I had for the first time ever come to know about the art of hypnotism — the science of mind control — while watching an episode in a television program, few months back, in the past year. Ever since I had repeatedly tried the technique to hypnotize a person, in other words, control the other person’s mind, thoughts and actions.
In that episode, a bull’s-eye chart with concentric rings was used to make the subject focus intensely. With a little help from Internet, I came to know hypnosis really doesn’t require an object. It simply requires intense concentration both on the person hypnotizing (called the hypnotist) and the other getting hypnotized (called the subject).
Truly speaking, hypnosis is the state of human consciousness involving intense concentration and reduced awareness of the surroundings in which the subject has enhanced capacity for response to suggestion. It can be used for both entertainment purposes and that of therapeutic purposes. The use of hypnotic induction helps the hypnotist induce hypnosis in the subject. Hypnotherapy is used in the field of medicine while stage hypnosis is used for entertainment purposes.
Around the year 1841, a Scottish surgeon who went by the name of James Braid, is credited to have coined the words hypnosis and hypnotism, the longer form of which is neuro-hypnotism, meaning nervous sleep. Etymologically speaking, the word hypnosis consists of two words hypnos and the suffix —osis. The former word means sleep while the suffix may mean the term “put to sleep” in ancient Greek language.
Hence, hypnotism simply makes a person sleep but this sort of sleep is different from the common sleep. In a sleep induced by hypnotism, the state achieved is that of progressive relaxation of mental concentration. However, it must be noted that the theory of hypnotism and mesmerism are completely different, for the former term influences the mental health of a person and the latter term influences the health of the human body as a whole. The research on the science of mesmerism was performed by Franz Mesmer in whose honour the name was given.
To perform the task of hypnotic induction, many methods are used. The most common ones include Original Eye Fixation Method and conversational hypnotism. The former method, that is, the original eye fixation method is also known as Braidism as it was Braid who had developed this method. His method was called a direct method of hypnotic induction.
The key to hypnotic induction lay in the ability of the subject to intensely concentrate or in other words, stare at any object continuously. If that doesn’t work, making the subject listen to monotonous music also yields the same result, the subject’s unconsciousness concentration on the hypnotist. This was called the indirect method of hypnotic induction.
And my last few months of practice of this art was to be helpful tonight, to fulfill my second objective, which would make this a night to remember — the Indian victory at the Wankhede was simply an icing on the cake, I feel. It helped me get Karthik to trust on me — the fact that I had doled him out a ticket for the World Cup final.
And it was imperative that I fulfill my own wish tonight, for it will be easy for me to escape through the train back to Delhi moments later.
****
I momentarily broke out of my reminiscences to find Karthik fast asleep and his head had just rested on my shoulder, causing me to come to the present. We had hired a taxi back to the lodge. He had slept during the course of the long travel that we were taking. I too would have done the same but for the fact I had a job at hand and I had to finish things off. The more I looked at his face, the sorrier I felt for him. Poor boy! What cruel role fate had played! He was now an orphan. Exactly five months back, to the day. All I had heard him sob through his welled up eyes as he in front of his eyes saw both his parents lose their life to the bomb blast at the busy Sarojini Nagar Market that thronged with the last minute rush of people for Deepavali purchase. He had escaped with minor injuries, just because he had trailed his parents a few metres behind. From then on itself, I reconciled my differences with Karthik, feeling sorry for a boy out of place due to the sudden tragedy that had struck his personal life. I hoped to take it upon me to make Karthik’s life free of suffering one day. I felt the time nearing.
A few minutes ride from here and we would be all alone in our rented room. I had carefully planned the scene of crime well in advance. Perhaps that was the reason; I could show off as if I had enjoyed the outing to Wankhede. In reality, I knew one wrong step would doom my life forever. What I was to undertake was a task that looked so simple but being a perfectionist is actually what matters. If everything goes as planned, my ticket to Delhi would be the perfect alibi I would possess to leave the police on the false trail. By the way, I had not booked a return ticket for Karthik, a fact I have till now and maybe forever hide from him. Even more, I had no ticket for myself as well!
The taxi reached the destination. I paid the driver off and turned around to look at the nearly dilapidated building one last time. It was exactly the place I had told the driver. From here, however, I had to walk a fair distance with Karthik to reach the room wherein Karthik would commit suicide.
Fifteen minutes later, a kilometre away, on the second floor of the star hotel I had reserved for the night eighteen hours ago, I stood with Karthik, sensing a chill go down my spine. I entered the room key in the key hole, turned the latch and stepped in. Karthik followed me behind. But if he had had even an inkling as to what was to happen, he might have just turned away, or even scurried away.
I made him look comfortable. To get his sleepy eyes focussed on me. I knew this was a big test, a big moment in my life. It mattered most. A job was at hand.
My mantra was simple: I had planned to use the art of hypnosis on him.
Now all that was remaining was execution.
His execution.