(Wrote this about four years back. But has remained my favorite till now.)
Vinay was a sound sleeper. He usually slept late in the night and, as a result, woke up late. Very few things could disturb his sleep. He barely stirred when there was an earthquake. He would not budge if clouds thundered themselves away. He would not even wake up if his cell phone shrieked right next to his ears.
Things looked the same that night too, when after a wild evening at the local pub, Vinay came back home and slumped down on his bed. He fell asleep right away and started dreaming almost immediately. He dreamt that he was back in the pub surrounded by beautiful girls and having the time of his life drinking and flirting. This was his favorite type of dream and he was thoroughly enjoying himself when something very unusual happened. He woke up!
Surprised, Vinay looked around for the source of this nearly impossible interruption in his sleep. A very low but continuous static could be heard. He tried to locate the source and traced it to a very small ball of milky-white light at the foot of his bed. “What in the devil’s name is this?” He mumbled to himself. Slowly, the white light spread and took an indiscernible form that loomed above his bed. This freaked him out. “What the hell!” He said loudly.
“Don’t be afraid, child. I am not here to harm you. “, said a soft but clear voice from somewhere within the huge white blob. Strangely enough, the white blob glowed but its light did not reflect off the surrounding objects. And the voice! It was amazing. Very sweet! Vinay could not make out whether it was male or female. It sounded like thoughts. Thoughts that are clear, audible, and human but neither male, nor female.
“I am here to help you.” The voice spoke again. “What are you?” Vinay asked nervously, trying to sound stern. “I am God.” The voice replied.
“God! Now I understand. Nishant, come out from wherever you are hiding. I know it is you. And how did you make this white creep?”
“Child, there is no one here but you and me. Just think, would Nishant or anyone else have been able to wake you up?”
This made Vinay ponder. It was true. Nishant or any other friend of his would never have been able to wake him up. After a short silence and a bit of looking around the room, Vinay admitted, “Okay, so you are God. Now what? Do I die?”
“Die? Of course not! I just thought of visiting you because I thought you needed help.”
“Me? Need help? Someone has definitely played a trick on you. Go Home, God. Or to heaven, or wherever it is where you stay. Whoever told you that I need your help, needs to see a psychiatrist.”
“Child, do not talk about your poor cat like this. He has been living in heaven for the past three years, but still cannot stop talking about you.”
“Babba told you about me?”
“Yes, he was very concerned. He was sure that I could help you. I told him that it will be of no use as Vinay has never listened to me. But the stubborn cat just would not listen. Like master, like cat.", sighed God. "He kept pestering me until I promised him that I would visit you.”
“When have I not listened to you? This is the first time I am seeing you. If I have never met you, how can you claim that I never listened to you?” Vinay was getting impatient now. He just wanted to go back to sleep.
“Calm down, child. Do you think I have so much time that I can visit every single human in person? Do you think I have more than twenty four hours in a day? If I do not visit you, it does not mean that I am not there. I have tried to get across my point to you many times, but you have always ignored me.” God answered peacefully.
“And when was that? May I know if it is not too much trouble to you?”
“No, not at all. Nothing is too much trouble for me. I have advised you a lot of times in your life. But you always turned your face the other way and chose not to listen.”
“Go on, give me an example. I am all ears.” Vinay mocked.
“You remember the time you broke the beautiful vase your grandma had gifted to your mother? You did not listen to me and blamed Babba for it.”
“Well, call me stupid, but I do not remember you popping in at that time.”
“Of course, I was there. Do you not remember that voice in your head that kept nagging you to own up for the incident and not blame the cat? You just ignored the voice.”
A little ashamed, Vinay argued, “But God, Babba was not punished for this. I would have been.”
“That is true. Babba was saved then. But that was because your mom listened to me when I whispered to her to let go of her anger. If she was as unreasonable as you, Babba would have been homeless after that incident. Do you agree?”
“I didn’t know you talk to mom as well.”
“Of course I do. I talk to everyone. My voice can be heard by anyone who wants to listen to it.”
