Life After Death

 

It was peak autumn. 2041.  I woke up late & felt tired as if I was awake the whole night. Everyone has their thing. It was my thing to feel like this every Sunday morning. As my eyes opened further I realized my yoku was still on & I was wearing it. I must have slept wearing it. The latest in technology, gifted by my cousin from the States, is such lightweight & thin specs that sometimes I forget to take it off even! As I was about to switch it on, I realized it already was. I entered into my favorite metaverse – MIKO. It notified me of an unfinished shopping that I left yesterday. I went into the store and looked at some ethnic clothes to wear for the upcoming wedding of my friend, Keev. That’s the thing about shopping for a wedding. You feel tired even before attempting to shop. But I was determined to do it this time. Took all the favorites & went to the counter. I scanned my eyes for the payment but it failed. Another attempt went in vain. What’s wrong? Another attempt was made, and a failure. I threw all the clothes on the counter & left the shop frustrated. “I anyway don’t want to go to a wedding. I will send an expensive gift to the couple later. Who’s gonna notice my absence at the wedding anyway”, I thought.

 

Roaming around in MIKO is my favorite pastime. In a bid to lighten up my mood, I started walking aimlessly. With clean surroundings, colorful alleys, and pleasant weather, I can see beautiful bridges over the canal running beside & towering hills touching the nice blue sky. It was a custom skin I built for myself by fusing Venice & Himalayas. The theme got so viral that it crossed 100K subscribers within a year. Around 10K people visit this skin daily. So, I choose ‘public’ & meet people instead of walking in ‘private’. It’s more fun.

As I was walking past a smoke zone, I saw a distant friend sitting alone. At first, I avoided going near, but when I saw his avatar crying, I became concerned. It was unusual in the metaverse. Who chooses a crying avatar? Even the most depressed people walk with a smile. Almost like real life. But this is the worst. 

So I went up to him & asked “Sorry to bother Dale, but are you Okay?”. 

No reply. 

“Let me know if I can be of any help, mate”. 

Still no reply. 

I turned around & he replied “Is there any way I can kill this digital avatar?!” 

I looked back & said, “But Why?”. 

He instantly replied, “because I am bloody tired of this all. I wanna go back & get rid of all this.”

I asked “go where?” He replied “anywhere but here!”. 

I reverted “well, I think you can put your avatar on AI mode. It will gather your mannerisms, and idiosyncrasies, and remain active on your behalf. You can leave & visit whenever you like. This way you will be socially active digitally & choose to do whatever else.” 

I continued, “but try not to make it a habit, man. It’s good to stay connected. So try to come as often. I hope it helps.” He nodded. 

I asked if he wanted a smoke. He nodded again. I asked for two cigs nearby & as I was paying, it failed again! He noticed, & paid instead. I thanked.

“So what are you up to these days”, he asked. 

“Nothing man, just passing time, went to buy some clothes for Keev’s wedding, but these goddamn payment failures, I don’t know, will check later”, I answered. 

He reverted, “but hey, isn’t the wedding canceled?”Seeing me surprised, he continued, “yup. I received Keev’s notification that he sent early this morning. One of his close friends died” he confirmed. 

Unusual, I said, “but I didn’t receive any such message, idk”. He said, "yup, it's canceled, so don’t bother shopping & all."

He got up & said, “will take your leave now; thanks for stopping by”. “No worries, mate”, I said smilingly. It felt good that his crying avatar has a smile in return now.

So, there I was, sitting comfortably on a bench, thinking not-so-much but the thought of not receiving Keev’s message & stupid payment failures evoked me to look at my yoku’s phone folder. And that’s when I found out; I was that friend who died. Holy fuck! That was why I woke up in the metaverse, with payment failures, and no notifications! It struck me that I had put my avatar on AI mode…and now I will live forever in MIKO.

It is mid-winters. 2074. Almost 30 years after I died. Today, I’m almost completing my 18th novel titled “forever sucks”. Holy fuck :-)

"Nothing Happens Until Something Moves" - Albert Einstein

  

**Includes Real Life Events**

October 18, 2003. Somewhere in the North Indian city of Gurgaon. Peak autumn evening. The clock said half past 4.

