Nag - Nagin (Maithili Folk Tale)

Once upon a time there was a very famous king of Mithila. He was very powerful and just. Everyone in his kingdom was happy and prosperous. But King was sad that he didn't have any child from any of his seven queens. As he was getting older his sadness kept on increasing. He always used to worry about what will happen to the kingdom after him. So he consulted a very famous Rishi (Sage). Rishi told him to conduct a Puja (religious ceremony). Puja will last for a month and this whole month king was not supposed to eat or drink anything. Being a desperate man, King agreed to Puja.
When the queens heard of his decision, they were very upset. It was a very tough Puja and there was a chance that king will lose his life during this ceremony. All the seven queens tried to convince king to abandon this Puja, but without any success. Eventually the eldest queen formulated a plan. She went to King and told him - "My lord. Goddess Durga has blessed us. Last night when i went to sleep, goddess came into my dream. She told me that she is very happy of your good and just ruling in this kingdom. And she is aware of your sadness. So she has decided to grant you a baby son from the youngest queen. She has ordered you to abandon that Puja as it is not necessary now." King couldn't believe this good news. He asked to explain everything in detail. Queen was very convincing and she managed to satisfy any doubt of King.
When other queens heard what the eldest queen has done, they were very terrified. They asked her - "What have you done? King will surely find out about this and he will kill us and feed us to alligators." The eldest queen said - "You all are unnecessarily getting terrified. At least we have avoided the imminent danger to our beloved king's life. I am sure that in due time we will find out a solution to our problem."
In few months King was given the good news that youngest queen is expecting a child. Eldest queen had bribed the royal astrologer and asked him to tell King - "My lord. You are going to have a very brave son. He will raise your good name and fame. But there is a bad news. As per his stars, if you see him before he is sixteen years old and is married, your son will die immediately." King was upset on hearing this, but he consoled himself by saying - "What is sixteen years, when i have waited so long? The most important thing is that i will have a son."
After nine months the news was spread that youngest queen has given birth to a very beautiful baby boy. Queens have bribed the midwifes very heavily and all of them promised to keep their silence on this issue. And thus the lie continued. After few years private tutors were arranged for the young prince. These tutors were again given enough bribes and they all promised to keep the charade and keep King in darkness over this.
Eventually sixteen years had passed. King was getting restless to meet his son. So he arranged a marriage with a very beautiful princess of the neighboring kingdom. Now all the queens were very terrified. When they couldn't find a solution to their predicament, eldest queen again devised a plan. She made a human shape mannequin and adorned it with all royal dresses and ornaments. This mannequin was placed in the royal palaki (a carriage which is carried by two people and the rider sits comfortably in the covered portion).
When the wedding procession reached almost halfway to the destination, they stopped near a large banyan tree to take rest. A pair of ichhhadhari nag-nagin (Cobras who can change shape based on their will) were living in a hole near that banyan tree.
When the nagin (female cobra) heard the noise of wedding procession, she asked her husband nag (male cobra) about what is happening outside. To this nag replied - "I can see a great war on horizon and many men will die.", and then he explained her the whole story of queens and their lie. He said - "When the bride's father gets to know of this treachery, he will be furious and insult this king, which will undoubtedly lead to a war." Nagin had a very kind heart. She requested Nag to do something about it so that the tragedy can be avoided. On her insistent request Nag had to give in. He said -"OK. I will change myself into a very beautiful prince and will marry the princess. By doing so war will be avoided. And once the marriage is over, i will return back."
And thus Nag changed into a very handsome prince. When king saw his son for the first time, he was so happy. His happiness knew no bounds. And thus the marriage ceremony was happily concluded. As the tradition is, after marriage princess and prince along with king and other family members started their journey back to their own kingdom. Again they passed through the old banyan tree. When they reached there, the prince got out on some pretext and changed himself to Nag again and returned to the hole to meet his wife Nagin.
Nag told Nagin about all that had happened and explained her that now he has returned back. On hearing this Nagin being a kind hearted one said - "Oh my dear husband. We should not be so greedy. We should also think about the poor newly wed princes. What will she do when she finds out that her prince is gone. Her life will be a living hell. Oh No. You must return back and go to her till she has a baby." Nag said - "How can i do that. You are my wife. Further i have poison in my breath. She will die if i spend time with her." Nagin said - "Now you are the husband of that princess too. And don't worry about the poison. I know how to take your poison. I will come to your bedroom during the night and take your poison away."
On much convincing Nag had to agree to the demand of Nagin. During midnight Nagin came to their bedroom. She was successful in taking the poison away from Nag. When she was going away, she accidentally touched feet of princess. Nag-Nagin are very cold on touch. To this the princess woke up and when she saw Nagin, she raised an alarm. At this Nag woke up. Being in human form and further little sleepy, he had forgotten that it is his wife Nagin who has come here. Alas ! He hit with a heavy stick on the head of Nagin. Nagin cried out - " Oh my dear husband!" and she died. Nag now realized the grave error committed by him. He was very said and wept uncontrollably. When the young princess asked him about it, he explained the whole story. Based on the advice of several sages, Nagin was cremated with full respect.
People believe that if you see Nag-Nagin in the wedding room or on any auspicious occasion, it is considered very lucky.

