Bhuktha was not very old. But he had to quit the worldly
pleasures and return to his maker.
Bhuktha did not fear death. As was evident from his last
spoken words, he was eager to meet his creator as he had lot of questions that
he wished to ask.
On his way back Home, Bhuktha followed the messenger who was
sent by his creator to accompany him. On reaching the gates of what we,
earthlings usually call heaven, the messenger shook hands with Bhuktha and
wished him well in his new abode!
Bhuktha accepted the messenger genuine wishes and wished him a
speedy career advancement. After the messenger had left, Bhuktha stepped
gingerly into the wide open space covered with smoke and all other associated
aspects of heaven.
His first meeting with his Maker, made him speechless. He was
transfixed and found it hard to utter a single word, leave alone asking the
volley of questions his mind had meticulously organised during his journey back
Home.
Finally, after what seemed an eon, Bhuktha opened his mouth
and this time the word ‘hello’
escaped the bounds of his astonished mouth walls and fell at the feet of the
Lord.
“Yes, Bhuktha, what are your justifications?” asked the
absolute Maker.
“Uh, oh, well..,” Bhuktha stammered.
After a few failed attempts at framing a sensible sentence
that ended up in ‘uhs,’ and ‘ohs,’ and ‘hmms,’
Bhuktha finally managed to ask the Maker the first question from his
well-rehearsed list.
“What took you so long, umm, uhh, Sir, to call back a faulty
piece like me?”
God managed to laugh at Bhuktha’s intriguing question.
“What makes you think you are a faulty piece?” the maker asked
his creation.
“Come on Sir, don’t act innocent. You know what I did while I
was away from you, down there, what I used to call ‘earth’,” Bhuktha said, by now regaining his confidence.
“Well, since it is you who think that you were a faulty piece
and whatever you did was not a great deed, I wish to hear your version of what
was the problem with what you did,” God prodded Bhuktha to continue.
“I was a thief. I stole people’s hard earned money and used
them for my own purpose. Today my children are quite well-off, but the people
from whom I stole are not doing well at all. Do you think I came back here
blind folded? I saw whatever I was destined to see and I am utterly ashamed of
myself,” Bhuktha poured out the contents of his soul.
“So you think that you are the reason why they suffer?” God
teased Bhuktha in a kind voice.
“Well, all that I am saying is that I am the prime reason,”
Bhuktha argued against his own past self!
“Well then, how about allowing your soul to enter the body of
the person that suffered because of you? You can try to make good their loss!”
God’s offer was too tempting for Bhuktha to refuse.
“Pooh,” and Bhuktha was on earth again getting into the body
of the person from whom he had stolen the most.
He accompanied, unnoticed, the person wherever he went.
Bhuktha reached the office of the man who was called Karun by everyone.
After reaching his office Karun reached the coffee vending
machine and took a sip of the hot liquid that cooled him down.
“What Mr.Karun, how have you been keeping all these days?”
asked one of the inmates of the office.
“Better, I must say. Did you know that the person who stole
all my money died yesterday?” he asked his friend.
“Oh, is that so. Good. Now you must forget the whole episode
and get back to living your life normally,” his friend advised Karun.
“Well, you might be right. But there is no getting back what I
had lost. All that was my father’s hard earned money and I do not know if I can
earn so much for my children all by myself!” grieved Karun.
Bhuktha left Karun and went back to his Maker, a little
confused.
“Ha ha ha,” God seemed to be in splits!
“Please give me another chance. I had stolen from a lady and
this time I am sure I will make good the wrong,” pleaded Bhuktha.
He went to earth once more. This time he was not disappointed
as his expectations were not great either. The lady, a professor, reached her
college. After a long bell she entered a class where she taught for a while.
After another bell she picked up her books and went into
another room. There, many ladies and a few men were sitting on a chair and
chatting. Some of them were busy correcting something, while contributing to
the ongoing conversation.
Bhaktha accompanied a lady who was referred to as Jenny.
