Tuesday, September 25, 2012

I-MAN Thinks About Fairness


I-MAN had been thinking a lot about fairness today.  He was wondering if there really was such a thing, especially in the countries that he had chosen to live in since  2009 or for that matter in any country.  He was remembering all the people that he had seen living on the street, especially today when he saw a few people with oozing sores from their feet and a kind of man who had a severe case of Elephantiasis, with people crowding around him and the man using his disease to make some money.   
Maybe it was just the thought that  he tried to be fair, in his own way, but of course this “fairness” was from his perspective.  I-MAN knew that there were many multi-dimensional layers and situations which people thought were fair or unfair.  Some had huge impacts, some much smaller depending on who was being “faired” or “un-faired”. Particularly today, in a somewhat small way, but in a way that can lead to bigger things, maybe even resentment, he felt that he had been “un-faired”.  In some small sense he was wondering why the un-fairness of the situation wasn’t seen in the same way that he might in order to make things fair.  He knew deep down that this was unrealistic given his experience and where he had grown up over the years and felt a little bit bad about the entire situation.  But he also knew that his situation would be seen differently depending on one’s life experience.   
In the short-term end I-MAN thought that he should let the situation go and move on, but as with many things that have occurred in his life over more than 500 years, he intended to learn a lesson and not treat others in the way in which he felt he had been treated.  But he also thought that this was partly his ego talking and he knew something about that.  I-MAN also  knew that he was trying his best to continually treat others with as much fairness as possible, although he knew at times that he had failed.  He promised himself to continue to feel this un-fairness whenever it came up and learn what he could from the situation, but more importantly to apply it to the people who he would continue to meet and love and cherish. 



