Ageh Bharti remembers the helping hand given by Shri Bhikham Chand Jain of Jabalpur
I am reminded of a hero of those early days when Osho used to travel India and give lectures. I am thinking of Shri Bhikham Chand Jain of Jabalpur. He was a lecturer at D N Jain Higher Secondary School and was an NC C Officer there. When he was not at work, the rest of his time was dedicated to Osho.
Once a month, Osho would speak at Shahid Smarak Bhavan. It was the best Auditorium in Jabalpur in those days. He spoke two evenings, one day was on a sutra and the following day was a question and answer session.
Shri Bhikham Chand Jain took it on himself to always have the dates of the lectures published in the newspapers and to post notices in various suitable points throughout town. He was doing all that by himself. I could help him only rarely because I was a locomotive pilot and was out of town several times a month for two to three days at a time.
I would like to give a few more examples of his generosity as to how much care he used to give to friends who were working for Osho. When in August 1969 I was getting ready to accompany Osho to Ludhiana for the first time, he took me to a ready-made clothes shop and bought two sets of fine full shirts and full pants. Although I later paid the shopkeeper in two installments I wouldn’t have known where to buy clothes and pay them in installments.
I remember another time when I met him by chance at Malviya Chowk. He had heard that once a week I would play a lecture by Osho at my home, and that by now so many people were attending that there was not enough space in the house and that we had to sit in the courtyard. He had also heard that I had spread the courtyard with bed sheets to cover the ground.
He said to me, “Let’s go to Favvara Market and buy a carpet.” I thought we could go some other time as he was heading in the other direction. He was happy to go back, he said, that it did not matter. “The carpet is more important!” We got to a shop in Favvara and he asked the shopkeeper to show us a good carpet of the dimension of 40’×60′. He bought the carpet and helped me tie it onto the carrier of my cycle.
Also, it’s Shri Bhikham Chand Jain who organized Osho’s Farewell Party at Shahid Smarak Bhavan on 28th June 1970, two days before Osho left Jabalpur for good in order to live in Mumbai. He sent out all the invitation letters to the many dignitaries who attended the celebration.
Is it surprising that his date of birth and date of death are the same: 12th March 1937 and 12th March 2002?
His humble, friendly attitude towards everyone is simply unforgettable.
Shri Bhikham Chand Jain did take sannyas, but I can’t remember his name. His son also took sannyas, in Pune, in 1992, and received his new name, Swami Chetan Javed.
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