Vigyani-Part 11

Episode 11:

Dr. Raman woke up with a start hearing the knocks on the door of the house in which he was staying in the village.

Opening the door, he found the village chief standing with folded hands.

The chief said, 'Please excuse me for troubling you. I want to know if you need anything to start your work on the machine'.

Raman said, 'Yes. First we have to select a place near the river with access to electricity. A place like a pumping station will be ideal. Secondly, we need to erect a shed with a door that can be locked. I also need to go nearby town to draw money from my bank account for the purchase of equipments such as motors, made to order glass vessels, tubes etc. Probably, I may have to go to some big town for the purchase of the pumps. There is no problem about money as I have enough savings in my bank account. One other thing. After the purchase of all the needed items I would like to do a pooja in the Amman temple in the village offering Pongal to the deity and feed the entire village before starting my work'.

The village chief was moved on hearing Raman offering feast to the entire village.

He caught hold of Raman's hands and said, 'You are just like your grandfather. You have a great heart thinking about the poor people of this village'.

He further said, "as the chief of the village I assure you of our full support. We can certainly give all manual assistance to you and if you need money we can arrange that also. All I am interested is that the machine should provide the much needed water. You are giving us not just water but you are pouring milk in all our stomachs'.

The village chief provided his car with driver to Raman to go to nearby big town where he could draw money and purchase all the needed items. On an auspicious day, a pooja was performed at the Amman temple with the women folk from the village cooking Pongal in mud pots. The pongal was offered to the deity and served to all the villagers. They celebrated with loud speakers blaring Tamil film songs and young people dancing to the music.

All people were enjoying except for one man who was engrossed in thoughts of how to sabotage the machine and if needed to eliminate Raman.

To be continued....