Stephen Kelman - Man on Fire

I could not hope to have the career I have enjoyed when first I landed on the extreme sports idea. This was now many years past as a young man with no wife or child and no money arriving in Mumbai from my native place. All I had then was belief in the promise of destiny to provide my bread and daily safety. Just twenty years later and I am the holder of some fourteen World Records under Guinness and Limca banner, with track record in training junior world-beaters and many more achievements under my belt such as beefing up security on Konkan Railway and bringing corrupt public officials to justice by exposing them in the pages of my newspaper. All for the benefit of my community and to preserve the respect for the common man. What a turn-up. How it has happened I am clueless. I am just the son of a farmer and social activist.

I intended to share my recollections of all the records I have broken over the years. This was my plan when first I hit upon the idea of a memoir. There are still many records which I have not yet featured such as one-armed knuckle cartwheels, fingertip push-ups, bicycles ridden over body, etc. But that was back in time when it looked as if my greatest feat would remain unfulfilled. I was at a low point with no financial support in the offing. Bats lay waiting with nobody to pick them up. Then everything changed unexpectedly with the arrival of John Lock. Now my stint has a fitting end with all footage linking up and there is no need to look back anymore.

Now I am only looking forward to when my bones have healed and I can stand again on the new path God will lay out for me. I am listening for the next time he will whisper in my ear and tell me what I must do. There is no hurry. I will be very patient and sure of myself before I take the next step.

Ram the fire-eater visited me again when I was sleeping. I did not know that I was in a hospital bed with broken bones and nurses filling me with poison. I thought I was back in my native place. It was very nice to be there. No strife of daily routine in the city and everybody much more relaxed instead of running hither and thither like rats. My father gave me my old duty of tending the goats. I watched over them in the field. Quiet all around and natural life in abundance. The birds called hello to me when they flew overhead and the snakes said good morning when they slithered past my feet. I was very peaceful and there was no pain, not within me or anywhere in the world.

I was just remarking to myself that the life is so good when out stepped Ram from the forest. He wore a big smile on his face for me and he came to shake my hand. It had been a long time since I saw him last but the joy I felt at being with him again made all the sadness of those years of waiting seem like nothing. They just flew away from me like another bird. I had grown older but he had not changed. His beard still glowed like fire and he was still naked except for the cloth around his loins. What is more he still carried the fire-eater’s torch. I was very glad about this even though it remained unlit throughout our meeting.

Then another surprise when Gopal Dutta stepped out of the forest behind him. He had become a fire-eater also. He did not speak. Instead he ate the fire from his own torch repeatedly. He was covered from head to toe in spirit of total contentment and serene nature. This was a lovely sight and convinced me that all persons achieve the bliss when they expire.

I hardly dared to speak to Ram as I did not want to scare him away so soon after reuniting. The entire scene felt like a spell I did not wish to break. Finally I spoke to him. ‘I have been waiting for you a very long time,’ I said.

‘I know,’ Ram the fire-eater said. The wind became very still as he spoke so that the only things to be heard were his voice and my own. The sun behind him watching carefully as if we were actors in a dramatic plot.

‘Why did you not return before now?’ I asked him.

‘You did not need me before,’ he replied.

I pondered this and realised he was right. I was only needing him at the time he appeared. Between his first visit and this one I was able to carry the weight of my destiny alone.

He asked me how I was feeling. I told him I was fine. I asked him how he was feeling. He also was fine. He had followed my record-breaking stint with much interest. He heard all about my endeavours through the grapevine. Even on his most mysterious travels word had always reached him of my activities. He was very proud to be the one who had sparked this fire within me. He had not meant to. It was not a duty he had been given, he said. It was my work alone and he was a witness only. I did not believe him. I knew he was sent by the almighty. But I did not correct him as this would be disrespectful. Truth was revealed when he told me I must end my extreme sports career sans delay. He had received a vision that I would be seriously victimised if I carried on. He was worried for me and begged me to stop.

I did not want to accept this at first. I pretended I had not heard it. I pretended instead that he had urged me on to another attempt. But I was only fooling myself. I know this now. His message was clear. He insisted it was his personal concern only which prompted the visit but I know he was the messenger. I know finally that I am free of previous burden.

We sat together for a long time. We did not speak again. My heart was calm and a lovely tiredness settled over me like a blanket. Then Ram the fire-eater stood up and walked back to the forest. At the edge of the trees he stopped and waved at me. Then he turned around and was gone. I knew I would never see him again. This was fine as he left me with a certain feeling that the truth of my life had wrapped me in its arms.

Now I am back home in the bosom of my dear ones. My friend John Lock is preparing to leave. He will return to his native place and fix things there. Then he will come back to see me. I hope and pray for this.

John Lock has tagged my son Jolly Boy and now I call him this also. He likes it very much. While I am waiting for my strength to return he is keeping my spirits high with showings of the footage from my previous records. Presently it feels as if I am watching a different person instead of myself. But this will change as I grow stronger.

‘I will help you choose the next record, Baba,’ he said to me today. ‘It will be the biggest of them all.’

‘There will be no more records,’ I told him. ‘Your Baba has completed his journey. He will do something else now.’

The boy could not understand what I was saying. He looked very sad. Perhaps he thought his father would change too much if he did not have his exclusive outlet to fall back on. I had to put his fear to rest.

‘Perhaps I will go back and try again to pull the locomotive with my hair. I think I know how to succeed this time. It is all about the method of securing the hair. A strong glue may work wonders if Guinness will allow this.’

Jolly Boy seemed happy with this outcome. My wife not so happy but I will convince her when it becomes necessary to protect the family bond.

I cannot wait to be healed and outside again breathing the fresh air. I hear the rain falling heavily and dream of making cartwheels through the streets of my city where they lie hidden by the water. Soon the monsoon will pass by and the everyday life will be restored to its former level. I will miss my friend but I will keep myself busy in giving thanks and setting a new goal. I am very lucky to be here at this time when God’s love is freely distributed in the world. We only have one span of one hundred years or less and everything is possible with veg diet and positive thinking.

Thank you.

I’ve taken over the driving. Bibhuti wants me next to him. We’re as close as brothers and I bring him comfort in his pain. Also it might be the last chance I get to drive a car and handing the wheel to me is an act of charity that seals his love inside me. I’ll take his love with me. It’ll keep me strong when the winter comes. These are his words and I believe them. He’s heard about the English winter, how low the temperature drops, and about real snow. He wants to be a warming current from across the seven seas.