The teacher stopped while writing on the board. Marker fell first from the hand. The teacher was looking blankly at the board without any movement. Within a few seconds, he fell. While falling down, as we all were seeing, he was holding his chest, face got red and sweaty, the scream was silent as if the vocal cords have stopped working while the body is in immense pain, eyes filled with water. Students screamed. Footsteps approached outside the class. The teacher was finally lifted away by the family member & few students.

.........

'So, what happened yesterday was shocking, to say the least yaar', Amit broke the silence when I, Karan, and Ria were eating our burgers at Neesho's in the evening. We usually come here after our tuition gets over to have some refreshments before going to our homes. 

'He recently got married, man', Ria said & extended the topic. 

'So what?', Karan jumped into the conversation. 'Yes, he is young but a heart attack can happen to anyone I think, plus the way he was so into these classes after classes since early morning, especially near exam times, & unable to take any breaks, it is not surprising', Karan spoke his thoughts. 

'Agree', Amit said & continued, 'but whatever it is, we hope he gets well soon, so we can start our classes as exams are near & we have to cover a lot yet. 

'Are you kidding me!', Ria interrupted. 'Even if he gets discharged, forget he'll taking any classes soon. It is a heart attack, guys', said Ria while looking at Amit. 'Fair point', said Karan. 

I ate the last bite of my burger & we all started moving. 'We got to find a new Physics tutor for us', I said.

'Forget it!', said Karan while lighting his cigarette he use to have on the way back home. 'There are no better Physics teachers anymore except our hero at the hospital right now', explained Karan. Amit took the cigarette from Karan as they two walked ahead of me & Ria. Before taking a puff, Amit said, 'What about Laxmi Ma'am from C block? Heard about her?'

Karan smirked & said, 'Yes. You can go there. Your father has a lot of money, so wasting a few is no concern'. We three laughed.

Ria opened a bottle of coke and took a sip before handing it over to me. 'Aur Sharma Sir?' Amit took another chance in a bid to get a positive reply.

 'Unke 4 students fail hue unit exams mein', Ria said with a smile & asked Amit, 'Do you want to help him increase his tally of failed students?' And we three laughed again. 

But we all knew, we won't be able to score in Physics without a good tutor.

 

 * Next Day at the school *

Ria told us that her mom heard about a young professor who has recently shifted from Varanasi to Gurgaon & teaching at a nearby college. And he is looking for a batch of 11th & 12th standard students to teach Physics. 

'I think we should go & visit him once', Ria said in a positive tone. 

'I think not', reverted Karan. 'Taking a chance with someone new is worse than going to Laxmi aur Sharma I think', Karan shared his viewpoint. 

'Do you have any solution, then!?', asked Ria even when she knew he has none. 'All I am saying is let's go there once, talk to the person, ask for fee structure & all, and see how it goes', Ria asserted. 

'I'm in', I said quickly. Amit reverted, 'Me too.' We all three looked at Karan as he already sensed it. He looked at Ria & said, 'Chalo fir! But I'm telling you, it will be a waste of time.' She rolled her eyes.

At 5-ish in the evening, we reached the house of the new teacher. Ria's mom has helped us get his address from the Beauty Salon where she usually goes.

There was a board hanging above the main gate saying 'Physics Simplified' and in small text below, it was written - Looking for students from 11th & 12th who want to understand Physics.

I immediately got impressed with what was written as I have never seen a more confident ad than this. I looked at my friends & sensed that they have also read & liked it. We rang the bell with hope. A young man, presumably in his mid-thirties, wearing a white shirt, blue jeans, & a smile, opened the door. 

 'We are students in 11th standard & came to meet Krishnan Sir,' said Karan pointing his finger slightly up towards the board. 'Oh. Hello. I'm Krishnan. Venkat Krishnan. Please come inside,' he said & opened the gate, and gestured us to move inside. 

 

* 1 hour later at Neesho's *

  'Ek sandwich bhi kara le, Amit', Karan hollered at Amit who was ordering for us at the counter a few meters away from where we three were standing.

