We have heard a lot of tales about the people from the future who possess the technology to travel to different timelines. We have heard about timelines and the science behind such theories. Have you ever wondered if we can time travel back to our youth and old age?
Forget a person; can an object do that itself?!
Well we don’t know for sure but there has been a story about how a coconut did the same…
The coconut might have wanted to look young again.
Long ago an old man lived at the outskirts of a small village. He was considered as an outcast. This was only because he was unmarried and lived alone. One day the old man was fed up of his lonely life and decided to go on a long journey. He took out a big bundle of grains and a pot filled with water and set out.
The man walked for days and nights surviving on grains and river water. He met a lot of people but everyone seemed to hate a nomad. Sure he was dressed like one, wearing nothing but an old white dhoti covering his waist. This was not a fair reason as monks and saints wore the same attire. They too had terrible hairstyle like him. The old man walked and walked and at the same time thought and thought. He thought a lot and at last he came up with an answer. He doesn’t have an identity. People meeting him asked his name and he had forgotten that long ago being alone. He decided to come up with a name the next time he met someone.
Soon, he met a young girl and her mother returning home after collecting firewood. They were tired and thirsty from the hard labor. The man gave them a portion of his river water and they asked his name
“Bapi”. He replied.
Bapi was an odd name but it was acceptable.
The young girl played with his long beard and the woman asked him where he was going.
This was another thing that he hadn’t thought about. He asked the woman as to where she imagined him to be going to. The woman smiled. It was obvious for her. Old men go on long journey only for one thing.
To attain enlightenment.
“You are going to The Shiva temple at the other side of the mountain”.
The old man nodded. He has a destination now.
The other side of the mountain was a beautiful landscape with paddy fields and tall coconut trees. He walked and walked. Thought and thought and stopped. There was a coconut in front of him in the middle of the path. Brown and old but resistant, just like him. He had never met anyone like him all his life.
He took the coconut along with him.
He took a few more steps and found himself in front of a small temple. He could see the deity from outside. It was a rock, a black one with floral ornaments adorned on it. A few people were praying. The man felt stupid praying to a rock. A few people were sitting in front of a mild fire. They were preparing for the evening rituals and chanted random words. The man was not wise enough to understand the words but the aura he felt from the whispering chants was very strong. He too stood there praying to the rock.
The black rock. It gave enlightenment to old men.
The old man was tired. He kept the brown coconut beside him and lay down near the entrance of the shrine, on a wooden platform. Nobody disturbed him and his coconut. They were old men who had come for enlightenment.
After the evening rituals were over, the people began to disperse. A young man came running to the temple from across the paddy field. He didn’t want to attain enlightenment but wanted to seek blessings. The man came running with a tender coconut on one hand and as he reached the temple, he realized that the temple was closed and everyone had left. The man’s wife had given him the tender coconut as an offering but he had become late due to his gambling routine. Returning home with the coconut would make his wife angry.
The man looked around. He saw the old man.
The young man carefully moved towards the sleeping person and observed him. Old white dhoti, white beard and pungent smell. This was a saint. The man was proud of his judgment. He suddenly noticed the brown coconut. The man had an idea.
The saint was a holy man. Such a person consuming a brown coconut was unacceptable .He offered the tender coconut to the saint and took away the brown one. He prayed to him and went home happily, discarding the brown coconut on the way.
The night passed and Dawn came.
The old man was woken up by the birds that sang for the deity every morning. He sat up and went near the temple pond to wash his face and feet. On the way back he remembered his friend and wondered whether the brown coconut had attained enlightenment.
He came to the wooden platform only to find a green, fresh tender coconut occupying his friend’s place. The man was confused. He scratched his head and thought and thought. He took the tender coconut and inspected it carefully. He couldn’t believe it. A coconut turning brown overnight was surprising, but possible. This was against the laws of nature.
The coconut turned tender after becoming brown.
The man looked at the deity. It still gave the same aura.
The man took the tender coconut and shouted.
“The temple that came from the stories had turned an old coconut tender!”.
He shouted it everywhere. He walked and thought about it.
And shouted it everywhere.