The Letter

The man stood near the window with his hands folded..He had a calm demeanour and was smiling benignly.I couldnt really understand how could he smile at this occasion.

A few moments earlier:

The charge in my cell had dried up.I was just going to put my cell on charge when the lights got popped off. If there is one thing in India which you can say with certainity,it is the fact that when you have an important work to do,you can trust the electric guys to switch it off... Cursing them for the nuisance,i lay on the bed and spend some time in using well learnt swear words to curse those guys.

I presume i was about to doze off when i felt a hand tapping my shoulder. I woke up to see a man with a letter bag at his side. He introduced himself as "God" and took a letter from the letter bag and gave it to me. He then went on to say that 'You have 24 hours to live and that we will be departing to heaven/hell tomorrow'.

All i did was to keep staring at him. He told me to have a look at the letter and went and stood near the window.I opened the letter and saw:

Dear Arvind,

This is to inform you that your life validity expires in 24 hours. One of our people will come down to meet you and you will be sailing in the "Ship of Departures" along with other inmates. Kindly plan your schedule so that you finish off what ever you want within this time. No luggages will be necessary as everything will be available in the Home.

Your final destination will be decided based on your liabilities and assets which you have accrued over your life time.

Hope to see you tomorrow.

Regards,

God.

All i could say was "Is this some kind of joke"... All he did in return was to keep staring at me. I repeated my question again. he asked me "What do you think". I told him "I dont think people receive termination letters informing about the remaining life time. And what is this, Liabilities, assets. I never knew that material assets and liabilites are valued in after-life.

"Very typical of humans", remarked the God. You havent heard about the termination letters before because you get it only once. You dont live to tell about it. And the assets and liabilities which i mentioned are the good deeds and the bad karma which you earn in your life time." This came as a complete shock to me... I never knew that the final day can come just like that. I had lived 24 years of my life time and had never bothered to think about the so called good deeds and bad deeds.I had hardly known any hardships, since i was provided with all luxuries.

A lot many questions running in my mind. [As in why he had come delivering this information when he can send across someone else, What had i done to get this call so early, Wasnt he supposed to be wearing a white suit, as Morgan Freeman does in HollyWood movies]. I assumed i could guess the reason for his coming alone to deliver the information. After all, it was recession time now, so there could have been job cuts there also. Currently i was concerned about my situation,so i was wondering what to ask him, when suddenly there was a pop sound and Gosh, the man simply disappeared before my eyes...

The feeling you get when someone next to you pops off in thin air makes you feel that even you can pop off anytime. You fear to tread another step not knowing when you will pop off. No wonder, the people in the medieval ages used to haunt the witches and considered them as outlaws.And the feeling when someone has informed you about your demise and has suddenly left you alone gives you no little consolation. Well, i never had hoped for this in my wildest dream.

I kept the letter in the diary on the bed-side table and then kept staring at the ceiling. Why me. Its not fair in the least way. and Why now ?? Why now when i had found my dream girl. Its been 3 months since we met. It was an instant liking from our first meet and i knew that if there has to be a girl in my life,it has to be her. She had all the good qualities which a Man can aspire for in a girl. I had proposed to her 1 month back and she had accepted it. we had planned up so many things for our future...But, it seems life had other plans. No wonder, people say Life is unfair. This is not fair, this is not fair.... I kept on muttering the sentences....

"Sleeping till 9am on your birthday and saying 'its not fair' isnt fair too" - came the voice of my Mother. She tugged the bedsheet and woke me up with a birthday wish and a sweet kiss. I looked at her as if i was stunned. Birthday, oh, yes its my birthday today. I made up a smily face and mumbled a thanks... Get ready soon,son. Its your DAY today. Dont you have plans for today.. Comeon get ready, son...God Bless you, saying so she left the room.

I sat on the bed and tried recalling what had happened.. What about the letter, the God visit and the message... Was it a bad dream after all. I couldnt express the happiness i felt at that moment. A dream, a bad dream, Gosh, it had felt so real... Thank goodness. Pushing the bad thoughts away from the mind, i threw the bedsheet away and put down my leg on the other side. Then i saw it. The letter i had placed inside the diary !!! the white part was visible partly. The whole room seemed to freeze.

Slowly,with shivering hands i reached across to the letter and opened it.

It started "Dear Arvind,
..............



to be contd....