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A MIRACLE.
‘ How can I get out of this disaster?’ demanded Sajjan and it was simply aimed athimself.Sajjan Singh lived in a small village about five miles from a big town and where he journeyed daily to do various carpentry jobs, as his way of earning a living. He lived inthe village with his elderly wife and though the marriage had lasted over thirty years,there were no children from that union.He made his living as an expert carpenter. It was his family trade passed down fromgeneration to generation and he learnt his trade by serving an apprenticeship under hisfather .By watching his father’s way of working, he learnt that first he had to make thelayout of his work, by measuring, marking and arranging material in accordance with the particular site and then advising the client as to the best material and timber suitable for that job. Over the years he had become proficient in recognizing different kinds of woodsand have developed instincts as to its beauty and durability for any perspective structure.He had to cut and shape wood or other material using hand tools such as saws, chisels,drills, sanders and planes. Then he had to join the materials with nails, screws, staple or adhesives. As a last step he had to test the accuracy of his work with spirit levels, plumb bobs or framing squares and make any necessary adjustments.He firstly started on small-scale jobs such as repairing broken doors and windows but ashe became more confident, he tackled the job of planning and making new doors,windows and stairways. Once when he was about twenty-five years of age, he took acontract to design the whole woodwork structure in a newly built house. Most peoplewere satisfied with his work and craftsmanship, and combined with his mild mannered personality, he became popular with the building contractors and the village folks.People became fond of his honest and humble personality and came to consult him aboutusage of different kind of wood, both native and from distant lands. He could recitemerits of his native wood such as kikar, tali, and neem and - their strengths andweaknesses. Planing and shaving the wood took on a special significance for him. Heliked the formation and grains of newly shaved wood and the smells exuded when being planed. After being shorn of their outer rough stuff, the timber took on appearance of some newly wedded bride with all its charms.Life of Sajjan as a carpenter consisted in the building something such as furniture,houses, doors, windows or fixing broken things such as tables, chairs and which involvedexpert technical devices. Beyond these processes, he had to satisfy the desires of hisclient as to what the final product would look like and had to make rough sketches toshow to the client. Sometime he felt that as a maker he was participating in an act of creation akin to an artist or a sculptor and this idea gave him an emotional uplift and an
 
intellectual satisfaction. He wanted to carry out these creative instincts to a wider scopeof his work and wanted to do things, which had some mark of innovation.*After his teen years he began to feel for the need of some companionship other than thecompany of his own sex and thought of which made him uncomfortable as the societyaround him looked upon this topic of man woman relationship in a narrow sense. Hiselders gave him the impression that to them only valid relationship between the sexes waswithin the premises of marriage and even that within the bounds of arranged marriageonly.He instinctively felt the there was more to man woman relationship. When he looked atthe pretty face of a woman, he was transported into a new world and he tried to dismiss itas just a fancy on his part and tried to analyze it using all his discriminatory logic but itdid not work as he could not pinpoint it within his rationality.*That perfume wafted around and jasmine flowered in an array of intoxication, some icywhite fire with a slow penetration into the territory of senses. As the fire ignited thesoulful vistas of tall trees added their distinction and where the wind slept covered withinthe canopy of leaves. The calm was broken with a scented waft and the wind rose togather with a passionate desire for movement and everything became awake within thatmovement.The scattered clouds gathered themselves sensing the movement and arrangedthemselves in pleasing patterns decked against a background of misty cerulean skies. A bluish tinge spread over the land toning it with delicacy of exquisite longings.‘We are your way to Chambeli.’ They announced‘You are my quest, my beloved fairest of all.’ Sajjan whispered‘ You are my quest for beauty. A quest for longing.’The clouds responded fused with the wind and lead him to the market where the Jasmineflowers were being offered to all the lovers of beauty.Little bazaar was covered in tiny lights of different coloured small lamps set on each stall.The bazaar became a venue for hidden desires through things offered and each person became involved to decipher the meaning of their longings.‘A garland for your beloved!’ the garland seller shoutedDozens of garland were arranged on a shiny pole, carried by that seller.
 
‘You must have me.’ A chambeli garland whisperedAnd Sajjan bought one for his beloved, for the girl who lived across the town.He did not know her name but has watched her moving across, watched her graceful gait,watched the life oozing out of her slender body. There was great deal of poetry in thatslender form. He called her Chambeli, the jasmine flower.Sajjan had followed her in secret and found out the place where she lived and only other  person he could see about was a middle-aged woman entering the house and which he presumed to be her mother. Days passed in love pursuit and a familiarity began to grow between two young souls through a communication of silence. The pursued and pursuer liked that game. One day he said hello to her and got a reply through her smile, which litup his inner being and his whole world was suffused with a celestial light.*One day someone important called at his house and left a message for him to come andsee a rich landlord living some distance from his village. He ‘supposed to be important’was waiting for him on consultation of a special building project. Sajjan had never received such an invitation before and was keen and curious to carry it through and visitthe party concerned.On the following week he took an afternoon off his work and cycled to the place of thelandlord and announced his arrival, in connection with the left message. He was showninto the sitting room and seated himself there. Looking around, he was impressed by thegrandeur of the building and especially of the furniture it contained. The furniture was of unusual shape and structures and he marveled at the craftsmanship involved.At last the landlord arrived and greeted him in a courteous fashion and when he inquiredabout the furniture, the landlord explained that it was created under the guidance of anexpert craftsman to the design of the landlord’s taste. This conversation led to the reasonfor his call. The landlord explained that he was in the process of constructing a buildingnot far from his place and which was to going be a center of learning and entertainmentfor the benefit of the people living around that district and this was service to thecommunity. He was going to bear the cost of the whole project.He took Sajjan to the site and which was keen on the idea of novelty and creativity inthat building and wanted to combine these elements. He wanted to leave something behind him, which would be worth admiring for the future generations for its grandstructure and design.He was acquiring some timber, worth its weight in gold from a far off province and
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