Thursday, February 12, 2015

Karikula – The legend Continues





Karikula stood aghast. 

In his hands was the bludgeon and at his feet lay the village chief Maurya. There was a lot of blood around him and the villagers were rushing towards him. The strange thing was he had no memory of where he was at or who this was. Or did he? He was confused. He did not run.

The Chief’s house

I walked into the village. It had been six months since Karikula had been imprisoned for murder. He had left my companionship a few months after the murder case of the Queen and I had not heard from him for 3 years till a story reached my ears. It had taken me six months to find this village. I did not go to the place where he was imprisoned.

I walked up to the Village Chief’s house and shouted, “ Will someone serve this poor Brahmin some food. I have travelled long and far. Please..”. The lady of the house came out and invited me in with a smile. She had the servants serve me food immediately. I ate and conversed with the servants.

The chief, the new chief i.e., Kataka, walked in as I was washing up. He saw me and fell at my feet at once. I smiled and said, “I do not deserve such respect Kataka. Karikula has but hyped my abilities!”.  Kataka said, “But he hasn’t! The mere fact that you just deduced why I fell at your feet with such ease gives me a lot of confidence.”

I looked at him and said, “Why did you put Karikula in the cell when you knew the truth, my dear Kataka? “. He looked distressed and said, “I cannot say”. We talked for a while.

The Cell

In the search of truth
The so called truth
At time we put ourselves
Up to experiment
For the cycle of prototype
And test
But little do we understand
What is the outcome, we seek
And bias it from the beginning

Karikula sang in a sweet melodious tone. I sat outside the cell separated by an iron wall. I said, “Without that we do not learn”. He stopped and let out a happy laugh! Karikula said, “ I knew you would come for me. Forgive me for leaving without telling you. But I had to. I could not stand your insane logic.”. I smiled, “ Karikula, I wanted you to leave 6 months before you left. I drove it so that you would leave and seek what you wanted. So what have you found my friend?”

He cried, “You elevate me to the level of friend. I do not deserve that. I have thought long and hard in the cell. I killed the chief of this town mercilessly. I do not understand how or why. But these past six months I have come to realize that I probably do not understand myself. I must have tricked my brain into forgetting. I feel so much pain, shame and embarrassment. I cannot come to terms with the violence or the murder.” Karikula had lost it.

I smiled and asked, “ Calm down. So what are the exact feelings that you have gone through over these past six months? Did you think of anything else but of the brutal murder?”

Karikula hesitated and replied, “ Not till a few weeks ago. I started exploring the feelings of killing someone. But then I could not replicate the pain or pleasure. It seemed like an illusion. It didn't exist, it was more engineered…. “ and then he laughed. Laughed almost like a maniac. But then again he was the sanest of them all at this moment of revelation.

The journey begins – Again

We had escaped into the night. We were about 20 kos from the village. Kataka bid us farewell and turned back towards the village. Karikula looked at me and said, “ I now understand better master.” I interjected, “ Not master, but friend”…

He continued with a firm tone, “No master. At times we create the illusion based on the information surrounding us. Sometimes the information was lacking, sometimes it is just not true though we think of it as the truth.”

I bid him goodbye and said, “Someday, I hope our paths cross again, my friend”.


- A filarial special story

a seqel of sorts to

 http://filarial.blogspot.in/2007/07/odyssey-of-karikula.html

and

http://filarial.blogspot.in/2008/04/rise-of-karikula.html

:)

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

To the Moon!



I boarded a rocket to the moon
A while back before which
Memories and experiences
Where sparse and galore
At the same time that is

Accelerated against gravity
And as we did lost
That big lower weight
Which to my surprise was
Filled with payload
To escape inertia and baggage

The second and third stage complete
And we were stranded in outer space
So to say but slowly but surely
One the path to the destination

It is this time that I felt
Is the most dangerous
For when things were
At a staggering pace
Associated with the escape
One had time not
To think a lot

It is in this time that
Memories and the past
Haunts you it seems
To the last for
Every few paces there
Are but thoughts

An interesting fact though
The pace as slow as it may seem
Is something that was earned
And the world around me
Moves just as fast

In fact back on earth the
Time differential is a killer
And far ahead has time moved
While I slowly progress
With a painful existence

I know not at the moment if
The gravity of the moon is close
 Or still far away
Is the path right or righteous?
But for now…
There is no escape

~A Filarial Special Pome