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Teachings of Lord Pricky

Hey guys, I am back again. What? You don’t remember me? How can you forget a cute little creature like me? I am Pricky, the cactus. Its been almost a year since my last gyan and I am excited to see that you all are still alive. To be honest, I am excited for everything. It is in my soul. If you would spell out the word P-R-I-C-K-Y, you would hear E-X-C-I-T-E-M-E-N-T. But it looks like your mantras like ‘Go Corona, Corona Go’ are working, or is it my lecture about hope that is keeping you alive?

Anyways, since you are alive let’s talk some sense. Ha ha, just kidding. You should never take me seriously. I am a little plant who just have feelings. How can I talk sense with brainy people like you all? A lot of things have changed since last year. I can see that my master is less afraid now. He doesn’t wear mask all the time and sanitize the veggies. He has promoted greetings from the post of wireless handshakes to physical hugs. But what is important to me is that he has stopped taking those Vitamin C pills for building immunity. All I can say that he is less stupid now. Fear makes you stupid and do stupid things. Though less stupid, he is still an Idiot!

Oh C’mon! You know the difference between stupid and idiot. Stupidity is doing senseless things knowing that they are senseless. A person develops it due to circumstances. But idiocy is natural. Doing senseless things without being aware of them is Prickypedia’s definition of idiocy, and my master is prime example of being an Idiot. My destiny has decided to put an extraordinary smart creature like me with idiots having high IQ. But I’m relieved now as my master has left for Kolkata, and I am with my aunt now. I am happy, as she is much cooler. Let me tell you a story from my childhood. Back then, I had a friend. His name was Marijuana. We both were Chuddy Buddies. Yeah, Dalai Bro too. You guys have a very sharp memory. So, I and Marijuana used to chill around in the hot bleaching heat of the desert. But one day my clan members caught me with him, and told me that he was a bad company. I insisted to play with him, so they got angry and finally sent me away in a little pot. I had never met him through all these years. However, my aunt had brought some dried body parts of my old friend, rolled it into a paper and smoked it. When the smoke reached my little nostrils, I could smell his old striking fragrance. It was indeed him. I could also have figured that out through the scene, which I saw after half an hour of the incident. She could not stop laughing. He had always been the class clown, always making people laugh. He had not changed even a little bit.

Ok guys. It is time to drop the atom bomb now. I am engaged. I fell in love with a pink rose and proposed to her. Guess what? She said yes. I am going to be married on April 1st. Remember that date? Right! I got you again. How can you forget that I am an attention whore and I can do anything for it! Ok let me tell the truth. Pinky promise, I am going to tell only the truth now. I have a crush. No, I am in love. No, I am her best friend. Oh guys, I am so confused. She is so pretty and I can’t stop thinking about her. Her name is Tulip. She is from Netherlands. Yes, your brother has gone international now. Her violet complexion doesn’t let me sleep these days. She is everything I had ever dreamt of. I want her slim, tender and flexible stems to be wrapped around my body and then I would …… Naughty! You people might have visualized the wildest of thoughts. Keep calm humans! I am a plant. I don’t need to get naked for love like you all. And I’m already naked by the way. So I just want to romance with her, kiss her sexy neck and get lost in her hypnotizing fragrance. Yes, I have become Romeo-Pricky now.

Anyways, Romeo reminded me of Shakespeare. He once said, What’s in a name? I strongly believe that he made this line deliberately for me. My name literally has Prick in it. But guys believe me, I am a very well-mannered person. I am Keanu Reeves in terms of manners. But these serious keywords like well-behaved, civilized, mannered etcetera, etcetera are only formed by you and so do their definitions. Prickypedia doesn’t have space for these words. And when I boasted earlier about my mannerism, I didn’t consider your views on this matter. I am smart and young enough to make my own opinions. You humans put up well-ironed expensive suits and call yourselves civilized. Trust me you look fancy not civilized. Does following rules make you civilized, or behaving in a sophisticated way make you one? I guess they do not. People who make rules might go against themselves someday but people like me do not. We have only one rule; breaking the rules, and we do it by all heart. Therefore, I leave it onto your conscience to decide who is civil and well behaved.

