Agonizing Confession

IT was early in the afternoon; I almost finished my discussion with my divorce attorney. As per the agreement I gave up the house and half of retirement savings. My girl friend was keep calling me “What taking you so much time? I looked at through the windows and saw that heavy snow is hitting Chicago badly. Finally I wrapped up my discussion and left the building. I decided to skip the lunch and drove straight to my home. The road was so slippery and hard to drive. I tried to turn left at an intersection and a mini truck from opposite direction hit my car. I could not remember anything what happened to me after the collision. I lost my conscious and felt like I am in deep sleep. After a while, I heard a male voice which was so familiar to me but I could not understand any word who spoke to me. Since, I am raised as Catholic. I had the feeling that the mail voice might belong to a priest. I thought it was the time for my last confession before my death. Even though I felt severe pain, I started to speak all the sins which I committed since my high school. I had no memory whatever happened before my high school. I almost said ten sins, and then I lost my conscious. After a while, I regained my conscious and I felt I am in total darkness. I had the feeling I am on the way to death and I cannot neither view nor hear anything. I saw three stars in the darkness which appears to grow slowly. The light from the stars really bothered me and hit me harder. Finally the light from the stars really opened my eyes. I saw the ER doctors and medical staff was standing nearby. I heard doctor said “bleeding from the brain is totally stopped; we can take him out of the ventilator”. After a while, they put me under sedation and I fell in sleep.
Next day morning, my doctor told me “It was a miracle that you survived, there was a bleeding inside the brain, and somehow it stopped”. Previously, the doctor advised my girl friend to inform all the relatives since my chance of survival was thin. I was on Ventilator for 2 days. I had to go for a rehab therapy and doctor told me that I will be on wheel chair for six months. I was transferred to rehab center and they started my therapy. My son came from out of state and I told him about the familiar miracle voice which I heard after the accident. He told me it could be some bad dream. After six months of therapy, I was able to walk by myself and discharged from the rehabilitation center. I came back to my house but still that miracle voice was haunting me. I knew that voice belongs to someone I know in my life. On a summer day late evening, I was standing in my driveway and a car stopped. A young man came out of the car and said “How you are doing”, he introduced himself as my previous neighbor’s son, they moved out of my neighborhood several years back. It was little dark outside and I could not see his face very clear but I could realize him. He is my son’s childhood friend both are in same age. I was their middle school basket ball coach. His name was William Smith and realized that his voice matches with the miracle voice that I heard after the accident. Bill told me that he is working as a part time ER technician and goes to school other days. He took the call while I was in car accident. He told me that he identified my car very easily and my car was in very bad shape. He pulled me out of the car and he put me on ventilator device. He told me that ER doctor in the trauma center was very good and hoped I would get good care. Next day morning, I called my son and told him that the miracle voice belongs to his childhood friend William Smith. My son told me “you may be mistaken, Bill died few years ago, they moved to North Carolina from Chicago”. I was quite puzzled and decided to investigate further. I found the name of the ambulance company- Superior Emergency Services from the police report and called them. The receptionist acknowledged William Smith was the ER technician on my accident day but she refused to give his address. She said “He quit the company last week”. I told her it is a family emergency and she was kind enough to give his cellular number. I called his cellular phone but it was disconnected. I made an on line reverse phone number search and found the real address associated with the phone number.
I went to his apartment next day and knocked the door, no one answered. I talked to his neighbor who said he may be moved to different place. He saw him carrying big boxes and rarely speaks to anyone. He gave me the address of property manager’s office. Soon later, I went to the property manager’s office, he said William Smith already left the town to live with his aged father. He sold his car few weeks ago and shipped all his belongings to his parent’s home. The property manager did not know his home address or phone number. I was totally confused with this mystery man and had no know clue how to proceed further. After weeks of research, I finally found out the phone number of my previous neighbor they were living in a small town in North Carolina. I called him one day and said “I will be coming to your town for a visit and would like to visit”. He seems very happy and gave me his address. I went to visit my neighbor’s house in North Carolina and it was not a pleasant visit. He was totally heartbroken. His only son died few years ago and his only daughter is suffering from Pancreas Cancer. I told him about my miracle survival from the accident and the miracle man whom I met afterwards. I told him that his voice was very similar to his son’s voice. I went through his son’s album and I could not identify any resemblance between him and mysterious man. I stopped the quest for this mysterious man and he still lives in my dream.
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Agonizing Confession 

