Chatma (Banka), Dec. 20: Baleshwar Prasad Singh, 57, does not look
extraordinary from any angle. But what he is doing is certainly
not in the league of the ordinary.
A resident of
Chatma, 225 km southeast of Patna, Baleshwar has embarked on an
unusual mission in his village. The irrigation department clerk,
posted at Tarapur in Munger, has started building a Shiva temple
in Chatma as a mark of love for his brother.
Chandramouleshwar
Singh, who stays mostly at his Patna house after retiring as a section
officer in the home department, had been suffering from congestion
and breathlessness since July 2003.
Baleshwar, known
as Karu to his family, had rushed to Patna after first hearing of
his brother's ailment. When Chandramouleshwar struggled for life
at Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, his younger brother
saw a photograph of Lord Shiva in the Patna house and decided to
dedicate a temple to the god at Chatma if he recovers.
Speaking to
The Telegraph, Chandramouleshwar said: "It was a case of wrong
diagnosis. Instead of treating me for simple cough congestion, I
was being given cardiac treatment."
He was diagnosed
correctly after a few days and discharged from the hospital. Baleshwar
stayed with his brother during the seven-day hospital stay.
Though Baleshwar,
who lives at Chatma with his wife and son, is not much into religion
and worship, he decided to make an exception and "express his
ultimate love" for his elder brother.
Baleshwar said:
"I have always looked up to my brother. I don't want to come
out of his shadow and want him to live longer and be there for me."
Karu, who earns
Rs 12,000 a month, is expecting arrears between Rs 40,000 and Rs
50,000. He wants to invest the money in the temple.
The construction
work started on November 1 and the total cost would be around Rs
2.5 lakh.
Money for the
temple will come from the two brothers, apart from donations from
relatives and well-wishers, and the shrine is expected to be ready
by mid-2007.
"I have
never seen such a brother. Constructing a temple for my well-being
is not about reinforcing any superstition but just to give the message
that he loves me the most," Chandramouleshwar said. His wife,
Vaidehi Singh, too, acknowledged the "noble gesture by his
brother-in-law".
Their 94-year-old
uncle Ramkishen Singh spends most of his time supervising the temple
construction. The old man holds his nephew in high esteem and said
in a feeble voice: " Aaj kal Karu jaisa bhai milna mushkil
hani (it's difficult to have a brother like Karu these days)."
The younger
brother, a soft-spoken man, said: "I never intend to exhibit
my feelings. Nor will I brag about them."
