Friday, May 06, 2011

Such a long journey...

He's a young man with curly hair, soft eyes and there's this girl with him. They're inquiring about meditations and I'm at the information counter at Manasa on a Sunday morning, telling them the usual things. Soon he joins the weekly meditation classes, one among many others, and forgotten.

A month later, he's again in the news and suddenly in the spotlight when we come to know that he wants to join Manasa and work as a full-time volunteer. There are a few others too who've decided to join but they've been students for quite some years and are intimately involved with Manasa. This guy is a newcomer, hardly a month old into our spiritual organization and his decision to jump in totally creates a flutter and awe in us.

That evening, a few of us volunteers are chatting and he joins us. His name is Lokesh Chandra Das and he comes with an illustrious background. 'I was at Infosys,' he says. 'Now I'm doing my doctoral studies from Pennsylvania University. I've to submit my thesis next month. I'm on a short leave to India.' He has plans to go back to US, submit his thesis, get his degree, come back and jump into the spiritual work.

Those are heady days of idealism and we're young, unmarried, without additional family responsibilities, and totally gung-ho about taking big leaps into the unknown. Lokesh is a hero for us (for me, I guess). That evening, we drive a mile away to Antar-manasa, and sit chatting late about all things sundry. Lokesh opens up about his background, about his dreams, about what drove him to spiritual studies and sadhana. Someday, I reflect, I'll be like this guy and like others here. I'll dedicate myself completely to spiritual sadhana and work.

Just a few days later, the dream bubble bursts--probably one of the first bubbles. I've yacked about it, a bit foolishly, here. Lokesh is sent away unceremoniously, after he makes an ass of himself and chickens out when he's asked to make a small commitment. We're told that he had selfish designs and personal motives in joining our spiritual organization. He exits as suddenly as he'd appeared and is not seen again.

Cut to three years and suddenly, he's there, on the day of the Light Channels World Movement. And this time, he looks like a sadhu, with an unkempt beard and long, matted locks--totally unwashed and smelling awful. He's standing there, in the huge auditorium, along with the thousands who'd come to attend the launch of the Light Channelling event. And there's a girl with him, probably his wife-- both of them are wearing saffron-- and he's carrying a small kid, a two year old, his daughter. 'It's a long story,' he smiles. 'I'll tell you some other time'. I'm overwhelmed with emotions at seeing this guy after so long, and in this condition, but more so, thinking about the little child he's brought into this world, and the future it'll have with this recluse.

I meet him once more after a couple of days.

Today, two years later, we have this terrible news about him. That he killed his Israeli girlfriend and stored her body in a freezer for a month before surrendering to the police!

Just shocking and unbelievable. This dude.....

11 comments:

  1. He clearly was in a passionate search for some path as crazy thoughts were pulling him in different directions. Perhaps his mental chemistry could never have been cleaned by meditation and prayer. Sad to think that this was his destiny.

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  2. Dismemberment does happen, like those in scary movies. How sad, both for the woman and the man :(

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  3. BOTH HUSBAND AND WIFE WERE SHOW OFF'S.ZERO SPIRTUALITY.

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  4. OMG!! Yes, even I remember seeing this guy on that day, Feb 26.. and was wondering who this "swami" kind-of guy is.. saw his 2 yr old kid too.. whom he forcibly made to prostrate in front of the Master. I got know about his "stint" at our Org few mins later.

    Oh.. I didnt realize it was the same fellow who was in the news recently
    OMG!.. What a lunatic! and man.. its tough to digest

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  5. Vishwanna - I came to your blog via this post. The guy about whom you wrote was known to me too. We were colleagues in Mangalore and he used to be a pretty popular person on campus. I dont if he was too much of a genius or just mad in a unique way. Like they say, "A failed genius is what the world calls mad, a successful mad will be called genius"

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  6. oh, interesting that you too knew him.
    they say, there's a touch of madness in all of us, but kinda subdued. Maybe a genius gets bold enough to experiment with this madness and then it goes off control.
    Sad story.

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  7. I happen to unfold this story about Loki just a few mins ago while I was googling for my old-lost friends! I am totally dumb-folded at this story and connecting the bits & pieces...I am very totally stumped unveiling this new side of the boy that I knew so very well while working in Mangalore. He is one of my roommates boyfriend turned husband who use to hang out with us a lot and what a perky fellow he used to be! Its very saddening to hear though...
    I wonder how Jyothi is doing now...she was such a sweet pea too!!
    -Her very good roommate in mlore...May god give her lots of courage!

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  8. yes, it's quite a sad story. Hope things have turned out well for your friend and she's able to cope up.

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  9. I was a friend of Farcha - the girl who was murdered.
    This is so shocking.
    She used to speak of him - an was very much in love with him...

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  10. He was my batchmate at KREC (NITK).
    Was he punished? I dont see any news of the case now.
    Never knew he was such a criminal.

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  11. Anon.....I have no news of him either. Yes it was a real shocker when we heard the news. I guess, he panicked big time when the girl died, and tried to escape instead of surrendering, and it all got murkier from there. He must still be in jail, awaiting trail.

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