H A T E...!

Hatred works. It always did. It’s easy, simple and even practical. Unlike love that doesn’t arise instantly, hatred is an emotion that gets stirred any minute, at anyone, including the loved ones. Like everything that’s bad – hatred is achievable without much effort. It takes immense dedication, determination, focus and hard work to achieve success. Likewise, one needs to be forgiving, generous, compassionate, kind, open/broad minded to love. On the contrary, it doesn’t take any of these to hate. It’s probably the easiest thing to achieve and everyone’s equally eligible to hate and be hated. So we all go for it!

Hate another race, country, religion, neighbour… then slowly hate a cousin, a sibling, parent and then yourself! It takes nothing to criticize, dislike, disrespect what we don’t comprehend or approve. But what starts as a simple harmless hate might turn into an unrepairable loss. Friends turn foe, because one did not like what the other said and planted the seed of hatred right away. All the good times spent, help received or the generosity shared won’t matter. See, it’s really that easy to hate. And slowly, or instantly the poisoned heart is filled with hate like cancer. All cells are affected, nerves are blown, blood channels stained. How does the body or soul remain unchanged, like before?

Something is seriously wrong. Or is it not? For, the crimes have been increasing staggeringly through the last couple of decades. World is far too unfair from what our parents lived. Shootouts at school premises, abducting nurses, raping minors! These may be uncommon; each one of us is probably not responsible. And then there are no joint families, not even families anymore. Relationships are now virtual and short lived. Is each one of us still not responsible? Aren’t we making more mistakes individually? How is it going to collectively haunt our next generations? We can’t sit back and feel helpless about it. The least effort it takes from each one of us is to love. Even a new born child with no knowledge of good or bad knows love. Now we have come to a stage where it takes effort to love, while hatred has become natural. Slowly, it’s going to conquer whatever little place/peace that’s left in the world. Or it already has!?

Life is too precious to waste even that tiny little moment. And on my death bead, I would rather feel happy for not having hated anyone for once, not even once.

One real favour the Facebook has done is putting up just a ‘Like’ button there. 

The Satan...!

The Satan had arrived breaking its promise. She had held back until that very moment. As always, the matter once again was very trivial. It had started appearing on her face, strongly through her eyes. She had to react very soon or it would explode!

‘Don’t talk to me anymore…’ she screamed, her voices reaching the neighbourhood. It must be another unlucky day for that poor man, they all thought. ‘It’s become more frequent recently, her tantrums and abuse, how does he take it’, they seemed to be asking one another.

‘Don’t touch me. I’ll file a complaint for molestation’ they all heard through the common walls of the small building. Only his murmur wasn’t too audible. ‘Calm down’ was all he would say anyways and they knew that. ‘Don’t touch me, you devil. Your mother must have been a witch to give birth to someone like you…’ and she went on. He held his head against the wall and moaned. ‘What kind of a man will bear all that’, they cursed. ‘Sure she must’ve brought him a fortune back then’

The Satan was disappointed, humiliated because the man who should have fought and lost had not even begun. There was no way for the Satan to win a battle that wasn’t even waged. It had to come more strongly. ‘You son of a bitch, I know you slept with the maid last night and the guilt makes you silent.’ The maid looked down and wept helplessly. At that moment he raised his hand and held her by her wrist to which she resisted not so strongly, wanting him to get more provoked. The Satan had come alive. ‘Why did you stop, you coward. Go on, hit me. That is all you can do to a poor woman.’ He walked out of the house even as some people looked at him in pity.

‘What are you looking at?’ he screamed. They were surprised, for he had been a kind and gentle man in the neighbourhood. But, the Satan inside was rejoicing. Its friend was finally awake and they can now get on to work. ‘He’s a coward, who couldn’t control his wife and now screams at the onlookers.’ Someone said. He picked some pebbles and broken rods on the road and pelted at them accidently hurting the young lad. At once he saw the boy bleeding and the Satan left him alone. He regained his senses and took the boy and walked into his house. The Satan inside disappeared instantly after witnessing the young blood and left the host weeping.

‘What happened to my son? Who did this to him?’ she pleaded.

‘It’s my mistake. Please forgive me.’

‘No, it’s not you. It’s my fault. I don’t know what descends on me. Let’s take him to the hospital’

She had fought the Satan all her life, but never succeeded. He would be back at his wish and sit comfortably until wrecking some havoc each time he arrived. The doctors said nothing, for she was normal and they could never see what resided within. There was no cure for someone who was cursed. ‘Until the Satan had evoked another one, it wouldn’t leave’ the legend said.  

He looked at her in anger with red eyes. She looked back pouncing. They were becoming friends, inseparable for life – his Satan and hers!  

Do Not Lie...!

DO NOT LIE; IT’S EVIL – read the hoarding, bold and bright. She stood there looking at those words and wondered. All the instances when she had lied splashed and continued to remind her of the series of evil that she was faced with. She stood there for long staring at those words, though she wasn’t particularly seeing them. She was seeing through her life of miseries, sufferings and loss. None of the happy moments made their way. The priest noticed her among other people, who read through the words on long white walls as if they had come to a museum and walked off, laughing, confident that they had never said a lie and evil was only for others.

He approached her and said, ‘… there’s more to it. Evil is caused by the devil and the devil never dies. Satan and God are 2 faces of the same coin, so are true-lies.’

‘Is it not true that you preach about God, not talk of Satan?’

He smiled and looked into her eyes trying to read her fast moving eyeballs. They had endless questions, desperately looking for answers. He looked away and apologized for intruding her privacy and excused himself. She saw him approach other people who were in pain, wanting to be healed. They wanted answers, just like her, but the priest had nothing more to give her, unlike for others. She left from where she stood for the last few hours and waited in the long queue that had quickly formed. There was a mother of sick child, a widow who’d lost her husband in an accident, a father whose son was sacrificed for the nation, a young lad who feared to fail in the exam. She had none of their worries, but had questions. She waited anxiously for her turn as she heard the priest advice each one of them and cajole them. ‘God will help you. Good will prevail’ almost same words repetitively, yet each one waited to be told, personally by the priest. It was as if God himself spoke to them on his behalf.

When her turn came, the priest asked her to stand by and went on attending to the queued ones. It was until the noon when no more people were let in and gates were closed. She stood there by his side and he looked at her.

‘I saw you standing by the wall all by yourself as you asked questions and looked through deep inside for your answers. But when I tried to speak to you, you got distracted and left mid-way through before following the crowd. You see the doctor when you cannot heal yourself. Go back to yourself and continue to look through. You don’t need my advice…’

She smiled and nodded. ‘I still wanted to hear from you. I have lied many times, even when there was no need. What harm a white lie would do to anyone, I thought. Sometimes I didn’t even lie; I just held back the truth. Is it not all the same? I have walked a long way on this path and when I look back, it’s all lie that I never intended. Will I be able to get back on the path of honesty? Even if I do, what will happen to the past?’

‘Nothing happens to the past. It’s all already happened. I leave you with yourself. Excuse me’ and he again walked off.

She looked up at the big, bold words on the hoarding and made a promise. She took the coin out and flipped it and slid it in her purse and walked out.

‘It’s going to be this side of the coin, from now on’, she heard her say.