Amazon had announced a grand sale, A large number of buyers got busy placing online orders. Mr. & Mrs. Kadam were also contemplating placing an order for some furniture to avail large discounts.

“Let us order a new sofa set. The existing sofa set is totally out of fashion. Whenever my friends come to our house, they don’t forget to suggest I to change the sofa set before the next meeting. So we can shut their mouths once for all.” Mrs. Kadam put forward her point.

“I agree, the sofa set needs a change. But I think the fridge also warrants a replacement. Don’t you find the fridge insufficient for all the things to keep cool whenever some guests arrive? I think we should get a fridge of larger size. That seems to be a higher priority.” Mr.Satish Kadam put forth his idea.

“But to think of it, even the air conditioners in the bedrooms are not functioning properly. They also need to be changed over. We require split a.c. to cover both the rooms.” Mrs. Kadam pointed another item that needed immediate attention.

“I think we will not agree over the most needed thing in the house. So, I feel, we should not place any order for any single item. Instead, we will postpone our purchases till the next sale. And,  two of us should take a trip to a nearby destination, for 4-5 days.   Andaman islands would be the right place to visit. We can talk to different Travellers.

We have not taken a trip for very long. Better we choose some destination to relax and recharge ourselves.”

“Yes. This is a good idea. We will buy the furniture at the next sale. That means we will not buy anything this season. We will enjoy our vacation at some unexplored place maybe a beach like Nivati, where very few people go.”

Finally, concluding that they would neither buy any piece of furniture nor would go to someplace to relax this season, but postpone the action till the end of the year, Mr. and Mrs. Kadam went off to sleep.

Later, the big advertisements of the sale were tempting the Kadam couple to buy something that was playing in their mind. But they refrained from it. Controlled themselves and did not order anything, postponing their urge for buying something new.

After a week, they received a packet from Amazon, when the actual sale had created a lot of commotion in the public. Curiously, Mrs. Kadam opened the packet. She was surprised to see two tickets for a grand tour to the Andaman islands. Delighted, she wondered who had sent the tickets when she did not find the sender’s name on the parcel. Extremely happy to see the tickets, she discussed the matter with Mr.Kadam. They considered all the possibilities of who could have turned empathetic and presented them the tickets about which they were planning for the last year.

“Could it be Nilesh, your friend from Pune with whom we had discussed going outstation?” Mrs. Kadam guessed.

“No. I don’t think it is Nilesh. Do you remember how angry he was when we did not agree with him on any destination while planning to go out together? Finally, he swore not to think about any picnic with us anymore. I don’t think he would surprise us with a picnic so soon.” Mr.Kadam ruled out that possibility.

“In that case, it could be my friend Nilima. She wanted to show off to our friends that whenever she gives any gift, it is never a small, low-cost thing. This gift would give her a chance to boast about her magnanimous gesture on several occasions. My God. Now I will have to keep appreciating her gesture again and again in our every meeting.”

” No. I feel strongly that this must be action from Ramesh. During our last get-together, when he got high after repeat pegs of rum, he remembered his losing a bet with me that was taken some 2-3 years ago. Started saying, “Satish, I have to give you some gift which you will remember for a long.”

Over this, I had said, “Ramesh, this you are saying because you are high, under the influence of liquor. You are in heaven now. Tomorrow morning when you come down to earth, tell me the same thing. The bet that you have forgotten for the last two years, I don’t think you will remember it after you become normal”

My saying this, hurt him very much. Later, every half an hour he was telling me, “Satish, I have not forgotten the bet. Tell me what you want as an unforgettable gift.”

To tease him further, I said, “Ok. Give me two tickets for a tour to Andaman island.” To this he replied, “Done. Satish, you will receive tickets for two for a trip to Andaman”.

Maybe, this time, he has truly remembered his bet even after he became normal. So, this must be the memorable gift from Ramesh.” Mr.Satish Kadam reiterated his idea about the generous person.

“Satish, I feel this gift is from Mrs.Gore. A few days ago, Mrs.Gore had announced that her brother had started a traveling agency. This must be a promotional freebie of that endeavor.”

Not coming to any conclusive decision over the person who could have gifted them this wonderful present, they decided to forget about the generous person and get ready to enjoy the cherished dream.

Planned their clothing for the entire week, packed the suitcases, and prepared to board the plane direct to Andaman. On the day of departure, they got ready, ensured that all the cupboards, windows, and doors were locked properly, the car was kept inside the garage which was also locked carefully. Satish called the Uber services and the Kadam couple was on their way to Andaman.

And after a week, when the Kadam couple returned to Mumbai carrying many unforgettable memories with them, they reached home in the late evening at around 8. Their independent bungalow looked very attractive to them.

Mr.Kadam took out the keys and tried to open the door. Satish came to know the lock was broken.

Satish had goosebumps. He opened the door and entered the house.

Satish was shocked to see his house ransacked. 

The frame of the 60″ TV was without the TV.  He went into the kitchen. And the fridge was not in its place. Mrs. Kadam entered the bedroom. Both the cupboards were broken-opened.  Almost empty. She looked up and found even the air-conditioners too were absent. She rushed into the other bedroom. The air-conditioner there too was not in its position.