TAJ MAHAL AND A BRIDE’S SORROW

It was late in the morning; Ram did not wake up yet. He did not know that he is going to meet a girl for marriage on that day. His mother knocked the door and asked him to get up and go to the temple for a prayer. Normally Ram wakes up early in the morning and goes to work. He was an architect and sculptor by profession. He carved a statue of Lord Ram and offered to the local temple, so the villagers were very familiar to him. Ram was very handsome in look; so many girls were keen on talking to him. Whenever he goes to a market, girls were around him for chatting. Ram’s parents did not have a child for a long time after their marriage, so they prayed to Hindu God Lord Ram. Finally Ram’s mother conceived with a boy. They named him as Ram and they believed him as a gift from Lord Ram. They were the citizens of Mughal Empire and Emperor Shah Jahan was ruling the kingdom. While Ram was a teenager, he used to work for the temples, he does architectural, and calligraphy works.

Ram’s mother reminded him that he is going to meet most beautiful girl in the village; her name was Lakshmi Devi – name of Hindu Goddess of wealth and Beauty. Many villagers compared her with Queen Mumtaz Mahal and they believed Lakshmi Devi was more beautiful than the late queen. Ram normally wake up before the dawn, on that he woke up late morning. His mom was so excited with bliss; she prepared special lunch for him and advised him to meet the girl before the twilight. Ram went over to the girl’s house before the dusk; the girl was so excited in seeing him and she kept talking to him until her Parents intercepted. Her Parents realized that their daughter was attracted by Ram and decided to meet groom’s parents. Both parents met together and decided to schedule the wedding on RAMANAVAMI – the birth day of Lord Rama- Hindu God.

It was a traditional Hindu wedding and several village girls were dancing just after the ceremony .It was around twilight, two soldiers arrived at the village. They announced that Emperor Shah Jahan was eager to meet Ram- well known sculptor of the time. The villagers showed them the house of Ram. The soldiers came to the Ram’s house while wedding bash was going. The soldiers read the Emperor Shah Jahan’s decree and asked Ram to follow them to meet the king. Ram kissed his bride and assured her that he would return as quickly as possible. Ram rode on his horse to appear before the king. After days of journey, he finally arrived at the palace of Emperor Shah Jahan. The soldiers took him to the King and annunciated that Ram was well known sculptor of the kingdom. The king said “I am building a monument for my beloved wife to show the world as a memory of my everlasting love. You will be the main sculptor and architect of the monument. I want to make sure no one replicate this monument; it should be very unique in design and style”. Ram replied “Your majesty, I am excited to work for your great monument; I just married a day ago, would you permit me to visit my wife once in two weeks”. The king replied   “You will be rewarded with five hundred gold coins only if you complete your work as per my expectations “.The king did not mention about Ram’s freedom to visit his beloved wife.

 The soldiers took Ram to a shelter where all the workers were staying. He realized that most of the workers were so young and many of them even not married. The soldiers reminded him that he will be provided with workers attire and need to meet chief architect in the next day morning. Ram was greeted by other workers and they were discomfited knowing that Ram was taken by the soldiers during the wedding ceremony. The co workers warned him that the king never kept his word and he would not allow anyone to leave for vacation. The workers were working day and night and it was King’s order that no one allowed to leave the premises until the monument is completed.

Next day, Ram woke up early in the morning for prayer; he was excited to meet the chief architect- a Middle Eastern man whom the king brought over there to oversee the construction. He went to the Architect’s room and there was picture of a monument drawn on the wall. He did not realize that it was the monument they were building. The architect gave a large piece marble stone and asked Ram to engrave the picture on the wall to the stone. Ram spent whole week and finally engraved the picture of Monument into the stone. The architect was highly impressed on his skill and hired him as the main sculptor. Ram said “I know you are the main architect and advisor of the King, I will do all the work with sincerity and will utilize whole my skills. Would you ask the king to permit for vacation every year to see my wife?” The architect replied “It is King’s order that no one can leave the site locale until the monument is completed”. Ram was little disappointed but he had confidence in gaining king’s appreciation by accomplishing stupendous calligraphy work. Ram showed his skills in calligraphy and sculptor as well.

