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Blind Man’s Buff

Conjeevaram J. Nandakumar

    Wherever we live these days, we all inhabit a world of lies, secrets, and silence, but we are starved for truth. Our insatiable hunger for knowledge ignores our comforts and boon to unravel the secrets of our life. The CIRUS research reactor at Trombay went critical on 10 July 1960, making it the second oldest reactor in India. It is modeled on the Canadian Chalk River National Research X-perimental (NRX) reactor. The reactor was built with Canadian assistance while the United States provided the initial supply of heavy water. India pledged to the United States to use the CIRUS reactor only for peaceful purposes. CANDU reactors were first developed in the late 1950s and 1960s by a partnership between Atomic Energy of Canada Limited. It was then later marketed to India. As part of the technical knowhow and training Indian scientist Sharma was sent to Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories (CRNL) to work along with Professor Bradley Mannings, a pioneer in atomic research who sphere headed his team in achieving the reactor to go critical.
    As there was worldwide decry over nuclear research and its effect on global warming, professor Bradley Mannings was assigned to evaluate the Himalayan glaciers. Prof. Mannings set off to Himalayas and Mr. Sharma being an Indian accompanied him as his guide. Prof. Mannings took samples of glaciers at different altitudes and tested them. They were camping in Himalayas almost a week and was about to wind up their research, Prof. Mannings curiosity increased as he saw lot of sages with bear chest with ashes smeared all over their bodies meditating and chanting which he could not expound on. The one particularly sitting inside a cavern groping his hands in air to bless the devotees attracted his attention. Prof. Mannings observed closely and found out that the person was stark blind. He looked at Mr. Sharma inquisitively and thought what this man without sight has got to do anything here in Himalayas. He could hardly see and perceive the grandeur of the mount Himalayas or splendor and was wondering why he chose this place.

    “Aren’t we all playing the game of blind man’s buff professor?” boomed a voice amidst the crowd. Prof. Mannings startled and looked around to see where the voice had come from. “Look here professor,” the sage said. “I am here in search of god. You are here in search of some scientific truth. There that lifeless rock, within itself the electrons are playing the game of blind man’s buff by franticly in tremendous speed moving around the protons, and neutrons. For a lay man this Himalayas is a thing of beauty. For an erudite person like you it is mere atom, nucleus, proton, and electrons. For me it is an abode of Lord Shiva. All three of us see the same object in our own perspective. But undoubtedly the truth is out there. We are trying to figure out that in our own way. You would later come to know that my way is the only right way to seek truth. What you claim today is right; tomorrow it may be proved totally wrong. Nothing is constant. Change is inevitable.”

    Prof. Mannings thought that there is definitely a truth in what the sage is saying. What Newton postulated about the laws of gravity that were sacrosanct until Einstein’s quantum mechanics proved that there is a flaw in Newton’s theory. Einstein postulated that time is the fourth dimension and space and time will curve as the result the curvature induces the earth and other planets to travel in a curved motion not because of the gravity of the sun.

    “Yes, professor your assumption is right. Neither Einstein’s theory is right about the fourth dimension. The fourth dimension is within yourself that has to be felt and perceived, where the spiritual world is. It cannot be defined in quantum mechanics or by any relativity theory. The only conduit to reach that dimension is your (geevathma) belief in god and thoughts, which is faster than the speed of light trying to merge with him (paramathma) by leading an aesthetic life. This is already clearly mentioned in Hindu scriptures Brahmandas. There are even references to airplane as (vimanam) and atoms aeons before you came out with the inventions. The fourth dimension is the bliss that we strive to attain. To make that concept elucidate to the humans Lord Shiva was depicted with three eyes denoting that we live in a three dimensional world and the fourth dimension is the lord Shiva himself, which we often fail to understand.”

    Back in Canada Mr. Sharma was attending a hurriedly convened press meeting answering and warding off the questions from the press and television media. Professor Bradley Mannings has officially declared that he had pulled out of the research program and has retired from his scientific pursuit. The reason for that was not stated, but it’s an ad hoc decision of the professor and no specific reason attributed for it, but the only question lies the whereabouts of the professor. There was a frantic search in Ottawa for Prof. Mannings’ whereabouts, but how could they trace him while he was already in the fourth dimension.

    Down here in the Himalayas there were curious onlookers peering over an unusual foreign hermit sitting in penance with ashes smeared all over his body prepared for the journey to the fourth dimension. Probably Prof. Mannings understood the essence of happiness and truth that
“The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; the wise man grows it under his feet.”

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