Saturday, September 22, 2012

I-MAN Comes to Nepal



I-MAN the Jewish Indian superhero wanted to find further adventures and although his India chapters were not yet finished he decided to jump into Nepal.  He knew that somehow the Nepali authorities would give him the visa that he needed even if he had to apply for a temporary tourist type.  He really didn’t want to be bothered with all of this as he knew from having previously been in Nepal, many, many years ago, that the officials there would welcome him.
I-MAN really wanted to see the country although he would primarily be staying in the capitol city of Kathmandu.  He was given an opportunity through a really great organization called Clouds (are) Secure (in) Resting Comfortably, to travel by land in one of the new Super Hyped-Up Vehicles.  The problem though, as I-MAN came to know, was that the roads that were used were not built for the Super Hyped-Up Vehicles.  As I-MAN came to say quite a bit, “ke garne” or what to do?  He also reverted back to a time when he said the phrase, “Oh MY GOD” at everything that he saw, because to his eyes things were quite different from his home in Seattle.  (This phrase OMG for short, of course, was connected to a place known as the San Fernando Valley in southern California, but that is another story)
The trip was supposed to start quite early on a Friday morning, but a rock ‘n roll band named “Eat the Rich” decided to call a “bandha” or strike forcing the delay of the trip.  Finally, as the trip started, numerous people piled into the vehicle, causing the first of the “OH MY GOD” utterances. These included the Big Kuhana or Tagaj, a man with a true passion for helping the poor and as I-MAN would come to find out a man who loved to snore, Ateeg, the woman with the Nepali rupees, who loved checking accounts, Itoyj, the youngster among the group with a bright, bright future and a truly wonderful smile, the driver Sakiv, a former race car driver who truly enjoyed the challenge of driving on Nepali roads and Meek, a kind of consultant with a wonderful working background, full of laughs, as well as, another man who loved to snore.  There were also other assorted people, but they would come and go during the trip.   I-MAN had been under the impression that this would be a trip with a few people, but as he came to find out, magic, changes and newness are always occurring in Nepal.  It was best to be adaptable, but at least they were off.
As they drove through the streets of Kathmandu, they started picking up more and more people of all different shapes and sizes.  There were even a few animals, which were placed delicately on the roof by Sakiv.  When one person wanted to bring a camel they just tied him to the back of the elephant’s tail who was owned by the next to last person to push his way into the vehicle.  As you can imagine the Vehicle was quite weighted down, but never-the-less everyone was happy as they climbed the hill leading out of the Kat Valley.  By now of course, I-MAN had uttered at minimum, no less than 100 OMG’s.  It was really becoming quite a habit as commented on by his Nepali friends in the Vehicle.
The Vehicle did have to stop quite often and go very slowly due to the road which had many rocks, cows, goats, dogs, people, motorcycles, trucks, buses traveling at varied speeds and directions.  I-MAN had great feelings that he really might be on another planet than his Seattle home.  Sometimes he thought that he was in Oz, given the somewhat “emerald” fields of rice paddies planted as far as the eye could see.  Once the Vehicle was out of the Valley the camel and elephant were let go as they could travel faster on their own then being tied to the back of Vehicle.  They were also coughing quite a lot due to the black stuff coming out of many cars, but also the trucks and buses.  The Vehicle and animals therefore parted ways, with the animals making a beeline for the mud buffalo mud hole directly below the large purple N-Cell sign at the top of the Himalayas.
Finally a first big stop, although short, was going to be made, because three of the passengers were going to be dropped off at a place in the woods called the Natural Local Real Food (place).  This was quite welcomed by I-MAN as now there would be more room for the one driver and five passengers. 
Traveling was still quite slow, especially as the Vehicle went higher and higher, almost touching the clouds.  Finally the Park Plaza Hotel was sited and everyone found out who they might room with, and especially for I-MAN this was an opportunity to check out the bathroom which he had made a habit of doing ever since he was born way back in India. (I-MAN thought that the best part about being born and living for so long in India was the Toilet Museum in Delhi, but that comes in another chapter. Up to this point, the toilets had been the side of the road, which felt just fine to I-MAN as he liked peeing into the breeze).  I-MAN wanted to know if he would have a western toilet and or squat one, where every time he sat down he thought about how old people or even someone with a disability might use this. 
When I-MAN saw the sign noting the Park Plaza he immediately thought of the times that he had spent in New York City with his cousins, aunt and uncle and grandparents.  I-MAN had a dreamy look in his eyes, thinking about the pizza that he might order at the Park Plaza Restaurant.  But alas the Park Plaza was nothing like the one in NYC and they settled for daal bhaat, a staple of Nepal, twice a day.  Being born in India, but having lived in the US for some time, I-MAN really liked his cereal with cold milk in the mornings, but ke garne, he would find alternatives, mainly apples and bananas and his daily mixture of raisins, almonds and cashew pieces, just to keep him a bit happy.  I-MAN actually would just settle for a hotel with a restaurant with a menu.
The first morning the group woke up much earlier than what I-MAN was used to.   He knew that he needed his sleep being a growing teenager.  The drive was very lovely and there didn’t seem to be too many people in the Vehicle, although one never knew when people would just magically appear on the seat next to him.  In order to get to the village for the first meeting, the Vehicle had to go over, given the amount of rain, some rather rough muddy terrain. There was even a river to cross, which didn’t look too deadly.  The group made it to the Village and had a wonderful meeting with a large number of poor women, who only wanted to be treated as equals and own a small plot of land to grow a bit of food for their families. 
As I-MAN came to find out many of the people that the group met with were day laborers, earning about 200 rupees/day, or tenant farmers having to give about 50% of what they grew to the land owners, or people in debt for generations due to their ancestors trust of their landlords, and a general lack of regard for those outside of the top people’s families.  Somehow the really rich guys were getting richer while the poor eked out a living.  But the people were happy and they knew that they had to take their rights as farmers and being simple people just wanting to live their lives, see their children grow, become grandparents and when it was over go peacefully.  These people knew about the simple pleasures of life and probably didn’t own one of the new I-phones, although maybe that was changing for the younger generation who didn’t hold out much hope for tilling a plot of land.  In fact many of them and some of their parents headed to the magical land of India, where they thought that they could earn a living.  Unfortunately, this meant the break-up of many families, but that couldn’t be considered too highly when one is just trying to have enough food to keep their children’s bellies full. 
When the meeting ended the group left in the Vehicle and sure enough got stuck in a mud hole.  As they called “all for one” and “one for all” they tried to push the Vehicle out of the hole.  As the left rear wheel spun without any traction I-MAN was splattered with mud as everyone laughed.   But I-MAN knew that it was all in good fun and fully participated because he thought that somehow it might bring him closer to those that he was trying to work with and he really wanted to be involved in somehow helping to “overcome poverty”.  A number of people from the Village turned out to watch the scene as it was good entertainment, probably because there weren’t many movie theatres or computers for downloading in the area.  After about an hour the Vehicle moved and everyone piled in feeling very happy from the day.  The next step was to cross back over the river to get to the new hotel.
When they got to the river bank, cars were stopped and people were on the shore waiting for someone to move.  During the day the water had risen but as this was the only way to cross to the town everyone was just waiting for an opening. But then some brave souls, decided to try to wade through and sure enough they made it.  Then someone pushed their motorcycle which became kind of a subcycle as it was submerged in the water, but they made it.  Then a car loaded with lots and lots of people, including some on the roof, tried to make it and although it looked to I-MAN as if they would fall over they also made it.  But then a car got stuck and a tractor had to be called in to push it out.  The scene was very entertaining as long as the group was safe on the river bank, but they had to get across. 
I-MAN knew that there was some risk but after numerous vehicles, people, motorcycles and a man with about five chickens in each hand made it, it was time to cross.  The group loaded up, made it half way across but then hit a dip in the river and they were stuck.  They all sat stunned for a minute or so but they also noticed that water was starting to come into the vehicle.  I-MAN being the super hero that he was, didn’t panic but knew that the situation might become dangerous and said, “open the door” and get out”.  At first there was hesitation, but then one of the passengers a young woman named  Itoyj, kicked open the door and said, “let’s get the heck out of here”.  As I-MAN really didn’t understand Nepali, he thought this must have been what she said.  Fortunately, everyone safely piled out as people from the river banks also came to help. 
Since, as of yet, I-MAN hadn’t used his superpowers in Nepal, he decided just to jump into the water and try to get the suitcases out of the Vehicle, but they were quite stuck.  Meanwhile, water was going over the engine.  The car was at an angle, so that the passenger or left side was tilted towards the rushing water.  I-MAN thought fast and decided that it was time to use some of his super powers; he jumped on top of the Vehicle and pulled it out to the river bank.  He knew however that there was some damage and that the Vehicle needed to dry out.  It was decided to leave the Vehicle on the river bank, because it still needed to get across.  Nobody actually saw I-MAN pull the car out but noticed that somehow it had been safely deposited on the river bank.
The next step though was to get the group across to the other side so that a hotel could be found where everyone could dry off and eat.  There just happened to be another vehicle waiting for the right time to assist some helpless people get across the river, and for the owners to make some Nepali rupees.  As the group piled in the driver revved up the engine but unbeknownst to the passengers, I-MAN used some of his super powers to help the vehicle get across.  There was no way that this vehicle would also get stuck as night had fallen and it was quite dark. 
Fortunately the group had made it to the opposite river bank and then drove to the next hotel where they tried to wash their already wet clothes and dry off the clothes that had been in the back seat where the water had accumulated.  (I-MAN had been fortunate, but his camera had decided to go swimming and shoot some underwater photos but it didn’t know that it wasn’t water proof, and it decided that after three years in India and a few months in the US and in Nepal it had had enough of this life.  Maybe it would reincarnate as an underwater camera.  RIP dear Nikon P-80.).  After showering and breathing, the group gathered in the menu less restaurant for daal bhaat.  Prior to this, I-MAN was starting to salivate profusely as he thought about a nice thick veggie pizza, but he gave in and ate a bit of the daal bhaat. 
Of course I-MAN understood that the meal also came with veggies, so he was quite happy.  Unfortunately he also really wanted ice cream, but the town had already shut down, ke garne.  There was plenty of liquor however everywhere in fact, that one looked, but I-MAN not even being a tea-totaler just went to his room.  He heard a bit of snoring from his roommate but that didn’t really matter as he was totally exhausted.
The next morning the group got up early again for the next day of driving.  A new vehicle and a driver had to be rented as the Vehicle was drying out and waiting to be taken to an expert mechanic on the other side of the river.  The new driver’s name was Seelis and he also had a Super Hyped-Up Vehicle. 
The group really wanted to cover a lot of territory and meet up with a wide variety of the poor who just wanted a piece of land for themselves.  There were also actually laws so that the poor could get land, but how would they implement these?  There were many ideas, but the going was slow. 
The group decided to have some lunch in one of the villages and this was a grand idea as daal bhaat was being served.  I-MAN being always curious about the toilet facilities asked to go and he was told to get a jug of water from the village pump and walk to the jungle.  I-MAN probably said his maybe 1000th OMG, but he got the jug and walked with a young guide who indicated that he was a Tilad, a special class of person in Nepal, to show him the way.  Finally I-MAN was able to come back for his meal, which was quite good as daal  bhaat goes.  (What is daal bhaat, well it is rice with dal, some veggies, a pepper if one is so inclined, but it is eaten about twice/day throughout Nepal, mainly with one’s right hand, as the left is used for washing after going into the jungle.  Of course some westerners do prefer a spoon, but one should do like everyone else when one is in another place, isn’t it). 
After lunch another good meeting was held with men and women.  Again it was time to move on.  It was therefore time to get stuck again in the mud.  This was definitely not much of a road and there was a nice deep hole which the rented vehicle decided to jump into.  Fortunately there  was a nice house right to the side of the hole with a really good piece of wood, which the group would use to get the car out.  But alas the owner of the house was a wicked old witch and started screaming at the group that the road was not for vehicles.  (I-MAN thought about Dorothy when she said to Toto, “We’re Not in Kansas Anymore, isn’t it).
A crowd began to gather as the men found lots of rocks to put under that left rear wheel once it was jacked up by the driver, Seelis.  The mud was pretty deep at the tire and I-MAN who was really getting used to the daily mud bath, jumped in, but had nothing really good to say.  He knew that he could pick the vehicle up but what good would that do?  So there was lots of pushing and pulling and finally the vehicle was freed once again from the mud prison, that seemed to pop up in the most usual places, such as roads that weren’t paved.  The group decided that they had had enough and after washing off in a stream, and petting a cute white puppy made their way for the next hotel.
The next day, another early start, but there was no mud.  More villages and poor people were located and there was lots and lots of talking and even some writing about the further actions that everyone would take to obtain land.  More and more people kept piling into the rented vehicle and even one Nepali from the original organization, CSRC, magically appeared one night at a hotel that had a menu at their restaurant.  There was even a computer that I-MAN used to check up on his e-mails.  The only issue was that in the morning I-MAN wanted cold milk with his corn flakes but the waiters only could manage to understand hot.  Finally though, this did get worked out.
I-MAN was getting used to changing roommates at each hotel as he wanted to experience the various kinds of snoring that Nepali men seem to inevitably make.  Fortunately, the snoring didn’t really bother I-MAN and he was quite secure just to note the various pitches produced out of the roommates.  Snoring also helped I-MAN to have good dreams about eating pizza, once back in KAT.
Almost next to the last visit, the travelers stayed in a town called Tahkrus where I-MAN had wanted to meet some new friends.  Sure enough there was a wonderful festival occurring called Tees, where all of the women dressed in red and danced, hoping that this would lead to finding a good Nepali husband who owned some land.  The name of the hotel that the group stayed at was Peace Land MLK-Gandhi.  It was perfect for the travelers from Clouds (are) Secure (in) Resting Comfortably, since all they wanted was to help the poor obtain land through a very non-violent type of intervention.
I-MAN called his new friend, named Raa and they met at the clock tower in Tahkrus.  Raa was with two friends from India, who had a Nepali father and an Indian mother.  They all proceeded to watch the Tees dancing and then went to Raa’s home where they met up with  Acceber and Hterag.  This was great fun for I-MAN as he really just wanted to speak English for some time.  His Hindi had become quite rusty and his Nepali continued to be, well, what can one really say?
After spending some time at the home, Raa, I-MAN and the two Indian friends proceeded, in the total darkness to the friend’s home where they were greeted in wonderful fashion by the Nepali father and Indian mother.  They then enjoyed a meal of daal bhaat, which tasted a bit different given that it was home cooked.  Once this was finished I-MAN proceeded on the back of a motorcycle back to Peace Land MLK-Gandhi for a restful sleep and some new snoring.
The next morning the group left for what was to be the last night.  The original Vehicle was fixed and would meet the group on a road in the darkness.  After Seelis dropped the group off, as he needed to proceed to Kat to pick up a friend and then was headed for some Middle Eastern country to drive a large circus vehicle and make lots of money, Sakiv magically appeared.  I-MAN although not used to the magic was still happy to see the Vehicle and of course, Sakiv. 
More meetings occurred and the hotel that night was menu less meaning that daal bhaat would be eaten again, but this was fine as long as they were all away from the smokers, drinking alcohol.  Of course, there was the smell of fresh paint, but ke garne.
Finally it was the last day and everyone awoke to a 6:15 start. There had to be at least one more adventure and sure enough, as the group was driving the traffic suddenly came to a stand-still. All they saw were lots of trucks backed up for at least 5 km, where it seemed as if people had been sleeping for days.  Since cars weren’t coming from the other direction, the smaller vehicles decided to avoid the trucks and speed to the bridge where the problem seemed to be occurring.  Alas, a gigantic truck had broken its way from the bridge and started speeding its way towards the smaller vehicles, almost ready to gobble them up.  I-MAN knew this was his time, jumping out of the Vehicle, he picked up the truck and placed it safely out of the way of the cars who continued to drive obliviously towards the root of the problem, a one way bridge. 
I-MAN noticed that the second lane was being built and knew that the trucks and cars would be in line for days unless he acted quickly.  With incredible speed he moved the tractors during the construction and within a matter of minutes the second land had  been built and the trucks, cars, motorcycles, cows, goats, donkeys started to move to thunderous applause.  Nobody really knew what happened but they were all happily on their way. 
On its final day, the Vehicle was a little crowded as 54 pounds of local apples had been purchased to be divided amongst the group.  I-MAN had his first real stomach issues, along with a sore throat and was in one of his moods.  A stop was made to visit some more people and the driving continued.  It was bumpy and then more people were picked up, the camel and elephant were met and tied back to the vehicle and finally around 10 PM I-MAN was home. 
The trip had been quite a learning experience for the young I-MAN, but he was ready to go and do it again, although maybe next time it would be somewhat different.  I-MAN really loved the adventures and knew that he would continue to make a home for himself in Nepal.
Postcript-I-MAN having been home for almost a week developed quite a cold, but being ever the opportunist thought what could he do with all of the stuff that seemed to be flowing either in gobs or drops from his nostrils. This was especially true as he had learned, from his India experience, to hold one nostril and just blow over the sink.  He decided that more creativity and micro-enterprise was needed especially since one of the issues that he was working on had to do with secure livelihoods.
I-MAN thought about the resources that came directly from his nostrils and how there really would be very little cost in doing something with this, and it was, after all, organic.  Maybe set up a short-term manufacturing plant, because the cold and white gooey stuff wouldn’t last forever, but this was not nearly sustainable, although it might produce some short term jobs.  I-MAN was under the impression that he could fill up jars and jars with this latest cold’s offerings and maybe convert the material, after spending some time on his Sanepa rooftop, to something like super balls.  He wasn’t sure however whether they would bounce and then what really would be the purpose?  He thought that maybe he could use the gooey stuff and make necklaces, but thought better of  this as he wasn’t sure who might wear these things, especially since they were from, in his present incarnation, an American.  (and we all know what the world thinks of Americans).  He thought that it might make a good alternative to chewing tobacco, but he also knew that people probably wouldn’t like the taste and maybe the benefits would be less than that of “putting a pinch into your cheek”.  At least it probably wouldn’t produce the same kind of high. 
I-MAN just wasn’t sure, so he decided to get rid of the cold and the white gooey stuff and give it some more thought, for the next cold.  Ke garne?





