1
As soon as Anil stepped into his house, he threw his bag to a corner with
all his might. Mocking the seven year old boy's strength, the bag fell just a foot
away from his feet. This angered him more, prompting him to kick it, only to
hurt himself very badly. He started howling in pain.
Hearing the ruckus, Anila came out of her room and
looked at her little brother whimpering on one knee and holding his toes
in pain. She sat next to him and asked, “Now, what did you do to yourself?”
“I am angry!” he angrily whispered. She giggled and asked,
“And what is making you angry?” He took a deep breath.
“Sanju was beating Johnny and Johnny was crying but teacher didn’t say
anything because no one said they saw Sanju beating Johnny so Johnny was crying
and his food was taken by Sanju and his friends and Johnny was hungry and I tried
to give him mine but Sanju took that too so I complained to teacher and she
asked Sanju and he lied and he didn’t get punishment, so now I am hungry. I
think Johnny is too!” And as he took a deep breath tears
flowed uncontrollably and he tried to hide them with his hands.
Anila heard her phone ringing within her room. It was the call she
was waiting for, and she had to pick it up, for her doors were meant to be
opened once her parents were back from office. She patted Anil on his head and
said, “Well! There’s no use crying over it. Try to find a solution. Tell
Pappa.”
“But I told Pappa and he said I should take care of it myself.”
“Then tell Mamma.”
“Mamma asked me to tell Pappa.”
The ringing was getting louder, prompting her to stand up. As she walked
to her room, she said, “In that case, tell God. He might know what to do?” Anil
watched her close the door, sighing for the worthless support system she had
ensued for her only brother.
He walked to his room and sat on his bed, wondering what to do next. He
looked up and asked, “How do I get to talk to God?”
“Did you ask for me?” asked someone from behind. Petrified, he turned
around and saw a man standing outside his room, staring at him through the
window. Anil looked at him suspiciously. He was wearing a white shirt, spectacles, and had
a moustache like that of his uncle, long and twisted at the end. He asked, “Who
are you?”
“You asked for me, didn’t you?” the stranger replied, “Well, here I am.”
“You are God?”
“In flesh!”
“Prove it!”
2
Anil licked his ice cream again, as the stranger sat beside him. He
looked at the little kid with love and asked, “Do you like it?” Anil nodded his
head as he licked it once more and replied, “Yes! Strawberry is my favourite
ice cream. You really must be God!”
“I got into your room through the wall, made the sun shine bright enough
to create a halo around me, but sure, getting you your favourite flavour has
made me God!” He sighed and looked at Anil licking the ice cream. “Maybe it is
this naivety that is needed for this world.”
“What is naivety?”
The stranger shrugged and said, “It means simplicity. Not everyone has
it. Only a pure soul can be naïve and wish for what is need by most.”
“What does that mean?” Anil asked. The stranger sighed and said, “It is
easier to teach that to adults. But they don’t care. Leave it. Now tell me. Why
did you want to see me?”
Anil licked his ice cream again and asked back, “If you are God,
wouldn’t you know why I wanted to talk to you?” The stranger smiled and said,
“Very well…I know that you want to help your friend. But how do you think I can
help him?”
“You could make Sanju stop hurting Johnny.”
“And how can I do that? I cannot control another person’s action!”
Anil looked away and sighed. “Are you powerless?”
“No, my child!” he replied, “But men are with will, and will is not
something that can be broken.”
Anil looked at him with a doubtful stare. The stranger sighed and said,
“It was easier when I told it to my son. But here’s the thing…he tried teaching
people, it backfired, and he ended up with two holes in his hands.”
“Holes in the hand?”
“Better than many others I sent after him. Many got holes in their heads
and necks.”
“Didn’t you cure them?”
“Bringing them back to me was the best decision I could make for them.
They were getting hurt by their fellow beings.”
“Why were they hurt?”
“Because they failed to enlighten all but few.”
“So you cannot do anything!”
He smiled and said, “No, but you can.” He straightened his shirt and
continued, “I can give you three wishes. If you wish them right, maybe you can
help your friend.”
Anil looked down at the floor. The ice cream was dripping and making a
stain on the floor. The stranger asked, “What is the matter?”
“How do I know what to wish for?” asked Anil. The stranger smiled and
said, “I can help you make those wishes. Let us start with the very first; what
do you desire from Sanju?”
Anil thought for a while and said, “Sanju likes beating Johnny up. He
does that with others, and others do it others. Can you make them know that it
hurts when you hurt people?”
The stranger smiled. I have chosen
the right person it seems. He asked, “So. Your first wish is to make those
feel the pain they wish to inflict on others. Am I right?”
“Yes!”
“It is done! Now….what do you seek next?”
Anil again went into silence. He then looked up and said, “Sanju lies a
lot. But teachers believe him. Can you make him not lie?”
“I cannot stop people from lying. But how about this?” He sat closer to
Anil and continued, “When people start lying, let them dance. That way, people
will know if they are lying.”
Anil loved this idea. He jumped up and said, “Yes! Let the liars dance.
Then no one can lie.” The stranger smiled more. “Consider it done. Liars shall
dance for a full minute, or as long as they are lying!”
Anil smiled. The stranger asked, “But what about Johnny? I thought he
always goes hungry?”
Now Anil’s face went dull. He looked at the stranger’s face and said,
“His Momma works hard, because his father died. Whatever she makes, his uncle
takes away. He doesn’t get enough to eat, and I share my food with him.”
