Sunday, November 18, 2007

Death Of Siddhartha - Chapter 2

A light rain fell. Fine mist of droplets. Cooling the night air, soaking the ground. Muffling our progress.

Chandra clung on to me as we raced to my unknown destination.

Surprisingly I was calm. The act once committed had purged away all sense of uneasiness I had earlier felt about it. I had expected to feel a sense of guilt or some amount of remorse for my seemingly heartless act. Yet I felt exhilarated . I felt like a caged bird set free.

I felt alive.

All my life I seem to have lived a life that seemed contrived. A life that was always lived in half measures. A life planned out by my father, lived by me.

I have questioned his intrusions. Not directly, but through Mahaprajapati, my foster mother. She who bestowed upon me her abundant love to repel the shadow of my mothers death.

It was through Ma that I had learned of my birth, the predictions and my father's inner turmoil. The stories had took on an aura of mysticism to keep me, then a little child, interested. Today I knew that theres an expectation that, somehow the birth and life of a privileged one should be different and more wondrous than that of an ordinary child. Today, at 29, Iam aware that my birth was no more or no less wondrous than the birth of a healthy baby anywhere in the world.

I was born to Maya, wife of Suddhodana, king of the Sakhyas. I was born , Ma told me, at the foot the glorious Palpa Mountains, in the Lambani groves. My mother was on her way to her parents place to have the delivery. This was our custom. My mother went into labour in the Lambini groves , much to the panic of her companions. They were forced to perform the delivery there and then. My mother held onto the low lying branch of a tree and pushed me out into the world, standing up. This particular type of delivery is not unusual in the hills, in fact, Ma told me that, it probably aided in the fast and painless delivery.

I must have been a perfectly formed baby. Later on Ma's version of my birth used to alter, depending on her mood, and my enthusiasm. She told me stories, which used to delight my youthful imagination. Stories about how I started walking from the time I was born, how from each step I took , a lotus bloomed.

To Ma, I could do no wrong. I was her ideal of perfection. Later I gathered that there was nothing unusual in her sentiments; to every mother, their child is the biggest miracle.

The cold wind chilled my body through the thin shawl that was wrapped around me. The fine mist of the rain had soaked through my clothes. I hopped that Chandran is warm behind me, protected by my body from the elements.

Kantaka rode on.

A man's life as it stands today is a sum total of all his actions and deeds. These actions and deeds are influenced by his experiences. The experiences in turn are perceived through his senses, which are filtered by his mind .

Today Iam running towards something, rather than away. I seemed to have been prepared by everything and everyone around me, for this day. I found comfort in that thought. My mother's death, my father's protectiveness, Ma's indulgences, the love of my friends, the secrets, my yearning, everything, helped to culminate into today.

Before I shed the known, let me indulge in remembering them one last time.

10 comments:

Adorable Pancreas said...

Do go on.

Chris said...

Tys, where is the next chapter???
It's like waiting for the next episode of a serial to know who's knocking the door!!
Come on.. we are waiting for the chapters to come....
Bye the way, great writing..

david mcmahon said...

G'day from Australia,

I'm enthralled. Let me know when you update this blog ....

As a writer myself, I have to say I like your style.

aMus said...

Next page!!!

Hermit said...

Man... where is the next chapter???? Lost stock????

Sahefa said...

thnz 4 giving me such a beautiful comment.Imust say that your blog is absolutely great.Please keep on giving me comments so that i can improve more and more

null said...

Well, Tys :-)!
I saw your comment on my blog and I did not get it :-)!
Then, I was surprised to see some articles on siddhartha on your blog :-)!
Later, I don't know, what you are writing there, but I thought I woud not read it :-)!
:-)!
Kidding but again true :-)!
I am not someone who reads and writes :-)!
I mean I am scared to read and doesn't like to write :-)!
Doesn't mean I can write :-)!
Later, I don't know whether it was because of your extensive reading you come across siddhartha :-)!
I never come across him except in my school where there used to be some poems and stories on Rahul and Yashodhara :-)!
But, I have come across Buddha in real life :-)!
He one who always lives :-)!
So, may be you see him in a different perspective :-)!
Hope that is nice :-)!
I am not interested in the worldly Buddha :-)!
I mean Siddhartha...so am scared and not going to read your articles :-)!
But, it's just my opinion :-)!
Of course he is also wonderful :-)!
All the best :-)!

PS: I wouldn't have commented if there was no name of Siddhartha on your blog :-)!

Jaya said...

Wow Tys! Yearning for more posts.

Sahefa said...

Hi
Please visit my blog and comment me so i can improve it

Tys on Ice said...

@ap : well, here it is :)

@chris : sorry this took sometime but was caught up with too many thngs...thnks for ur appreciation

@david : wow! a real life author! Iam honoured by ur presence here and ur comment..thnks..

@thinking loud : done!

@hermit : yep for a second there, i thought i did :)

@sahefa : pls dont look to me for perfection in u..somehow thats so wrong...thnks for ur visit and pls do drop in again...keep writing and do it for urself first...:)

@perfect girl: thanks for the wishes...i totally understand.

@joy: here u go..and hey, thnks!