Long back, during my service tenure, working as an assistant professor in a Government college nearly Forty kilometers from my hometown, I used to shuttle daily by state-owned bus service. One day while returning home, it became slightly difficult for me to manage a seat on the bus. Some local fair was going on that day. The bus was jam-packed with passengers all around. Luckily, I got a seat just in the last row of the bus. To cover the journey of about one-and-a-half hours happily, I struck up a conversation with my fellow passengers sitting on my left and right. Coincidentally, the person sitting on my right was a talisman-seller. The one who was going back home after selling his ‘items’ (Taweez)at the fair. I broke the silence: “Brother, does anything good happen with these talismans?”
“Yes, why not? Don’t we wear slippers or shoes so as not to get pricked by a thorn while walking on the roadside etc.?”
“Yes, we do wear them,” I replied instantly.
“Similarly, these talismans do very useful and positive work to stop the impact of bad spirits bent upon harming us.”
The talisman-seller had almost defeated me with his intelligent argument. He explained the main features of a talisman in such a lucid and convincing manner that I thought, for a while, why not buy a talisman from him? Something good could happen, as he had claimed.
In the meanwhile, the bus had covered half the journey. When I asked for the price of the talisman, I came to know that according to its effect and power, he had three types of talismans to offer: Fast, Super-fast, and Soft. Rupees Two hundred for fast, Four hundred for Super-fast and One hundred for the Soft one.
“Okay. If you have a soft one, please give me one for Twenty Rupees.” I told him. The passenger beside me supported my point, and he, too, offered to buy one talisman for himself.
“Hey, sir! Twenty is no deal.” he rumbled.
We stuck to our word.
“Okay, Fifty per talisman.” He softened a bit.
We did not budge.
Meanwhile, the bus was about to reach its destination. Hardly Five more minutes of travel were left.
“Well, hurry up, you both. You win! Give me Twenty Rupees each. I will give it to you. May God keep both of you safe.”
Both of us bought Talisman for Twenty Rupees each. I hurriedly got off the bus after listening to the method of using the talisman. For many years the talisman remained in the inside pocket of my coat. Nothing special or exemplary happened, and nothing terrible or unusual happened, either.
The story goes back to the period when I was selected by the HRD Ministry as a research fellow to work on the ‘Problems of Translation’ at the prestigious Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla. I had sought voluntary retirement from the Rajasthan government to carry out research at IIAS Shimla from 1999 to 2001. (The work has been published by the Institute.) IIAS is a premier Institute known for its excellence not in India only but in Asia, as well. Its prestigious academic traditions are superb.
One day, while I was working on my research project in my study, I received a call from the Examination Controller of Kashmir University. The University wanted to send me a thesis for review, and needed my consent for it. I agreed, and within a week, the thesis arrived via registered post. Upon opening the parcel, I saw that the thesis was from my friend Dr. Bhushan Lal Koul. According to my knowledge, at that time, Koul was serving as a Professor in the Hindi department at Kashmir University. After submitting my appreciative report on the thesis, the ‘viva voce’ process was scheduled to take place in Srinagar. In the meantime, someone known to Koul (whom I also knew) called me and requested that I write a letter to the Examination Controller, suggesting that instead of keeping the viva in Srinagar, it should be kept in Jammu. As a matter of fact, during that period, Kashmir was grappling with terrorism and was at its peak. Some anti-social elements, possibly Koul’s antagonists, wanted to sabotage the viva. Perhaps for this reason, Koul wanted to keep the viva in Jammu instead of Srinagar. I wrote the letter as requested, and soon after, the venue of viva was fixed at the Guest House of Jammu University. On the scheduled date, I reached Jammu and stayed in the Guest House of the university. The viva-proceedings were carried out under my supervision.
First, I read out the examiners’ reports on the thesis. The reports came from Prof. Omkar Koul from Mysore, Dr. Vimala Munshi from Agra, and my own report. I raised the issue of acknowledging the contributions of Kashmir’s renowned author Amin Kamil in the dissertation, which Prof. Koul had forgotten in his assessment. This matter was discussed, among other things. Bhushan Lal Koul provided comprehensive answers to all the questions that were put to him, in his own way. The examination concluded within an hour, and it was unanimously decided to award him the D.Litt. degree. Koul received congratulations informally from his friends, and the celebration was underway when I noticed that Bhushan Lal Ji was wiping his eyes with his handkerchief. It seemed that tears of joy had welled up in his eyes. Upon inquiry, he said, “If my wife were alive today, she would be happier than anyone else. In her last days, she had told me not to leave my work incomplete. She persuaded me to finish it, to complete it.” Everyone congratulated Bhushan Lal Ji and gave him his best wishes.
After obtaining the degree and migrating from Kashmir, Dr. Koul had decided to reside in Jammu permanently and had completely dedicated himself to academic pursuits. Eventually, it was during a prostate operation that he passed away after a few years of his stay in Jammu.
Here I am reminded of yet another incident. In November 1962, I received the results of my M.A. Hindi (Final) examination. To my delight, I had secured the first position in my batch and earned a first division. I vividly recall the day after the results were announced, when Mr. Koul, who had been studying in the previous year, came to my house early in the morning. He very politely requested for my notes, and I gladly shared them with him. I later learned that Mr. Koul also had secured the top position in 1963.
Following my academic achievements, I pursued a Ph.D. course at Kurukshetra University and subsequently joined the Rajasthan College Service in 1966 after my selection by the Rajasthan Public Service Commission, Ajmer. This marked the beginning of my career, and Rajasthan the valiant land became my workplace. Reflecting on these memories fills me with a great sense of pride and satisfaction.
Author is a Former Fellow, IIAS Shimla. He can be mailed at skraina123@gmail.com
