He never wanted to be immortal...

There was a girl he thought he liked. Where did she go?

He rescued them all and then went down to die. But he did not die. He was taken to another place and he lived a different life. He never remembered anything. He did not want to. Why should he?

He never wanted to be immortal. He was good in everything which is why he didn’t excel in anything. When you have tangents going in every direction, they pull you apart, you disintegrate – into nothingness. That is where it all began – in nothingness. Not something that became noting but there was never anything. Just like that someone you never knew. Remember that letter you never wrote. And the life you didn’t want. It was never there. And on and on. It never ends. It’s never over. Never comfortable alone. Never comfortable in a crowd. Because there is vacuum around, vacuum between people. And vacuum sucks!!. That was a joke. But the fact is that you are not here now. Only I’m here. You are not here reading this because this was never written. So where are you?

The Watchman

In the midst of five hundred acres of paddy there stands the dilapidated watch-house. The Old Man is sitting at the front on a stool, which has a broken leg. In the background is the new electric sub-station and farther back you can see the mountain ranges.

“Old Man, Old Man,” I call out to him, “Why are you still here? Your wife is dead. Your three sons have grown up and gone away. The landowner has bought his new Mercedes Benz and he doesn’t care whether you are alive or dead.”

Old Man looks at me with as much passion as he would look at a grain of sand.

Old Man says, “Men, younger and smarter, I have seen. Many have come and many have gone. Some have returned, some never have.”

“Don’t laugh at me son. For every man, sooner or later, becomes the watchman.”

“You watch over your wife, your children, your house, your gold, your money, your company, your reputation. The end is neither here nor there. The reward is the same. So, my son, be on your way and god be with you.”

16-07-2006

The Dream and the Song

I am waiting in a long queue looking around me into the clouds with a perplexed face. The person in front of me moves and I came face to face with St. Peter. I see his flowing beard and serene, solid face imprinted with ages of wisdom and the absolute power of God. He looks down a list and asks “Don?” I can’t even nod my head. I give out a weak “yes”, so small even I can’t hear it. St. Peter looks at me and announces in a self assured flat monotone voice “Dead”.

I look down for a second and slowly raise my head and say “No”. Everyone is stunned. St. Peter stands with his mouth open. The angels are aghast, the devils gape and look at each other. I look around. Everyone else there looks the same to me. I raise my left eyebrow a little and my lips twirl into a smile. The music starts “We will, we will rock you…” and I turn and start running. I jump joyfully onto the clouds and over the mountains. I can hear them coming after me. These fools can’t catch me. The wind, the sea and the fire follows me, after me, then with me. So come and sing along now:

We will we will rock you
We will we will rock you

Heat and Anger

“Papa”

“Yes, dear daughter?”

“Mom’s name is Anger and your name is Heat. I think when we get angry we feel hot. So these two are related. Isn’t it so Papa?”

“Yea. Indeed.”

“Then why are you two living apart?”

“Look, these things are dealt with the heart. OK? Go do your homework.”

“But Papa…”

“Now what?”

“HEART? There is an ‘E’ lying between you and mom. I mean Between ‘H’ and ‘A’. Then who is this ‘E’?

“…”

“Papa who is this…”

“You’re paying less attention to your math. You have to do subtraction, not addition. See the sign.”

“Papa, let me say, in the word HEART…”

“Oh these are only names…Heat, Anger – just like yours, Clarity. Just stop this nonsense on linguistics and go through your problems. And stay away from PROBLEMS.”

“You dads are rather like Hell
Your heads are like the school bell
Toll in the same pace
Hang on the same place
And never give a chance
To play with the fence.”

SB
23-March-2006