Friday, September 21, 2012

I-MAN the Beginning


I-Man
The Beginning

Many people throughout the world know about Batman and Robin, the Green Hornet, the Incredible Hulk, Fantastic 5, Iron Man and other super heroes, many of whom have been made popular through a variety of comics, movies and television shows.  However few people, up until now, knew anything about I-Man, a Jewish Indian superhero living in Seattle, Washington.  In the year 2011, I-Man was ten years old to most people who saw him only through their eyes, not really using their inner senses, although he was actually well over his 500th year on earth.  I-Man was a very unassuming young man, attending a Jewish day school, along with his sister Sophie, in Seattle.  He stood about five or so feet tall, had straight black hair and brown eyes and was dark in complexion due to his native country.  From his outward appearance, one would never think of this young man as anything resembling a super hero.  But, most people don’t look too deeply at others, only making judgments based on outward appearance and not necessarily on what is really inside of a person.   

I-Man never really talked about his super hero status with anyone, and not even his parents, up until recently, were fully aware of his abilities.  His sister, Sophie, who was having her bat mitzvah that very same year, was one of the few people who  truly knew about her brother as well as I-Man’s best friend, a soon to be NBA professional by the name of Myles Standish.  (Myles was a super hero in his own right having grown to be 7’7” and dominating the NBA.  For some ten years he broke every record that ever stood,  until he fell off a camel which he was riding in the offseason in Pushkar, Rajasthan, India) 

The special super hero powers came out quite often as I-Man and Sophie played X-box, and no matter which game they were playing, I-Man would always win.  This was somewhat of a constant frustration for Sophie, often commenting to her parents that I-Man “was a cheater” and “I never can beat him”.  However, Sophie knew that it was due to the super powers and when she could be on I-Man’s team in such games as “halo” she jumped at the opportunity because she knew that no matter where in the world the other players were from, they were ultimately doomed to lose. 

 I-Man, or as he was commonly known, Isaac, had also told his cousins in Seattle, Sadie, Ruby and Henry  or Huck, about his powers and although they were pretty young they had been witness to I-Man and his abilities.  In fact whenever they had the opportunity they would all go flying with I-Man just to ensure that the various newspapers reporting the events of the previous evening were, at best, somewhat accurate, but, of course, the children never told any of their parents, Aubrey and Andrew, Mark and Susu, which is the shortened version of Suzzane.  
 
