It must have been nearly 20 years after that adventurous evening, when I met those three saints and also witnessed the dramatic scene of a pregnant woman delivering a baby, who then shockingly was forced to abandon it in the middle of the dense forest.
My village Jandera had got its name from its own population;
because all of them followed one faith and ideology called ‘Godaism’. Jandera
was under the kingdom of King Vikram, who ruled from the capital city of Amor.
Jandera was very lucky to have a young villager who had become
well known for his spell binding discourses. Even nearby villages were buzzing
with news of this young boy’s abilities. His speeches had become very popular.
He did not talk about the religion or scriptures, but about practical issues of
how to lead a simple and uncomplicated life. People were visiting him in herds,
because the boy had practical answers to everyone’s day to day problems. They
asked him various house hold, health or relationships related questions and he
offered them long term easy solutions. He never said, ‘I will give you
something’. Instead he said, ‘you have it all in you. You have all the solutions
inside you; you just have to learn how to discover them’. Due to this the flock
was getting self-empowered, especially women. Many of the listeners now wanted
to stay with him as long as they could, to learn the art of living, the art of
staying happy and be confidant! But he would always refuse such offers, ‘you
have to take care of your own life and family. No one should turn away from his
basic duties. All you have to do is do your job well and lead an honest life’.
In spite of this people just kept walking behind him; there was no way to stop
them. His disciples were growing every day!
The boy’s name was Sucharit – man of good character. Strangely
his huge popularity got him another name, ‘Suyesh’ or the one who is famous for
good reasons. Sucharit was about 20 years old. He was tall, had a lean muscular
body. His beard grew a little scanty. His curly hair was up to his shoulders.
He was mostly seen in a white cloth wrapped around his waist and a pleasant
expression on his thin face.
Like everyone else, Sucharit too followed a near 2000 year old
religion called Godaism. Followers of Godaism believed that the universe was
created and governed by a single omnipresent, omnipotent power called, God. He
lived with three old men, who were carpenters. Yes, these were the same three
saints had rescued this howling baby boy, from a forest 20 years ago. So,
Sucharit was a carpenter too, expert in making simple and economical furniture.
He did most of the work himself, so that his old saviors could take it easy in
the dusk of their life. All his life, the saints had fed him, taken care of him
and most importantly sown seeds of good qualities in him. They adored him for
the way he had grown up- so bright, so strong and so humane. But they had never
bargained that he would be so popular.
It had not been easy for those saints at all, bringing up a
child right from his birth. They never let out the secret how they had found
him. Only dismissive answer they had for numerous questions and doubts for
nearly 20 years was, that ‘his mother’s name was Meera, who was known to them
and God was his father! Can’t you see it on his face? Look at the peace and
glow! Doesn’t he remind you of God?’ It was nearly a declaration from those
well respected saints to make a point for the boy. A thoroughly impressed
village crowd ‘semi believed’ them. Everyone knows how babies come on earth. An
abandoned ordinary child was turned into an extraordinary phenomenon, only to
cover up the absence of his father. Whoever met Sucharit just once, who he was
did not matter. Sucharit spoke in a common man’s language. Slowly a belief
started developing that he was a god and not a human. He physically ‘touched’
them to make them believe that he indeed was a human being. Due to constant
speeches and interaction with troubled lot, Sucharit had grown very sharp in
his mind and kind in heart. He could genuinely feel or even guess everyone’s
pain. ‘Suyesh Sucharit’ had become a strong magical magnet. His strong
attraction converted many of his listeners into his disciples. They really
loved Sucharit from their heart.
Sucharit as a rule did not allow women to follow him
permanently. He knew women are needed at home much more than men. But nobody
had been able to convince or force ‘Mangala’ away. She had to face a lot of
criticism from everyone. At that time it was looked down upon for a woman to
live with a man, without village head’s consent. She in fact lived with many
men, because they were all his disciples. She took up the job of doing all day
to day chores for Sucharit on the pretext that he had no time to do them
anyway. She smilingly, cooked, washed and mended his clothes, took care of all
important visitors, who were growing in number. Now Mangala became a strong
confidante of Sucharit. And gradually got a nod of all his followers, to be
with them.
She would wait by his side until he fell asleep at night. She
was ready by his side again with a jar of water in morning. Watching her
devotion, everyone developed a deep respect for her too, not so much because
she was close to Suyesh, but because Suyesh also had so much respect for her.
Mangala was now Ma Mangala for everyone. Phenomenal popularity of Suyesh now
could not be handled by the usual small scale arrangements. It needed planning
at a much higher level. Ma Mangala stepped up consultations with other
colleagues and designed a security net for Sucharit. Since they had spotted
spies from Amor too many times in the crowd, visitors were not allowed to get
very close to him. Donations too had become large to be taken lightly. They had
to be received, stored securely and properly accounted for. Thankfully
Sucharit’s ministers had kept all these worldly matters away from him. His last
meeting had so many visitors that they had to meet outside the village in a
more open space. Sucharit spoke for a long time making everyone spell bound.
Someone guessed there might have been nearly 50000 people in that gathering!
