Author: Narinder Jarial
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The Clinic, the Ashram, and the Upward River
Atma Ram Hira Lal Ji, a devoted follower of Baba, transforms from an afflicted patient to a loyal sevak, helping at Baba’s thriving ashram. Meanwhile, Doctor Sahib feels suffocated by the shift from medical practice to spiritual healing. Seeking freedom and clarity, he escapes to nature, embracing life’s uncertainties while leaving behind the enclosed world…
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A Quiet Relocation of Breath
Bopa Rai contemplates the intricate relationship between life, breath, and chemistry, recognizing that while in vitro experiments mirror bodily processes, true life occurs within tissues. He reflects on death not merely as breath’s absence but as a failure of oxygen exchange. Ultimately, he seeks solace in friendship, visiting his comrade Rashid for shared companionship over…
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Ferments: The Hollow Men and the Stuffed Prophet
Ferments O Child of the twentieth CenturyBrought up on junkKnowMother’s milk was the norm once. O traveller of the internetKnow information travelled then too O laptop-hugging walking encyclopediaKnow your seniors were as smartSometimes smarter too O devourerOf instant infotainmentKnow some history too. The Conjuror in the Sun 19th century Spain was a mosaic of smuggling,…
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Wealth and Inequality
In a small town, Hari Om was loved because his wealth moved among people as loans, jobs, favours, and help. Bopa Rai, richer by far, remained distant — a thin, scholarly, almost mythic figure imprisoned by his own abundance. Between them stood Prakash, the village communist, asking why wealth could not simply be divided. What…
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Maladjusted In, Adjusted Out
The narrative explores the journey of Devraj Sinha, a man struggling with a sense of maladjustment in life as he arrives at a Bengaluru ashram. Through a personal device and guidance from staff, he progresses towards a state of emotional clarity. The ashram’s insights challenge perceptions of adjustment and highlight the complexities of individual versus…
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Swāhā
Panchkula. The market. The balcony. The debt that was never about the beggar. ✦ The Curse of the Full Sack Bopa was ten — perhaps eleven — the age when pride begins to sprout, like the first coarse hairs on a boy’s chin. It was summer, dry and searing, the kind of heat that turns…