The New Nation - Internet Edition

Dharmendra Kumar

It is litle cold and light breeze is making me get shivers down the spine. I am siting in my balcony and relaxing. It is midnight twelve o'clock. I am not really sure, what I am doing. It happens now and then. And I just sit like this for hours together. Sometimes some thoughts waver in my mind and sometimes it is very quiet The calmness troubles me then, again I am in cluter of thoughts. I feel like siting like this. It brings me time to think, makes me remember my good and bad memories, occasionally brings me laugh on my misdeeds and sometimes makes me feel bad about some embarrassing moments.

Ponder over the past and worrying about the future, that is all I do when I sit like this. Looks like full moon day is close-by, the moon almost looks like full. Bright and Jubilant Full White Moon, with some spots on him. I remembered suddenly my childhood story - which was told by my grandma, which used to explain those spots on the moon. I don't think, I can recall that story in full now. And I am sure, the story doesn't carry the kick which it used to give. Deep in mind, I still wonder how that story used to give me wonderful feeling, and I used to beg my grandma to repeat the story every night Sometimes she fed up telling me same story again and again, and for the heck of story, she used to finish it short Even those tactics, what she used to follow, never deterred me from harassing her for telling the same the next night

The childhood memories started wandering in all my mind. Later when I was litle elder, probably around the age of nine, I tried to narrate the same story to my friends. I still remember that day. Those guys started laughing at me and called it a foolish story and made fun of that for next couple of days. The story didn't interest them and they considered it as a stupid story. I got hurt and went home and cried in my bed alone. And I didn't tell this to anyone till today. I am not feeling bad now about that incident, and I still wonder how much I cried that night and the days followed by. The pain might have got drained through my veins and just formed a residue in my memory lanes.

The precious feeling that we hold on a thing, may not last forever. The story which I used to treat with lot of reverence and joy, certainly don't give me any kick now. In fact, it couldn't even interest those my childhood friends then. And after that laughing incident, I didn't tell this story to anyone else. I changed my circles of friends couple of times, and I never told it to anybody. At every stage of education, I changed schools and colleges and always new friend circle is used to get formed. And still I didn't repeat that story to anyone.

The story which my grandma used to tell was somewhat like this. There was a prince who was lost and ..I think went in search of a princess to the moon. He roamed like hell and he gets tired. I am not sure of the sequence of incidents and all I could recall is what I am puting here. Then, when he tried to rest under the tree, where there is one old grandma trying to cook something for the travelers on the road. Don't really recall what happens then. But, what I remember is that the fire what made is the one causing all that hazy foggy shade on the moon. And that explain the spots on the moon. I was very much convinced.

Do you believe this story now? Neither I. And when I was studying six grade or something, I came to know about the man-exploration of the moon. I read that three men landed on Moon with their spaceship, Apollo. It was the revelation to me to know that time, that moon was also another place like earth, where there was no life. And those spots on the moon are nothing but huge ditches. I used to consider the moon as one of the Gods, and in India, we have a mythological humanly story how the eclipses occur. Of course, later I learnt how the eclipses are really formed. And we used to make fun of those mythological stories.

I remember reading a book on astronomy, where I saw the man's first footprint on moon. I was quite inspiring to see such great achievements of mankind. I borrowed this book from library and I took the photocopy of the photographs, which I liked. Landed Apollo Spaceship on moon, Neil Armstrong geting down the ladder to moon, two men standing next to the American Flag and of course, the first foot-print on Moon. I preserved those photocopies in my own small book library for quite long and I used to show to all my friends who paid visits to me, till they got bored with it And one day, when I was moving my home to different place, I think I myself put those pages in the dustbin.

Later I studied Engineering and came to America. Now I am doing some kind of Information Technology job and I lost myself in this cyber-space for the last few years. I happened to go to San Jose Tech Museum, where I saw one small rock sample, which was brought down from moon. It was sealed in a glass enclosure and was having a sparkling shining. It is certainly doesn't look like a heavenly rock, what I imagined. It looked quite like rock from one of those granite mines. Probably that is all what this universe is made up of. And everything may be same, in one or other way. I looked quite long time at this rock from the moon, than any other exhibits in the museum. And it made a print in my mind deep inside somewhere.

I took two of my friends to this museum and showed them the rock. One guy said it might be a fake. And the other didn't show any interest in this. But I observed the rock for more time than the last time. I felt like this rock is having some story to tell the world. It might be millions of years in age and saw so many generations of humans. Might have had a beter view than many historians. From the top above, constantly observing with awe. I know there is no life in this rock. But, what if these inanimate items had a life form, which is not known to any human science?

How could it be a life story of a rock? Might run over millions of years, from childhood till the death of the rock. Can my grandma tell such a story to me? If there is life this rock, what it would think about the story of my grandma about the spots of moon? It might crack into pieces with laughter. Perhaps it might think? And I am going crazy on this stuff. So let it be.

And one night, which I was scanning across my television channels, I saw this controversial report from Fox Television that man never landed on the moon. And the program gave quite convincing arguments towards the hoax of man landing of moon. The program quite excited me and next day, I started searching all over the Internet to find more details on this. To my surprise, this controversy was more than twenty years old. And I was never aware of this side of the story.

After reading all these websites, my mind got jammed with this new stuff. For the next couple of days, I started arguing with my friends that man never landed on moon and I borrowed all the arguments from internet websites and the television program. It took me like a fever. I became mad started thinking pro-arguments for this hoax. And I found couple of websites arguing against this hoax and offering counter-arguments to the hoax. And as usual, after a month or so, I calmed down.

After some days, I came to know that countries like Japan and India, are planning to send space ships with men to Moon in the next couple of years. And probably, there will be an ending to this hoax - either pro or against Or it might lead to new hoaxes. You never know.

Still moon was bright and looking cool. He kind of laughing at me. Or might be wondering where my thoughts end up. By the time I die, my opinions might change drastically. Or my inner beliefs are going to get dissolved in the ocean of experience, which time is going to permit

But, even today, sometimes I get quite peace when I gaze at Full Moon. I am almost full in my heart and it is neither happiness nor sadness. I just want to sit in this balcony and would like to watch him. Even though I am aware of the scientific facts about moon by books and personal experience, sometimes I still would like to setle with my grandma's story and it comforts me somewhere deep inside my heart