FACTS, FALLACIES OR FANTASIES

(Extracted from E-Touch 60 dated 01 -08 - 2008)

Pavithran, the Reporter of E-Touch, had entered the Editor’s room with a handful of newspapers in his hand and threw them angrily at the Editor’s table. 

‘I think that there is no end to this foolish and blind faith of the people in miracles!’ thundered Pavithran. 

The Editor could sense the reasons for his anger and he was very much aware of his rational outlooks. Pavithran was really upset over the mad rush of the people to see the statue of Shiradi Sai Baba’s one eye being opened with real eye in one house of a devotee at Bangalore City. 

The Editor had carefully scrutinized the left eye of the statue from the photo published in the papers that looked more or less like a real eye. But, the Editor did not say this, as he was sure that Pavithran would react vehemently resulting in heated arguments. 

‘Pavithran, miracles do happen. I was told that Mr.S.Gopalakrishnan, one of our senior members had his own experiences in telepathy. There is no necessity for him to lie or to overstate his experiences and he is equally a rationalist like you. 

Why do you not rush to Chromepet, Chennai, to get a firsthand information about the incidents that were occurred and experienced by him long time back?’ 

‘Fine, I am at it’ – So saying, he flew to Mr.S.Gopalakrishnan’s flat. 

When Pavithran landed there, Gopalakrishnan was performing pooja to his vinayaka. After his pooja, both had settled down for the dialogue. 

Pavithran was served a tasteful coffee by Mrs. Kalyani, Gopalakrishnan’s wife for whom Pavithran had thanked profusely. 

Pavithran: Do you remember the wild worldwide commotion about ganesha drinking milk? Do you believe it as miracle? I am a rationalist and am confident that was a mere hoax played by some on the Hindu believers! 

Gopalakrishnan: I am also a rationalist, but not, atheist. But, I do agree with you that ganesha drinking milk was far fetched and was not facts, but fallacies and fantasies to say the least. But, I did have my own experiences in telepathy like miracles. One such thing was ‘Tea Cup Telepathy’. 

Pavithran: Please tell me completely, what you had experienced and I will not interrupt you.

Gopalakrishnan: It would be around 1962-63. I could not remember the exact year or date, but, this was wildly practiced by many during that period. 

It was widely known as ‘stove spirit contact’ or ‘tea cup spirit contact’!  It had lasted for a few days say 3 or 4 days, while Ganesha’s drinking milk had also lasted for three days. 

In the floor of my house in the hall, all 26 English alphabets – A to Z, were written in a circle form and at the center the teacup was put upside down. 

My mother, sisters and brother were with me, when I was experimenting this. One should think something in his mind and then, put his fingers on the top of cup and the cup would move to the relative letters one by one and finally stop. 

The combined words formed by letters touched by the cup by movements would be your answer, which would tally with what you had in your mind. I had in my mind the name of my company where I was employed. I put my hand upon the top of the cup and the cup moved systematically to B, A, N, D, C, M, I, L, L, S. After that the cup returned to the center. The words were B and C Mills! 

Though I thought of my company as ‘BINNYS’, the correct name of my company should be B & C Mills only and that had surprised me a lot and I was wonderstruck. 

Actually, I had a feeling that my hand was pushed by some magic force to reach the respective letters in sequence. Kindly believe me that I had not tried to push the cup, but, I had simply placed my fingers on the top of the empty teacup. 

I wanted to make others to try, but, my mother was really afraid to do it any further and the game was ended there. 

One thing I wanted to confess that this incident was not a fallacy or fantasy, as I was the performer who had actually experienced it. 

Pavithran: Did you remember similar instances experienced by you yourself? 

Gopalakrishnan: Yes, one more or to be precise two more instances could be narrated by me. The year was around 1968 – I am not quite sure. 

I was in the night shift and it was customary to meet my senior officer by 7.30 p.m. at his chamber. Self and my colleague went to see my boss. 

His name was Mr.Steel. He was a British man and was good conversationalist and friendly. Suddenly, Mr.Steel said, ‘Let me show something interesting to you. Can you chip out the concrete floor with the bottom of a glass?’ – He asked us and by handing two glass tumblers one each to us, he requested us to try. 