Next day on wards, his work really started. He was taken to a place where he was shown around twenty five thousands drawings, it was his job to engrave those drawings into marble stones. He was given five hundred carvers to build the images for the monument. He was told that stones and marbles were coming from different parts of the world and it would take ten years to receive all the stones. Every image he carved, it was a replica of Hindu god and goddess even though it was designed to show the Islamic art to the world. He was assigned a young calligrapher named Arjun, for him Ram was not a master but a great friend. They shared their stories and pain each other. Arjun was unmarried young man, he had a girl friend. He left his girl friend and came to the city of Agra for work so he can make money before the wedding. Ram told him once anyone started to work with the emperor, it would be quite difficult to leave the work since it is against the King’s decree. Ram told him that he had to leave his wife during his wedding ceremony even though he begged for a short break from work. Next day ended with disturbing news that Arjun fell down from roof of the mausoleum, many workers believed it was an act of suicide. It was king’s order; work should continue even though any accident or worker’s death might occur. The soldiers picked up the corpse and through it into a nearby forest. Ram went over to Arjun’s bed for scouring; he found a piece of White marble piece lying beneath his pillow. It was a very glistening marble piece and Arjun’s girl friend’s image was carved on it. “Life without Love is worthless” was written beneath the image. Arjun’s death caused severe distress to Ram. It took several weeks for him to recover from mourning. His hope to see his own beloved wife was fading away day by day but he was concentrated in his work to please the king.

Emperor Shah Jahan used to visit the work site every day morning and evening but he was not happy with the construction progress. He declared another decree the working hours will begin at sun rise and ends at sun set and workers will be allowed only lunch break. This cause severe distress to all the workers, several workers got sick with respiratory problems because the entire area was filled with dust and dirt. One day, Emperor Shah Jahan made a surprise visit to the calligraphy and he was astonished by seeing the images drawn on marble pieces. He asked his soldier “who is really behind this magnificent art work? The soldier enquired the workers, they told him that Ram was the main sculptor and the soldier brought Ram in front of the king. The emperor told him” I am highly delighted in your artistic workmanship and I am enchanted by the beauty of each image you carved”. The king further said “I will double your wages”. Ram replied to the King “Your Excellency, I am grateful to your honor; I will be cherished if you permit me a week of vacation to see my beloved wife? The emperor did not answer anything and ordered the soldier to double his wages. The emperor left the premises with his advisors and ministers and he was concerned with the completion of his dream monument rather than the workers solicitudes.

 Ram was counting every moment of the day; time never waits for any one. Ram spent twenty years of his life for the greatest monument on earth. The chief architect inspected the structure and declared the work was completed as per the design. The emperor was informed that final finishing of the monument was done and advised the emperor for final inspection. The emperor made his visit to his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal’s tomb and was satisfied in the beauty of the Mausoleum .The emperor announced a decree that the monument was completed and offered wages to the workers, artisans, and craftsmen. Ram came to know that the emperor chopped the right hand of the chief architect since he was afraid that architect might build similar architecture for some other kingdom. Finally, the soldiers summoned Ram to the palace; the king asked” Did you finish all the work assigned to you?” Ram replied” His majesty, would you give little more time to check everything before I leave the place?” The king agreed. Ram climbed over the top of the marble dome and hit the dome with a hammer so that balance of the equilibrium would change. He was afraid that the king would kill him. Since then, a single drop of water fall over the tomb during the raining season. Ram returned to the palace and the soldiers took him over to the king. The king told him” You should be paid with thousand coins since I doubled your wage. The country’s getting bankrupt and you would get only five hundred coins.” The minister gave him a bag made out of linens with five hundred coins. Ram went over to his room and took a replica of Taj Mahal which he carved on a marble stone to keep as a souvenir. Ram walked to a nearby market and bought a horse and rode back to his home. He was mentally and physically so week and he had hard time to walk without a walking stick. His long grey hair and beard made him as an old man.

                Ram took several weeks to reach at his village and the villagers could not recognize him. For him it was not difficult to find his own home. He could not find anyone outside the house and he knocked the door. He peaked through the windows and found a woman wearing white sari praying in front of Lord Ram- the Hindu God. Ram decided wait until the woman finish the daily evening prayer. He knocked the door again once the woman left the prayer room. The woman opened the door and she saw an old man standing in front of the door, she thought he might be a Hindu Sannyasi looking for food or shelter. She noticed a horse in her front yard eating hay. The woman asked “what you need from me?” Ram replied “I am thirsty, can you give me something to drink?” She replied “yes, sure”. She went inside the kitchen and brought water in a clay pot. Ram drank the water and replied to her “Laksmi Devi, You don’t recognize me?” She looked at his face and recognized him as her husband. She kissed him several times and She took him inside the house .She could not utter any words for a while and said “I was praying for this moment for almost twenty years”.