Henry, being not quite two, still learning how to speak and not thoroughly understanding what this was all about, would often jump out of his bed every morning, around 5:30 AM and buzz around the house, first digging into the kitchen garbage can, throwing the contents throughout the downstairs and then putting his arms straight out, whirling as if he was a human Russian or Turkish dervish or for that matter a crazed banshee.

 It didn’t matter where this garbage was placed inside or out, because for some strange reason Henry always seemed to know where the “can” could be found.  (Of course he knew from walking around after coming home from flying.  Andrew and Aubrey could never quite figure this out).  Mother Aubrey, would many times be beside herself as night in and night out, Henry, once he finished eating, would throw his food, with his favorite being spaghetti which would, at the end of Italian night, every other Thursday and many times on school holidays, cover the chandeliers and walls often resembling freshly dug fishing worms, due to the fact that Aubrey would use the organic, brown kind.  At night Aubrey could be heard saying to her husband Andrew, “what is the point of putting Henry’s left over’s into the garbage as we know that in the morning they will end up strewn in generally the same places throughout the dining room as the night before”.  Andrew would agree, but being  somewhat  of a clean freak would continue to try to find an answer to this seemingly never ending issue.   

Deep down Andrew was quite a problem solver, having learned about solving such things as the New York Times crossword puzzle from his father.  Every Sunday morning, although the children Sadie, Ruby and Henry would be climbing all over his body he would work on the puzzle.  He would never get quite through solving any particular puzzle, and he felt as if Henry’s “garbage phase” was just another one of these puzzles.  By nature he would therefore never give up trying to find a solution. 

During Henry’s almost second year, Aubrey and Andrew thought well, this is it, we’ll have no more children as this one is totally out of control”.  Henry, unbeknownst to his parents, was only acting out the previous night’s escapades, but parents being parents, even though these two were quite open more than most other people to the possibilities that abound when ones really looks at things and doesn’t just let things slide, never quite grasped what was happening.  In fact as we’ll find out in I-Man’s story, Aubrey and Andrew, as their children were approaching their college years, opened up a home for special children and to this day they’ve actually been parents to around 531 children from across the universe, well, at least throughout the world.  They were never quite sure what motivated them to do this, maybe it was just the presence of I-Man and the persistence of their own children, Sadie, Ruby and Henry in constantly egging their parents on to having more and more children.  Aubrey and Andrew remain to this day totally exhausted, but have done tremendous good throughout the world in helping those who never knew their birth parents. 

Sophie, being a teenager and needing her sleep, would typically stay home from the flying escapades, but knew quite a bit about these nightly sojourns, mainly through the Seattle and New York Times and Times of India which regularly reported on the “so called miracles” which occurred on a daily basis.  This was especially true in the Times of India, where in India, as we all know, miracles occur on a regular basis.  Sophie, knowing something about her brother’s time on earth was an avid reader of the Times of India, on-line of course.  Whenever Sophie and I-Man’s parents would read the Seattle Times and on Sunday’s, the New York Times, and comment, “oh this stuff must be totally made up” and “what is happening to the reporting in our newspapers these days?”, Sophie and I-Man would just look at each other and laugh hysterically.  Sophie and I-Man’s parents Mark and Susu would just ignore them, but somehow knew that they had secrets, which as parent’s they would never fully understand.

Let me say here a bit more about the almost nightly flying which none of the parents knew about.   This was totally due to the fact that once their parents went to sleep, and this was always fairly early as the children exhausted them for just this purpose, I-Man would pop over typically through the 1” diameter hole in the roof directly above Ruby and Sadie’s bed and off they would all go.  (This was never an issue for Henry, as he woke up at the same time every night and would somehow find himself in his sister’s bedroom.  Being not quite two none of this was entirely clear to him, although he knew that he loved throwing things and that his nightly jaunts would always result in developing his arms.  Henry later in life became one of the greatest ambidextrous pitchers/bowlers in both the major league baseball and IPL cricket leagues.  To this day nobody has ever broken any of his records, which includes the lowest earned run average and bowling the least amount of balls/over).  

Due to the 1” diameter hole, sometimes, when it rained, the girls would complain about getting wet when they went to sleep, but Andrew being quite near  sited, would always say, “girls, just stop spitting at one another and go to sleep”.    Aubrey would typically retort to Andrew, “my girls don’t spit.  This must be from your side of the family”.  This might go on for quite some time into the night and it worked to the girls and Henry’s advantage, as once their parent’s heads hit their pillows they would not wake until the next morning when the girls and Henry would get up as early as possible, further exhausting their parents.

Now Uncle Andrew and Aunt Aubrey, being somewhat open to the possibilities more so than most people, had some inkling of I-Man’s powers, but weren’t quite convinced, as Andrew, often imitating the voice of his 89 year old accountant Saul would say to Aubrey, “there’s something darn right strange about that boy, but I just don’t know”.  (Of course Andrew, and for that matter his brother Mark, but not so much their sister Wendy, were somewhat aware of super heroes and other mystical beings, because as boys, growing up in a very wooded place called Chappaqua, on the banks of the Ganges River, they dabbled a bit with the Aggresta Gang, a ruthless bunch of children from the hinterland of Nebraska, being part of the Korbi tribe, with their ancestors originating from the northeastern part of India, known as Assam.  While Mark, Andrew and Wendy spent their days playing murder ball with the Aggresta Gang at the Chappaqua on the Ganges Swimming Club, they knew that something wasn’t quite right, especially with Emily Aggresta, who they would often find hovering over them, even in their home in the middle of the night, with her feet, toes, hands and fingers moving about like the propeller on a helicopter.  One day they happened to see her tri-forked, somewhat purplish tongue hanging out of her mouth as the murder ball during that morning’s game happened to hit her directly in her Adam’s apple.   They didn’t know it at the time as they were just being children, but the Aggresta Gang would play a significant role when I-Man actually came into being, but more about that later).

I-Man was a special kind of a guy, having actually been born in a remote village, some 500+ years earlier in the state of Andaman and Nicobar Islands about 600 miles due east of the State of Tamil Nadu on the Indian sub-continent.  His original parents being part of the Sentinelese tribe, however, like many of the villagers in India and living under the somewhat slavery of the Mogul Emperor at that time, didn’t have much and when their son was born, already having had 16 children, could hardly afford to feed another.   Unfortunately for them they knew nothing about Krishna’s powers, for that is what they had named I-Man, although they must have had some notion, having named him after this Indian Hindu God.  Being loving parents they decided that the best thing for Krishna would be to try to get him to Europe, which had somehow manifested itself in a simultaneous dream to both parents on a lovely winter’s evening when the moon was shining as brightly as anyone at that time could ever remember, and then eventually  to America, the land of hope and opportunity for all Indians, even during those times long ago, no matter who they were.  The question, of course, was how to do this especially given that they were part of the very small Sentinelese tribe, and didn’t have a lot of connections with the outside world, or for that matter outside of their village.  To Krishna’s parents, Sarvesh and Deepika, getting their son to Europe and then America was literally a dream and even though they only knew the names of these far off places and for that matter only from this strange dream, deep down in their hearts they felt that this would be the best thing for Krishna and his seven brothers and nine sisters.

