The Addiction

Nikhil was on the train, traveling back to his home. He had ten days of worst imprisonment in an alcohol rehabilitation center. For the first time in the last 10 years, he skipped having alcohol for 10 long days at a stretch.

"This is not possible in my lifetime; it's impossible to skip it, it's an integral part of my life," Nikhil said sipping the alcohol from his wine bottle. 

Nikhil was a brilliant software engineer. He was an excellent painter. Nikhil was leading a comfortable life. In college, of course, he learned smoking and drinking, but it was not habitual. The turning point in his life was when his relationship did not work out. Nikhil thought of it the entire day and night. He went into depression. Nikhil felt irritated with even simple conversations with friends. Nikhil started becoming a loner, he would be behind the computer for hours, kept minimum contact with the outside world, he could not face the world. Time passed, he would bath rarely, just have alcohol with breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He developed chain-smoking too. He would take a lot of leave from the office, to drink the alcohol. This affected his work immensely.

One fine day, Nikhil got up from his slumber. He thought, "I should move on in life. Why am I so much tensed? No one has given me the country's burden. Why should I lie lazily on the bed all day? ", Nikhil said to himself. He tried a lot to focus on work, but the alcohol was too hard to resist. He tried numerous ways he could. Even counted hours he can stay without alcohol, nothing ever worked. Finally, he joined the "Rehabilitation Center".When that too did not work out, he was sitting on the train as a failure in his mind. He had given up the hope of coming back to the mainstream.

When he was on the train, an old sage came and sat next to him. The train was almost empty. Sage looked at him and smiled.

Nikhil felt a good aroma out of the guy next to him. The sage was in saffron clothing with a saffron bag and copper water pot in his hand. He has very deep eyes and had a bliss around him.

Sage looked at him and asked, "Are you still thirsty son?"

"Don't you see I am drinking already, Guruji?" Nikhil smiled.

Sage had a smile, "Drink something which quenches your thrust, not the thing that increases."

Sage put his hand on Nikhil's forehead. Nikhil felt a sense of comfort at least all these tensions vanished for a moment. Sage gave him some water from his copper pot.

Nikhil drank the water, for the first time, Nikhil felt a cold rush of the stream flowing down his throat.

"Even water has a taste", Nikhil thought.

Nikhil felt a sense of satisfaction after drinking the water from that copper pot.

"Thanks, Guruji, I am a defeated man, I have tried hard to remove negative thoughts from my mind, they don't listen and to curb it , I am relying on alcohol," Nikhil said with depression.

"I even think my ex has done some black magic on me", saying this Nikhil looked at Guruji hoping for an answer.

Sage smiled at him and said, "Why don't you stay with me for a while, I promise, I will remove all the black magic"

"Is this sage trying to rob me? I am having all my savings in my bag. Should I accept his proposal?", Nikhil thought

Sage smiled and said, "Buy a ticket to your home after 21 days, rest all money you post it to your parents. Next 21 days I will take care of all your needs."

"Is he reading my mind? Maybe he is having some miraculous power. I have nothing to lose, why don't I go with him? ", these thoughts came in his mind.

Nikhil said, "Okay Guruji if you can do this miracle, I will come with you."

Both got down at the next station. Nikhil purchased an advanced ticket to his home 21 days later. He took a postal cover and put all his money in it and posted it to his parents. They later walked up the hill about 5 miles to reach the hut where the sage stayed.

The hut had minimum means, no electricity, no water supply. Only one lantern for light at night.

Sage said, "Nikhil dont ask any questions, seek answers yourself. We will survive here for the next twenty-one days. Take this clothing, you will wear these here," and he gave him a saffron robe and a dhoti to wear.

Nikhil's day would start at 4 am. He would go to the nearby pond and have a bath. Next, he would wash his robe and dry it for the next day. Nikhil was given only two robes which he used alternatively. Nikhil then had to collect firewood, burn it to boil rice for him and the sage. In the evening sage would tell him many historical stories. Nikhil would press the elder's aching feet while listening to the stories. Night again the same process of cooking food, they would sleep at around11:00.

When sage was narrating the stories, Nikhil would listen to it with childlike enthusiasm; he would try not to miss any word out of it. Doing all these tasks day after day, Nikhil was so busy, even to think about his past life and alcohol.

One day, the sage took him to the remote temple. The place at which the temple was located was filled with mesmerizing beauty. Covered by forest all over, there were a lot of mini streams flowing. There was no human habitation for miles around.

The temple's deity was intricately carved. Nikhil had never in his life seen such a statue.

"I wasted my life hearing loud music in pubs and bars, never did I ever feel this kind of relief," Nikhil said.

Sage smiled and said," Son, can you paint me this statue?"

Nikhil looked at him with surprise and said, " How do you know, I can paint?"

Sage smiled and gave him the painting board and all the instruments.

 "I am going to meditate for next some days up the hillock, I want you to paint it for me," saying this, the sage left.

Nikhil spent hours looking at the statue; it was delicately carved and was truly mesmerizing. Nikhil started drawing the statue, days passed and Nikhil lost the sense of time. Even while having food he would think about the drawing. 

After five days the sage came back. 

"Your painting is fantastic, looks like you have put the soul inside this painting", the sage said.

"I have nothing to give you back, but this painting, Never in my life, I have seen such a statue and such a place," Nikhil said looking at the sage.

Sage smiled, "I will keep this beautiful, painting always with me"

Sage said, " Today is the twentieth day, and you have never touched the alcohol. Earlier, you had all the comfort and money in life, still, you were sad. Now, I took away everything from you, and you had to work for me and I see you are happy."

"Yes, Guruji, I don't mind spending my life here always," Nikhil said.

"You are a family man, you don't belong here and anyways your troubles have long gone. Twenty-one days is what it takes to remove an addiction", Sage said.

Nikhil with curiosity asked, "Guruji, you said that you will show a miracle."

" The miracle had already happened, son. You focused all your energy at a point, and you did this beautiful painting. Never in life, you could concentrate on the good. You are a transformed man now. " The sage smiled.

"But what was the secret Guruji?", Nikhils mind was filled with questions.

Sage explained to him " Life is made of five-element water, air, sound, fire, and the land. You used all these for the wrong reasons. You used alcohol as a supplement to water, used fire to light your cigarette, went into the place where you had loud polluted music, the air around you was polluted by other smokers."

"That's true Guruji," Nikhil said.

Sage explained further, " I just fixed these five forces, rest all nature took care itself. The first time when I touched your forehead your body cells responded positively. You were wearing costly clothes, But they were not clean. When I gave you a simple clean robe to wear your body responded with enthusiasm. You burnt the firewood to cook me food, this is the first time you used the fire constructively. In this nature you got the fresh breath and the soothing sound of flowing rivers."

On the twenty-first day, both Nikhil and sage reached the station. The train was about to leave, and Nikhil touched the sage feet for blessing. The sage blessed him.

The sage observed some query was going in Nikhil's mind. Smiling he asked, "What question is bothering you son?"

"I am very happy now guruji, Just I was thinking I should never get the old addiction back," Nikhil said with hesitation.

Sage laughed, "Now you will never go back to your older life."

Nikhil asked, "How are you so sure Guruji?"

"Because son now your addicted to something much greater and no other addiction can stand in front of it", Sage answered.

"Still I am addicted ?" The curious question came from Nikhil.

Sage quoted, "The addiction against which no other addiction can stand its ground, is the addiction to success , its an addiction to LEAD A MORAL AND HAPPY LIFE."