KILL TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE.

The Kumbh mela is a major pilgrimage and festivel in Hinduism, once in twelve years on the bank of three rivers in Allahabad. Ardh Kumbh mela is once in six years. In 1981, Ardh Kumbh mela was going on in Allahabad.

I had a desire to see that since I was in Gorakhpur at that time. There is a time and omen for every auspicious thing. My beloved Bengali professor of Gorakhpur University, metaphorically with an intuition said, "Mr. Vincent, one of your state men, is my professor and guide for Ph.D., and presently HOD of dept. of English, in Banaras Hindu University(BHU). He is the authority for Shakespeare's writings. I often visit him to gather tips for guiding my Ph.D. scholars and I am going to Banaras next week. Do you like to see him? "'I too heard a lot about this great professor in connection with his criticism on Shakespeare's writings. Therefore I agreed to visit him but wanted to kill two birds with one stone. I planned a visit to Ardh Kumbh mela by a break journey to Allahabad from Banaras.

We reached Banaras and called on the great professor. He was 55 years old genius-looking, thick spectacled introvert person, terribly busy in referring to many voluminous books, like Britannica, Americana, Castle's encyclopedia, etc, etc. My Professor intruded and asked, "What are you so busily preparing for? "".He replied, " I have a class for MA. I do prepare for every class. "I was astonished to listen that. He was a senior guide for many Ph.D. scholars, and had been teaching for MA for many decades, is preparing for every class in that age. He said ," A teacher, however senior he is, should prepare and update information for every class."'"I thought sarcastically about some teachers, going to classes without even looking up into the textbook for years and vomiting the same for years together. They foolishly say that they are so bonafide that they don't need to refer to any textbook for teaching.

The great BHU professor did not talk to me much other than etiquette. His morose appearance did not contribute a good impression at first. But I could visualize a jewel of morality glowing in him. I became an ardent worshiper of him for his philosophy in teaching, which influenced me in my further instructional career. I did not have a ray of hope in meeting him again anywhere as I was about to be posted out elsewhere and there was no chance to move BHU from Banaras to anywhere else.

I bid farewell to both professors and visited Ardh Kumbh mela in Allahabad and filled with satisfaction for fulfilling my long-cherished aspiration. The culmination of nature's beauty was spectacular. It was a visual treat, standing and watching from the bank of three rivers, the confluence of Ganges. Yamuna and Saraswati, the partially invisible river. The ripples in the Sangam, I see with my inward eye at times in tranquility, which is the bliss of solitude.

Despite my investment for a blissful memories in retired life, a soft melancholy haunts me of the lack of care and preservation of neatness and sanctity of such a panoramically magnificent pilgrim center and the beautiful divine rivers. Its a paradox that I was succumbed to Chickenpox on the day I reached Gorakhpur and I took it as an additional experience to be in an Airforce isolation ward, adding my acquired immunity. I am optimistic that the Swach Bharath mission of front-line priority will find a solution for the pollution of these rivers and river beds.

My unexpected, ironical and sensitive meeting with the great BHU professor in Trivandrum after sixteen years will be narrated in the next episode.

Thank you.