Jaatishwar Page #4

Google.com or black and

white Bengali films, Rohit.

You'll find printed letters...

...some dates, bits

and pieces of lyrics.

You'll find Uttam Kumar, the film star,

and Manna Dey's voice and...

...you'll find the year

he died in, 1836.

But where's Antony?

Where is he?

Where?

Here.

At Pharashdanga.

1786, the year Lord

Cornwaliis came to Calcutta,

...Antony was born to a

salt merchant, Henysman.

But the internet says...

...he was born in Portugal.

He did come to India... -

- Are you a Marwari?

Huh?

Marwari, Punjabi, Marathi,

Gujarati or...

...a non-residential Bengali?

I am a Gujarati.

But born and brought up in Kolkata.

So was Antony.

Portuguese Christian.

Born and brought up in...

...Bengal.

If you ever make it big, if you

touch people's lives, you might find...

...erroneous information about

you on the internet, after 150 years!

But...

...what about Antony... -

No time, isn't it?

In a hurry?

Not that.

Go on.

Please speak.

I will have

to speak.

Or, gradually, I will...

A lean Antony came to

the world with a mole...

...on his right leg and

his father's huge business.

From childhood itself he did not

get along with his brother, Kelly.

Outside his bedroom

there was a...

...Banyan tree.

That was Antony's only friend.

When water dripped from it's

branches in the monsoons...

...Antony could see his mother...

...water dripping from her hair...

...Antony's mother passed away

while giving birth to him.

But how do you know

these things?

You don't find

these in a history book.

I know.

Because I have seen.

I see it everyday.

Because I was there.

Because I am Antony.

Antony 'Phiringi' (foreigner).

150 years back, had

looked for you, wanted to meet

Tired and weary, had slept off

in the darkness of the street

And now you come looking for me

150 years back, had

written songs in your praise

Had washed my eyes with my

mother tongue's watery haze

And now you come looking for me

150 years back, had

looked for you, wanted to meet

Tired and weary, had slept off

in the darkness of the street

And now you come looking for me

150 years back, had

written songs in your praise

Had washed my eyes with my

mother tongue's watery haze

And now you come looking for me

You are...

...Antony 'Phiringi'?

What! -

- Yes.

I am Antony 'Phiringi'.

Though...

...not in this birth.

In this birth I am...

...Kushal Hajra.

Assistant Librarian,

Chandannagore Central Library.

Salary; ten thousand rupees.

I have rice in the

morning and go to work.

Are you trying to... I mean...

...what the fu...

Rebirth? -

- Don't be so flabbergasted, Rohit.

The first time I saw myself I too was...

...shocked

I choked out of fear.

For a few hours had no

memory from either of the births,

complete black out.

I was at Asansol back then.

I had a good job at

a private firm.

The doctor said, I was getting

nightmares due to work pressure.

So I took leave for a few

days and went to Hazaribag.

One evening,

I had gone for a walk.

Far away at some temple, the

evening chants were going on.

Suddenly, had this vision,

I saw...

...the royal family of

Debs in Kolkata.

The courtyard...

...Kabigaan...

I am singing.

So many people!

Lights.

The hall, the applause.

And a hefty looking man

came and put a garland...

...a garland around

my neck...

...a garland... -

- Mr. Kushal...

Mr. Kushal... -

- No.

Mr. Kushal?

The same story, the same visual

year after year, like a movie.

My birth...

...my childhood...

...getting addicted to

Marijuana...

...then getting out of it.

And Saudamini...

And then Kabigaan.

Gorokhhonath.

Learning Bengali,

writing songs in it.

In the end...

...in the end... -

- What?

Nothing.

I was used to the visions

by then.

And...

...through books and investigation, I...

...came across some names and places...

...through which I figured

out who I was in my last birth.

I also understood that...

...I can't continue with the

job in Asansol for long...

...because my senior manager...

...had come to know that I had

been visiting a psychiatrist.

They created such a fuss...

...so I quit the job...

...and came and settled here.

And this new job...

...am I mad?

Yes, no... I mean...

...not quite...

...err... but... -

You don't believe me?

No.

I too could not believe.

After all, I'm a rational

middle class Bengali engineer.

I may be proud of Ritwik

Ghatak having written...

...the film on reincarnation,

'Madhumati',

or even be excited to watch Ray's

film on reincarnation, 'Sonar Kella'.

Heard of lan Stevenson?

Famous Canadian

bio-chemist and psychiatrist?

'Twenty Cases

Suggestive of Reincarnation'?

No.

The case of Shanti Devi

who was declared to be...

...a 'Jatiswar' by a scienctific

commission set up by Mahatma Gandhi?

Jatis... -

- Jatiswar.

Someone who has

memories from previous birth.

But... -

...I know.

Not just Shanti Devi...

...hundreds of such cases or...

...thousands of scientific

reports would still keep...

...would've not had any effect on my

cynicism had this not happened to me.

So you see, Rohit, what

is 'somehow', 'but'...

...'if', 'maybe'... to

me it is a real disease.

A persistent feeling of deja vu,

...a curse.

A curse?

Rather, you're lucky.

How can you say such

childish things!

What's wrong with you?

I lost my job!

I had to leave my city.

You are saying I'm lucky?

Faces, incidents,

problems of both the...

...births are jumbling up my mind and...

...you're saying I'm lucky?

I'll not be able to have this

conversation after a few months,

...and you're saying I am lucky? -

- No... err...

What I meant was actually... -

- What do you mean?

What?

Gradually,

Antony is eating up...

...the memories of this brith.

The visions are increasing.

I'm forgetting who I am,

which language I speak in,

how to lead a life in...

...in the year 2013...

When I experience these

visions...

...my blood

pressure increases.

Twice!

I have had a stroke twice!

And you will still say that I am...

I know...

...what my disease is...

...but I don't know...

...what the cure is, how long

I'll be able to survive this way.

I don't even know...

...how long I'll be able

to remember that I'm...

...Kushal Hajra.

My previous birth's memories...

...are spreading in my mind...

...like cancer.

I'm melting in to the dark

and still you'll say I am...

I'm sorry.

I didn't mean to...

Can I suggest something?

Come to Kolkata with me.

You know the disease,

not the remedy.

So, let's go and see the

best psychiatrist in town.

Then let's see if we can save

Kushal Hajra from Antony 'Phiringi'.

Don't worry about the expenses.

I'll take care of it.

And in any case, in return...

...I need something from you.

So, don't worry.

No favors are

being done here.

What?

You'll have to...

...tell me the entire...

...story of Antony.

I need it for my

dissertation.

And may be...

...for my life.

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