BHOOTA KANNADI

Growing up in our village was fun. As little kids, one of the most exciting fun-activities we would indulge in was: playing with ‘Bhoota Kannadi’!

In Kannada, ‘Bhoota’ means ‘Ghost’…and, ‘Kannadi’ means ‘Glass’. So, the ‘Bhoota Kannadi’ meant – the ‘Ghost Glass’!

It was a cheap toy any local shop-keeper would keep and we kids would die to have one!

What game did we play with this toy – Bhoota Kannadi?

One of the kids would tear off his school notebook. Another would hold up that sheet into which, would be sent the rays of the burning Sun… Yes, the kid with his Bhoota Kannadi would be the ‘hero’ – the star attraction. The magician! He would hold it right under the blazing Sun and the rays would penetrate on the white notebook-sheet… At least two dozen kids would surround this roadside show – the ‘Dombarata’ – they would call such shows. So, the kids would wait for the great suspense to unfold… with abated breath… and, before the school bell would go up, the suspense would unfold… most of the times yes, and sometimes, no. The white paper would slowly but surely absorb the heat of the burning Sun, turn golden first, then brown, then burn… into pitch black ashes. I can still feel the excitement… It was sheer magic for us… sheer miracle… To see the fire on the paper simply holding our Bhoota Kannadi against the blazing Sun… All that we had to do was: keep holding the sheet below the Bhoota Kannadi right under the hot Sun - keep waiting, keep penetrating… All that was needed from we little kids was: our clear intention - to burn the paper!

When that happened, we would go ecstatic!

So, if you want to destroy the paper, 

don’t burn it… 

just hold your Bhoota Kannadi 

to the burning Sun… 

Keep penetrating, keep waiting… 

Keep your focus. 

Your intention to destroy it… clear!

 

Then, here in Mumbai, when I was a ‘man’ – almost of age fifty – I watched my favorite movie – ‘Taare Zameen Par’. It was in this movie, in one of the touching scenes, that I first heard about how the natives of Solomon Island killed trees whenever they wanted some land for cultivation or for building their houses. 

Little Ishaan has a problem of learning. He is dyslexic. His parents, particularly the father, has no clue about such a condition… He keeps pressurizing his child, scolds him, criticizes him… whacks him… and, all this is done because, he is not aware what a damage it does to his own child. He is unaware that he is destroying the spirit of little child – his own child… He is cursing the child, abusing him… and he is doing it continuously, with the clear intention of…

Well, here is the catch: Mr. Awasti, Ishaan’s dad assumes that he and his wife are full of concern for their child… that, their intention is to ‘motivate’ and ‘raise’ their child into a confident and successful individual.

But, Nikhumb sir (Aamir Khan) tells Ishaan’s dad… “No sir, concern is shown in simple ways… by a loving hug, by being there in times of your child’s anxieties and failures… Concern is shown by never exhorting undue pressure on your child… by accepting him for what he is… and, so on.”

Finally, in that scene, Nikhumb sir asks Mr. Awasti if they have checked on the Internet about ‘Solomon Island’. No, Mr. Awasti hasn’t heard about this Island. So, Nikhumb sir tells him how the natives of this island kill a massive tree. Whenever they want to bring a tree down, they don’t cut it… All that they do is: they all go near the tree, surround it… and, start cursing it, abusing it… keep doing it… on and on… with the all the penetration and patience… with the sole intention of killing the tree – bring it down… They go back and come again to curse it, abuse it… and they go back. Then, the inevitable – the intended act – manifests. The tree looses its zest to live… it dies, and falls off!

It is bright and breezy outside, today. Someone stopped his car and offered a lift to me. There wasn’t any traffic at all… It is 11 in the morning now… and, I see not a bit of stress or strain or anxiety or guilt or anger or whatever. No enemies. No expectations. No complaints. No tomorrow. In deed, yes, no tomorrow. It is bright and breezy outside… the door is open; there is no need for the artificial cooling. The air-conditioner is off. All people in my life are fantastic!

They are…

Yes, what I focus on… expands!

My childhood Bhoota Kannadi…

The Solomon Island story…

Only on a bright and breezy day, like today, am I able to re-visit these places… 

 

And smile at Life.

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pics.:Vivek D'Cunha