To the mirror, a note was attached,” At least now, can you guess  who had sent the tickets for Andaman?”

Kadam couple totally depressed, sat on their suitcases inside their own house.

SPORADIC DIALOGUES words 1904

“Can you pass me my mobile please?” Sudha Tai asked her son, Suresh. Sudha Tai Pradhan had just got up from her bed and forgotten her mobile on the table, next to her bed. She was now preparing tea for herself and her husband. The old couple always got up at 6 a.m. Just after finishing brushing and morning duties, Sudha Tai usually had a look at her WhatsApp account. To answer her messages received during the night after she retired to bed the previous night and before she had her morning tea at the dining table, Sudha Tai would have a cursory glance at her WhatsApp account while making tea. Mentally, getting ready to reply to every message, as soon as she finished her tea, she would get lost in the most important task of the day. Good morning messages had to be responded with an emoji of thumbs Up or folded hands. Any news item about the members of her friend circle who were not on the WhatsApp group had to be noted down carefully. Any song item had to be responded to with comments such as ‘Too Good’, ‘very nice, “melodious” etc. Luckily for Sudha Tai, the group had banned political comments and no political comments were circulating in her group.

After finishing the most urgently needed actions for the day, Sudha  Tai would look into other routines, not so important matters of the kitchen such as breakfast, planning lunch, etc. While performing any of these activities, the mobile had to be within the reach of her hand so that any phone call from the very important person such as Mrs. Salvi, Mrs. Ranganathan, Mrs. Malhotra, Mrs. Ghosh, Mrs. Shaikh, etc. can be attended to immediately. Sudha Tai used to make it a point that she would pick up the call before the third ring started. And sometimes such conversations used to get extended into tens of minutes, even beyond half an hour discussing paramount issues. Sometimes, the dish cooking on the fire would get burnt and the Pradhan family had to suffer the effects of the misbehavior of the new daughter-in-law in the Malhotra family.

Mr. Pradhan’s attachment to the phone was no less. He used to discuss ongoing cricket matches for hours with his friends. If cricket was out of season, other sports such as tennis, hockey, or even film songs, etc. were the topics to continue long sessions.

Suresh, typical of his teenage, was stuck to mobile throughout the day. In the mornings he was attending online classes. Afternoons were reserved for online sessions of college. And in the evenings, he was hooked up to friends. Late evenings were only for special friends.

Thus mobile was the most important factor of Pradhan’s family as was the case with most of the nuclear families.

And one day, the entire network went out of operation.

“Oh my God! What a calamity! How will we live through the day? ” Mrs. Pradhan, Sudha Tai expressed her anguish. All the members of the Pradhan family were extremely upset. They all were disconsolate as if some family member had expired. 

After the isolation for solid 24 hours, there were some symptoms of the network getting restored.

In the morning, Sudha Tai received a call.

” Sudha, I was trying to contact you since yesterday. But was not getting your connection. Do you know, Malhotra’s daughter Rashmin…..”

and there was a break. After a pause, the phone continued, ” with Ghosh’s son Arup.” Again the voice was cut off.

”Hello. Hello. ” Sudha Tai was trying to get the connection. She was upset that important news was interrupted. But her repeated ‘hello’ did not help to get the line connected. “How the hell the world will survive if the network fails like this?” Sudha Tai was wondering.

“If I try to club the two half sentences, Rashmin has run away with Arup, Ghosh Didi’s son. That is startling news. But this wretched network deprived me of that thrill of discussing over the matter and its after-effects.”

Sudha Tai saw Suresh coming near the dining table.

“Do you know Suresh? Rashmin has run away with Arup just a couple of days ago?”

“How do you know?”

“Mrs. Ranganathan told me just now. She has been trying since yesterday. But this rotten network! That played the villain.”

“Impossible. Arup is already hooked up to another girl in his class. He can not run away with Rashmin. “

“Arre, Mrs. Ranganathan told me. She never spreads rumors.”

“But Aai, Rashmin is also in a relationship with Vinayak who stays in Galaxy building just across the road. Rashmin and Arup don’t even talk to each other. Some unrealistic information you get and you immediately believe it.”

“Suresh, how do you know these matters?”

“This has been going on since the college opened last year. That means this is happening for the last one year.”

“Last one year? And you are telling me now?”

“Then what? Do you think I should have given the news to this broadcasting station?”

“You call me broadcasting station? Don’t you think I have to warn the unsuspecting parents about these extra-curricular activities of their wards? Anyway, it is never too late. Let me tell Mrs.Malhotra about Rashmin.”

“But just now you said Rashmin has already fled with Arup. Then what warning are you giving?”

“Actually, I don’t believe Mrs. Ranganathan. Her news must be wrong. I trust you more than her. I will check up with Mrs.Salvi first. I will tell my news to her.”

“What nonsense, Aai, I told you what I knew. You don’t have to broadcast it immediately.”

Sudha Tai wanted to talk to Mrs.Salvi immediately. She started dialing but the network refused to respond. “Oh! This network.”