After much discussion with the local village chief and elders,  and unbeknownst to the Mogul Emperor of that time, Vinesh the Dastardly or VD to those who knew him well, Sarvesh and Deepika decided  that they must send Krishna to the mainland where he could be brought to the palace of VD, in Madras, Tamil Nadu.  Sarvesh and Deepika felt that this held out the best opportunity for their beloved son Krishna, who they knew would do great things in the world if only given the opportunity. 
On December 6, in about the year 1513 with heavy hearts, Sarvesh and Deepika and their 16 children bid a fond farewell to their beloved Krishna, not really knowing whether they would ever see him again, but knowing deep down in their bodies that he would always be with them.  Sarvesh and Deepika decided that they must follow their simultaneous dream and the advice of their village chief and elders, who said to put the boy in a basket, somewhat like a Jewish boy names Moses, although they had little idea of this Moses, and set him out into the Bay of Bengal/Indian Ocean, where eventually he would land in Madras off of the coast of the India subcontinent in the State of Tamil Nadu. 

The basket  boat in which Krishna (I-Man)  was placed  was larger than the one that carried the young Moses who was set adrift in the Nile.  (When Moses was found nobody at that time knew it, but the fact remains that he actually started the middle eastern revolution of 2011, which ended up, somewhat freeing that area of the world, and for that matter the entire world, from a certain type of dictator. But as we all know from the rock band the Who, who said so very eloquently, “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss”, other types of dictators remained or were only replaced.  This revolution also spread to China, in which I-Man actually helped to overthrow the so called “communist regime” of what were really a corrupt group of capitalists who were running the show.  People also don’t know this fact but I-Man was a direct descendant  of Moses, so in fact he helped to start a worldwide revolution which ushered in a time in which there was worldwide prosperity for all.  But more about this later[1]

Although Krishna (I-Man) appeared to his parents to be only six months, as we all know he had wisdom beyond his years and could sail his basket boat to the shores of Tamil Nadu without much problem.  Sarvesh, being primarily a fisherman had taken great pains to construct the basket boat out of the finest trees which he could find.  He also covered the basket boat with multiple butterfly bushes which he knew would  provide cover for Krishna and attract butterflies, even in the ocean.  This resulted directly in flying and other types of fish trying to eat the butterflies and landing in the boat, providing a great source of protein for young Krishna.  Although Krishna was quite young the fact that his father was a fisherman had instilled in his DNA the ability to catch, skin and eat  raw fish.

During his approximately 24 day trip to the shores of Tamil Nadu, the young Krishna, of course, had numerous adventures.  During the 1500’s, as we all know the Bay of Bengal/Indian Ocean was fully inhabited by a variety of sea creatures, including whales very unlike those of today, sea serpents,   mermaids, krakensMegalodons and giant squid.  Although Sarvesh and Deepika and their 16 children knew this, they felt that Krishna would be just fine, given that deep down they felt that he was very special.  In fact, once any type of living creature came into contact with Krishna, they became quite docile and friendly because they could also feel his superpowers and especially his kindness. 

Although many others were afraid of these sea monsters, they would often attach themselves or just swim very closely to Krishna’s basket boat.  The mermaids, as we all know being quite motherly, would often hang on to the basket boat and make sure that Krishna was getting enough food to eat and was kept warm.  They would also often stroke his hair and sing him to sleep which would come to haunt Krishna (I-Man) later in life as he was constantly looking for a mermaid to marry. 

Krishna’s biggest problems were, of course, the various bands of pirates which inhabited the Bay of Bengal/Indian Ocean.   These pirates were the ancestors of the Somali pirates who were later wiped out when an actor named John Q.  Deep, who starred as Captain Jack and a co-star stunt man who went by the name of Trampus, appearing in about 13 episodes of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, decided, after the nations of the world unsuccessfully tried to take on these pirates, who later kidnapped all of the BRIC  and G-8 world leaders and while a startled world watched, made them all walk the plank into the mouth of a Megalodon,   defeated the pirates with a bit of chicanery.  Of course, Krishna, who became I-Man in about the mid 1900’s was part of this defeat, taking as many as 236 pirates hostage and putting them into a cage that he devised on the Maldives Islands, but this too is another story.

Through the help of his sea creature friends, Krishna, although somewhat concerned with the pirates, was able to avoid any major confrontations.  The pirates did notice his basket boat, but like all people they also really love butterflies.  The combination of the butterflies, flying fish and sea creatures kept the pirates at bay, never really once trying to overtake the basket boat steered by Krishna with an overall mastery for navigating the high seas. 

Krishna, even though he was only around six months at the time to anyone who saw him, was truly a remarkable young man.  On December 30 he landed on the shores of Tamil Nadu in time for the new year of 1514 and ready to be taken to the palace of Vinesh the Dastardly. 

Chapter 2 In Which Krishna Gets on the Road to Meet Vinesh the Dastardly

Most people don’t realize that almost everyone  they come into contact with was someone that they have known throughout their soul’s lifetime.  This might go on for thousands of years.  One just never knows and so it is vitally important that we all do our best to treat others with kindness and not spend too much time being angry or hateful of others.  Many people never realize this and so they spend much of their present lifetimes, being angry or hateful of souls that they’ve spent millennium with. This continues until people finally become a bit more enlightened, and practice kindness towards all.  Of course, this isn’t easy but some, mainly souls like Yogananda, ML King and Gandhi have realized this.  One really never knows who these souls might be now.  They might even be a dog or cat that one thinks is a good friend, but then as humans we find that the animal has pooped all over our bed pillows and we just lay down too tired to do anything about this. 

All this being said, once Krishna arrived at the shores of Tamil Nadu around 4:30 AM on December 30, 1513, not too far from Madras and the palace of Vinesh the Dastardly, there waiting on the banks were two young girls, Bulbul and Golu, who later in his life would become I-Man’s cousins, Lauren and Rachel,  from New York City.  Bulbul and Golu, being 11 and 4 years old were out collecting the daily firewood not paying much attention to the basket boat that had just landed on the shores of Tamil Nadu, at Long Beach, which was actually the shortest beach in the world at that time, although during the later part of the 20th century would become the longest. 

Bulbul was the first one to see the basket boat and being a curious young soul, turned to Golu and said, “Hey, that looks like it could be a lot of wood for our daily fire.  Let’s go chop it up.”  Golu, who always carried an axe, just so nobody would bother her,  opened her mouth as wide as she could and showed her pearly whites to Bulbul and with a gleam in her eye, said, “Let’s go”.  The two sauntered off or more appropriately ran as fast as they could towards the basket boat, both shouting with glee as they knew that their parents, Kookoogee and Shweta, would be very happy, especially given that they had been eating quite a lot of raw fish recently due to a general lack of firewood.  They all did, of course, like to eat sushi, but Kookoo had not been catching any quality grade fish for quite some time.    

The two girl’s screaming woke poor Krishna, who had been sleeping quite soundly  during the last hundred or so kilometers, being quite exhausted  from all of his sea adventures.  The mermaids had guided Krishna   to shore at Long Beach but when they heard those jabbering young  girls, they made a bee line back to the sea, knowing full well that they would not be safe if Bulbul and Golu saw them and took them captive.  They did not want to end up as a special mermaid sushi, but then again neither would you.  

