Saturday, June 10, 2006

THIS ABOVE ALL
Bhaumik’s experiments with truth
Khushwant Singh

You might have noticed that people’s reactions to the wonders of nature in the day-time differ from those at night. In daylight whether it be snow-capped mountain peaks lit by the rising sun, rain clouds set on fire at sunset or rainbows spanning the horizons, we gape and are lost in admiration. It is entirely an optical thrill. In contrast, when we lie on our beds under an open sky and gaze at the heavens lit up by myriads of stars, some large, others only dots of light, some visible night after night, others like meteors shooting across and disappearing into nothingness, we ask "Where has all this come from? Who made them and who made us? Is God the Creator of all things?" And those kind of metaphysical questions.

Dr Mani Bhaumik

So it happened to Mani Bhaumik, son of a poor schoolteacher who was often in jail in the freedom movement. At times, they went without food and at times they ate only supper. He was barely seven years old when one night he was walking barefoot on a muddy path through paddy fields holding his father’s hand. They were going back to their mud hut. It was pitch dark and he was scared. Suddenly he asked his father, "Is this God?" The father had no answer.

Mani Bhaumik was a very bright student with a touch of genius in mathematics. From his village school he won a scholarship to Scottish Mission College, Calcutta, and then went to IIT, Lucknow. Finally he joined U.C.L.A. in California. His fellow villagers had pooled their resources to pay for his air ticket. He arrived in Los Angles with three dollars in his pocket. His rise was meteoric. He did pioneering work of research in laser (Light duplification by stimulated emission of radiation) technology and evolving lasik optical surgery to rectify some common eye disorders.

He was hired by different mega firms and paid enormous salaries. He played the stock market and made more. By the time he was 50, he had become a multi-millionaire. He bought himself a palatial mansion atop a hill overlooking the city and with a view of the Pacific Ocean. He has many other mansions. His residence looks grander than the Raj Bhawan of Kolkata, has an olympic size swimming pool with fountains playing all round. He throws lavish parties for hundreds of guests comprising Hollywood film stars, serves them beluga caviar and champagne.

The boy who spent his childhood wearing a vest and cotton shirt and did not have a pair of shoes till he was 16 now dresses himself in black or white bow ties and rides in a Rolls Royce. He shakes hands with President of the US and other celebrities.

He has had a succession of blonde beauties as mistresses — American, Scandinavian, German, Italian — some of whom he brought to India to show where he came from. For some years, he had the dazzling beauty Eva Gabor as a companion (She wore a bindi on her forehead). His success story makes fascinating reading. He tells it without unnecessary modesty. But where does God come in?

In his recent book entitled Code Name God (Penguin), (Bhaumik tells us the Creator has to be one and the only one. The Vedas say it is Brahman, the Torah calls him Yahweh, the Bible calls him God or Father, the Koran names him Allah. According to him, scientists have come round to accepting that the power that created cosmos is one. I think it is irrelevant whether it is one or many since we know nothing about it.

He goes on to quote Zen and asserts, "God is no-thing." It does not mean God is nothing. It means God is not a thing. Agreed: But what is it? He, she or it? Nothing like that, states Bhaumik. It could be consciousness, it could be energy. Where does that get us?

Bhaumik has nice things to say about God-loving people who devoted their lives to serving humanity Ramakrishna Parmahansa, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa and Matangini Hazra. None of them ever questioned the existence of God. Many do today.

Bhaumik writes knowledgeably about quantum physics, the Big Bang Theory, Darwin, Newton, Einstein, Hawkins and many other intellectuals. He comes down to various forms of meditation, proper diet and exercise. None of these is pertinent to the issue whether or not God exists.

Meditation is to still the restless mind and give it rest. It does not help in a quest to find out who created the world and life on it. What was the primary cause? Can science ever answer what was there before the beginning? asks Bhaumik. And goes on with a half-reply. Whom we talk about ‘before’, we are talking in terms of time. It is even reasonable to ask what happened at a time before time itself began or are we stepping on God’s toes. He promises to come out with ‘interesting ideas’. I did not find them. "This book ‘Code Name God’ may change your life," writes Sidney Sheldon, as quoted on the cover page. It did not change mine. This is summed up (by me) in a few lines.

(You come to my heart, but not my understanding;

Maybe this is the only way of recognising you.)

An English Padre was seated next to a Sardarji on a flight to Mumbai. After the plane was airborne, orders for drinks were taken.

The Sardarji asked for a rum and coke, which was poured and placed before him. The flight attendant then asked the church minister if he would like a drink. He replied in disgust: "I’d rather be raped by a dozen whores than let liquor touch my lips."

The Sardarji then handed his drink back to attendant and said, "Me too. I didn’t know we had a choice."

Ever since half-a-dozen malls located on it have been demolished, the MG Road, actually the Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road, has been known as Mall Giraya Road.

(Contributed by Rajeshwari Singh, New Delhi)