Suresh had a sigh of relief but Sudha Tai was extremely impatient to talk to her friends over two contradicting news items. She was sad that such great information she could not relay on a network of her friends’ circle.

***

Here Mrs. Mehta was tired of waiting for the response from her  friends

after dialing their numbers. Suddenly, the phone rang. Delighted Mrs. Mehta immediately picked up the phone. Before she could say hello, the other person spoke.” I was shocked to see Mrs.Khanna without the layers of make-up. My God! So horrible.” And the line got disconnected. It was as if the network had started only to spread the news how Mrs. Khanna looked in her natural self. It was a nice item to talk about but the news provider’s identity was not known. Ignoring this aspect, Mrs. Mehta was waiting for the network to start. And lucky Mrs.Mehta got connected to her friend Mrs. Nene. Dreading the disconnection again, Mrs. Mehta used the trick of the previous phone call. Without wasting even a second on non-informative talk, she started reeling off.

 “Mrs. Khanna is horrible looking before her daily makeup!  My grandchild got so scared of her that it did not stop crying for nearly an hour.”

“Oh my God! I had always some doubts about her beautiful skin. But that lady must be taking care that before everyone is up, out of bed her skin make-up would find a place on her face. I don’t think anyone has ever seen her without makeup.” Mrs. Nene.

“Ok, Nene. I have to talk to our other friends. I will call you later.” Mrs.Mehta disconnected and got busy dialing other friends passing on the news of Mrs.Khanna’s looks without make-up.

***

Sanjeev was getting ready to leave for his office. He told his wife Renuka to answer the phone if he was not near the phone. He was also fed up with the bad network for the last two days. He was waiting for a confirmatory call from his colleague, Namrata about their meeting near Regal Cinema to proceed further to keep the appointment with their client in Colaba Causeway. After working from home for nearly one and a half years, first time, they were having an in-person meeting with the customer. They both were coming straight from their houses and they decided to meet at Regal Cinema where Sanjeev would pick up Namrata at 3:30.

Namrata could not get a connexion to talk to Sanjeev for quite some time. When she got connected, Sanjeev was in the bath. As per his instruction, Renuka picked up the phone. “The True Caller” app identified the caller as Namrata. Renuka got curious. She received the call. A few muffled words followed by “at the Regal Cinema”. and after a break for few seconds, “at sharp 3:30.” Before Renuka could say something, the call got disconnected.

Renuka was lost in thoughts. ‘Sanjeev would be meeting Namrata at Regal and they want to see 3:30 show. My God! He was pretending to say he had an important meeting in the afternoon. So this was “The important meeting.” How is it possible? Why would he cheat me?’ Sanjeev came out of the bath ready to have breakfast. While serving breakfast, Renuka did not utter a single word. Sanjeev sensed Renuka was upset. She opened her laptop and acted as if she was thinking over her office matters.

“Any serious matter?” Sanjeev asked.

“Yes. Very serious. Breach of trust.”

“Who breached the trust? And whose trust? Renuka, in business, not everyone follows ethics. You will find some people who stick to ethics. But many don’t have moral values. One has to be careful while negotiating deals.” Sanjeev tried to pacify her. “The lawyers  of your company should take care of such matters.”

“But how the deals can be negotiated in a cinema hall?” Renuka wondered.

In the evening Sanjeev reached home at 5:30. Renuka was surprised to see him that early. “Did you not get the tickets?” she asked.

“What tickets?”

“Cinema tickets. At Regal theatre.”

“Who had gone for cinema?”

“You with Namrata. You were to meet her at the theatre at 3:30.”

“Oh, that was the reason madam was upset in the morning. Renuka, our meeting place was The Regal Theatre. But not to go for the movie. Our client’s office was just two buildings away from Regal Theatre. We met the client and grabbed the deal for two crores. The meeting got over quickly. So returned early. And you thought, I met Namrata to see the movie with her.

Great extrapolation. Cinema theatre, meeting time. And Namrata.“ Satish clapped. “Wonderful imagination. Yesterday, the entire day network was down. And today also it was very short-lived. So Namrata when got a connection, wanted to confirm our meeting before the network went down. So quickly she communicated the confirmation without wasting time. And the network did fail soon after her sentence was over. Namrata told me that she had called and without confirming who was at the other end, she just confirmed the meeting.  

So the debate on breach of trust had this reference. Oh my God!

The unreliability of the network has whipped up the web of suspicion.“

“I am sorry, Sanjeev. Now, please stop making fun of me.” Renuka was embarrassed at her stupidity.

The next day, the internet network got into the proper groove and all the communication services were restored. All telephone services turned reliable, the internet services worked uninterrupted and all the members of social media had their mobiles at their disposal without any break.

THE SUPERSTAR

Satish was a prompter at the Chitralekha Drama Company. Apart from carrying out many sundry tasks at the time of the show, Satish was in demand by many actors as a prompter. His alert and swift prompts were appreciated by famous, very popular actors.

