Abduction of Sandeep Padhi by Flying Saucers - Part 1

Abduction
While loafing around the streets of Atlanta, with a cup of Starbucks coffee in hand, Padhi was half-absorbed by the reddish Sun setting fast in the West and half-absorbed in the thoughts of how to make quick money in a short span. He thought half of the life was gone in toil and sweat and another half would pass away like that only unless he thought out of the box. He thought the life would remain meaningless unless he at least possessed a red Ferrari and a swanky bungalow around Yamuna. Then, he could, whenever his whims allowed, go anytime around Yamuna beach with his love-of-life and do fish hunting.

He was slurping the hot, aromatic coffee slowly and slowly so it could act as a catalyst for prolonging his thought process. After all, he remembered the saying of an old Indian Sanyasi who had said this famous line “what you think, you become.” Padhi, a firm believer of this philosophy, was thinking on how to apply this theory to make him a rich man.

He went so deep in his thinking that in 5-6 hours that flew—during which birds went back to their houses, cooked their dinner, male birds gulped down a few pegs, and went to sleep—Padhi remained oblivious of the night setting in. He came back to his world back only when he saw a flying saucer rotating fast above his head. He certainly was in danger. Before he could throw the cup in the dustbin nearby (a good habit gained after spending 6 months in Atlanta) and leap back to his guest house, a white light originated from the saucer and gulped Padhi inside the Saucer. Now, he was among the creatures of different order. They were three eyed monsters—one eye on the forehead.

Padhi, seeing his untimely, imminent end, mumbled the entire Hanuman Chalisa that he had mugged up in his childhood in 5 seconds. As he finished, a door in front opened and from there erupted a beautiful girl, who with an eye on her forehead, which Padhi took as a Bindi, was very different from the girls on the earth, but so beautiful that Padhi’s eyes remain fixed on her for a while.

The girl in her sweet voice said, “So you are Sandeep Padhi. Have heard about your ID skills a lot in the entire Universe. What’s the secret?”

Padhi saw a fresh hope in those words that ringed like the twinkling of bells in a temple. What bad things he thought a moment ago disappeared and were replaced by an opportunity in front. “Great thinking Indian mind set into action by Starbucks coffee and Indian Desi Chole Bhature,” Padhi said in response to the damsel's question.

Padhi’s confident voice in such alienating conditions impressed the damsel to the core. She said, “Quite true you are to the words floating about you in the Universe. We’ll give $ 50,000 billion if you could transport your knowledge to our brains. There is a lot of Web 2.0 and Social Learning stuff going on in our planet and we seem to be quite ill equipped. People in our planet don’t even understand Bloom’s taxonomy and Gagne’s 9 step model. Wot say? Will you do that for me? Or I increase the money a bit more?”

Padhi, whose feet were already shaking after seeing such a beautiful girl, after hearing the billion dollar agreement, shook his feet so fiercely that he ran flat on the ground and his eyes closed for a moment. The beautiful damsel took Padhi in her arms and caressed his forehead and muttered, “Oh! such a cute knowledgeable man though with only two eyes.”

By that gentle touch, Padhi opened his eyes and immediately jumped back to life like an army soldier eager to go on front.

The Alien Who Took Padhi's Breath Away




Padhi sipping the cold coffee from the glass that he had forgotten to throw in the dustbin on the Atlanta road said, “Real knowledge requires a calm mind. Only when the mind is focused, that real knowledge goes in. It’s like you cannot cram an already filled box with more stuff. You first need to make it empty.” He took a pause and took another sip, during which the damsel and other creatures looked toward Padhi in awe. “A mind that has understood Indian philosophy is a powerful mind. It’s focused, clean, with all cobwebs removed.” “Oh! we’ve heard about the Indian mind and its rich philosophy,” shrieked the damsel. Padhi at the back of his mind knew he was gaining control of the situation.

He told them, “If you want to gain knowledge, you’ll have to take the saucer to Yamuna where the energy is in dense form and there knowledge transfer will be quick.” The reason Padhi said this was if there was any danger he could jump into Yamuna and being a good swimmer, which he learnt in a tubewell, he would swim to the bank.

So there zoomed the saucer toward Yamuna…


Padhi’s Friends and Their Rescue Plan



Padhi had a wonderful bunch of friends who were equally talented as Padhi himself. After all, a man is known by the company he keeps. Padhi again believed in this philosophy. Among his best friends were Maneesh, KC, and Sandipan. All from different corners of India and belonging to the same profession as Padhi himself was in.

Maneesh held some strange interests. In his idle hours, he would often get astrayed to Yamuna and click photographs of flying birds and Yamuna herself from his old mobile phone and then posted them in Facebook, which garnered him a lot of praise. KC and Sandipan praised his skills and egged him on to continue with this killing-of-time. Both felt life was a great Maya and whatever one did, it didn't make any difference. Acceptance was the key.

And there floats another set of pictures of Yamuna on Maneesh’s FB account. “What! This is Padhi, our own Padhi. And those monsters around him,” KC exclaimed as he saw one of the pictures that captured the clouds above Yamuna. On straining their eyes, Sandipan and Maneesh could also see Padhi talking to the three eyed monsters.

KC, to whom Sandeep had promised of a treat after he returned to India and another expensive offer, wanted to rescue Padhi at any cost. So did Maneesh and Sandipan. They too were to be offered the same treat, after all. The plan was made, according to which KC would stealthily climb in at the roof of an Indian Airplane and jump to the flying saucer when the plane went above it. He would take with him the most dreaded weapons: a Desi Tamancha and 3 powerful bamboo sticks to beat the life out of the monsters.

Once KC rescued Padhi, he would jump along with him in Yamuna where Sandipan and Maneesh already waiting in a boat ferry both of them toward the bank. And then Sandeep would have to throw a gala treat for rescuing him.



Padhi’s Gyan Session and Rescue Bid

Now, the creatures and Padhi were over Yamuna, hiding behind a cloud that was effectively captured by Maneesh’s old mobile phone. Padhi said, “Meditation stills the mind. All thoughts that are dispersed soon take a direction and that energized thought become so strong that things start materializing.”

The damsel got so impressed that she drew herself closer to Padhi and summoned one of the creatures to take the suitcase out that contained the dollar currency.

A suitcase is brought soon. Padhi, seeing his dream getting fulfilled, continued, “World is a divine Maya. If you are aware of it, you’ll not unnecessarily get bound by rules, illogical customs, and your free mind will make you fresh like a butterfly floating in the sky.”

Suitcase was almost near Padhi now.

Just at that very moment, an Indian Airplane flew over and a loud thud was registered at the saucer’s roof. In the next moment, the window was flung open and KC unstoppably, like a wild horse having gone berserk, flew the bullet from his Desi Tamancha in every direction. He took out bamboo sticks too and beat the three eyed creatures mercilessly—all to the wonderment of Padhi who rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

As Padhi could understand, KC dragged him toward the door and jumped into the Yamuna.


Boatmen (Padhi's Friends) and Their Demand



Maneesh and Sandipan, who had by this time captured a lot of fishes from Yamuna, when saw Padhi and KC coming down, took the boat swiftly to the spot where they were about to fall and ferried both to the bank.

After a massage of Jhandu Bam on Padhi’s forehead, he came to life again. And immediately, Maneesh, KC and Sandipan demanded a gala party for having rescued him by putting their lives in danger. It was agreed that KC deserved a special treat.

Padhi applied more Jhandu Bam on his forehead, grabbed his head and said, “Friends in the hour of wrong need are not friend indeed.”