Strangers on a Chain.

My late father used to tell us this episode, which I want to share:

“In 1947 our family moved from the erstwhile West Punjab (now Pakistan) to Amritsar in East Punjab (India). We had to travel by train. We were warned that we should carry a permit for our household goods to avoid their being confiscated at a border post near Atari.

Our permit was to expire at midnight of a particular day, but we had problems with train tickets and finally got them for a trip just prior to the expiry date.

Our heavily loaded passenger train left an hour late and though it raced against the time, we still reached the border 15 minutes past midnight. The customs man on duty would not let us pass and no amount of pleading would move him.

We were forced to unload our goods on marshy land. None of us slept that night. Early next morning passengers who arrived by another train saw our plight and suggested that we approach the customs official through someone very close to him. His family doctor, we were told, would do nicely enough.

But how could we approach the doctor when we were new to the place? As we brooded over the matter, we learnt that doctor could be influenced by his driver. Now, a hunt began to locate the driver. When we finally found him he was reluctant to undertake the job. Then a passenger who had travelled with us suggested that the driver was friendly with a popular barber of that area. If only he could be persuaded!

All of us menfolk ran to the shop. The barber was willing, but, as he put it, he could only help his customers. “All of us will have our hair cut,” we offered. “That makes a difference,” the barber replied.

The sacrifice was worth it. Soon, we were able to travel despite an expired permit, thanks to the barber-driver-doctor-customs man chain.”

Sea at Chandipur

A peculiarity of sea at Chandipur (Dist. Balasore, Odisha) is that in addition to normal high and low tides (Jwar and Bhata), associated with moon’s phases, there is another noticeable daily cycle for maximum and minimum water level. It is a strange phenomenon. Once during 24 hours the level of sea water rises so much so, that it touches the boundaries of Test range campus (DRDO), while receding at other time it goes back around 5 to 8 kms away from here. During this period one can easily walk, run or cycle around on the beach sand. The timings for these “high and low” differ everyday throughout the year, which can be found out by complex formulations. The physics of this “happening” lies in the inclination of earth around its axis and latitude/longitude of this place.

Missile flight trial teams utilize this occurrence to retrieve the metallic remnants from flights conducted towards sea for studying and drawing possible conclusions.

There is only one more such place in the world, somewhere in Brazil, which also experiences this phenomenon.

Junoon

Major Jai Bahuguna’s death on Mount Everest in October 1985 marked the tragic end of a story that began in April 1971. That day, his elder brother Harsh died in Everest.

Jai hero-worshipped his brother and was shattered on his death. Grieving silently, he made one resolve; he would climb Everest as homage to Harsh.

Jai had climbed no mountains till then. His brother’s death changed all that. Jai turned to mountaineering with ferocity and was soon going on one expedition after another.

“Give up this madness,” his mother would plead. “Mountaineering is not dangerous,” Jai would reply. “That is what Harsh said, and see what happened?” Jai would say nothing. His mother knew Jai wanted only one thing in life, to climb the mountain that had defeated his brother.

I see similarities in their lives which they lived and death which they died. Both were Army majors. Both died in their second attempt on Everest. Both died at roughly the same height---8000 meters. But Harsh died alone, Jai with three team mates.

Did they ever fear that mountaineering would take their lives? Most certainly not. The MAHABHARATA says that one of the world’s greatest wonders is that no man, though he sees others dying all round him, believes he himself will die.