What should we talk about now? Politics? Nah. You know that already sucks. Now some of you hypersensitive people might put some comments for being such an irresponsible person. You would blame me for barking on social media and doing nothing in real life. Hain na? See, Prickypedia says that politics is the study of policies, and as I said earlier, I do not care about them. I prefer leaders over politicians. I prefer humans over pigs. Oopsy, what I have said? I fear that I might land up in jail. Sorry politicians, I was lying. Touché! Okay I might have exaggerated a bit but you got what I was trying to say right? Although I am not a comedian, but still I am afraid that my jokes would drive me to danger someday.

Career? You don’t want me to get started on this topic? Fine I will start then. I am a prick, what to do. So what do you think career is? I mean, I have heard so many people saying that they would try to focus on it, but I don’t think it is what they mean. A good observant, which I am by the way, would say what they really mean is to focus on their jobs. But, are jobs your career, or you want something more? I cannot tell you that. You have to accept the fact yourself. You know the truth because you might have questioned yourself earlier and got the answer too. It is time to accept the answer now. If you are looking up to me for some support, let me tell you straight that I have no idea about this whole thing. I am a stupid cactus who thinks spending his life with Tulip would be his career. Wait, why cannot it be one?

Some people think that love and career are two different paths. They think that they have to choose one. It is not like that. You can choose love and still follow your career, and I do not mean job. Love nourishes your dreams like sunlight and water nourish plants. It helps you get closer to yourself and helps you figure out the thing you truly desire. And the other path, again your dreams and not your career, leads you only towards love. So it is not about choosing which path among the available. It is about finding the right path. And I am sure you will find love and dreams on that path. Do not get upset, if you will not find them early. Have patience. I know you have so much because you waited for almost a year to hear Pricky’s lecture.

Karna

This poem depicts the scene from Mahabharata epic when Karna was killed.

गिरा जो रुधिर वीर का धरा पर
माधव को भी ये एहसास हुआ
कि जिसकी खातिर उतरे थे रण में
उसी धर्म का उनसे उपहास हुआ

श्रेष्ठ था युद्धकौशल में वो
दानशीलता के गुण से विख्यात हुआ
दान-धर्म ही बना मौत का कारण
प्रभु ये कैसा अभिशाप हुआ

एक ही माँ की कोख से जन्मे सब
कुछ पांडव कहलाये, वो सूतपुत्र बदनाम हुआ
अरे निहत्थे पर बाण चलकर
पार्थ ! तुझे ये कैसा अभिमान हुआ

दिनकर क्यों छुपते हो अब बदल के पीछे
पितृधर्म का तुमसे है संहार हुआ
ज्ञात होते हुए भी देवराज का छल
क्यों कवच-कुण्डल देने को पुत्र ये लाचार हुआ

एक मित्र की खातिर लड़ा जो कुटुंब से
ऐसे योद्धा की मृत्यु का साक्षी पूरा इतिहास हुआ
श्याम! जिसकी खातिर उतरे थे तुम रण में
उसी धर्म का तुमसे उपहास हुआ

इश्क़ करने का अक्सर यही अंजाम होता है
के कुछ वक़्त बाद, साथी सिर्फ ज़ाम होता है
केवल मुजरिम ही नहीं बुरे दुनिया की नज़र में
हम आशिक़ो का भी नाम बहुत बदनाम होता है
तुम कहते हो की ज़िन्दगी में कुछ करो, आगे बढ़ो
बताओ, हम जैसों को मोहब्बत के सिवा और क्या काम होता है
कामयाब और मशहूर होने से यार मिल जाएगा
ऐ दुनिया तेरे यह तो इश्क़ का भी दाम होता है
हिदायत मिलती है कि ये सब छुप छुप के करो
अरे तेरे शहर में तो क़त्ल भी सरेआम होता है

