In a Fleeting Moment

The train reached the station exactly seven minutes late. That was equivalent to a millennium when she was running late for her college - which was very often. Her college was a good ten-minute walk from the station and she had to reach class in two and a half. She could never depend on her luck to find an auto rickshaw too; especially when she was in dire need of it. But before that she needed to wiggle her way through a swarm of crazy women trying to embark the train, and then run up forty steps on the staircase simultaneously dodging the nudges and pushes from the multitude of people at the station running around in all possible directions. It was a usual Monday morning in Mumbai. 

As she counted the fortieth step, she was puffing with breathlessness while trying to protect her bag and herself from the hostile passers by on the foot over bridge. Her feet were impeccably trained and before she knew they had turned toward the exit. That is when she first saw him. They were walking in opposite directions. She was barely short of sprinting, and he too moved on at a steady pace. As they crossed, she risked walking on the bridge with her turned around to watch him until he was out of her sight. He, on the other hand, was trying to grasp the world as much as he could while trying to keep pace with his master. The master callously tugged at the chain that was tightly fastened around the monkey's neck. She watched them cross a trash pile, where the master cunningly steered the monkey closer to the heap. The primate took the cue and lunged forward. Like a pro he picked up a couple of rotting pieces of food and began to nibble at them hungrily.

It was a matter of seconds, but that monkey's plight had pierced her heart like a warm knife would through butter. Her feet kept moving, but her mind remained transfixed on what she had witnessed. The next few minutes seemed to go by in a jiffy. Mechanically, she hailed an auto rickshaw (which she found after some struggle - usual story), reached college, ran up six storeys - around 144 steps - and made it to class totally out of breath and sanity, but just in time. It is important to attend class - she was instructed all the time - come what may; the world and its problems could go take a hike. She took her seat at the end of a row, but nobody noticed that she had actually stayed behind on that foot over bridge at the station.

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A Great Chapter in History

Most of us left behind Genghis Khan in our schools buried in history books. However, there are places not very far from us where people hero worship him, still. Genghis Khan, born Temujin, was the founder and Emperor of the Mongol Empire; which by the end of his life occupied a substantial portion of Central Asia and China, and became the largest contiguous empire in history after his demise. Genghis Khan lived a life of adventures and accomplishments, and today nearly 800 years after his death he still continues to intrigue historians world over. It's actually his mysterious grave that does. I came across a very interesting write up on this issue. What I found most interesting in the article was this bit.

"... But while the life of the conqueror is the stuff of legend, his death is shrouded in the mist of myths. Some historians believe he died from wounds sustained in battle; others that he fell off his horse or died from illness. And his final burial place has never been found. At the time great steps were taken to hide the grave to protect it from potential grave robbers. Tomb hunters have little to go on, given the dearth of primary historical sources. Legend has it that Khan’s funeral escort killed anyone who crossed their path to conceal where the conqueror was buried. Those who constructed the funeral tomb were also killed—as were the soldiers who killed them. One historical source holds that 10,000 horsemen 'trampled the ground so as to make it even'; another that a forest was planted over the site, a river diverted."

Click to read the complete story of the hidden grave of history's greatest warrior.

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