(c)2012 Anup Mayank

Mithila Painting

Recently i had visited Madhubani (my native place). During this visit i got a chance to go to meet one of my cousin aunt. Her in-laws place is in Mangrauni village. There i had met her mother in law. She is a very wonderful person. I got a chance to look at her Mithila paintings. The paintings are so colorful and depict a wide variety of colors and traditions of Mithila region. Some samples are shown below.

These paintings are typically put in Kobar (Wedding room) of newly wed brides and grooms. The paintings have several images of birds, animals and insects showing the natural harmony of humans along with other inhabitants of this earth.

While looking at these posts she told me a very wonderful folktale of Nag-Nagin, which i will share in my next post.

राजकुमार वीरवर्धन की शादी

राजकुमार वीरवर्धन  की शादी की उम्र हो गयी थी। राजा और राज्य के सभी लोग चाहते थे की एक सुन्दर और सुशील से राजकुमार की शादी हो जाये। राजा ने अपने गुप्तचरों को बुलवाया और कहा - " तुम लोग चारो दिशाओं में पता लगाओ कि राजकुमार के उपयुक्त कौन सी राजकुमारी है।" गुप्तचरों ने कहा -"जो हुक्म महराज " और वे लोग अपने तेज घोड़ों पर सवार होकर निकल पड़े।
छः महीने के बाद गुप्तचरों की टोली वापस आई। उनके सरदार ने राजा से कहा - " महाराज हम लोग हजारों कोस उत्तर, दक्षिण, पूरब और पश्चिम की ओर गए। हमने सैकरों राज्य की यात्रा की। इस दौरान हमें अनेकों देशों की ख़ूबसूरत और बुद्धिमान राजकुमारियां देखी। सभी एक से बढ़कर एक थीं। लेकिन इन सभी में पहारगढ़ के राजा भानुगुप्त की सबसे छोटी राजकुमारी हेमलता सभी तरह से हमारे राजकुमार वीरवर्धन की रानी बनने लायक हैं। वे देखने में अद्वितीय हैं। आस पास के दस राज्यों में उनकी बुद्धिमता के चर्चे हैं। वह बहुत ही बहादुर भी हैं।"
गुप्तचरों की इस बात को सुनकर राज अत्यन्त प्रसन्न हुए। उन्होंने तुरंत राजकुमार वीरवर्धन को बुलवाया और कहा - " हे राजकुमार। अब आपका विवाह का समय आ गया है। हम चाहते हैं की आपकी शादी राजकुमारी हेमलता के साथ हो जाये।" इसके साथ ही राजा ने गुप्तचरों द्वारा बताई हुई सारी बात राजकुमार को बताई और कहा की - " आप कल ही अपने साथ घुरसवारों की एक टोली लेकर पहारगढ़ की तरफ निकल जायें और अपने साथ राजा भानुगुप्त और उनके दरबार के लिए उपहार भी ले जाएं। वहां जाकर राजा भानुगुप्त से राजकुमारी हेमलता के साथ अपने विवाह का प्रस्ताव रखें।"
राजकुमार ने राजा की बातों को सुनकर कहा - " हे महाराज। आपके आदेश का पालन होगा।"
अगले सुबह राजा के कहे के अनुसार राजकुमार और उनकी घुरसवारों की टोली पहारगढ़ जाने के लिए निकल पड़ी .

(शेष शीघ्र ही )

Flipkart's replacement policy

After being hooked to buying books and electronic items from Amazon in US, i am fascinated by the service provided by Flipkart. An year and half back i had purchased HTC Wildfire phone for myself. The delivery was quick and phone has been running smoothly till now.

So when my wife's old Samsung dual sim phone died, i was on a lookout for a new phone for her. Samsung Y duos fitted the bill and its quality and performance has been vouched by one of my colleagues. So i again decided to buy it from Flipkart. They provided me one additional advantage over local store is their EMI facility (helped me when i am little cash strapped). Again the delivery was quick. But there was a bummer. The back panel didn't fit properly. So i called their customer support and informed them of this problem. The support guy initially tried to convince me that it is nothing and it can be easily fixed.

