Have you thought about how death thinks?
As the night dies down with the red of the dawn, the city comes alive. Slowly and gradually, the streets bustle with people and animals- of all kinds.
Humans! My favorites! Each one of them living his misery, raging wars against his mind, battling society against the rudimental ideas it so proudly boasts about!
How conveniently do they try to adapt themselves to dwell in the place? How all these rules and customs (supposedly) promise a better future? They plan so much into the future which might not even exist for some of them! Futile! As if they have any control over it.
There is this old man in the family which lives at the end of the lane, who gives a toothless smile! The old, crooked widow? She is lonely anyway. Or that young, pretty girl who is planning her wedding? Would it be easier with that chubby, small 2-year-old boy? Probably! He wouldn’t even feel the pain! That adolescent brother who hurt his sister? No, not today. That shopkeeper who beat his wife? That mother who scolded her daughter? I’ve got to pick one! How do I decide?
Unlike arbitrary human constructs, I don’t have the option to filter by age, gender, caste or creed. I don’t have the choice to categorize. Karma is not a tie-breaker either when it comes to picking one. It has been a mystery to all of them. And I prefer to keep it that way.
I walk around these very streets- my mind constantly on the hunt for prospective candidates. Nobody can see me. They think of me. But they cannot see me standing there feeding on their thoughts, fears, dreams, aspirations and their lives. For some of them, I am their worst fear. Others, they don’t speak of me. They fear when they think of me (No, I am not Lord Voldemort). I exist in their deepest thoughts which don’t come out until these thought-keepers are vulnerable.
Then, there are the ones who don’t care about me. There are also those say that they don’t! Huh! If only these idiots knew, I am aware of their fear of me inside out. But these former ones are the most interesting. They know they will have to face me someday. Yet, they live each day, and live it to their very best! Not driven by me, but conscious of me. Not acting against me, but acting it for them!
I take with me the simplest of smiles, reckless actions, unpretentious conversations, and the impetuous movements. But I leave behind countless, unheeded stories and forever etched memories. I leave behind souvenirs, impressions, and echoes of life if not life itself.