“Jenny did you know that the man who was involved in a serial
robbery died yesterday?” one of the teachers asked.
“How does that change my fate? The damage was done the day he
stole my purse. The pain and struggle I went through after that are mine and
how will his death repair it?” she asked.
“You have a job and you can earn the money that you lost,” her
friend reminded her.
“Oh, well. I had to borrow money from my sister and went
through lot of insults. My sister always acted magnanimous and lied to everyone
about me. Once when I had visited her house she made me cook food and treated
me like a servant. The fights I had with my in-laws were unimaginable. And all
these happened because of him. Though it is good to know that an evil man like
him is no more, it does not alter my life,” rued the learned professor!
Bhuktha was back in heaven in no time.
“I have a suggestion to make,” God gently placed his arm around
Bhuktha’s shoulder.
“There is one man that people want to elect as their leader.
They feel that if he is in power all their worried will be wiped out!
Do you want to try getting under his skin?” God was smiling
benevolently at Bhuktha.
“If you say so,” was all that a completely disappointed
Bhuktha could manage.
This time though, Bhuktha was in for a different type of
surprise.
The man whom God had chosen for Bhuktha’s soul to get into was
made of grit and determination.
Bhuktha, on his part ensured that all the surrounding
controversy and game plans to bring him down were prevented and finally after a
well fought election, the man, who was popularly known as Ramdo won with a
thumping majority.
“Now, I think I have erased my sins and I should go back to
God and thank him,” thought a satisfied Bhuktha’s soul.
This time, though, he had to wait till God sent back a
messenger to take him back to heaven, as he had spent a long time. When souls
stay beyond one sunrise and one sunset, it was considered as a birth.
While Bhuktha waited for his messenger, he saw a few people
enter into the newly elected Ramdo’s office.
“Sir, we are just waiting for your order to wipe out the
opposition camp. They were responsible for aiding the dreaded serial thief,
Bhuktha,” they said in a tone that was dripping with hatred and violence.
‘No, no,’
Bhuktha
screamed, a scream that only he could hear. Instantly he prayed that Ramdo
should not fall prey to their instigation.
“No, I think it is better we focus on future development and
leave the past in the past,” said Ramdo to Bhuktha’s greatest relief.
For the next few days. Ramdo busied himself in formulating
strategies that will being the best of the town’s talents in framing
progressive policies.
But as days went by Bhuktha was slowly returning to his
disappointed state when he saw Ramdo fighting a rather lone battle. His
detractors blamed him of inefficiency while his supporters were interested in
opposing the opposition and countering them word to word. In all the
mudslinging that followed, Bhuktha’s soul stirred continuously and he earned to
go back to his Maker at the earliest.
Though the majority supported the ideas of Ramdo, they were
not willing to contribute to it actively. All that they were interested in
doing was throwing stones at each other. They competed to walk with Ramdo
wherever he went. They wanted to click pictures with him. But when it came to
working hard on ground zero, Bhuktha’s battered soul was dragged in as the apt
excuse!
Finally, the messenger arrived to take Bhuktha’s soul back.
“Where is the one that accompanied me last time,” Bhuktha
asked the new messenger.
“With your blessings, he has been promoted,” said the new one.
Bhuktha smiled for the first time in many days!
“Sir, please bless me too!” pleaded the new messenger.
On reaching the gates of heaven Bhuktha blessed the messenger
to work hard and earn his promotion.
When he met his Maker, he was a relieved soul!
“God, they all want an excuse and people like me conveniently
provide them with one. The so called evil in me was a ready-made excuse for
people to carry on with their lives without having to make a conscious effort
to better their living conditions,” Bhuktha’s insight was a welcome change.
“True. Therefore, that you made a conscious effort to make
life better for your children is commendable. Moreover, your regret at spoiling the chances for others makes you a genuine person. Your repeated attempts
at making things better for people around you defines the person that you were and your sins stand pardoned!” God smiled, a graceful smile.
Bhuktha smiled too!