“Ok. But that was just one such incident. How does this one incident mean that I need help?”
“Child, I agree with Babba. You do need help. I have tried to tell you the right way a lot of times, but you have always gone in the opposite direction and done the wrong thing. You may not be aware, but your actions have hurt a lot of innocent people.”
“God, I may have hurt Babba, but I don’t think that I hurt anyone else. I just live my life according to my own rules. If someone does not agree doesn’t mean that I hurt them.” Vinay persisted.
“There is nothing wrong in living life in your own way. It is wrong only when you do not own up to your mistakes and try to blame others. Like when you broke up with Mohini.”
“I broke up with Mohini because she flirted with Nishant in front of me.”
“She was just trying to make you feel jealous as you were continuously eyeing the bar girl and ignoring her. I tried to tell you at that time to show Mohini that you cared for her and not for the bar girl. But your ego made you deaf and you, as usual, did not listen to me. You flared up and shouted at the poor girl.”
Then Vinay understood. “So you mean that you are the voice that keeps on telling me stuff that I think will ruin me.”
“Yes, that is yours truly.”
“But God, I think your advice will, in most situations, make me appear stupid and mean to others.”
“Yes, I know. It may. But it will help you be a better person as well. It will make you feel proud of yourself. And, above all, it will prevent future visits from me.” God smiled.
“Yes, that kind of convinces me.”
“Ok then, my work is done here. I have to be off to help someone else like you.”
“Don’t go yet, God. I am just starting to enjoy my conversation with you.”
“Child, I have to go. I think you have understood enough already.”
The voice and the white light faded away. The room suddenly became very warm, and Vinay sat up in his bed.
“Is this a dream?” he wondered to himself. “No, it isn’t.” replied a tiny voice in his head. And, this time, Vinay heard it, loud and clear.
Vinay was a sound sleeper. He usually slept late in the night and, as a result, woke up late. Very few things could disturb his sleep. He barely stirred when there was an earthquake. He would not budge if clouds thundered themselves away. He would not even wake up if his cell phone shrieked right next to his ears.
Things looked the same that night too, when after a wild evening at the local pub, Vinay came back home and slumped down on his bed. He fell asleep right away and started dreaming almost immediately. He dreamt that he was back in the pub surrounded by beautiful girls and having the time of his life drinking and flirting. This was his favorite type of dream and he was thoroughly enjoying himself when something very unusual happened. He woke up!
Surprised, Vinay looked around for the source of this nearly impossible interruption in his sleep. A very low but continuous static could be heard. He tried to locate the source and traced it to a very small ball of milky-white light at the foot of his bed. “What in the devil’s name is this?” He mumbled to himself. Slowly, the white light spread and took an indiscernible form that loomed above his bed. This freaked him out. “What the hell!” He said loudly.
“Don’t be afraid, child. I am not here to harm you. “, said a soft but clear voice from somewhere within the huge white blob. Strangely enough, the white blob glowed but its light did not reflect off the surrounding objects. And the voice! It was amazing. Very sweet! Vinay could not make out whether it was male or female. It sounded like thoughts. Thoughts that are clear, audible, and human but neither male, nor female.
“I am here to help you.” The voice spoke again. “What are you?” Vinay asked nervously, trying to sound stern. “I am God.” The voice replied.
“God! Now I understand. Nishant, come out from wherever you are hiding. I know it is you. And how did you make this white creep?”
“Child, there is no one here but you and me. Just think, would Nishant or anyone else have been able to wake you up?”
This made Vinay ponder. It was true. Nishant or any other friend of his would never have been able to wake him up. After a short silence and a bit of looking around the room, Vinay admitted, “Okay, so you are God. Now what? Do I die?”
“Die? Of course not! I just thought of visiting you because I thought you needed help.”
“Me? Need help? Someone has definitely played a trick on you. Go Home, God. Or to heaven, or wherever it is where you stay. Whoever told you that I need your help, needs to see a psychiatrist.”