Krishna being a very sensitive youngster was quite upset at hearing the jabbering and he started to scream himself.  Now when he screamed it would set off natural disasters and he would definitely need to learn to control this.   At the time Krishna, being very young didn’t know too much about his superpowers and the results of his screaming. All at once, Krishna saw a gigantic wave coming straight towards him and noticing the two young girls, immediately stopped screaming, sprung from the basket boat and literally flew towards Bulbul and Golu, picking one up in each of his small hands flying straight upwards towards the moon.  The girls who had been screaming as they saw the wave immediately stopped and grabbed Krishna’s neck, although Krishna being quite young there wasn’t much to grab.  As they headed towards the moon both of the girls feinted, their rather young minds not being able to comprehend what had just occurred.  Krishna, also not really understanding what had just happened, for this was the first time that he had flown, and seeing that the wave had dissipated, because even at this great distance he was able to see this through his superpower eyes, drifted slowly back down towards  earth, landed softly on the beach and fell right to sleep with the girls still hanging on for dear life.

The three “children” slept soundly dreaming of their future lives together in the year 2011 and when they awoke on December 31, they were all quite famished.   Krishna woke first and gently removed the arms of the young girls from his neck.  He was no longer six months but after this harrowing adventure had already grown to be a young teen of 14.  He saw in the two girls, his future cousins, a lot that he liked.  They seemed quite brilliant, kind, athletic and gentle.  He knew that they both had a good sense of humor especially the one named Bulbul who would later become Lauren. 

Krishna gently shook both of the girls and they woke  up immediately, looked at Krishna and said, “What happened?”  Golu never being without her axe was quite happy to find it about 100 yards from where they had been sleeping. She ran immediately over and then ran back to the spot where Krishna and Bulbul were introducing themselves to one another and talking about what to do next.  Golu never being one to mince words said to Bulbul, “let’s take this boy back to our village and treat him to some khana (food)”.  Krishna, knowing full well who Bulbul and Golu were, without either of them even uttering a single word,  agreed and  nodded his head from side to side, because as we all know he was born an Indian. 

Krishna had to explain to the girls who he was and when he told them his story they were truly excited.  They both kind of knew something was “different” about this young teen, who they immediately loved, especially after realizing that they had been close to the moon with him.   Yet, they felt as if they had known him before, as if he was part of a simultaneous dream or maybe even part of their family for a very long time.  They knew that they would somehow help Krishna to find Vinesh the Dastardly and get him to Europe and eventually to America, although, like Krishna’s family, they really didn’t understand what these places actually were. 

The girls lived in the village of Pondicherry, which was quite a walk, given that they wanted to bring the basket boat and use its wood.  They asked Krishna about this and he agreed and told them to get in and he would fly them to Pondicherry as long as they provided directions.  Krishna scooped up the basket boat with the two girls and headed to the village of Pondicherry. 

From the sky the land looked quite beautiful and very green.  Krishna and the girls could see numerous villages and as they approached Pondicherry they could all see the villagers pointing towards the sky in disbelief.  Bulbul and Golu’s parents and brothers and sisters pointed at them and were salivating as they realized that the basket boat possessed a lot of wood, enough most likely for the entire village to have barbecued fish for at least a month.  The party had really only just begun.

Krishna ensured that they landed in the middle of the village and Golu, Bulbul, and Krishna were treated as heroes.  The girls parent’s, Kookoogee and Shweta, who would later, when Lauren and Rachel were born  become Wendy and Rob, were truly overjoyed at the good fortune which had seemingly come directly from the Gods, at least it appeared that way as they all dropped from the sky. 

That evening the village feasted as young Krishna began to recount his story and the  new year’s celebration began.  They all ate fresh fish, rice, dosas and lots of somber.  They also ate an early version of lox, tofu spread and bagels, as the precursor to and later served at Tal Bagels in New York City.  As we all know the very first branch of Tal had opened on the outskirts of Pondicherry and they made village deliveries.  This was part of the economic development plan of VB as the bagel concept had come to him that very same night that Krishna had been born.  It definitely had to do with that evening’s  miraculous super moon and its being so close to earth. 

Now let me diverge here and tell you one story about Vinesh the Dastardly.  VD, to those who knew him, was no ordinary emperor as we can tell from just this small episode mentioned above.  His court consisted of many assorted astrologers, who understood dreams enough to keep themselves, well fed, clothed and housed.  They were among the richer men and women of the kingdom and they would frequently spin, gyrate and do whatever contortions were necessary to stay in VD’s favor and also to stay alive. 

Now the idea for Tal’s, of course, came from one Jewish astrologer named Louis Leakey.  He had been experimenting with creating a different kinds of puri, a bit more compact and crunchy than normal, but he wasn’t quite sure how to do this.  As he grabbed a puri from the fryer it slipped and fell into a bucket of  recycled rain water.  The puri immediately compressed into a tight ball and when Louis tried to pull it out with a large fishing spear it cut a hole in the middle.  Louis looked at what was kind of a mushy circle, patted it down a bit and then decided to throw it into his tandori oven, which of course he used to make roti.  He watched, what was to become the first bagel, turn a golden brown and again took the fishing spear and pulled it out. 

Louis Leakey liked the look and feel  of this new creation and promptly put it into his mouth and took a bite.  Louis knew from that very first taste that he had definitely stumbled upon something that might help VD to properly employ those in his kingdom to have a good life and also to keep them from thinking about any sort of revolution.  He knew though that he would have to find something to put on this creation  and well, what to call it?  What Louis didn’t know, as he took that first bite, was that VB had already dreamed about this and knew that it would be called a bagel, from the Hindi bag l, meaning a round thing with a hole in the centre.

Louis being quite a great man in his own right, although he was quite short,  had been an explorer and only landed on the shores of Tamil Nadu from his native place, Lodz, some two years earlier.  Being someone who was not afraid of anything he immediately found himself as an astrologer in the court of VD.  There he correctly interpreted 8 out of 10 dreams, which was a much higher percentage than the other astrologers and therefore he was one of the favorites of VD.  When Louis asked to go to Pondicherry for a short respite, VD granted this immediately.

That evening as Louis thought about this new delicacy which would further put him in the good graces of VD and garner him the 15 or so wives/girlfriends  that he always wanted, knew that he must have a plan that would not only help him, but also help his people, to live as truly free men and women.  He decided to take his favorite dog, pat char (4), down to the dabha on the Pondicherry waterfront and sit at his favorite table with a copy of the Pondicherry Post and just think.  He thought, “how can I take this round shaped thing and create jobs for all no matter who they are?”  “Maybe if I put some fish on this thing and find something to spread other than ghee, some onions, tomatoes, it will be a creation that VD will always love and then I can ask him for anything.   I must also find a new, easier method to make these round shaped things, some kind of cylinder that will last for a long time, to put the water in, after I bake them in my tandori oven.  Of course I must also increase the size of the oven.”  

As we all know, Louis brought the idea to VD  and given his dream which Louis Leakey interpreted quite correctly and also that he had actually thought of and lived the dream, good things came to pass in Tamil Nadu for Louis and his followers.   (For that matter Louis Leakey’s descendants would later sail across the Atlantic Ocean and start a manufacturing business capitalizing upon this bagel idea in a place called Long Island.  This descendant, another Louis would prove to be I-Man’s great grandfather.  One of this great grandfather’s sons and a great uncle of I-Man, a person called Allan, would also be part of this business.  You can still see pictures of this Allan, or Krishna’s uncle Anil in that earlier time, with his shirt opened to his navel, with his chest hairs protruding in every direction.  Allan would late come to marry Rose, or Savita in those times, a woman who did remind people of that very popular flower.  Rose could often be found asking people to stop trying to smell her.  But that is another story).  VD knew immediately that it was the bagel and from that came Tal.  The original Tal in Pondicherry can still be seen today but is now a McDonald’s selling veggie, tikka and other types of burgers and french fries.   They sell no soft drinks, only nimbu panni’s (lime water).  Eventually Louis moved to the State of Kerala and started an entire town of Jewish people and established the very first temple in Fort Cochin but that also is another story.