But the only problem is that i am a customer who has little low patience and has seen several ads on TV where flipkart has claimed that they will replace the faulty piece. So i simply asked him to replace it. Support person told me that tech support will call me in next 48 hours. I was expecting a ticket number and email from flipkart confirming my complain, but didn't get any.

So i called again and was informed that tech guys will reach out to me soon. But it didn't happen. I got busy with work at office and this problem kind of slipped my mind. After few days i saw one feedback email from flipkart regarding my recent purchase. Now i thought, "Wait a minute. They must be having enquiry form in the account page." So i filled out the form explaining the problem and what i want.

Within 2 hours some one from flipkart called me, heard my problem and said that a replacement will be sent soon. And true to their words, the replacement arrived at my door in 2 business days. The delivery guy took the old phone back and gave me new one. This one has no issues. So once more i am a happy flipkart customer. But this experience has taught me to file written complains, because what you tell over phone maynot be that effective.

Movie Review : Carnage (2011)

Few days ago i got a chance to watch movie "Carnage". It is directed by Roman Polanski (of "The Pianist" fame). The actors in this movie are    Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz.

It is based on the theme that two boys started fighting in a local park with the end result of which one boy hits other in mouth with a stick. So the parents (Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz) of the boy (who hit with stick) goes to the parents Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly) of the other kid (who was stuck) to settle this issue in a friendly way.

Now follows a series of conversation which is very fascinating to watch and listen. The couples discuss the issue related to their sons which gets edgy at times. And it also brings out the problems they are facing in their marriage and psychology of all 4 individuals. How the story progresses and how the characters react to different conversation themes are very entertaining.

If you like this kind of movie and had liked movies "Before sunset", "Before sunrise" then this is a movie for you. Enjoy!!!

Girl in the train

As a Train Ticket Conductor, I have been to many places all over the India. I have completed 15 years in this job. I have encountered numerous kinds of people, soft speaking and ruffians alike. All these years i have  been through many kinds of experiences, but nothing beats the experience i had on a cold winter night of December 1999.
I had joined Indian Railways just a few months back. I was eager to prove myself, make a name of mine in this world and be rich and happy etc etc. My posting was in Bihar. I was in charge of the route from Balliya to Mujaffarpur. One day my duty was on Darbhanga express which starts from Pune and last stop is Darbhanga Junction. The total journey of this train is of approximately 40 hours.
On Balliya i boarded this train. By the time it reaches Balliya it is 1 o clock in the night. Being a cold and foggy night, i had put on my sweater and a thick coat on top of it. Even then i was feeling chilly. Since by now it is almost nearing the end of its journey, many passengers have reached their destination and the train was almost half empty. There were very few new passengers who had made a reservation from this station. At about 2 AM, i was done with my ticket checking duties and i had another 3 hours to spend by the time it will reach Mujaffarpur.
So i thought to take some rest in one of the AC coaches, as i had seen many empty seats during my prior visit. I found a nice empty compartment in 2nd AC coach. Got a blanket from one of the porters and sat comfortably on the seat. Blame it on the warm blanket in a cold weather and being late in the night, i soon felt drifted away and was happily sleeping. After some time i woke up with a jolt. The train was standing somewhere away from the station and it was 3 AM. I thought it must be somewhere near Hajipur. I was about to go out and check what was the matter, i suddenly saw a girl sitting on the seat in another compartment adjacent to where i was sitting. She was looking very intently at me. I was not sure if i had seen her when i entered this coach. So i went to her and asked - "What is your name?" She didn't reply. I asked her - "Whom are you traveling with?". She said - "With my Papa". I asked - "Where is he". She simply pointed towards the toilets near the end of coach.  Feeling satisfied with her answer, i decided to make another round in the coach and find out where we were. There was one family who was supposed to get down at Darbhanga and few people were supposed to get down at Samastipur and Mujaffarpur. Otherwise the coach was mostly empty. I asked one of the tea vendor - "Where are we?" He said - "Sahebji. Train has left Hajipur and is waiting for green signal".
Soon the train started moving, and now i decided to return back to my comfortable seat. When i passed by the girl, i saw that she was crying and sobbing. I asked her - " Why are you crying? What is the matter?" She said - "Papa hasn't come yet and the train will leave him." I tried to console her - "Don't worry. Your Papa will come soon. He is just in the toilet". But she started sobbing more loudly. Now i was feeling embarrassed and awkward. So i told her - "Let me go there and find your Papa". I checked both the toilets, but no one was there. I thought maybe he has gone to the one of the toilets on the other side of the coach. So i went there, but again both of them were vacant. Now i was starting to get worried. Where is her father. What kind of irresponsible person are there?
I again went back to my seat. She came to me and asked - "Did you find him?" I said - "No. But i am sure he will be back soon. Tell me what is your name ? where are you .." I wasn't able to complete my sentence. She started crying and shouting hysterically with a shrill - "What have you done to my Papa? Where is my Papa" I tried to calm her by patting my hand on her head, but she stopped my hand in the mid air with both her hands. I swear i can still feel those icy cold hands. She gave me a violent push. It was so surprising that how come such a little girl got so much power. My head banged with one of the iron plate of a seat and i lost my consciousness
When i opened my eyes i saw several people standing near me. One of the gentleman was sprinkling my face with water. Another person was fanning over my head with a newspaper. I sat upright and asked - "Where is the girl?" But it seems no one has seen that girl and no one has heard her cries. They were about to get down at Mujaffarpur when they saw me lying on the floor of coach.
Till this day i am thinking about that girl and who she was. Was she just my imagination or something really paranormal happened to me.

