Vardaan 1...The Ultimate Boon

Chapter 18: Just Before the Destination (Part 1)

Batuk was in a very deep sleep. He had a big relaxed smile on his face. It was as if nothing was lacking in his life. He was feeling the significance of the human body. It was obvious that he was dreaming of being with his family.

"Batuk...Batuk..." A woman called out to Batuk and he got up. The happiness on his face turned to surprise as momentarily as he woke up. It was not morning, so his friends were still sleeping.

"Who are you?" Batuk spoke slowly.

Batuk tried to sleep again but he could not sleep. He saw his farm. The sadness appeared on his face as fast as he saw the field. He got up and went to the field.

Batuk tried to see in the dark but the fields were as flat as yesterday. Heaving a cold sigh, Batuk went to visit the rest of the mound.

Just at that time, Jagdeesh woke up. Dev was mumbling in his sleep. When Jagdeesh listened carefully, he found that Dev was stopping Rasik.

"Wait a while. The plants will be about to emerge any time now." Dev was saying in his sleep.

Jagdeesh understood that Rasik in Dev's dream again trying to leave the mound.

Waking up, Jagdeesh remembered his broken dream. That morning he too had a discouraging dream. He had seen that it rained so much that the seeds had rotted in the water itself. At first, he thought it was just a dream, but since dreams almost feel like reality, the fear of the dream overcame him.

Jagdeesh immediately went and dug a place and saw some seeds in perfect condition. With a sigh of relief, he went back to sleep.

Jagdeesh saw that Batuk was not there. When he called, Dev and Rasik also woke up.

"Where is he?" Dev asked Jagdeesh.

"I do not know. I am also awake now." Jagdeesh replied.

"But why are you awake at this hour?" Frustrated Rasik asked.

Looking at Rasik's face, it was clear that he was having a beautiful dream, the dissolution of which upset his mood.

"Has he gone somewhere?" Jagdeesh told his apprehension.

"After doing so much... are you mad or what? Go to sleep and let me sleep too. He must have gone for a walk somewhere." Rasik gave a blunt answer to Jagdeesh.

Jagdeesh could not say anything after that. He lay down and tried to sleep.

Rasik immediately lay down, because he wanted to restart his dream again from where it ended. As no one could ever do this, Rasik failed to do so. He irritated and woke up both of them who had somehow managed to sleep again.

"After a million years I had a dream of a girl and this stupid fellow broke that dream. He is going to remain unmarried himself; he is working on a plan to keep me as himself." Rasik said taking out his anger on Jagdeesh.

Jagdeesh didn't know whether to apologize or get angry.

"If Jagdeesh was not there, you would not have even remembered your dream." Dev tried to pacify him by saying.

Rasik made such a face as if Dev considered him such a big fool that Dev would say anything and Rasik would accept it.

"I'm telling you the truth. We only remember those dreams that are broken. Do you ever remember a dream that reached its end? Every story starts somewhere and ends somewhere, but no one remembers where the dreams started and where they ended. Where the ongoing dreams were broken, only that is remembered... It's because the dream that breaks; only that dream is remembered." Dev explained the science of dreams and lay back down.

Scientist Rasik churned on the information given by Dev. When he realized the truth, he thanked Jagdeesh and woke them up again.

Then no one could sleep. But no one moved from his place. While lying there they fantasized. They were dreaming while awake.

The sowing was done, so now their job was to wait.

Wait for the plants to emerge from the seeds. The pathway just before the destination does not pass easily. Each second seems like a year. That was exactly the feeling of four friends on the mound. Everyone's fidgetiness was increasing and time was not passing at all.

Batuk had come for the fourth time after seeing the sun, it was still there. There was wood, there was water, there were fruits, there was grain and the work on the farm had also been completed.

"What should I do?" Batuk was thinking.

'How to pass the time?' was the new mystery for the student of Uttarasaadhaka Gurukul.

Rasik would come after every little while to see the fields on some pretext or the other. First of all, he goes to his farm. After getting nothing, he looked at the farms of others. When he found his farm-like scenario there, he used to return irritated.

One day, Batuk's attention went to his pond as well as to his tool.

Batuk proposed to dig another pond to pass the time. All four friends were already excited about the pond, so they accepted the proposal immediately.

To get rid of the stress of the plants, they started making another pond. They engrossed themselves so much in making the pond that they forgot about the plants. When the second pond was also built, they started making the third pond.

One evening during Gurukul days, in a Sanjh Satsang, a chhatar who was a classmate of those four asked, "Why do aacharyas always suggest creative work as a suitable way to pass the time? You can pass the time while watching or listening to someone else's creativity."

In response to that, another chhatar, who was a senior chhatar, replied, "Doing some creative work to pass the time is not only a good way but also a necessary way. While doing creative work, your time will also be spent and you also will get something beneficial. If you do not focus on creativity, you will only do destruction like a raging animal. It may be small, but you will only destroy."