                She gave him a warm bath room and prepared a dinner for him. Before eating the dinner, he gave all the money to her and said “Please accept the gold coins that I received by the king for the job I did”. She took the gold coins and they ate dinner together as wife and husband first time in their life. They could not sleep whole night and they were talking throughout the full moon night. She curiously asked about the monument that the emperor has built for his beloved wife. Ram took the replica of Taj Mahal from his bag which he carved on a white Marble stone and gave to his wife. He said “we built this monument in the city of Agra and twenty thousand workers spent twenty one years of their life to build this mausoleum”. He narrated the story of Emperor Shah Jahan and late queen Mumtaz Mahal to his wife.

                They lived together for six months and Ram was suffering from respiratory illness. He was getting weaker and weaker and finally he died. The villagers set the logs for his funeral and his wife was standing behind it. Since they did not have any children, the Hindu priest started the fire. The villagers expected that she would immolate herself on the funeral pyre of her husband which is a part of Hindu tradition called sati. One lady in the crowd mumbled “she proved herself that she was unfaithful to her own husband”.

She turned back and saw the horse which her husband brought from the city of Agra kneeled down and was shaking her ahead. She rode on the horse back and went inside her house. She came back with the gold coins and threw all the gold coins to the People and left the village. The sky turned immediately to darkness and started heavy raining and thunderstorm. The villagers were fighting each other to collect the gold coins from the mud. Unfortunately a heavy lightning hit that area and killed all the villagers who were trying to get the gold coins from the mud. Since then, no one dare to dig the ground to find the gold coins. She drove on the back of the horse almost fifty miles from her village and finally reached in a Buddhist temple. The Buddhist monk received her with a new red rob and accepted her into their monastery. As a part of becoming a Buddhist nun, they shaved her beautiful hair. Later, she became a Buddhist nun and begins to start her monasticism. She spent rest of her life as a Buddhist nun meanwhile emperor Shah Jahan was sent to the prison by his own son.

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FINAL JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM

FINAL JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM

One of the wise men mentioned in the Holy Bible believed to be come from an African country called Yemen. This Wise man was an astrologer and observed the sky on a daily basis. It was his job to predict the weather patterns and inform it to his king. He monitored the changes in the sky and patterns of planets movements. He was good in predicting the changes in weather. One day he sees the pattern of Planet positions were changed and saw the rise of new star in the sky. He believed this would be the beginning of new era for humans or symbolic representation of major changes to humans. He informed the abnormal activities in the sky to his king. The king asked him “what will cause to humans”? The Astrologer replied to him that it will be the sign of birth of a new king and this king may rule the whole world. This king may establish new world order. The king gave him a bag full of Gold coins and told him “You need to start your journey today and meet the new king and tell him our good wishes.” The king advised him to buy some gift on his way and give to the new king.
The astrologer prepared his journey and left the country on a camel. He was traveling in the direction of city of Babylon. After several months of Journey, he finally reached at the city of Babylon. He decided to take a break and slept in a hut for few days. He thought it would be a good idea to buy some gift from Babylon for the new king. He walked into the market and found a Jewelry store. He asked the owner of the store that he wants to buy some ornaments made out of new gold. He explained to the jewelry owner future that his king wants to give it as a gift to a new king who is going to be born soon. The owner of the store was a widow and she had one daughter. Her husband several years ago and managed to survive by herself. She had one daughter from the marriage and raised her. She collected some new gold for her daughter and she planned to give it her for wedding. Her daughter was only 3 years old and unfortunately she was infected with some skin disease. The mother was disappointed in her daughter’s skin disease and local Physicians could not find a cure for the disease. The astrologer said to the widow-Jewelry owner that the new prince will be divine. He will be the king of the whole world and establish a new order of life for Humans.
The mother did not think about her daughter and she gave the new gold which she collected for her daughter’s wedding to the astrologer. The mother asked him” please stop by here on your way back to home. Let me know more about this king.” The astrologer replied “I will”. The astrologer left the city of Babylon and found the star on the sky is getting bright. The star appear to be become big and bigger. The astrologer predicted the direction of the star pointing towards Jerusalem. The astrologer travelled during night time and slept during day time. On his way towards Jerusalem, he met another 2 wise men with some merchants. They were coming from the east following the star. One of the wise man said he had a dream that a woman conceived a child of God-a divine conception and she will deliver a baby. He said there are three new stars appeared in the sky and another star which gives us the direction to Jerusalem. The new stars will be the symbolic representation of three different persons or kings. The third wise man believed to be come from Indochina said, the new star will be the indication of new civilization and birth of a new religion. They continued their journey and found the position of star is keeps drifting. The star was moving towards the city of Bethlehem not to Jerusalem. After months of journey, the three wise men came to the city of Bethlehem. They decided to meet the local king Herod so that they get any information about the new born king.
The three wise men told the king that they saw a rising star in the sky and appears to grow everyday. Now the start starts to shrink and moving towards Bethlehem. King Herod asked him what this star means to us. One of the wise men replied that a new king will be born in the city of Bethlehem and star will be the symbolic representation of new era. King Herod was afraid that new born king will take over his kingdom. King Herod told the wise men to follow the star and find the child. Once you find the child, please come back to here, and gave me the direction how to see the new born child. I would to raise him in my own palace. The wise men continued their journey to find the new born child. King asked his counselors to look for the new star in the sky and they were unable to see anything on the sky. The star was disappeared from the sky for twenty four hours. The people of Bethlehem were unable to see the star in the sky. King Herod waited several days and the wise men did not return to his palace. The wise men met infant Jesus and gave the gift to him. The wise men followed the star and left the city of Bethlehem. They realized that star won’t move into reverse direction. They decided to follow the path of star instead of going back to the palace of King Herod. King Herod lost his patience and ordered to kill all the new born children. Joseph the step father of Jesus took Jesus into Egypt to survive from the massacre.
The widow, the owner of jewelry store in Babylon waited for years to meet the wise man who never returned to her store. She was getting sick and by this time her daughter became a teenager. Since she had a skin disease, it is impossible for her to find a groom for her wedding. The mother died and left the daughter as an orphan. Before her death, the mother told about the wise man, and the birth of new king which may take place in the city of Jerusalem. After mother’s death, the daughter decided to sell her property and find the new prince. She knew that new prince owned the gold which was intended for her wedding. The daughter prepared her journey and left the city of Babylon.
On her way to Jerusalem, she met some merchants who came from Jerusalem. They told her there is a prophet called Jesus who does miracles. The girl was excited to see the new prophet and may be he can cure her skin disease. After months of Journey, She finally reached at Jerusalem. The city was empty and she could not find any crowd. The city appears to be a ghost town. She asked one stranger “what is going on over here; I do not see any crowd”? The stranger replied” Pontiac Pilate is going to crucify a prophet today evening”. The stranger pointed the direction where Jesus was walking with the cross.
The woman followed the crowd and saw several women were following Jesus. She moved close to Jesus and Jesus Turned his face to her. She saw Jesus face was bleeding with Blood. She immediately took her white veil and wiped Jesus’ face. The Jewish Soldiers did not like her helping Jesus and beat Jesus intended to bleed more. The soldiers did beat her and pushed her out of the crowd. The woman was so tired and decided to go back to her room. She rented a small room at Jerusalem where foreigners were staying. On that day, Sun rose so early in the dawn and set early in the after noon. Suddenly dark clouds appeared over the city of Jerusalem and birds started to flew away from the city. The woman immediately observed the strange activities in the sky since she used to travel in night time for years. The people in Jerusalem feared and stayed inside their homes. The cloud became so thick and dark and she saw fire appeared in the deep sky. The fire appeared to be the face of three human’s resemblance to Abraham, Moses and Mary mother of Jesus and finally merged into single one resemblance to Jesus. The fire was moving towards the city of Jerusalem. The earth started to shake and everybody felt it as an earth quake. The woman was not afraid to stay outside since she felt it was safe to stay outside the room. She did not know that it was the time that Jesus died. The fire started to disappear from the sky and the dark clouds followed the fire. The darkness of the sky appeared afterwards.
Jesus was crucified on that evening and the woman was disappointed that she was unable to talk to him. The woman woke up early next day morning and found that her skin disease was completely cured. She realized that a miracle was happened to her body. She was told by others that Jesus was crucified on the previous night and buried afterwards. She was told about Mother Mary and Jesus’ disciples who were hidden from the Public. They were afraid that Jewish leaders will kill them one by one. The Woman decided to meet mother Mary otherwise her journey would not accomplish anything. The woman tried to find the whereabouts of Mother Mary. She finally met an old woman in the street and she pointed out the place where Mother Mary staying.
The woman finally went to the house and met Mother Mary. She told mother Mary about the miracle. She took a new name and became one of the early followers of Christianity. She left Jerusalem and started the mission to spread Christianity and her name remained as a legend.

Written by SHAJI GEORGE
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