But today Satish was a little despondent. His most favorite actor Abhijeet was coming on the stage for the last time in the role of Mr. Kadam, the protagonist of the drama, “Kartavya”. Abhijeet had announced that after performing 500 shows in this role, he wanted to give up this portrayal. Abhijeet had wished that some other actor should present this role in his perspective and should take this wonderful character to a different height. Satish was so much tuned to Abhijeet’s movement on the stage that any sign of missing out some words and he would pick up quickly and would prompt the further dialogue. Abhijeet was very happy with Satish and he was very much assured that he would not be let down in any eventuality.

Satish remembered the days when Abhijeet started performing this role on stage.

When the role was ready, he committed it to memory, not simply the lines and moves and the gestures but every little detail of what his muscles went through in creating those emotions. Then it was simply a question of recreating that physical pattern in performance, with technical finesse, every time. As a result, the act of performing was never an emotionally or intellectually tiring one, nor did he have to rely on “inspiration”. He always thought that an actor was a philosopher-athlete—an athlete because he worked with his body; a philosopher because he had to think deeply and had to use his body to say something. Abhijeet was in fact a cerebral actor.

The ticket counters always displayed a “HOUSEFUL” board in a very short time of opening of the box office. People crowded literally to shake hands with him. There was euphoria, craze, and adulation for him.  Abhijeet was on top of the world. 

When this drama was a big hit, different people gave credit to different actors of the play. But slowly, it was evident that it was Abhijeet who was the crowd puller.

Sometimes, even two shows in a single day were performed to the packed houses. Abhijeet used to enact without getting tired physically or emotionally. He was such an actor.

After  500 shows, he wanted to quit this role. The producer of the drama was unwilling to replace Abhijeet with any other actor. He was not sure if any other actor can

substitute Abhijeet effectively.

Abhijeet made the audience laugh with him as well as cry with him swaying on the swing of the destiny of the protagonist as depicted by the author.

Satish thought, Abhijeet was the savior for every employee of the Chitralekha Drama Company. Abhijeet stood strongly behind everyone in their difficult days. He always used to express his gratitude towards even the smallest artisan.

After two hundred performances, when the drama was still the crowd puller and the “HouseFull” board was still being displayed for every show, some of the other companies, could not tolerate the grand success of Abhijeet’s drama. Once they planted their people in the audience. When the show was in full grip, one person from the front seat, got up. “O Abhijeet, you are not in your senses. You are saying some irrelevant dialogues. Go home and mug up your dialogues and after that only come on the stage. You can not insult our holy stage.”

Abhijeet was stunned. Satish too was shocked. Then another person from the rear seats shouted at the top of his voice. ”Yes. We will not tolerate this nonsense. Abhijeet, you get away from the stage.  Pull the curtains down.”

Abhijeet held his wits. He said, “I know. I am not saying anything wrong. If the respected person finds it disturbing, he should go to the booking counter. He will be refunded the ticket amount. Please, all those who think what I am delivering, is not the right dialogue, please go to the booking counter to collect their booking amount. But please do not disturb the performers and also the rest of the audience.”

5-6 persons got up and left the auditorium. Then one from the audience got up and said, ”We are sorry Abhijeet. I am seeing this drama for 5^th time. And there is nothing wrong with your wonderful delivery. These must be the persons planted by some other drama group. They wanted to disrupt the show. Please pardon us and continue the show.”

“Thank you, sir. We will resume in a moment.” Abhijeet said and within a moment he carried on with the drama.

Satish as a prompter was completely confused. But the way Abhijeet handled the situation, he was overwhelmed. After the show was over a large number of persons entered the wings and apologized to Abhijeet for this unexpected happening. And the entire episode ended without any adverse impact due to Abhijeet’s excellent handling of the situation.

Then onwards, every show passed off without any untoward incident.

With such a background, Abhijeet had become an integral part of this drama.

After 450 shows were over, Abhijeet started contemplating relinquishing his role. He spoke out his feelings to Satish first. Shocked, Satish vehemently disapproved of his idea. In a choked voice he said,” No Abhijeet, please do not think on these lines. There are thousands who will be broken-hearted if you do this. In my case, I will not be able to perform my job anymore without you on the stage,”

“No, Satish. I do not want to hurt anyone. I will never be happy if you get upset. But please understand me. I enacted Mr. Kadam for nearly 500 shows. All of you and even the unknown audience loved me so much. But now, I feel some other actor should depict Kadam from his perspective. This will give the audience a chance to see the character of Mr. Kadam interpreted differently.”

“I do not understand those things. But please, give up this idea. Many like me can not imagine Mr. Kadam of Kartavya without you, Abhijeet.”

“Okay, I will reconsider my idea of giving up the role,” Abhijeet said to pacify Satish.

But there was no sign that Abhijeet had changed his decision. And the show for 500^th performance was announced. The day was approaching very fast.

Satish realized that that day would see the last performance of legendary Abhijeet. Satish became emotional. He was not sure whether he would be able to perform his duty properly that day.