“So you do not want to share your food with him. Is that it?”
“No! I want to have enough to share with him.”
He smiled and asked, “But Sanju takes that food from you, doesn’t he?”
Anil nodded his head. The stranger went into a deep thought. Suddenly a
bulb got lit above his head, and he smiled vividly. He looked back at Anil and
said, “How about a magic container?”
“What is that?”
“It is like a container, but with magic. Every place will have this
container, but can be used only by the nicest person in there. And only they
who he or she wishes to serve it to can have what is being served.”
“That way Sanju cannot take it from Johnny?”
“Exactly! No undeserving person shall take from the magic container!”
Anil went into his thoughts and asked, “But if Sanju wants it, and I
want to give it, I can, can’t I?”
A kind smile appeared on the stranger’s face as he said, “Of course! He
deserves if you think he does.”
Anil smiled and said, “OK! That sounds good.”
The stranger stood up and said, “Good! In that case I will leave. And
your wishes will be made a reality by tonight, and will last till your last
night. Happy?”
Anil nodded his head. “Thank you God!”
“No, my child! Thank you!”
In a split second, the stranger disappeared. Anil stood there in awe, lickign
off the ice cream dripping off his hands.
3
As the clock struck 12 at Anil’s house, chaos began around the globe. It
started at the Syria, where the soldiers were aiming their guns at the innocent
people. A second before they could pull their triggers, they felt a jolting
pain on their bodies. Some felt it in their heads, some in their arms, some in
their legs, and some in their stomachs. They all felt the pain as if some
bullets have gone through the parts of their bodies.
The slaves in a secluded part of Nigeria were stunned to see the whip
holding masters suddenly squirm on the ground with pain, just like how they
used to. One brave man tried to use the whip despite the pain he felt, but he
felt more and more pain as he tried to raise his whip higher and higher. The
pain subdued only when he dropped the whip, but he could feel the sting for a
long time.
The catholic priest couldn’t stop crying, for he felt his buttocks hurt
more and more. Rumour had it that he was fine until they send a seven year old
into his room an hour ago.
Russia, Palestine, Iraq, The Indo-Pakistan border…. All places saw a new
turn with regard to pain, and within the next three hours, cabinets were summoned
in respective countries to discuss about it.
The US President, who sent the army to Iraq to manage peace, stood up
and looked at his cabinet with a smirk. He straightened his jacket and said, “We
are facing a difficult scenario at the moment, which is causing our actions of
peace.” And that was all he had to say.
Before he could say anything else, he found a vague sensation on his
body. And before he knew it, his hips started to move. In just another second,
he was dancing like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever.
Things were no different in other parts of the world. The Russian
President was dancing uncontrollably in front of his senate, and the British
Monarch had to hold her composure when the British ministers started dancing
all around, maybe with the exception of one or two.
The Indian Prime Minister and Pakistan Prime Minister decided to spread
the news of unknown calamity and absurdity, and effect caused by the neighbouring
enemy nations, on live television.
In just five minutes, they became the trending sensation of the
internet, and the world started to get a hold on the new changes happening
around them.
If you were to hurt someone, you were to feel the pain beforehand!
If you were to lie, you were to dance!
No one could hurt or lie to anyone, no matter how hard they tried, and
that brought in a new change in the world. With all the lies coming out,
politicians feared the men they promised to, leaders feared their subjects, employers
feared their employees, and spouses feared each other. And no one could express
rage in any way, thanks to the same amount of pain rummaging through their own
bodies, with no scars or wounds.
So the powerful men decided to cut supply, and this was when the third
aspect of the world came out. It started in Nambia, when the local landlords
took away the supplies of people who started calling out the bluffs of their
dancing landlords. Cheryl, the blind woman loved by the locals, heard their
cries in despair as the supplies were taken away.
The men who took their food could feel hunger growing in themselves, but
they had to obey their masters. And Cheryl wanted to feed the hungry kids, so
she went inside her home to get her half-filled pot.
She came out with a container with steaming hot food!
She served them first to kids, and when she found out that they weren’t
being empty, she served them to the rest. She then served them to the servants
of the landlords, who decided to not take the supplies away from the needy.
The landlord, M’chaka, was enraged by this. But he couldn’t hurt them,
so instead he tried to take the container away from her.
He got mad after taking it away from her again and again, only to find
it reappear in her hands. He got madder when he tried to throw away the food in
it, only to find it disappear from his hands.
He tried to call her a witch, and did so whilst dancing.
And it was just one of the many instances in the world. And after a long
time, peace was a global phenomenon.
But Anil was facing something entirely different for himself. When he
went to school, he saw that Sanju was not able to beat Johnny, for every time
he raised his hands, he would feel an agonizing pain on his body. Neither he nor
his friends could beat him up.
When the teacher entered the classroom and asked Sanju what he was trying
to do, he tried to lie, but the moment he opened his mouth, he started dancing,
making everyone burst to laughter.
Things were fine till noon, and Anil watched as Sanju simply stared at
Johnny as he took out his lunchbox. Anil watched as Johnny ate the three
morsels he had in his lunchbox and closed it. Anil turned to his bag to take out
his lunchbox, to share his lunch with Johnny. But as he took it, he saw
something else.
In his bag, under his green lunchbox, was a bigger, green container, which
was warm, and smelt good.
The End