ज़िन्दगी की मैयत

ज़िन्दगी और मैयत – कहने को तो ये दोनों शब्द लगभग एक दूसरे के विपरीत हैं किन्तु उस रात मैंने ज़िन्दगी की मैयत निकलते देखी| बात उन दिनों की है जब  कोरोना नामक एक दानव का डर हर मनुष्य के भीतर समाया हुआ था | भय के मारे सभी अपने-अपने घरों के भीतर दुबके बैठे थे | ये दानव इतना बलशाली था कि ‘ गो कोरोना , कोरोना गो ‘ जैसे मंत्रो का भी उस पर कोई प्रभाव नहीं पड़ रहा था | सभी को बस ‘वैक्सीन ‘ नामक अस्त्र की तलाश थी जो इस दानव का विनाश कर सकता था | अस्त्र के लिए सभी ‘डब्ल्यू एच ओ ‘ की तपस्या करने में जुटे हुए थे | एक ओर जहाँ पूरा देश इतना विचलित था , वहीं मैं बिल्कुल निर्भीक होकर घोड़े बेचकर सो रहा था |

अचानक मेरी आँख खुली और मैंने स्वयं को एक अलग वातावरण में पाया | नहीं, फिल्मों की तरह यहाँ कोई कोहरा नहीं छाया था अपितु दिखने में तो सब कुछ पहले जैसा ही था | बस मानसिक वातावरण भिन्न था | सारा कोहरा मानो मेरे दिमाग के भीतर समा गया हो | कोई भी विचार बिल्कुल भली – भाँति नहीं आ रहा था | मैं बिस्तर से उठा और पानी पीने के लिए रसोई की तरफ चल दिया | किंतु पानी की एक घूँट ने तो तरह – तरह के विचारों का पूरा सागर मेरे अंदर कहीं प्रकट कर दिया था | इस उफनते सागर पर बाँध बनाने के मकसद से मैं सिगरेट – लाइटर लेकर छत की तरफ चल दिया |

छत पर शान्ति थी। सच कहुँ तो सन्नाटा ! मेरे अंदर उठता सवालों का भीषण तूफ़ान और छत का सन्नाटा मानो एक दूसरे का खालीपन मिटाने का प्रयास कर रहे थे। तभी मुझे कुछ आवाज़ें सुनाई दी।  मैंने नीचे झाँका तो एक भीड़ इकठ्ठा हो रखी थी। सभी ने सफ़ेद कपड़े पहने हुए थे।  एक शय्या थी , जिसके ऊपर कोई शख्स सफ़ेद चादर ओढ़े लेटा हुआ था।  मालूम होते हुए भी मैंने चिल्लाकर पूछ ही लिया, ” क्या हो रहा है यहाँ ? “।  मगर किसी भी इंसान ने मेरी तरफ नहीं देखा।  ऐसा प्रतीत हो रहा था मानो मेरी आवाज़ उन तक पहुंची ही नहीं। मै दोबारा पूछने वाला था कि कोई बोला, ” दिखाई नहीं देता क्या ? मैयत निकाली जा रही है।  ” आवाज़ सुनकर मै चौंक गया।  काफ़ी जानी पहचानी लग रही थी। शायद मेरी ही थी।  अब मुझे घबराहट होने लगी थी।  आवाज़ अर्थी के नीचे से आयी थी।  मेरे अंदर डर की एक लहर दौड़ गयी।

” किसकी? ” मैंने फिर पूछा। अब मेरे पसीने छूट रहे थे। ” तुम्हारी ” अब मुझे पक्का यकीन हो गया था कि आवाज़ वहीं से आ रही थी जहाँ मुझे शक था।

” पर मैं तो यहाँ हूँ। तुम कौन हो? ” मेरी आवाज़ कांपने लगी थी।

” तुम्हारी ज़िन्दगी। और ये तुम्हारी ज़िन्दगी की मईयत्त निकाली जा रही है। ” जवाब सुनकर मैं चौंक गया।

” ज़िन्दगी की मईयत्त ? ये क्या होता है ? “

” हा, हा , हा ” अब वो शख्स हँसने लगा था। ” तुम जानते हो ये क्या होता है। हर रोज़ तुम खुद ही तो निकालते हो तुम्हारी ज़िन्दगी की मईयत्त। बाकी लोगों की तरह। फिर आज क्यों अजीब सा लग रहा है तुम्हे ?”

