AN EXPERIENCE OF LOVE

Love is eternal. Love is sacred. Love is naked. Love is elixir. Origin of the global family is love. Best guide is love. Service to mankind is service to God. Love to mankind is love to God. All of us are well-known about Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ more or less without any discrimination. I have practicalised His effulgences during my puberty which I would like to put forth in the shape of a story as follows.

During the year 1969-70 I was reading in class VII at Agrahat M. E. School. As my father was a cosmopolitan and a man of versatile genious and my best friend-tutor who often taught me the lesson of human love in the line of Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ as well. One day he was tutoring me on the particular subject in Odia prose Bhai Bandhu Kutumba ( ଭାଇ ବନ୍ଧୁ କୁଟୁମ୍ବ ) Brother Friend and Kins. He defined me what was the human love truly and cited various examples derived from the holy life of Lord Jesus. As a result of which I was cordially inclined to Lord Jesus. Besides my Dad almost every Sunday he was accompanying me to the Baptist Church located at Birat Bazar ( The then Chudakhia ଚୁଡ଼ାଖିଆ ) for attending prayer and hearing gospels whereby I was greatly influenced . Gradually devotion mixed with eternal love captured my puberty completely. It is a miracle that also today whenever I see any human being of any cast creed and color, spontanious love always oozes out of my soft corner of the heart. Human Love is so strong that I overlook every shortcomings of aliens. That is why perhaps Almighty God (Father of Lord Jesus) kept me aloof inspite of all controversies as yet. Now I am sexagenarian senior citizen and this eternal loving quality is still super dominating my heart.

One day during rainy season I had plied to our maternal house " Bandhubhaban " located at Sidhal Kantar Jagatsungpur with my parents and younger sister. At that time. Taladanda ( ତାଳଦଣ୍ଡା ) canal,one of the main water sources for irrigation for agricultural lands of Cuttack District, esp. Jagatsingur which is rooted from Mahanadi ( ମହାନଦୀ ). One of it's branches was  in front of Bandhubhaban ( My mother's house ) wherein Taladanda canal water was flowing through out the year at that time.To cross the narrow canal of about 5 metres width,there was a ready made bridge of bamboos. I was curious to cross the bamboo bridge to go to otherside to see the post office wherein my maternal grandpa was the post master. The current of the canal water was higher due to inflow of rainwater. While I stepped upon the bridge, it was my ill luck, my right foot at once slipped with greasy mud and I fell down in the canal. The current of water was pushing me ahead vertically. I was dumbfounded. I shut down my eyes and prayed Lord. When I opened my eyes I saw hazily an appearance with a pendant cross on his neck who was stretching his hands to rescue me from the canal as I didn't know swiming . Suddenly I gave my hands out of the water. He caught my right hand and pulled me out of the canal. He left me on the ground. I stood up on the surface of the canal side. Before I could thank Him, he disappeared from the spot. But I could realise confidently that the appearance was no other than the Holy Ghost, the benevolent sacred spirit of Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who is always prone to help the Global Mankind.

After HSC when I was admitted in DAV college, Koraput I was just then teen ager. Attraction towards opposite sex was a quite natural biology. Once one of my cousin aunty arrived in our house with uncle to visit the natural spots of the then mountainous Koraput. They halted at our home for a month. My cousin aunty had a teenaged daughter with her who was reading in class X. My study room-cum-sleeping room was separate from the other rooms. The cousin guests stayed beside my room. Often during their stay,I was telling some Bollywood classic movie stories to my cousin sister ( daughter of cousin aunty ) at my leisure as she was very interested to listen. It was one of the mid-December nights. Time piece displayed 10 PM. Just I was taking rest after taking dinner. Suddenly I heard the noise of opening the door. I was surprised to see the girl at late night. Her body was fully covered with blanket. She sat beside me. I asked the purpose of her entry while all of the family members were sleeping. Then she told me, " I want to listen to the climax of the story that you were telling me yesterday. " Under the crucial situation I convinced her, " No I cannot tell now. What others will think if I tell you at 11.30 PM. Better you should wait for tomorrow please . " But the obstinate girl could pay no heed to my advice. Rather she came more closure to me and embraced me and was compelling me to tell the story by whispering in my ears.

Beforehand I had adored her with my wholehearted affection and treated her as my own younger sister. But now I felt somewhat discrepancy in my psychological sphere. As a celebate teenager I was fully embarrassed by her behavioural change. After sometime I felt a tremor in my body with romantic feeling for the first time in my life. Although I was a moral bound student, I felt an amorous urge which was forcing me to touch her body. But the thought of maintenance of career was debaring me never to touch. Hence I pray my Lord to save me from this crisis. Then in no time I felt in my inner soul that some one was advising me, " My dear son! Mind it always that I had motivated the mankind about the true sense of love while I was alive. Love must be eternal and cordial. The love can never be carnal at any cost. Carnal love is essential for procreation, but not for sensual enjoyment. So never embrace this girl. Moreover a woman is the root source of creation of the beautiful mankind. This girl is now inspired by her biological instinct at her teens. "

After listening to the advice of my inner soul I became alert and I told her to leave my room. But she did not listen to my instruction. So I got up from my chair reopened the door. Suddenly the cousin sister reacted, " Why did you opened the door? You are a eunuch tonight I knew. OK you go to your bed. I am leaving your room and going to sleep in my room. " Then she departed and I was free of undue tension. Moreover I realised the presence of the Holy Ghost with me who showed me the proper way of living as a real human being in the global house. Bit by bit I realised now the true significance of love through Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

[ Written on the occasion of Merry Christmas 2022 by Abadhoot Panda,a Senior Citizen, Cuttack. ]

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