Before the beginning of the show, the announcer declared that that would be the last performance by Mr.Abhijeet as Mr.Kadam in this drama. As soon as the announcement was over, there was an uneasy whisper among the audience. At the start of the drama, there was a pin drop silence. When Abhijeet entered the stage, there was big applause. Abhijeet expressed his gratitude by bowing. A standing ovation was given to Abhijeet even before the drama started. After some time Abhijeet started with his dialogue. Silence prevailed in the entire auditorium. The mesmerizing delivery of dialogue hypnotized the entire audience.

After one and half an hour, the interval was announced. The curtains came down. But a few from the audience came on the stage and they wanted to say a few words. The hall management obliged.

One person took charge of the microphone.

“The announcement of Mr. Abhijeet withdrawing from this drama is very shocking. The character Mr.Kadam of this drama is superbly painted by the great author Mr. Pandit. But that character was etched in our, we audiences’ hearts by Mr. Abhijeet. I have come to see this drama 11^th time just to get soaked by the wonderful dialogue delivery by Abhijeet. There are many more in the audience who would be visiting this drama just to enjoy Abhijeet’s acting. But we are saddened that this is going to be the last Kadam performed by Mr. Abhijeet.  This is unacceptable to all of us. We request the producers that they should not allow Mr. Abhijeet to leave this role, That will be an injustice to thousands of drama lovers.

On behalf of thousands of drama lovers, we want a promise from Mr. Abhijeet and the producer Mr. Kaldate that Mr. Abhijeet would continue to act as Mr. Kadam of this wonderful drama. A substitute for Abhijeet may be available. But we just can not imagine Mr. Kadam of this drama, “Kartavya” without Abhijeet. We want Abhijeet only to see in the role of Mr. Kadam.

I would like to announce here that unless we get such a promise from Abhijeet and Kaldate, we will not allow this drama to move further. No Abhijeet No Kartavya.”

He kept down the microphone. There was big applause.

Then Mr. Kaldate took charge of the microphone.

“We also did not want Abhijeet to stop working on this role. But he was adamant. Now, he has to agree to public demand. Mr. Abhijeet, please come out and tell your decision to this respectable gathering.”

Abhijeet came out on the stage and took over the mike.

“My idea of quitting the role of Mr. Kadam was to give chance to another actor to present Mr. Kadam from his perspective.”

“No. No. As long as Abhijeet is on this earth, we want Mr. Kadam to be played by Abhijeet only.”

“Ok. I want to honor the wish of a respectable audience. I will continue with the role of Kadam.”

The applause was louder and longer-lasting.

Then the audience took their seats and the drama KARTAVYA continued. Abhijeet delivered the dialogues with his usual intensity, the audience was getting drenched in the emotions of the drama.

Satish was extremely happy. He was elated that his favorite actor would continue to perform the role of Mr. Kadam in this great drama, Kartavya.

When the show was over, Satish handed over a rose to Abhijeet. With teary eyes, he said, “Thank you so much.” Abhijeet received the flower, placed it in the pocket of his shirt, and embraced him only to dampen Satish’s shoulder with the flood of tears.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!   – 1219 words

Satish landed in Logan Airport, Boston early morning. Hiring a cab, he reached the Hotel Boston International. At the reception, he displayed his invitation card for the International Convention. With utmost politeness, he was taken to the 17^th floor where he was allotted a room. After freshening up, he found out the venue for the convention. It was to be inaugurated in the evening at 6.

Satish, the recognized scientist in the area of the effect of music on the environment and the living species, & winner of a few prestigious awards, was invited to present his views on the coming new year.

At 6 in the evening, the ace scientists from various fields gathered at the convention hall. Everyone had donned a mask. After the formal inauguration, each of the extraordinary scientists expressed his vision for the coming year from the perspective of his research plan.

Prof. Gordon from Cambridge University, London spoke about how the launching of the James Web Space Telescope had enabled humanity to peep much deeper into space. He also said how it would help mankind to know more about the birth of our universe. Dr. Smith, the acknowledged scientist of quantum physics, from Boston University, U.S.A. stated that the secret of entanglement of molecules was getting revealed. He further added that soon it will be a reality for the human being to move in space at a speed exceeding the speed of light. Dr. Mehta a scientist from Concordia University, Montreal, Canada presented his paper on nanotechnology increasing the efficiency of energy consumption. Dr.Yamanaka, Tokyo University, Japan talked about the development of superconducting magnets which would ease the production of rails for maglev trains. Prof. Satish Chowdhary, from the University of Pune, India presented his successful experiments on living beings as well as on the environment, the effects of various instruments & vocal music playing different Ragas. Dr. Natasha Tito from Moscow University spoke on her study on human Genomes.

For about three hours, various scientists made presentations on different topics on which they had worked and would have significant development in that field in the year 2022.

Before the concluding speech was delivered, an elderly person with a grey, long beard, got up. He spoke out loudly, “Can I put forth my ideas?”.

Immediately the convenor came forward. With a lot of respect, he said,

“Surely Professor, Karmarkar. We will be honoured if you say a few words.”