Both of us tried to chip out the concrete floor and in the process, we had broken the glass tumblers only! Then, he asked us to give any glass tumbler and with bottom of the glass tumbler slightly tilting to around 45º to the ground level, he started hitting the concrete floor for about 20 to 25 times and to our surprise, a few concrete chips had come out! 

‘How was that possible?’ we enquired and Mr.Steel, with his characteristic smile, said, ‘Oh, Mind Power!’ 

Mr. Steel had not stopped there. ‘I had something more interesting to demonstrate’ – So, saying, he phoned up to his daughter and said that he was going to experiment telepathy on her and that he wanted her to be ready. 

The phone was disconnected. 

Mr.Steel asked me to take out a currency note and I distinctly remember that I had shown a two-rupee note. 

Mr.Steel had memorized the serial number of the note along with the alphabets in his mind for a few seconds. Mr.Steel then asked us to phone to his daughter. My friend, then, phoned up Steel’s daughter who had informed the complete serial number of the currency note which was duly recorded in a piece of paper by him. When compared, it was exactly the same number! We were simply dumb founded. 

Pavithran: Really interesting! 

Gopalakrishnan: Not only interesting, but, it was real, fact and no fallacy or fantasy! 

Pavithran: But how to get corroborative statements? 

Gopalakrishnan: Perhaps, your rational mind is not prepared to believe the real experiences of even equally rationalist like me. You however get in touch with my younger sister Mrs.Vathsala at Bangalore who had both experiences of Stove or Cup spirit contact. Above all, she had her own experiences of Ganesha Drinking Milk phenomenon as well. 

Pavithran: Then, it is really wonderful and I am flying to meet her at Bangalore.

Photo: Vathsala Sankaran

Pavithran had met Mrs. Vathsala. She heard from Pavithran a brief report of what transpired between Mr.Gopalakrishnan and himself. 

Pavithran: Let me come straight to the subject of stove or cup story. Please tell me in detail about your experiences.

Mrs.Vathsala: The incident took place in our house at Karaikudi. There were wild news circulating that the spirit was talking through stove or cup. Then, we wanted to try at our house. We brought an empty wig stove, which had three legs. It was kept at the center of a circle formed by all 26 English Alphabets. I thought of a word – MOTHER. Even now, I remember the word distinctly. I put my fingers on the body of the stove gently. The stove started moving and the one of three legs had moved to the letters – M, O, T, H, E, R! The process was completed within a few seconds. If you wanted to test by remembering quite irrelevant one, then on your putting your fingers on the body, the stove will vibrate on its leg without moving in any direction! I had even tried this with the cup of a thermos flask and the result was the same. My mother, my brother and my elder sister were all witnesses for the happenings. 

Pavithran: I do feel that there is something beyond one’s comprehensions! I was told by Mr.Gopalakrishnan that you had your own personal experience in Ganesha drinking milk. Can you please tell in brief your experience?

Mrs.Vathsala: Yes, I am ready to narrate the wonderful personal experience to you. Even my brother, my daughter and my son did not believe the happenings, though my husband had simply said about this incident in one word “Strange”. I could not make out, what he had in his mind, though, to me, it was real – as real as you and me. Many had countered the incident as fantasy, gravitational force, illusion, hallucination etc. But, to me, it was miracle that had been experienced by me duly witnessed by my co-tenants, my daughter and my son. It had occurred at our tenancy residence at Santhome around 1995. Though my co-tenants – both gents and ladies, had tried with milk in the spoon, Ganesha had not responded, but, when I put the spoon with milk, the milk was inhaled instantly. 

Even my daughter and my son had tried, but Ganesha had not responded by drinking the milk offered in a spoon. 

Ganesha idol was more than 100 years old and it was said that even my husband’s father’s great grandparents had done abisheka daily. Then my husband was doing abisheka daily for the past 50 years – on his official tours, I used to do the abisheka. 

My daughter and my son had asked me to keep the spoon in some angle due their dictate of rational minds, even then Ganesha had drank the milk! 

My tenants had complimented me, ‘As you are very religious and doing regular pujas, Ganesha had responded to you!’ 

Pavithran knocked the door of the Editor and said: I am terribly confused. I could not either completely ignore or to accept them as facts. . 

The Editor: Don’t worry. Let us try to contact some more members who might have such personal experiences and till then, please hold your judgment, Pavithran.                                 

Editor’s Note: I am confident that some of our members might have similar experiences. I look forward to them to share such experiences with E-Touch.