The Helpful Ghost

The   Helpful  Ghost 

 The S267  flight from Singapore to Chennai took off as per schedule from Singapore  at 9 30 PM Singapore time to Chennai.  

It was a  happy lot of international passengers  who boarded the flight;  

The flight was due to land at Chennai at 10 pm, IST after allowing for the time lag between India and Singapore.  

Unfortunately, tragedy overtook the flight , as at  about half an hour after take off, the plane was reported missing. 

The news was reported all around, but there was no news on the whereabouts of the missing plane.  

Search operations in the seas could only begin  from the next morning ;  

Meanwhile the media floated  all sorts of possibilities on the fate of the plane such   as   1. Hijack, 2.  Pilot lost control and the plane sank somewhere in the ocean,3.Some  super power  has forced the plane to its military base;  

even there was an articulation that an extra- terrestrial power has taken the plane away from the planet itself. 

The search for the plane continued meticulously and was in the media attention for days to come, but to no avail.

By now the relatives of the passengers had given up all hopes on their near and dear ones;

It was abundantly clear that even if the wreckage was found, there would be  no survivors
and even the bodies would be decomposed beyond recognition.

One of the passengers  on the ill fated plane was Rajiv Natarajan .  

By nature, he was a restless person always on the move;

 A promising career lay ahead of him ; 

he was just 21 when the mishap took place. 

A brilliant graduate engineer, he had come up in life through hard work, he had planned to study and work  abroad;  

for his near relatives, it was a bitter disappointment.  

The soul of Rajiv, reached the entry gates to Heaven/ Hell  when it was stopped by the watchman.

"Sorry , you have no permission to enter,   because you have not been cremated ;  you have to go back to Earth  and wander as a ghost;" the latter said.  

" What, for no fault of mine shot back?", Rajiv.

"but there is  a clause here;  said the watchman, your performance will be judged  over a period of time, and depending on whether its good or bad, you will be welcomed in Heaven or Hell. if its neither, you will continue to float in the nether world", said the watch man.

Rajiv, always a go-getter  took this up as a challenge; 

he was at a loss to decide how to go about his job; if he started with his family, he would be deemed selfish. 

So he decided to act as he saw things;

He started,  by helping a beggar with 2 free bananas to eat, by robbing the fruit vendor of it;

remember, he was invisible to the outside  world. 

Suddenly, he heard a woman scream  from  a house nearby. 

When he went in  to investigate, he found a man holding a knife against the neck of an  old woman. while his accomplice was tying her up with a rope. 

Using his presence of mind, Rajiv tickled the  intruder around the waist; 

instantaneously  the man dropped the knife in the floor.

Rajiv picked it up  and pointed it towards the men who fled from the scene. 

The old woman an ardent Lord Narayana   devotee thought,that the Lord had saved her !

Rajiv moved on to the nearby temple where in its precincts, a Swamiji  was addressing a gathering deeply immersed in his speech;  

The Swamiji was talking about the various vices of human beings and today the emphasis was on avarice;  

the Swamiji was interspersing his speech with bhajans and anecdotes from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.

Suddenly there was a devotee from the audience  who walked upto the Swamiji and criticized him and told him ,he was fooling the gullible public with his pious  talk ; 

The Swamiji kept his composure for a while but the man continued with his criticism. 

This enraged the Swamiji and  he cursed the critic that he will vomit blood for his foolish utterances.  

Very soon this happened, for he vomited   a good quantity of red liquid; 

he was immediately taken away for attendance by  some people.
 
This aroused the curiosity of Rajiv; 

but in the minds of  the audience the Swamiji's spiritual powers had shot up  considerably and many thought he was God in a new avatar ! 

Some old women immediately prostrated before him ! 

At the end of his sermon , the Swamiji  appealed to the audience to contribute on their own free will  for the upkeep of his ashram. 

His appeal did not fall in deaf ears as there was a scramble from the audience to put money in his  hundi ( kitty).

Then there were some devotees who wanted to speak to the Swamiji  seeking an audience / appointment with him , needing his assistance to redress their personal problems.

Among them was Rajiv's  girl friend  Neeta ;  The Swamiji gave her his card and requested her to call  him  later for the appointment.

After the meeting the Swamiji left the auditorium and was followed by his bodyguards. 

Rajiv  walked  behind  to see where the Swamiji was heading. 

After walking for a distance, he was shocked to see the person who had  criticized   the Swamiji  join him ;       

they both had a good laugh; 

the Swamiji said : " Thank God the emetic and the red sherbet  worked, otherwise we would have been in trouble; Tomorrow I have given an appointment to a young beauty, so hope to have some fun ; Want to join?"

"Oh why not" said  his accomplice ; 

"So be there at 11 am"

Sure" said the accomplice.

Rajiv, hurried to his girl friend's house.  

He heard her tell her mother that the Swamiji  was like a living God, and she recounted what happened in the temple. 

"Mummy, I have sought an appointment with him at 11;  I am going to tell him all my problems  including that of  Rajiv, ; I am sure he will give good advice."  

"Sure, Neeta and dont forget to take some flowers and fruits and if he gives prasad please bring it so we can give it to other friends and relatives."

The next day, Rajiv arrived at Neeta's house on time; 

Neeta took her 2 wheeler and Rajiv( (invisible) was seated    on the back seat .

They arrived on time at the given address.  

The Swamiji welcomed Neeta and made her sit on the  floor along with him. Neeta told him about her friend Rajiv's  death.

The latter consoled her and said he will perform a pooja for her mental peace and for the deceased's soul. Neeta was asked to close her eyes and  recite the  name of  the Lord mentally.

 During the pooja, Neeta fell in a trance and the Swamiji asked his accomplice to carry her  to his bed room. 

Fully aroused with lustful eyes  the Swamiji  entered the room and attempted to disrobe her; 

Rajiv sprung into action and threw some cold water in Neeta's face; 

Neeta woke up instantly  and seeing herself in a compromising  position , pushed the Swamiji aside (helped by Rajiv invisibly) and fled  from the room followed by Rajiv. 

The Swamiji  taken by surprise in a state of undress, called his accomplice to  stop her.  

But Neeta  escaped from  his clutches;  

the long arm of the law was waiting outside and caught up with the Swamiji." You and your accomplice are under arrest, said the inspector to Swamiji. We have received a telephonic message  in advance about your anti social activity."


Later  Rajiv received a message from above:  "Well done ;  Since you have done very  Good work down there You are now welcomed in Heaven;"



G.Venkatesh



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