When the name Prof, Karmarkar was mentioned, everyone was all ears. A veteran, with a Noble prize and an Order of Merit award in his kitty, was one of the most respected personalities in the scientific world. A young scientist came forward and gave him his hand to climb to the dais. Prof. Karmarkar took the mike in hand and started,

“I was very delighted to hear about the great achievements by different scientists in various fields. Congratulations to all of them.

But is it not melancholic that we had to get together with our masks on?  Since 2020 the pandemic Covid-19 is sitting on our necks strangulating humans. It has been two years that our movements are restricted over the entire world. The death toll has touched  horrifying figures. With its strong clutches, the Covid-19 killed innumerable human beings. Our scientific world worked very hard and succeeded in getting a vaccine for Covid-19. Before we could heave a sigh of relief, it entered our world in a different format. We termed it as Omicron. And it started spreading at a much faster speed. Though its impact is not that severe today, the spread is so wide and so quick that a slight variation or a little mutation of this virus can again cause disaster all over the world. Today, we are a bit relaxed thinking the impact of Omicron is mild. But we cannot guess what modification in the virus can suddenly make the situation, horrendous.

Today, we heard how we have succeeded in looking deeper into space. We have made maglev transport cheaper and faster. Nanotechnology has made production methods cheaper. The advances in quantum physics have opened up doors for our inter-stellar movement. Also, we have learned the effect of music on the environment which will help us protect our environment from further deterioration.    

All these things will certainly help humanity.

But will not we be able to benefit from all these only if we are alive?

We are surely making progress, but some other forces are acting to eliminate humanity from the earth. What about it?

There is a popular saying in India meaning one can have fifty hats if the head is safe.

In 2020, when we were caught unawares, we lost human beings not just in hundreds, thousands but in millions. We could not do anything, but keep counting the number of deaths.  It took nearly a year before the finding of a vaccine was announced. This awful situation we had to go through because we were facing an enemy about whom we knew nothing. Human intelligence won over the tactics of the enemy after a year.

We could protect ourselves against Covid-19. But before our steps could be effective, Covid-19 had made his entry deep inside of our society. And when we felt that we had won over it, it reappeared in a different form spreading rapidly. Due to our vaccination drive for Covid-19, the new virus, Omicron could not have a fatal effect on its victims even if it had a sizeable entry, The effect was mild. But the quick spread of omicron  is again a matter of concern. Its just existence is a possible threat of a new terrible pandemic. The latest information is that a new variant of virus has already emerged with the combination of properties from the Delta Virus and the Omicron virus. It is termed as Delmicron. It appears that the killer virus is all set to eliminate humanity from the globe with the fast-spreading property of Omicron and the killer strength of the Delta variant.

So it becomes extremely necessary that the entire world gets together and with the united efforts try to eradicate Corona from the earth. Its trace in any part of the world, in any form, will be hazardous to the entire humanity.

We have eradicated polio, smallpox, etc. It does not exist in any part of the world. Now we are safe from these deadly diseases. The same way, we have to get rid of Delmicron.

This will ensure the rest of our lives, secured and safe. Then only we will get a moral right to wish a happy new year 2022 to each other.

The year 2022 still hangs in the balance. We, the entire world should come together to win over the situation. This is possible only if all the research laboratories, the world over,  concentrate and work only in the direction against Corona-19.

By committing to this single goal, we can earn the moral right to wish everyone else “A Happy New Year 2022”.

We all will wish Happy 2022 to all the residents of the earth by committing to a solitary program “ COMPLETE ERADICATION OF COVID FROM EARTH”.

The entire gathering called out in unison,

“HAPPY NEW YEAR 2022 to all the residents of earth.”

“Baba, we all are going to Nivati Beach holidaying for a week. I have booked a Bungalow on the sea-shore. Let us get ready for that outing next week.” Satish told his father Gangadhar Pant.

“Oh! Great! Let us plan our activity for the entire week. Yamuna will be happy to hear this. Have you and Vidya got your leave sanctioned?”

“Yes Baba, after Vidya’s leave was approved only we planned the venue and booked a bungalow in Nivati,” Satish said.

“How far is it? How do we reach there?” Gangadhar Pant asked.

“It is in the district Sindhudurga, near Sawantwadi. We will drive down. It will take 10 hours from here. We will start at 6 in the morning. Will break at Mahad. Take our lunch. Relax for an additional half an hour. Then continue. We will reach there by 5-30.”

“Are you listening Yamuna? Next week we are going to Nivati holidaying for 8 days.”

“So nice! I am ready any moment.” Yamuna Bai answered from the kitchen.

Along with the two teen-aged children, every one of the family was highly excited. They all started their planning for the entire week.

But in the night, Gangadhar Pant was a little upset. Yamuna Bai checked up with him at the time of going to bed.

“What is the matter? Why is all your enthusiasm dried up?”

“No Yamuna, I am a little unhappy over our trip. I am feeling again and again that we should change the time of our trip. This period is not the appropriate time for our holiday. Or we should change the venue.” Gangadhar Pant said. 

“When everything is finalized, why are you putting spoke in the wheel? Nothing doing. We are going to Nivati.” Yamuna Bai ascertained.