” मैं कुछ समझा नहीं। “

” समझने के लिए वक़्त ही कहाँ है तुम्हारे पास ! ” उसने कटाक्ष करते हुए मुझसे कहा।

” माफ़ करना ? “

” सारा वक़्त तो तुम कंप्यूटर स्क्रीन के सामने गुज़ार देते हो। “

” पर वो तो मेरा काम है।  “

” और काम के बाद ? तब तो कुछ वक़्त अपनी ज़िन्दगी के साथ गुज़ार सकते हो। पर नहीं ! तुम्हे वो समय भी अपने फ़ोन के साथ ही बिताना है मेरे साथ नहीं। “

” तुम्हारे साथ? “

” हाँ मैं ही तो हूँ तुम्हारी ज़िन्दगी।  “

” तो तुम्हारा कहना है कि मैं खुद अपनी ज़िन्दगी की, यानि कि तुम्हारी , हर रोज़ मैयत निकालता हूँ ? ” मैंने कुछ देर पश्चात सोचकर कहा।

” हाँ।  और क़त्ल भी तुम ही करते हो। “

” क़त्ल ? ये क्या बोल रहे हो तुम ? “

” लो कातिल अब अपने क़त्ल को ही भूलने लगे ! हाय ! अब तो क़त्ल का इलज़ाम भी हमीं पर दाल दो। ” उसने शायराना अंदाज़ में मुझसे कहा।

” देखो मजाक बंद करो। “

” सपने देखते हो ? ” उसने अचानक से पूछा।

” हाँ सब देखते हैं। “

” तो उन्हें पूरा क्यों नहीं करते ? तुम जानते हो कि तुम्हारे सपने ही एकमात्र ज़रिया हैं मुझ तक पहुंचने के ? “

” मैं कोशिश करता हूँ पूरा करने की “

” तुम बस शुरुवात करते हो।  पूरा नहीं। “

” ऐसी बात नहीं है।  “

” बात ऐसी ही है। अरे तुम तो आजकल नींद में देखा हुआ सपना पूरा नहीं करते।  पहले करते थे।  अगर आँख खुल जाती थी तो वापस सो जाते थे सपना पूरा करने के लिए।  पर अब देखो तुम्हे। “

मेरे पास कहने को कुछ था नहीं।  मैं बस वहाँ भीगी बिल्ली बने हुए , मुँह लटकाये हुए उसकी बातें सुने जा रहा था।

” मुझसे क्या दुश्मनी है तुम्हारी ? ” उसने फिर पूछा।

” तुमसे और दुश्मनी ? ” मैंने हंसकर कहा।  ” मैं तो तुम्हे जानता तक नहीं। ” उसने मुझे प्रश्न भरी निगाहों से घूरकर देखा। ” ठीक है, ठीक है। तुम मेरी ज़िन्दगी हो और तुम्हे मुझसे बेहतर कोई नहीं जानता। किन्तु मैं ये भी जानता हूँ कि मेरी तुमसे कोई दुश्मनी नहीं है। “

” दोस्ती भी तो नहीं है ” उसने बिना कोई रूचि लेते हुए कहा। ” और तुम तो नफरत करते हो मुझसे ! “

” नहीं मैं तुमसे नफरत ……….”

