A farewell wish and the soothsayer’s dream

We all know about Abraham Lincoln’s famous premonition of his own death. One night in his dream, Lincoln walked to the East room at White House and saw the corpse of the President of America lying in the midst of a group of mourners.   Lincoln was shot fatally by  John Wilkes Booth just after a few days of his dream. Many people believe in Telepathy where  the psi waves travel fast and far to connect with the sub conscious minds of  the receivers. I don’t have much wisdom to believe or disbelieve any of those metaphysical theories. But there have been incidents in my life which were at times funny and sometimes miracles. 

                                                                           (a) 

It was a farewell function of our company’s Chief Executive and everything was minutely planned to make the event a memorable one for the outgoing Executive. The music was soothing even to my impervious ears and the food was excellent. The cadenced sounds of the nearby water fountain with special light affect added more sheen to the whole set.

Finally it was time to wind up the program. The outgoing Chief Executive stood at the exit for the parting handshake with the guests for the final time. Each one wished him a happy retired life.

As my turn came, I wished him too.  But to my horror, inadvertently instead of wishing a happy retired life, I wished him a happy married life.

You can very well imagine the embarrassing situation I was into and so was the outgoing Executive. More I tried to do some damage control, more I fumbled. My wife did an excellent job that day with remarkable ease to normalize the situation only to go wild with laughter after getting into the car so much that I had to stop the car by roadside for some time till the laughter moderated somewhat..

But there were more surprises for all of us. After a few months, this retired Chief made a courtesy visit to our place. But that time he was flanked happily by his newly married wife.

                                                                               (b)

It was a stormy night in the Arabian sea. I was working in one of the Rigs of ONGC at Bombay High. Suddenly a large ship lost control in the stormy waves and collided with the Rig I was working. The Rig exploded with a deafening sound and got engulfed in fire. Terrified, I stood standstill, screaming for help and suddenly I realized I was not at Bombay High but punting and puffing at my own bedroom.

Next morning, I rang up my friend at ONGC if he was still there in the Rig. He laughed at my dream and informed that he was somehow safe in Mumbai. 

After a few days,  on July 27, 2005 , the similar accident did happen in an ONGC Rig when a vessel meant to evacuate a sick person collides with  the Rig turning the entire structure  into a raging inferno. 20 odd people lost their  lives besides properties worth millions were gutted.

I had once purchased a copy of Sigmund Freud’s famous book “Interpretation of Dreams”. I haven’t gone through the book yet. After I left Steel Authority of India, I thought of joining ONGC but a last minute appointment letter from Indian Oil once again changed my decision. Perhaps the safety concern of an offsite rig at my subconscious mind culminated in that dream that night. It was mere coincidence but it could have been more beneficial than some Seer’s dream of 1000 tonne golden treasure hidden beneath the earth.

You can contact Kamaljit at kamaljitmedhi1975@gmail.com