“I am repeatedly feeling that there will be some problem during our stay there.”

“What problem?”

“Something will happen and we will be only confined to our house there. “

“What  makes you think like that?”

“No particular reason. But I am feeling that. My intuition is prompting me to stop the trip to Nivati” Gangadhar Pant said.

“This is your negative thinking. Forget about it.”

“Ok.” Gangadhar Pant said and went off to sleep.

The next day, again Gangadhar Pant was uneasy. He opened the topic with his son, Satish.

“Satish, I suggest, we should not go on holiday next week to Nivati.”

“Why Baba, what happened? Why do you think that way?” Vidya asked Gangadhar Pant.

“Nothing in particular. But I feel we should not go there.”

“But why? After giving a lot of consideration, we have come to conclusion that Nivati is the most suitable destination for us. It is not far away. Also, it is not a very popular spot. The number of tourists is minimal there. So, we will not have any problem with big crowds. We will get solitude and will be able to enjoy the clean beach. Moreover, our children can enjoy the water-sports such as scuba diving to their content, They can see various fish and go deep enough to see the corals, etc. Plus, they can enjoy the thrills of surfing too. The children will enjoy the trip most.”  Satish explained.

Gangadhar Pant slightly got positive about the trip.

“And also Baba, do you know, in winter, this is a home for many migratory birds. The sandpiper, a small bird, like our mynas, comes here to avoid the severe winter in the northern hemisphere. We can see them in hundreds on the serene beach in the early hours prior to sunrise. Before the beach gets disturbed by human activity, the birds come down on the shore to pick up worms. There are many instances of them flocking very close to solitary morning walkers on the beach. “ Vidya added her point.

Gangadhar Pant got inclined more towards going to Nivati as scheduled.

“The fog on the horizon gives a heartening view of sun rays penetrating the thick mist and illuminating the tranquil sea. Plus walking barefooted on the sand that has come fresh on the shore from the deep down ocean during the high tide gives a heavenly feeling.” Satish painted a colourful picture.

Gangadhar Pant almost agreed to the plan.

“Yes, all of this sounds extremely good. I am also inspired to go to Nivati. But somehow, my subconscious mind tells me not to proceed towards Nivati Beach. I don’t have any explanation. But my inner self is telling a big NO to this trip.

This NO is not only for me but for the complete plan.

So please, let us go out somewhere else. If that does not make you happy, we will go to Nivati some other time, but not now.” Gangadhar Pant pleaded.

 “Satish, can we change the dates? “ Vidya said. After a pause, she continued, “If Baba is so much decided on it, we will cancel our trip. We will go sometime later.”

“Thank you, Satish and Vidya. I don’t know why, but my subliminal mind is totally against this trip. We will plan our trip some other place at some other time.”

Eight days passed very quickly. And they saw flash news on TV.

“A sudden local cyclone which lasted for just half an hour has wreaked havoc near the Beach of Nivati.

The unanticipated gust of winds of the speed of 120 kmph to 150 kmph, appearing almost like a twister, hit the beach of Nivati early in the morning. This unexpected blast of winds caused windthrow to many coconut trees which are known to withstand high-speed winds. A large number of houses got severely damaged. The glass panes of the windows of the houses were shattered. Many rooftops of the fishermen’s houses, were blown off. A large number of persons were missing.

The rescue operation has started and clearing of the debris is bringing out many a dead body. The daily routine of the town is totally upset. The gloomy atmosphere is prevailing in the entire area.”

Listening to the news, Satish and his entire family were extremely upset. They heaved a sigh of relief. “If we were there at this difficult time, we would have got troubled. Don’t know what all we would have  suffered.” Satish thought. “Sometimes, is it not better to believe intuition than all the options got through the reasoning?”

AMBASSADOR

Satish was in high spirits when he received his letter for his first posting in Kenya as an Indian ambassador. He had passed out his Indian Foreign Services examination with a good ranking.

After getting down from an Air India plane in Nairobi, he was escorted to a nice bungalow in the posh area of the city. He was introduced to Jim, a stout young man who would look after him.

After dinner, Satish entered the bedroom. A well-appointed room was having all the facilities one would need. Tired after the long flight, he threw himself on the bed and within few minutes he was asleep.

At around 12:30 Satish was awakened by the barking of several dogs. He got up and drew the curtains of the window. He saw some 10-12 dogs barking relentlessly looking at the small procession of some 10-12 men carrying a coffin. But in the dim light on the street, Satish saw all the men in the procession, well dressed but without a head. He was frightened. All the marchers moving in unison appeared like dead bodies without a head. The procession passed by his window. When it went out of sight, the dogs stopped barking. Satish came back on the bed and tried to sleep. But the march was not going out of memory. After trying for some time, Satish could sleep. He got up late. The attendant was at his beck and call.

While having breakfast, he just casually asked the attendant, “Jim, did you see on the road any procession last  night?”

“No. I was fast asleep.”

“So many dogs started barking together which woke me up. And I saw some weird people carrying a coffin.”

“I did not hear anything from our staff also. May be sir, you saw a dream.”