” करते हो। ” उसने मेरी बात काटते हुए कहा। ” पर मुद्दा ये है कि सिर्फ मुझसे ही क्यों करते हो ? “

मैं शांत था। शायद उसी के मुँह से जवाब सुनना चाहता था।

“बोलो।  शांत क्यों हो ? “

” कहने को कुछ बचा नहीं अब। “

” कहने को नहीं पर करने को बहुत कुछ है “

” मतलब ? “

” तुम जानते हो तुम्हे क्या करना है।  मुझे तुमपे पूरा विश्वास है। अब मुझे जाना होगा। ” इतना कहकर वो मुझे सवालों के घेरे में ही छोड़कर चली गयी। कुछ लोगों ने वो अर्थी उठाई, मेरी तरफ देखकर मुस्कुराये और चले गए।

मेरी ज़िन्दगी की मईयत्त निकल चुकी थी। मैं सुबह नींद से जागा तो वहाँ कोई कोहरा नहीं था। मेने राहत की सांस ली। मैं अपने कमरे से बाहर आया तो देखा कि मेरा बस्ता किसी ने बांधकर रखा हुआ है।  उसके अंदर मेरे कपड़े और सब ज़रूरी सामान था। शायद मैंने ये सब नींद में किया था। कुछ किताबें भी डाली थी मैंने सफर के लिए।  पर जाना कहाँ था ? मुझे कुछ ज्ञात नहीं था। बगल में टेबल के ऊपर एक कागज़ उलटा पड़ा हुआ था।  टिकट जैसा लग रहा था। टिकट के बगल में मेरी बाइक की चाबी थी। मैं टिकट उठाने ही वाला था कि मेरा फ़ोन बजा। मेरे दफ्तर से कॉल था। आज सोमवार था, काम का दिन।  मैंने टिकट वापस रखी और चाबी उठाई। अब मुझे चयन करना था मैं क्या करुँ। और सच कहुँ तो मैं बड़ा ही उलझन में था। 

तो मैं बस वहाँ सुन्न सा खड़ा होकर अपनी ज़िन्दगी का सबसे मुश्किल फैसला लेने वाला था। मेरे एक तरफ मेरा बस्ता था, तो  दूसरी तरफ बजता हुआ फ़ोन। और ज़िन्दगी की तो मईयत्त निकल ही चुकी थी।

Ek Ajeeb Mausam

कहानियों का मौसम है
कोई शेर ना सुनाना मुझे
मन करता है अब रोने का
अपने गले से ना लगाना मुझे |

चला हूँ मैं एक सफर पे
भटकूंगा यूँही डगर – डगर
मैं राही , राह ही ठीक हूँ
अपना ठिकाना ना बनाना मुझे |

थके थके से सपने हैं
थकी थकी ये आँखें
आदत नहीं है इन्हे सोने की
अपनी गोद में लेकर लोरी ना सुनाना मुझे |

इश्क़ गर एक आग है
तो मैं तनहा ख़ाक ही ठीक हूँ
मोहोब्बत की कोई चिंगारी दिखाकर
बारूद ना बनाना मुझे |

मैखाने में जाता हूँ अक्सर
हकीम से मिलने
आज जो तेरी आँखों में पूरा मैखाना उतर आया है
तो महज़ एक जाम से फुसलाना मुझे |

What kills a human being?

Perhaps I am asking a wrong question. I should rather ask ‘what kills a person?’ But recent situations have made me change my mind . Its been a while since this question first struck me, and I have not been able to get a clear answer yet. I had always found myself drowning in an ocean of diverse answers. Knife? Yes, a knife can kill a person. Sword? Obviously a better option than knife. A bullet? Well, if it is a bullet then why not a bomb, a missile or a nuclear weapon? To be honest, I could never reach close enough to something that I would call a satisfying answer.

