education. The actual trends are quite the reverse.
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Payment of Subsistence Allowance -- A case study

Payment of Subsistence Allowance: -- A case study in systemic changes for office efficiency.

The Departmental Enquiry Rules and Manuals provide for how to deal with defaulting govt servants. Two rules are crucial for present discussion (i) for a person under suspension, the enquiry should be completed in six months - but this time is extendable by authorities at various levels (ii) the person under suspension will be paid a subsistance allowance which will be 50% of his pay and allowances for the first 3 months, to be enhanced to 75% for the remaining period of enquiry - however the authorisation for allowing him to draw the SA has to be issued only for three months (or less) and has to be revised by appropriate authority every three months.

How, for a large office the second rule causes suffering and wastage and how a system change and reduce the two? Here is a case study

Fuel does grow on trees

Fuel does grow on trees
Times of India, 1 july 2005
Art. by Leena Mehendale and Ranjan Goswami, PCRA

The burning of fossil fuels at the current rate is likely to create an environmental crisis. In India, bio-diesel, an alternative and renewable source of energy, is gaining momentum. Bio-diesel burns cleaner and is available from natural, renewable sources such as tree-borne oilseed and animal fats. Like petroleum diesel, bio-diesel operates in compression and ignition engines.

Blends of up to 20% bio-diesel (mixed with petroleum diesel) can be used in nearly all diesel and most storage and distribution equipment. These low-level blends (20% and less) generally do not require any engine modifications. Bio-diesel can provide the same payload capacity as diesel.
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