Some beautiful short stories from Paulo Coelho's "Maktub"

1)

The scientist, Roger Pemrose, was walking with some friends and talking animatedly. He fell silent only in order to cross the street. "I remember that -- as I was crossing the street -- an incredible idea came to me," Pemrose said. "But, as soon as we reached the other side, we picked up where we left off, and I couldn't remember what I thought of just a few seconds earlier." Late in the afternoon, Pemrose began to feel euphoric -- without knowing why. "I had the feeling that something had been revealed to me," he said. He decided to go back over every minute of the day, and -- when he remembered the moment when he was crossing the street -- the idea came back to him. This time, he wrote it down. It was the theory of black holes, a revolutionary theory in modern physics. And it came back to him because Pemrose was able to recall the silence that we always fall into as we cross a street.

2)

The master says: "Today would be a good day for doing something out of the ordinary. We could, for example, dance through the streets on our way to work. Look directly into the eyes of a stranger, and speak of love at first sight. Give the boss an idea that may seem ridiculous, an idea we've never mentioned before. The Warriors of the Light allow themselves such days. "Today, we could cry over some ancient injustices that still stick in our craw. We could phone someone we vowed never to speak to again (but from whom we would love to receive a message on the answering machine). Today could be considered a day outside the script that we write every morning. "Today, any fault will be permitted and forgiven. Today is a day to enjoy life."

3)

"Let's go to the mountain where God abides," said a cavalier to his friend. "I want to prove that all He knows how to do is to ask things of us, while he does nothing to provide us with relief from our burdens." "Well, I'm going there to demonstrate my faith," said the other. They arrived at the top of the mountain at night -- and they heard a voice in the darkness: "Load down your horses with the stones from the ground." "See?!" said the first cavalier. "After a climb like that, he wants to make us carry an even heavier burden. I shall not obey!" The second did as the voice had bidden. As he reached the foot of the mountain, it was dawn, and the first rays of the sun shone upon the stone that the pious cavalier had carried: they were the purest of diamonds." The master says: "God's decisions are mysterious; but they are always in our favor."

4)

The monastery on the bank of the Rio Piedra is surrounded by beautiful vegetation -- it is a true oasis within the sterile fields of that part of Spain. There, the small river becomes a mighty current, and is split into dozens of waterfalls. The wanderer is walking through the area, hearing the music of the waters. Suddenly, a grotto -- behind one of the cataracts -- captures his attention. He studies the rocks, worn by time, and regards the lovely forms created patiently by nature. And he finds a verse by R. Tagore inscribed on a plaque: "It is not a hammer that made these rocks so perfect, but water -- with its sweetness, its dance and its song." Where force can only destroy, gentleness can sculpt.

5)

The wanderer is at the feast of Saint John, with its tents, archery contests and country food. Suddenly, a clown begins to mimic his gestures. People laugh, and the wanderer laughs, as well, and invites the clown to have coffee with him. "Commit to life!" says the clown. "If you are alive, you have to shake your arms, jump around, make noise, laugh and talk to people. Because life is exactly the opposite of death. "To die is to remain forever in the same position. If you are too quiet, you are not living."

6)

The German philosopher, Schopenhauer, was strolling along a street in Dresden, seeking the answers to questions that bothered him. Passing by a garden, he decided to sit and look at the flowers. One of the residents of the neighborhood observed the philosopher's strange behavior and summoned the police. Minutes later, an officer approached Schopenhauer. "Who are you," the officer asked brusquely. Schopenhauer looked the policeman up and down. "If you can help me find the answer to that question," he said, "I will be eternally grateful to you."

Mangal Conspiracy

Recently my best friend, Gaurang, suffered from a mysterious problem called "Mangal incompatibility syndrome". He was 25 year old young dashing software professional and a marriage aspirant. He happened to met a girl for matrimony purpose and both of them liked each other and felt that they are a perfect match! In traditional Hindu arrange marriage system Kundali's (Birth Charts) of boy and girl are matched for their compatibility and if one of them are Manglik then according to astrology they are not compatible and if they marry then it may cause an early break up in their relationship, such is the adverse effect of Mangal! Gaurang was Manglik but Janki wasn't hence Mangal started playing a villain role in the world of their aspirations! In the whole matter there is one character which plays a very crucial role and the name of that character is "Jyotish" (OR Astrologer), a person who interprets the Kundalis of marraige aspirants and makes predictions about their compatibility. Gaurang's jyotish read the kundalis and concluded that they are a match but girl's Jyotish came up with a conclusion that they should not marry in any case!! Now whom to believe? Let's consider for a moment that Astrology is an accurate science which makes precise future predictions but then who in the world of astrologers has the infallible knowledge of this science? Then it was decided to take opinion of 2-3 other astrologers and unfortunately all of them came up with a very negative opinion about their marriage. It seemed as if a red planet (i.e. Mangal OR Mars) which is millions of miles away from earth is conspiring to shatter the most cherished dreams of this young couple!!

Then started a mission of curbing a bad sight of red planet and it went on for almost 3 to 4 months. Lot of phone calls, discussions and meetings with astrologers to win a battle against Mangal. But in this pursuit Gaurang became an expert of astrology (although unwillingly ;)). At last one noble astrologer intervened, an astrologer who was well educated and a person who never worked for money. He gave a positive opinion that although one of them is non-manglik still due to other factors the marriage is possible and it would be a happy marriage. Both the parties accepted his opinion and they got married just one month before. Till now, as time goes their relation and love is becoming more and more intense...

Out of this story I came up with some analysis about "Mangal conspiracy"...

1) What I call a "Mangal conspiracy" is in fact an "Astrologer conspiracy", astrologers are human beings and therefore prone to errors! Also when it comes to predict a future they should be very careful and always describe future in terms of week and flexible probabilities instead of making strong deterministic statements like "If this marriage happens then it would definitely end up in divorce within a year" OR "Somebody from their home will die due to this marriage”. If future was deterministic then there would be no value to human will and effort! The irony is that astrologer himself is not aware whether his own wife is going to stay with him in future or not!!!

Also when they threaten people with bad and gloomy predictions, it is a normal human mentality which would think that although his prediction might not be correct but still why to take a risk??

2) People claim that there are proofs that if non-manglik and manglik person gets married then within a year they breaks up or something bad happened to their family members. Well, a bad event happened because that event had to happen and therefore there is no link between that event and a marriage. I bet bad events happen in case of non-maglik couples too but for them they are simply not linked to a marriage!!!

3) In some cases (if not all) there is a motive of earning money. There are always provisions of rituals which changes the future and the bad effect of planets, so when an astrologer says "this marriage seems difficult due to xyz reason" if the client asks "is there any solution, maharaj?" then he would definitely come up with resolution with a glimpse of delight on his face: "Yes, there is a ritual which would just cost 5000 rs!!" "Hmmm, sounds good!!" And then both, the astrologer and his client, are happy!

So in a nutshell, all who are the victims of "Mangal conspiracy" have to be ready to gain a knowledge of astrology whether they want or not and had to keep above points in mind. Now only future will tell whether the Mangal conspiracy will in fact be a "Mangal Conspiracy" (i.e. Good conspiracy) or not!!!