As the feasting and merriment in the village died down a little past midnight, Krishna sought out Kookoogee and Shweta , along with Golu and Bulbul as he knew that he must sooner, rather than later, get to the palace of VD.  This would be the only way that he would be able to continue his journey to Europe and eventually to America, where he would become I-Man.   That evening they agreed to direct Krishna to the palace of VD with the help of the one astrologer they knew, Louis Leakey.

The next morning January 1, 1514 Krishna, accompanied by his new friends and relatives, started their trek to the palace of VD, some 60 or so kilometers from Pondicherry.  After an hour or so, Krishna, knowing full well that he could fly to the palace in mere minutes, turned to his new friends and relatives and told them that he could find his way from here.  They all knew that he was right and asked Krishna to always remember them especially with VD.  Krishna, already knowing the future, and his continued relationship with them all, said, “of course”.   Being the sweet superhero that he was, Krishna gave them all a hug and kiss before he jetted off into the sky.  They all waved goodbye and smiled inside knowing full well that Krishna’s story would be told around their village fire for eternity, especially given the size of the basket boat and the amount of wood that it would produce for their campfires.  They were all forever in his debt, especially in the kindness that he showered upon everyone that he met. 

Minutes later Krishna came down in the centre of Madras, for that is where VD could be found, directly in front of the palace.  At the palace entrance, the guards, Metu and Babu, who would later in life become I-Man’s cousins Ben and Josh, asked his business and he promptly indicated to them who he was.  Upon hearing the name Krishna, they knew that this was the young man that the palace had been buzzing about for days due directly to the fact that VD had dreamed of this moment as interpreted in one of his dreams by Louis Leakey.  The guards, although highly excited, but being very professional said, “Wait here!” 

One of the guards, Babu mounted a horse and rode to the astrological house where they knew they would find Louis.  Upon hearing the message from the guard, Louis checked his sundial and as he had predicted from VD’s dream it was approximately 10:32 AM on January 1, 1514.  Without a moment’s hesitation, because as Louis well knew, Krishna would be meeting with VD at noon, he asked Babu to bring him to Krishna where he would be escorted to the main palace hall to prepare himself to meet VD. 

Upon seeing  him, Louis smiled inside, because he knew that one of his future incarnations would be the great grandfather to Krishna, but also because he knew that Krishna, later to be called Isaac or I-Man, in superhero parlance, was what the world would need if humanity was to survive.  Louis greeted Krishna with a simple “Namaste” and asked Metu to take them both to the palace interior, where Krishna could be fitted with clothing appropriate to meet a mogul emperor. 

When Krishna first saw Louis Leakey he felt an immediate kinship, as if somehow he knew him.  Krishna was somehow starting to get used to these intuitions as the superpowers inside of him were churning on an almost minute to minute basis.  He felt as if somehow Louis would have something to do with his future grandfather Jerry and his Seattle father, like maybe Louis in the future was one of the reasons as to why Jerry and Mark would be born.  But, Krishna needed to now focus on his meeting with VD and so he let these thoughts slip away until much later in his life. 

Louis had the palace servants dress Krishna in a beautiful flowing multi-colored, kind of tie dyed, courta, with quite intricate stitching featuring a beautiful brown boy, with straight black hair, playing with peacocks in  their full regalia.  Louis knew that this outfit was becoming of a superhero in the making and that it would please VD, especially given his preference for peacocks.  Louis also knew that the multi-colored courta  would be appealing to this mogul emperor, who, as we all do, look to the superhero within and without to help us through life’s challenges. 

Krishna was glowing and his aura was full of confidence.  As the servants and Louis saw this they bowed, for what else could they do in the presence of such a magnificent looking young man.  Krishna, being very humble, started to blush and asked them to walk with him to meet VD.   They wanted to carry him, but he would have nothing  of this and held all of their hands as they started the walk to the great hall where Krishna would meet with VD.  As they walked more people were taken in by the magnificence of Krishna and his other worldly glow.  The line of people walking and holding hands grew longer and longer.   

Finally they were at the door of the great hall and Louis asked the others to let him and Krishna attend to VD on their own.  The people with a smile in their hearts, decided to wait outside the great hall, for they had never seen anyone before, nor would they see anyone after with the grace and magnificence of young Krishna. 

Chapter 3-In Which Krishna Meets Vinesh the Dastardly and His Relatives to be

Waiting in the center of the great hall, as it was noon, was VD. He knew, without anybody telling him, that he must be there to greet this superhero who he would help to get to Europe and eventually America, the dream of all Indians.  Although you wouldn’t know it from looking at him, VD was just as excited to meet this superhero  as anybody else in his empire. 

As Krishna walked into the great hall followed by Louis, all of VD’s attendees bowed deeply as VD stood with open arms wanting to embrace this superhero who had graced his kingdom by just being there.  As Krishna was drawn into VD’s magnetism  he again felt this kinship and had some notion that VD was actually his father Mark in the year 2011 and that VD’s Queen, Vishnu, was his future mother Susu.  Next to them was a beautiful Indian princess named Anjilee,  his future sister, Sophie.  Krishna rushed towards them as they all embraced.  The palace had never witnessed anything like this and all began to cheer and applaud.  VD at the top of his lungs gave an order, “prepare the great feast”  and for the second time in two days, Krishna recounted his story, with the added information about Pondicherry as all sat in full rapture as they  somehow knew that they also would become part of this endless story. 

The palace table was gigantic as Krishna noticed a beautiful young lady, Vandana, who would later become his future wife, Beverly, and all of his other soon to be family members-Bulbul (Lauren) and Golu (Rachel) were there, as well as Metu (Josh) and Babu (Ben), Poonam (Sadie), Shikha (Ruby), Atul (Henry),  Deepika (Aubrey), Sanjeev (Andrew), Momo (Talia), Louis Leakey (Louis),  Tilak (Norman),      Pooja  (Simone),    Shreshta  (Deanne),  Tilakam   (Robyn)   Rajesh  (Michael G.),   Anil Kumar (Daniel),   Monika (Sarah) , Ashok (Ricardo),  Sunita (Lori),  Navneet (Jeff), Sandiya   (Lisa), Shekhar  (Howard),     Savita (Michele),   Mukesh  (Scott),   Rubi (Laura)  Ashok (Jerry),  Rakhi (Sheila),  Suresh (Alex),  Ramvilas  (Samuel ),   Ramashesh ( Ryan ),   Sheethal (Rebecca),  Rupali  (Sofia), Balveen  ( Livia),  Santosh   (Pat)  Myna  (Linda), Avneet ( Sonny ),    Santosh (Lenny )   Kookoogee (Rob) and Shweta (Wendy), Jyoti    (Miriam), Niti   (Bella), Maheck  (Annie),    Shukla (Toby),    Nikita (Candy), Kiran( Judy), Prianka  (Cathy),            Onkar (Tony),  Anant  ( Timbo),  Amir (Terry),  John Raj Kumar (Zach),  Sharuk (Joe), Priya ( Gretchen), Sita  (Lily), Rani  (Emily), Harshit (Patrick), Alia (Katy), Kushal ( Bret), Isha  (Amy),  Harshetha  (Elly), Deepakshe  (Daba),  Fahad  (Gramps),   Iyush (Mateo), Tania  (Kenlynn),  Palak  (Piper),  Manisha  (Maddy),  Pallavi (Emma), Sanjo  (Trey), Arti  (Maggie), Saddarth (Harlan), Praveen  (Ben), Laksha (Toby),  Rohan  (Mark), Vaibhav ( Jed),  Satvik  (Tommy),  Angad ( Yitzak),  Mansi  (Goldie),  Sushant ( Joseph), Riya (Pearl),  Shubhanshu (Alexander),  Aditya  (Yidris), Akhil  (Adolph), Ananya  ( Lena),  Ashish  (Gershon),  Apoorva  (Estelle),  Prashant  (Harry), Prangya  (Julie) and Sudhiha (Michael). 