'The fact that there is no board & he'll teach us in a huddle, like older days, is one thing I find beneficial. I like it that way. It helps me understand better,' pointed Ria. While I disagree with her & find board-learning far better, I stayed quiet & waited for other opinions.

'What do you think, Karan?', I asked.

'The guy seemed nice. Fee is fine, plus he calmly answered our queries, & room setup is better on the first floor; I think we should be good here', Karan reflected upon his thoughts.

'For once you are on point, Karan!', teased Ria.

Meanwhile, Amit barged in, but empty-handed. Unamusingly he said, 'What do you guys think about burnt, pasted, or stapled currency notes in our country?'. Karan took the opportunity instantly & said, 'So you hated the teacher so much & realized you will fail & your family disowns you & you started creating career ideas out of such currency notes, Amit? You are too quick, Man!'.

As we were laughing, Amit showed us the only 500-rupee note he had that day which was pasted with a cello tape from the middle.

'Papa ne diya tha kal', said Amit in a sad tone. 'I don't understand, I mean what if everybody decides on taking these notes, not only its value will remain the same, there will be no hassles, no embarrassments!', he continued.

'..And no hunger as you will be able to purchase our junk, right Amit?', asked Ria. And continued, 'No! Because then it will promote fake currencies, duffer!' 

I quietly went to purchase the decided food items & came back with it. We finished eating our junk & started moving. Karan lit a cigarette & started moving ahead of me & Ria along with Amit, I opened our coke & took the sip before handing it to Ria. We have mutually decided to give it a try at Krishnan's tuition tomorrow. 

 

 * 5 PM on the Next Day *

 We all reached his house on time. Rang the bell. An old lady opened the door & said smilingly, 'Aa Gaye!' as if she was expecting us. We greeted her. She said to go upstairs & Krishnan will join you shortly. We silently move to the first floor. It was a small house. There was a single room on the first floor, and with it attached was an iron staircase at the right that ends on a small terrace holding a big water tank. There was a wash basin behind the staircase attached to a, presumably, toilet.

We opened the half-opened door to the room. Switched on the lights & fan. A center table surrounded by two wooden desks was waiting for us. We two sat across, facing the other two. And waited for Mr. Venkat Krishnan to arrive. He came within five minutes. 'Good Evening', he greeted & continued, 'Good to see you guys.

 'Good evening', we all reverted.

'As we are not expecting anyone else, let's start with our studies,' cleared Krishnan. 

The next 30 minutes went smoothly. He asked us the time of our exams, what syllabus to cover, how & when we will plan to study which topics & every other important stuff regarding our common goal - to understand Physics & score fairly well in the exam. 

As we were studying the laws of motion, Krishnan Sir suddenly stopped speaking. A few seconds of silence made me look up to him. He was gazing into the book we all were sharing. His eyes were not moving at all. I looked at Karan, sitting right in front of my sight. Then Ria. Then Amit. We looked at each other for a second, unable to figure out what happened. I look at Krishnan Sir again and found he was still staring hard at one point in the book. Eyes wide open, but no action. Suddenly it flashed into my mind that it exactly happened a few days back, with our last tutor, that too while studying laws of motion. WTF?! I got worried. My heart started racing. Hundreds of thoughts came racing. What if it is a pre-heart attack sign? Why are we not doing anything? Or, is it something else? 

Is it a breakdown? He recently moved from another city. Or, is it a Eureka moment for him, a comprehension of life's purpose or meaning.  Or, What if he realized that he was teaching us incorrectly. He forgot to pay any bills due?! Goddamn! Has he suddenly remembered that he has put the milk on a stove which he forgot to check? Happens to me often, but only when the milk has spilled. Is there some issue with Physics? Never have I ever liked the subject! Is he trying to feel if any insect or rat is crawling on his body? Are there bloody rats in here! My train of thought was unstoppable.

And finally, in a split second, he shouted his lungs out – Paani ki Tanki Bhar Gayi Hai. Motor Band Kar Doooo!

We four chuckled.

FIN.