Let me first introduce myself. I am Pricky! A little cactus who likes to spend most of his time observing things. I am a very curious plant. I like to ponder over matters which are nowhere related to me in any sense. Sad part is that I can’t observe much. My master leaves me near a window so that I can get proper sunlight and then forgets me for like a week or so. Seriously? Who can ignore a cute person like me? After a week he would come running and chanting ‘Where is my Pricky?’, pick me up, give me some water and put me at the same place. Idiot! I want to explore the world and I can’t do that sitting here at this window. But in spite of all this, I love him. I love my master. He can’t take me everywhere he goes. After all I am just a cactus, a cute one though. I am an attention whore. It ‘kills’ me if I do not get proper attention from someone. I wonder if same thing applies to all the humans too. What if they are not always killed by something physical but emotional stuff can do the same task? Let’s discuss this because I have drunk a lot water today and have nothing to do now for a week I guess.

But before doing that can someone tell me about this ‘Corona Virus’? I have heard that it ‘kills’ people. A virus? How? Technically, the virus enters a host body, attacks the native cells and soon captures respiratory organs of its host, especially , the throat and lungs. The group of  people who are in danger of mortality from this virus are children and aged people. I have heard all this when my master plays news on Youtube. I am not that expert in medical sciences but I have seen people are fearing by the name sake of it. Fear! Yes, fear can kill a person. But now my dilemma is whether it is fear or lack of proper supply of breath and oxygen which causes death of the person. I think in this case we all can agree to the latter.

I have a friend. A saint. A religious leader popularly known by the name of Dalai Lama. We are like childhood buddies who used take bath in the same bathtub. He once told me that there are two kinds of death. A ‘real’ death which is rewarded to person only once during his lifetime and ’emotional’ death which he meets daily. Dalai bro also told me that the person dies only from outside by his real death but emotional death kills a man from inside. One should not fear his real death but his emotional death. But if fear is the cause of ’emotional’ death then people will fear from ‘fear’ itself and it is fearful. Its like one of the infinite loops discussed in A Subtle of Not Giving a F*ck. But fear is not the only thing causes ’emotional’ death of a person. There are many, many other factors too and we have to discuss them too. Oh my god! we have so much to talk. So lets just change our original question to ‘What kills a human being emotionally?’ You may find it difficult to believe that I was befriended by Dalai Lama. Still shocked by that fact? Haha! Got you! I was just joking, trying to get your attention (told you I am an attention whore). I am very old though. Its just a part of me that is grown in this little pot. I have my roots at many places and each one is just like me. Cute.

Belief. Lets talk about ‘belief’. I have seen it killing many people. People are fighting over religion, language, differences in opinion and even gods. And they all have one thing in common. They have ‘different beliefs.’ So its not belief which kills people, its their difference of beliefs which does. A part of me believes that ‘belief’ is necessary to thrive. It helps us fight through tough situations. I sometimes eavesdrop on my master. One night I heard him chanting something like this, ‘Bhoot pishaach nikat nahi aave, mahaveer jab naam sunaave!’ My stupid master! He believes in ghosts. I can’t believe that he believes in ghosts. But what is more important is that he also believes in a faith. He has faith in someone who will protect him from his imaginary fears. So can ‘belief’ or ‘difference in belief’ kill a person emotionally? Of course they can kill physically but neither of them has guts enough to kill someone emotionally. ‘Lack of belief’ kills emotionally. You may be thinking that if belief and difference of belief are dangerous then its okay not to have them at all. And there my friend you decide your fate to move towards a slow painful emotional death. ‘Lack of belief’ takes away all the hope, all the light from your dark soul and makes it even darker. So having belief is not all that bad as it provides support at times we have no one with us. In loneliness your belief is your best friend. So believe in something. Not in god. Not in religion. Believe in something. Something that will increase your faith in yourself. Something that will help you fight your fears. And if you don’t believe me then I persuade you to give it a shot to ‘not believing’ in anything. I am pretty sure you will hear a jingling sound at midnight and wake up chanting, ‘bhoot pishaach nikat nahi aave, mahaveer jab naam sunaave!’.