“Child, do not talk about your poor cat like this. He has been living in heaven for the past three years, but still cannot stop talking about you.”
“Babba told you about me?”
“Yes, he was very concerned. He was sure that I could help you. I told him that it will be of no use as Vinay has never listened to me. But the stubborn cat just would not listen. Like master, like cat.", sighed God. "He kept pestering me until I promised him that I would visit you.”
“When have I not listened to you? This is the first time I am seeing you. If I have never met you, how can you claim that I never listened to you?” Vinay was getting impatient now. He just wanted to go back to sleep.
“Calm down, child. Do you think I have so much time that I can visit every single human in person? Do you think I have more than twenty four hours in a day? If I do not visit you, it does not mean that I am not there. I have tried to get across my point to you many times, but you have always ignored me.” God answered peacefully.
“And when was that? May I know if it is not too much trouble to you?”
“No, not at all. Nothing is too much trouble for me. I have advised you a lot of times in your life. But you always turned your face the other way and chose not to listen.”
“Go on, give me an example. I am all ears.” Vinay mocked.
“You remember the time you broke the beautiful vase your grandma had gifted to your mother? You did not listen to me and blamed Babba for it.”
“Well, call me stupid, but I do not remember you popping in at that time.”
“Of course, I was there. Do you not remember that voice in your head that kept nagging you to own up for the incident and not blame the cat? You just ignored the voice.”
A little ashamed, Vinay argued, “But God, Babba was not punished for this. I would have been.”
“That is true. Babba was saved then. But that was because your mom listened to me when I whispered to her to let go of her anger. If she was as unreasonable as you, Babba would have been homeless after that incident. Do you agree?”
“I didn’t know you talk to mom as well.”
“Of course I do. I talk to everyone. My voice can be heard by anyone who wants to listen to it.”
“Ok. But that was just one such incident. How does this one incident mean that I need help?”
“Child, I agree with Babba. You do need help. I have tried to tell you the right way a lot of times, but you have always gone in the opposite direction and done the wrong thing. You may not be aware, but your actions have hurt a lot of innocent people.”
“God, I may have hurt Babba, but I don’t think that I hurt anyone else. I just live my life according to my own rules. If someone does not agree doesn’t mean that I hurt them.” Vinay persisted.
“There is nothing wrong in living life in your own way. It is wrong only when you do not own up to your mistakes and try to blame others. Like when you broke up with Mohini.”
“I broke up with Mohini because she flirted with Nishant in front of me.”
“She was just trying to make you feel jealous as you were continuously eyeing the bar girl and ignoring her. I tried to tell you at that time to show Mohini that you cared for her and not for the bar girl. But your ego made you deaf and you, as usual, did not listen to me. You flared up and shouted at the poor girl.”
Then Vinay understood. “So you mean that you are the voice that keeps on telling me stuff that I think will ruin me.”
“Yes, that is yours truly.”
“But God, I think your advice will, in most situations, make me appear stupid and mean to others.”
“Yes, I know. It may. But it will help you be a better person as well. It will make you feel proud of yourself. And, above all, it will prevent future visits from me.” God smiled.
“Yes, that kind of convinces me.”
“Ok then, my work is done here. I have to be off to help someone else like you.”
“Don’t go yet, God. I am just starting to enjoy my conversation with you.”
“Child, I have to go. I think you have understood enough already.”
The voice and the white light faded away. The room suddenly became very warm, and Vinay sat up in his bed.
“Is this a dream?” he wondered to himself. “No, it isn’t.” replied a tiny voice in his head. And, this time, Vinay heard it, loud and clear.
Dear Vibha,
ReplyDeleteI liked this story very much. Indeed, God lives inside all of us. We just have to be aware of our conscience. That's it. There are a couple of errors in the grammar, but I don't think this is the right medium to discuss that. Feel free to chat with me on Gtalk. Great work, great thoughts. Keep it up!
A beautiful piece of writing. Conversation with God makes up for an interesting piece, great :)
ReplyDelete