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It
was a long corridor. They were standing in the middle of the corridor. There
were no doors as far as his eyes could see. There was nothing in the place, no
corners and no darkness. At the start of the line there was a man standing who
was talking to the people on the line. This man had graying hair. He was dressed
simply in a white kurta. His face could not be seen. The young man was in his late
20s. He had blue eyes. He was the last person in the line. It looked like any
line in a supermarket except for the fact that the place was actually empty. The
people present in the line were not in any hurry.
The man with the blue eyes
could see everybody in the corridor. A woman had reached the man in the white kurta.
The man in the white kurta asked her some questions. And she replied
back. Some of the things seemed to make her catch her breath. At one point
during the interview, she shuddered. The man with the blue eyes continued to
observe this with fascination. Then after a long time, the man in the white
kurta wrote down something on a book. He wrote with a quill. The man in the
white kurta asked the woman to move forward. She moved along the corridor. The
man with the blue eyes kept on looking at her till she disappeared from view.
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The man after her seemed like a
wealthy man. He was extremely nervous. As compared to the woman ahead of him who
had been calm but sad, he was nervous and agitated. He gave the impression of
someone who had done something wrong. The questionnaire for this man seemed
longer, since he was unable to tell everything properly in the first place. The
man in the white kurta kept on asking him questions. After a much longer time,
he was satisfied. He wrote down something on his book. He asked the man to move
behind through the same corridor. The man started pleading, in response to which
the older gentleman only shook his head sadly and indicated that he go back. The
man then started moving back through the corridor.
At that the man with the blue eyes glanced back for the first time. He saw a
similar view as he was getting ahead. It was another corridor stretching into
nothing. He watched the man till he disappeared from view.
The next person was a small
girl of about eight. The man in the white kurta had bent down to speak to the
girl. He barely spoke to her for a few minutes. He just smiled & indicated to
the girl that she move forward. The girl went on hopping. She was the only one
among us who was oblivious to where she was. After her came an old couple.
They were holding each other’s hand. They seemed perfectly happy to be there.
They had found their peace. They had no regrets. The man in the white kurta was
happy to see them. They spoke as though they knew each other. He guided both of
them forward. And they moved ahead. After a few more people, the
man with the blue eyes was face to face with the man in the white kurta. The man
in the white kurta was an old man with graying hair. He had never seen a man
with such a gentle eyes. There was a lot of wisdom on that face.
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“So, what have you done?” the
man in the white kurta asked him. “Nothing” replied the man with the blue eyes.
“Are you satisfied?” asked the man in the white kurta. “Do you ask everybody the
same question?” “Yes” “Has anybody been satisfied?” the man with the blue eyes
asked. “That is a very small percentage” said the man in the white kurta. The
older man paused and allowed the younger man to speak. When the younger man did
not talk, he continued,”Did you notice the couple who went before you? They were
very satisfied. They had seen all that they wanted to see. They were ready
to go ahead.” There was another pause in their conversation. After a while
the man with the blue eyes asked “Did you know them from before?”
“Yes. A long time back. |
But I am happy that they are satisfied with their journey. Not everybody
can say that. What about you, young man? You have still not answered my
question. Are you satisfied?” the man in the white kurta repeated his question.
He started thinking about that.
He had missed out doing a lot of things. But as he was not given any warning,
that was bound to happen. He thought about all the people who would miss him. He
regretted not being able to say good bye to them.
He thought of all the things that he had wanted to do. He thought of all the
things he had planned to do in the future. He had assumed like all humans to
live forever. It never occurred to him that he wouldn’t even make it to his 30th
birthday. He had planned to ask a girl to marry him this weekend. He felt pain
that she would never know how much he loved her. He hadn’t spoken to his mother
properly in the morning. He wished that he had left her smiling. He wished a lot
of things now. But his time was through.
“What next?” the man with the blue eyes asked him “heaven or hell?”
Contributing Story
Teller::
Medha Bhatt
from Goa. I am an aspiring writer.
For more
short
stories, visit Content Writing
Services India
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