I used to believe in love. I had a girlfriend. She was a small bush. We were in the nursery together. She had the sexiest and sharpest thorns of all the plants nearby. It was all perfect but then she cheated on me. I was so heartbroken. She cheated and left me for a sunflower! I felt so dejected then. My life became purposeless. It was then I was brought from nursery to this new house. Everything was different and I was still depressed over love. One day my master played a scene from Predestination. What do you want? What does everyone want?- Love?-Fuck love. Its purpose. It occurred to me then that love can’t be a purpose of life. I needed to find some purpose and my fate was decided. I became a preacher who would distribute free gyaan to everyone. I said earlier that i ‘used to’ believe in love, but that doesn’t mean i ‘now’ don’t. You humans take every word and sentence so seriously and literally. I admit that my belief was shaken when i was cheated. I was almost on the verge of my emotional death but there was something which kept me alive. Something more powerful than belief. HOPE. I never gave up on my hopes in love. I hoped that i would find love again, and i did. I fell in love with my neighbor’s lily. She has got the prettiest flowers, a calm and soothing aura around her, and hand to god, what a sexy flexible body. I just keep staring at her tender green stems and leaves. When she wakes up in the morning I sing for her, ‘Mere saamane wali khidki me, ek chaand ka tukda rehta hai’. You are thinking what a pervert i am and calling me ‘pervert cactus’. But let me correct you. ‘Cute pervert cactus.’ Pervert is not important, being cute is important.

Allow me to quote myself, ‘What’s life without hope?’ Also it is time for us to look at our question with a little different angle. Instead of seeking for answers about what kills us, we should search for what keeps us alive. So now here we come almost to the end of our discussion today. What keeps a human being alive? Now, we have this one simple question. We are provided with four choices. 1. Lack of fear. 2. Belief. 3. Love. 4. Hope. Now use your brains and solve this puzzle which has been killing us all for over a long time. ‘Lack of fear’ and ‘Belief’ are like the two options which we can definitely say not correct. What about love? I have just shared my personal experience that love can’t be a reason to stay alive. It should never be. For you can’t love someone more than yourself, and in case you don’t love yourself then there is someone who loves you more than you do and that is a reason enough to live. So that makes it a very weak option. We are left with only one option- hope.

Think of a situation when everything suddenly comes to a halt. You are stuck at some place and you can’t go elsewhere. You are all alone and have no one with you. Oh wait! You are already going through that! Corona Lockdown. Nevermind. But things could have been worse. You might have been stuck on a boat in middle of Pacific Ocean with a tiger. What would have you done? Obviously, you would be terrified, your beliefs would have given up and love, haha, one can’t trust love when it comes to survival. There is only one thing which would keep you alive. Hope. A hope that you might catch a fish to eat. A hope that Thor doesn’t see you. A hope that one day you might see a shore. Hope is nothing, yet everything. We thrive on hope from our first cry, and continue to do so until the day we die. We dream. And we ‘hope’ that they will come true. We hope that today would end and tomorrow would bring a new ray of light. We hope that what we are hoping may not just remain a hope.

Its 6 am now. We have been talking whole night. Go to sleep now and hope for sweet dreams. What now? You want to meet my girlfriend? Actually, her pot fell off from third floor and she died. Her master threw her to the cows. But I have not lost my hope, nor my belief in love. For I will keep loving till the universe survives and hoping I survive that long. So what, a virus strikes our planet and we start fearing again? Start losing our faith? Stop loving each other? Start losing our hopes? NO! We fight. We fight and we hope that one day it would all be over and we smile. Not for us, but for everyone else who care for us.

You may have been thinking why I settled with just four options. There could have been a numerous options to choose. Yes. There are a billion other options which can be a perfect answer for our question. Life isn’t so easy that it could be solved with just four options. There would be long length answers with proper methods and practicals. We have to answer them all. But my life isn’t as complicated as yours? After all I am just a cute little cactus. You are free to choose your options though. And in case you do, don’t forget to ask yourself, What kills a human being?