(c) Anup Mayank 2012

Android app for Java J2EE interview materials

A friend of mine has written this app and i find it quite useful. Please check the link below



JAVA/J2EE Interview Android App

A very nice song by Diljan on Surkshetra

A very emotional song, sung by Diljan in Sur Kshetra. I watched it with my father and thus a very memorable moment.

राजकुमार वीरवर्धन और तालाब का राक्षस

बहुत दिन पहले की एक कहानी है। इन ऊँचे पहारों के पीछे एक देश था। उस देश का राजा बहुत ही दयालु था। वहां की प्रजा अपने राजा का बहुत ही मान सम्मान करती थी और अपने राजकुमार वीरवर्धन  पर जान छिरकति थी। आखिर कार राजकुमार भी बहुत ही साहसी और निडर था। उसके वीरता और बुद्धिमता का उसके मित्र और दुश्मन दोनों ही लोहा मानते थे।
फिर उस राज्य के एक गाँव में एक विचित्र राक्षस आ गया। वह राक्षस उस गाँव के एकलौते तालाब के अन्दर छुप कर बैठ गया था। और जब भी उसे भूख लगती थी तो वो वहां पर मौजूद जानवर या मनुष्य को खा लेता था। उस गाँव के सभी लोग उस राक्षस से तंग आ गए थे। तालाब भी एक ही था। इसलिए पानी के लिए तालाब जाना ही पड़ता था। बहुत लोगों ने उस राक्षस से विनती की, लेकिन वह वहां से जाने के लिए तैयार नहीं हुआ। किसी में उससे लड़ने की हिम्मत नहीं थी। और वह पानी के अन्दर छुपा हुआ रहता था। फिर लोगों ने विचार किया की राजकुमार वीरवर्धन से ही विनती की जाए की उस राक्षस को भागाओ और हमारी जान बचाओ।
राजकुमार ने जब यह सुना तो तुरंत अपने घोड़े पर चढ़ कर निकल पड़ा। लेकिन वह चिंता में था की पानी में छिपे राक्षस से कैसे मुकाबला किया जाये। बीच रास्ते में उसे एक छोटी चिरिया दिखाई दी। बेचारी चिरिया सड़क पर गिरी हुई थी और उसके पंख भी टूटे हुए थे। राजकुमार को बहुत दया आइ। उसने अपने पीने का पानी चिरिया को पिला दिया। तभी चमत्कार हो गया। वो चिरिया एक परी बन गयी। परी बोली - "राजकुमार मैं तुम्हारी परीक्षा ले रही थी। तुमने अपने पीने का पानी एक चिरिया को पिला दिया। तुम बहुत ही दयालु हो। मेरी तरफ से एक चमत्कारी तलवार ले लो। इस तलवार से तुम अवश्य ही उस राक्षस से जीत जाओगे।" राजकुमार ने परी का बहुत ही आभार प्रकट किया।
वह अब दूने उत्साह के साथ राक्षस से मुकाबले के लिए निकल परा। जब राक्षस ने देखा की राजकुमार के पास जादुई तलवार है तो वह समझ गया की अब उसकी खैर नहीं है। उसने राजकुमार और गाँव वालों से माफ़ी मांगी और चुप चाप वहां से भाग गया। सभी गाँव वालों ने राजकुमार का जोर से जय जयकार किया।

(c) Anup Mayank
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