Black Hole Sun

Scene I : Curtain Falls

Man lying on a bed. He is in pain. Unimaginably cruel pain. He just had his chemotherapy session. It felt like his body was on fire. Painkillers only get you some relief. Pain, to a huge extent, is psychological. But not in cancer. Cancer is a vicious thing. It rips your body apart like nothing else, except HIV/AIDS. Pain in AIDS is due to other reasons, Cancer is the beginning and end to all your suffering. The man wonders how it all started. He vaguely remembers someone beseeching him to stop. Only, his drugged mind can’t recall what the damn person was talking about. The nurse enters and sticks him with a needle. He drifts off into a dreamless, but troubled, sleep.

Scene II : Time Before Intermission

Man sitting on a cot in a dingy dhaba. He is still contemplating his last call to his mom. His mom had warned him about getting into bad habits. He had got into one. Now he couldn’t get rid of it. He had tried, but the pressures of working as an assistant in a grocery store had taken its toll on him. He’d attempted to rid one by getting hooked onto something else, but it was just more baggage on his shoulders. It started to weigh him down. He wondered if it was actually bad. After all, other people do it all the time, and nothing’s happened to them. He assures himself that nothing will happen to him as God looks over him. That is what he has believed all his life…

Scene III : The Beginning

Man travelling by train. He gets into the first-class compartment. Blatantly ignores uppity people regarding rules of train travel. His job is going great guns and his decision to come to the City of Dreams has paid off, like it has for everyone else. So, cocksure and arrogant, man travels on the footboard of the train, delighted with the recent turn of events. He looks into the breast-pocket of his shirt. He takes out a thin white tube containing a tooth-paste like substance. He carefully squeezes it onto his palm. He takes out a paper packet containing some powder, takes a dollop onto the same palm containing the white substance. Expertly, with practised precision, he narrows his palm and rubs the heterogeneous mixture with the middle finger of his right hand. Another Perv Uncle besides me smirks, because perv things is all his tiny brain can think of. Even with all the rolling of the compartment, man balances carefully, and smacks and polishes his mixture. Then, making a ball of it, he places it between his lower teeth and lower lip. Then, with a pleased smile, he grins at all his co-passengers. Most people look disgusted, but man thinks the expression is pasted onto uppity people’s faces. Nothing can go wrong for him.

Scene IV : Time After Intermission

Doctor’s diagnosis is not good. Alcohol and tobacco have taken their toll. Man has red, bulging ulcers everywhere in his mouth. They look as if they can pop at any time. Man curses God and blames his bad luck. But the truth is, you take it. No one gives it to you.

P.S: I have tried experimenting with non-linear storytelling. Hope the story wasn’t obvious from the start. 🙂

P.P.S: Even more important than my blog is the fate of all those people who are addicted to pan masala, tobacco or any such other shit. If you have any relatives or family members who are into this, this is a warning for all of you.

For The Love Of God!

Since times immemorial, there always has been a debate about a higher power in the lifetime of humanity. Due to man’s relatively limited power in comparison to His, or so it is believed, we have been unable to find any concrete or conclusive evidence as to His presence or absence. Pagans vs Believers has been a big conflict, whether in South America, Egypt or India. Well, I’m not here to give you a sermon, or to prove if God exists or not, but to see how people are sensitive about the subject. As usual, this post will deal with some incidents in my life, as well as some of my observations.

Okay, now then, India has always been a very religious country. It has a very rich culture and has influenced many Westerners to adopt the numerous beliefs which co-exist on the Indian sub-continent. Well, even though some of India’s most famous exports to the West have been its religions, the youth of today has completely imbibed Western culture, leading to a lot of chagrin for some of the conservative parents.

It’s not just me that I’m talking about here, but most of my friends too. While people in today’s world are undergoing “spiritual” upheavals, the teenagers are enjoying life to the fullest, at the risk of being branded heretics. The technology of today and the modern education imbibed in today’s children has led to the questioning of a lot of beliefs parents try to teach their kids. Especially about God.

For some children, belief in God comes naturally, out of fear of something or just plain devotion. In danger of being an outcast in the Indian society, I should probably whisper about my faith in God, being an atheist as I am. Well, I hope my Grandma doesn’t read this, or she’d have a blue fit and go up in smoke. 😛

Gran:- Let us go to the temple.

Vineet:- Haah, Shridhar Anna and temple? You must be joking! (Gran hasn’t realized the gravity of the situation, but my face slowly turns a bright red.)

Me:- Shut up, Vineet.

Gran:- (Turning accusing eyes towards me) You don’t go to temples?

Me:- (Trying to rescue the situation) No, Granny, I do go to temples.

Gran:- For one moment, I was seriously worried.

As you could see from the above dialogue, grandparents do not take kindly to such notions as atheism, so you have to play along and keep the poor dears happy. Well, I don’t blame them, seeing as to how the rest of India also has blind faith in God. They do all sorts of crazy things in honour of their deities and go to any length to protect the integrity of the idols that they worship. Faith in God has what has kept this country alive, thorugh countless catastrophes, wars, and the like. There is and overwhelming sense of helplessness when you go to a place of worship, wherein these faithful people lay bare their soul before God.

My dad, no less, is a tribute to India’s faith in God. Being a non-believer in his younger days, instances and mishaps have made him have undying belief in God’s policies. A very religious person, he has given up smoking, drinking and eating meat, which he enjoyed in his early life. Fortunately for me, my Dad does not try to influence the way I think, though sometimes he is saddened by my attitude towards all things religious.

A Sign From God

I have absolutely no problem towards any religion, but I do feel terrible about they way some crooks exploit our faith in the Higher Powers. Some of India’s so-called religious places are inhabited by the biggest vandals, thieves and rogues you will ever see.

As some wise person said, “They worship God throughout the day, and Satan during the night.”

Worshipping Satan would be exaggeration, but they are the most unscrupulous characters. Just today, a very doubtful-looking woman came to our doorstep demanding money because it was Amvaas(new-moon day), and refused to go unless we parted with our money. Is this what God wants? Regardless, this is how he has made the world, and this is how he wishes it to be, probably.

Disclaimer/Request:- I request the readers of this post to refrain from mentioning my ideas in the outside world. These are unverified claims which might not be taken too kindly anywhere else. It might also show the writer of this post in a bad light.