A Shrewd Godman

In one of the villages of Kerala the small state in the south of India, in the ‘30s, the news of a child prodigy created great interest throughout the subcontinent. Karoor Swamy he was called. He made his name by predicting the year India would win her freedom some 18 years before it came to pass. There were skeptics but the boy silenced them by accurately forecasting a few other events that also came to be accurate. He was declared a genuine article.
In the early ‘70’s when emergency was first introduced by Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister, Karoor Swamy was given a free hand. The almost illiterate Swamy had become the conscious keeper of the Power brokers whose advice the Prime Minister came to rely upon. He would dream and his interpretations be directly passed on to the P.M’s Office for detailed analysis. Swamy of course made millions misusing his power and one day to every one’s surprise he resigned his political fortune telling. He let it be known that he intended to become a sanyasi. As quickly as he came to be a power centre he vanished from public view.
Years later some reporters managed to trace him in one of the small villages in Himachal Pradesh where his ill gotten gains brought him the status of a godfather to some tribal who eked out their living collecting firewood and tending sheep. One of the reporters wanted to know why he quit so early.
He replied, “ It was a well considered decision. It was obvious the Emergency would not last long. I knew that there would be settling of accounts. So I stepped out while I could get out.” “ Perfect timing,” One interjected.
“ Remarkable,” another reporter commented, “ Was it your prescience or common sense that you relied?”
“ Common sense,” replied the old sanyasi, “ Of course I listened much to my unconscious state. Dreams and visions are the ox-cart cart that Reason must pull. I survived only because I kept my unconscious under control. Always.”

benny