The Mind Reader

While I was at the Ujjain Kumbh Mela, as I expressed my desire to experience either the unusual or the accomplished, several people suggested that I meet Mr. Handa, the Additional Superintendent of Police for the MeIa. He was known for his ability to make a “prashna kundli” – the ability to tell many things about a person based on a question that  the person asks.

As I was leaving one of the temples, I asked a traffic policeman where I could find Mr. Handa. “Sir, he could be anywhere at this Mela,” he answered. 

Locating Mr. Handa appeared to be an impossible feat due to the Mela crowd. However, a few minutes later, as I was getting into the jeep, the traffic policeman came running up to me to say that Mr. Handa had just arrived at the temple camp. What an impossible coincidence, I thought!

Mr. Handa was the top police official brought in to manage the 7,000 person police force at the Mela. He spoke good English and we struck up a sort of friendship. He asked me to contact him sometime during the festival, and he would give me a demonstration of the “prashna kundli.” He was hesitant and almost shy about it.

Some days later, as we were returning from the Mangalnath Temple, my police friend Mohan suddenly asked me if I had had a chance to contact Handa. 

“I met him, but we did not have a chance to speak at length,” I said. “I have been chasing him all over. I have seen him a couple of times. He must not be too eager to talk to me.”

Within a few minutes, we saw a jeep coming from the opposite direction. It was Handa.  Everyone stopped and we got out of our jeeps. 

Mohan remarked, “What a coincidence, we were just talking about you.” Handa remarked to me, “Well, I have hesitated to visit with you because the subject of prashna kundli can be so easily misunderstood. But since you are sincere about pursuing me so doggedly, I will show you.”

It was as if he had overheard my remarks to Mohan. He then asked Mohan to bring me to his office that afternoon.

“What time?” I inquired.

“Let’s not fix a time. Let it simply happen,” Mohan said. I was frustrated because no definite appointment was set.

At five in the afternoon, I went to find Handa at the police headquarters. He was busy meeting with ten other officers. He excused himself and took me to an adjoining room. There he asked one of the officers to bring a piece of paper. He tore off a piece and asked me to go outside the room and write down a question.

Hiding the question behind my notebook, I wrote, “What is the name of my youngest sister and what is her illness?” Meanwhile, Handa had made a chart on the rest of the piece of paper.

Handa then asked me to fold up my paper and place it anywhere on the chart. Given my experience earlier in the day at the Mangalnath Temple, I placed the paper on Jupiter. “No, that is the wrong place. Put it anywhere in the upper quadrant,” he said. I placed it on Saturn. He asked me to put a paperweight on the top of the question, perhaps to prevent it from flying off the desk because of the ceiling fan.

“Please concentrate on the question. I will read your mind.”

As I was thinking of the question, Handa started to write something on a small piece of paper in his palm.

“You have asked two questions instead of one. The subject about whom you have asked is far away. I will have to concentrate in order to tell her name and illness. As you can well see, I cannot concentrate here at this time.”

“I am most impressed, Mr. Handa,” I said. “May I see the piece of paper on which you wrote?”

He handed me a piece of paper and on it was written, “What is the name of my youngest sister and what is her illness?”

“How did you do it?” I reacted like a little child after seeing a magic trick.

“It is simply mind reading,” he said. “I asked you to write down your question so that it solidifies the thought in your mind. Then, once that was done, it was easy for me to pick up your thoughts. Under normal conditions, if I had the chance to concentrate, then you would not even have to write your question down.”

“Is this art learnable by others?”

“Yes, you can learn it. In the morning, at the time of your meditation, just think of someone you would like to see, perhaps someone that you have not seen for a long time. Concentrate on this person five or six times. You will be amazed that you will soon see that person. Try it, then you will see what I mean.”

Mr Handa’s words summarized exactly what I had been experiencing at Ujjain. Whatever I thought about would materialize. I was experiencing how my thoughts and the universe interact almost instantaneously. My experience with Mr. Handa made it clear to me the importance of our thoughts, but I was also aware of the responsibility this entailed. Just as positive thoughts could materialize, I knew I had to be careful not to give room to negative thoughts or they too would become reality. This was a very significant lesson that I learned at the Mela.