Krishna, being a vegetarian, except for his love of lox and tofu spread on one of Louis Leakey’s bagels, enjoyed palak paneer, dal, mutter paneer, subszi, tomato soup, lemon rice, uttapan, roiti, nan, puri, bagels, rawa dosa, and for dessert, gulab jaman with pistachio ice cream.  By the end of the evening everyone at the table had gained a minimum of 2 kilos or about 4.4 pounds.  Given this  and the amount of food that still remained all of the guests  filled as many “doggie” bags as they could carry and walked through Madras handing out one bag/family or individual for those who were still single.  This supplied enough food for many of the recipients for at least one week and possibly more.  This all added to the Madrasian resident’s good feeling s towards  VD and therefore VD’s good feelings towards Krishna and Louis Leakey, who said that this would all come to pass.  (In fact based on all of this, VD gave quite a bit of money towards the temple that would eventually get built in Kerela by Louis Leakey and his followers).

After a wonderful night’s sleep in which everyone in Madras, including those who attended the feast, dreamt about the wonderful blessings which Krishna, eventually I-Man would bring to the world, all woke with a smile on their faces.  This was even true of those who had not smiled for years and years.  Somehow, Krishna, even though some of it may only have been through a dream, was bringing peace,  joy and happiness to all.  It was a remarkable time in Madras, Tamil Nadu, a time which has not been totally replicated since, no matter how hard people try.  There was even a friendly cricket match that afternoon in the VD Airtel Stadium, built, as you might have guessed, due to one of VD’s dreams.

That evening, January 2, 1514, Krishna and VD, along with Louis Leakey sat down to dine alone.  They had a lot to discuss and they all knew that it was time, even though VD didn’t want Krishna to leave, to dwell on the future.  VD, being the mogul emperor at that time, started off the conversation, “Krishna, we must get you to Europe in order for you to get to America”.  Krishna, bowed his head and said, “Yes, great emperor I must continue my journey to, as you know, become this I-Man.  This is the only way that this planet that we inhabit will be saved.”  Louis Leakey in response, said, “Yes, honorable emperor we must help Krishna as your dream, interpreted by me, putting me over 80% in dream predictions, will come true.”  VD said, “Yes, this must be, but how can we do this?  I don’t really understand or know this Europe or for that matter, this America.”  Krishna, becoming wiser by the minute, said, “we must sit together in silence and see where this takes us”. 

So, they sat throughout the evening with their backs straight, as if a string was attached to the round part of their heads, in a cross legged position, with their hands resting on their respective knees.  None of them slept that evening, but all found their third eye, located just above their brows and the bridge of their nose.  They all went simultaneously to that same place, a place called Europe and then after that America.  They all saw how Krishna would get there, and although he might fly, he mostly had to walk thousands of kilometers which would take him through numerous empires and tribal areas.  They all knew that this wouldn’t be easy but that Krishna had to do it, that this was foretold and that this was his journey.

When  they all “awoke” from their simultaneous journey they knew that if they ever needed to be with one another they could always just sit and that somehow they would be able to “see” each other and help one another if needed.  It was decided that Krishna must leave by the end of the week.  For the next few days, the palace was busy helping to ready Krishna for his journey and as he had the full blessings of VD, all were very cooperative. 

It was now almost mid-January 1514, a bit cold, for at that time there was no global warming.  VD woke quite early the morning of January 15 and knew that this was the day in which Krishna must leave.  VD had his wife Vishnu prepare the celebration that would see Krishna off.  It had snowed the night before and Vishnu made sure to pack Krishna with very warm clothing, mostly animal hides. 

At 7 am Krishna woke and knew that it was time to leave on his journey north.  He was excited and wondered what kind of celebration would see him off.  Upon hearing him stir,  Metu and Babu, who had been guarding Krishna’s door went to find Vishnu, who wanted a private word with her son to be Isaac in the not too distant future.  Vishnu came into Krishna’s room and her son to be welcomed her with a bear hug that only he knew how to do.  Vishnu was very happy and knew that even though Krishna was to leave Madras this morning she would see him for the rest of her soul’s life.  Vishnu told Krishna that she had prepared a great celebration to see him off.  There would be the royal elephants and camels, monkeys, snakes, tigers and rhinos. Being a wildlife enthusiast Krishna could not contain his joy and again gave Vishnu a great bear hug.  At about that time, VD walked in, followed by Vandana.  The four souls who had always known one another put their arms around each other and smiled, their hearts overflowing with joy.  This joy seeped out of the room and ran, like volcano lava, through the streets of Madras.  Soon the entire town was waiting for the celebration to begin outside of the palace.

As the four souls walked outside, soon joined by Louis Leakey, they saw the people of Madras, dressed in their best for the good-bye celebration.  As the people of Madras saw their emperor, his wife along with Krishna and Vandana, deafening cheers erupted, so loud that they were heard in the neighboring States of Kerela, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.  The joy that was felt by all Madrasians that day was also felt throughout these neighboring States, although the people weren’t at all quite sure why.

Krishna was honored by riding one of the royal elephants through the streets of Madras, with everyone showering him with flower petals.  If one had been able to witness this from the sky they would have seen a rainbow of colors, as if people were playing Holi by a non-stop throwing of colors.  When he finally arrived at the furthest border of Madra, VD, Vishnu and Vandana were waiting for him. 

The elephant Hawtee lowered himself down so that  Krishna could dismount and say his final good-byes.  Anticipating Krishna’s question, VD said yes Hawtee would accompany Krishna on his journey north.  No words passed between the four souls as they hugged, knowing full well that they would all see each other soon.  All of Krishna’s relatives from the first feast in the palace of VD, arrived to wave goodbye.  All were in such a good mood, having been blessed to have met Krishna.

Krishna mounted Hawtee and with a final wave of his hands turned his attention north. 




[1] If one takes a close look at the “revolutionaries” who stayed in Tahrir Square in Egypt until Mubarak resigned, one will notice that many of them were wearing light blue colored t-shirts with a caricature of Moses with a long white flowing beard carrying the tablets.  The back of the shirt in 32 font Calibri (Body) black letters with yellow highlights states, “Thank you Moses for sailing down the Nile”.  In Tunisia, Bahrain and Libya, one can see that the shirts of the revolutionaries were actually that of a well drawn likeness of  I-Man, produced by Aunt Aubrey, an incredible artist, mentioned above with his cousins Sadie, Ruby and Huck riding on his back and his sister Sophie on the ground holding a poster of Moses with the above same Thank you as noted. 

The Chinese revolutionary t-shirt was also somewhat similar although they really had no idea who Moses was, but being that the other countries used this they decided to do the same.  Of course the above saying was written in Mandarin, Cantonese and other regional languages.