Satish saw the attendant brushing off his experience. So he did not say anything further.

At 11 in the morning, Satish joined his duties. He was introduced to the staff and he got busy with important office matters.

Satish forgot about the dream. Days after weeks passed and quickly it was nearly a year that Satish was in Kenya.

One day he received a letter from Delhi, appreciating his work in Kenya and asking him to hand over his charge to the new Ambassador and taking charge of the embassy in Qatar.

In a couple of months, Satish was in the office of the Indian Embassy in Qatar,

He was given a well-furnished flat in a high rising building on the busiest street.

Satish found the flat was designed very well and the assistance for him in the flat was courteous.

After dinner, Satish threw himself on the bed and was asleep in few minutes.

At around 12:30 loud barking of dogs woke him up. He woke up and looked out of the window. A procession of 10-12 persons in Arab attire was carrying a coffin. Satish noticed that all those men were without a head. He remembered the procession in Kenya. He had goosebumps. After some time, the procession went out of sight. The dog’s barking mellowed out. Satish drew the curtains and got on the bed.

The next day, at breakfast, Satish enquired with the attendant about the procession last light. He denied having noticed anything like a procession carrying a coffin. Satish was shocked.

After breakfast, Satish went to his office, got involved in office matters and forgot about the incident in the night.

After a successful tenure in Qatar, Satish had to take charge of the embassy in Trinidad and Tobago.

Satish landed in Port of Spain and went straight to his allotted bungalow on  Embassy Street in the isolated area. A nice cozy house with well-furnished rooms, facing the dense forest. Satish was impressed. He made himself comfortable. After a nice spicy dinner, Satish took charge of the bedroom. Tired of traveling, he went off to sleep quickly.

At around midnight Satish was woken up by the sounds of cutting of a tree by an ax. He was surprised to notice someone doing such heavy work in those hours of the night. He opened the window. He found 2-3 persons cutting the full-grown tree with the ax. He was shocked to see them headless. Then one person picked up one large log of bark on his back and carrying it passed by very close to the window. Satish confirmed he was without a head. The person went behind his bungalow and dropped that piece of bark with a big thud. Satish noticed that all the people cutting the tree had left the site. Nobody was to be seen. Satish did not dare to go into the backyard and look for the big piece of wood which was dumped with a big noise. He closed the window and laid on the bed wondering why these headless persons were following him whichever part of the world he was posted. That too just for the first night of taking the charge of posting. But from the distant procession carrying a dead body, the site of their showing up was coming closer. In Trinidad, the headless person came close to his window. But nothing further. He was confused. Tired that he was, he slept sound and was woken up by the attendant when the sun was shining brightly. During the ten months of stay in Port of Spain, there was no trace of headless persons.

Satish had to shift to Paris as the Ambassador of India to France.

Satish was allotted a well-furnished, superbly decorated flat on the 30^th floor. Satish remembered the first night the headless persons would make their presence felt. He wondered how would they appear here in this very crowded place. He took the key to the flat and proceeded towards the elevator. His luggage had already reached his flat. He pressed the button to call the elevator. The elevator reached and the door was automatically opened. Satish stepped in. The elevator man pressed the number 30 without Satish saying anything. Satish was surprised. He thought the liftman was informed about his stay by the reception personnel. On the 30^th floor, the lift stopped with a tinkle to draw attention. Satish stepped out of the elevator and while coming out he looked at the liftman. Satish was horrified. The liftman was headless. Before he could react, the elevator door closed and it went down. Satish tried to call the elevator back to his floor but failed, Suddenly he heard a very big bang. The elevator had crashed. Some security personnel came and checked up on Satish’s safety. They heaved a sigh of relief to find him unhurt.

The next day the detailed news reached Satish. After the crash, no trace of anybody in the lift was discovered.

Satish was stunned and shocked. Nearly a year passed and he received an intimation of him being transferred to Mauritius.

When Satish landed in Port of Luis, the capital of Mauritius, there was a long queue for immigration. In the queue, just behind him, a person was trying to draw his attention. Satish looked at him. He handed over a small note to Satish. Satish took that in his hand and tried to read it. When he looked up to find something more, the person was going away hurriedly. Satish read the message.

“Dear Satish.

You may be wondering why a family of weird persons is following you everywhere you go. Read this carefully.

“A gang of a large number of persons in our country is trying to uproot one ideology. They are acting by killing wonderful persons from our embassies who do not follow their ideology. They have killed more than 25 intelligent and dedicated persons during the last 15-20 years. The matter is hushed up by taking advantage of being away from our country. Please take care of yourself. You may be on their list. We do not want any more headless people in our family. Beware.”

Satish folded the chit and put it in the pocket.

Satish noticed some person with a revolver aiming at him. He swiftly dodged the bullet and attacked the person who fired at him. Holding him with both hands, Satish handed over the culprit to the police.

After all the formalities, Satish went to his room in the allotted bungalow. He called the Delhi office and narrated the entire incident. Within an hour a personal security guard joined Satish.

Soon the gang behind the conspiracy was nabbed.

Satish did not face the warning alarms by the headless persons anymore.