Death Speaks

Rarely does a person come across a story that has the power to haunt him forever. I found the story Death Speaks in a collection of short stories by Jeffrey Archer. He does not claim the story to be his, the Preface to his book To Cut A Long Story Short clearly mentioning that it was translated from Arabic, Anon being the name of the original author. Archer himself is a renowned storyteller, a fact that can be gauged from the fact that all his novels and short stories have been worldwide bestsellers. As much as I would like to share some his gems, my respect for his brilliance prevents me from pirating my collection. If you like this story, you will love the rest of his works. Here is the complete story, as it appears in "To Cut A Long Story Short":


There was a merchant in Baghdad who sent his servant to market to buy provisions. In a little while the servant came back, white and trembling. The servant said, "Master, just now when I was in the market-place I was jostled by a woman in the crowd and when I turned I saw it was Death that jostled me. She looked at me and made a threatening gesture. Now lend me your horse, and I will ride away from this city and avoid my fate. I will go to Samarra and there Death will not find me."

The merchant lent him his horse, and the servant mounted it, and he dug his spurs in its flanks and as fast as the horse could gallop; he went. Then the merchant went down to the market-place and saw me standing in the crowd. He came to me and said, "Why did you make a threatening gesture to my servant when you saw him this morning?"

"That was not a threatening gesture", I said," it was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Baghdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra."

Turn the Page

It was a fine Tuesday evening. Masterji was returning home from school. He teaches in the government school in a nearby village. The school happens to be the only one in the district. As he walked down the battered road, he let his mind to dwell upon the day's happenings. Today, Charan was absent. His father was lying drunk in the middle of the road last night when a truck ran over him. Preeti too would not be able to attend classes. Her parents had strong objections to sending their girl to school. Masterji would have to stop by their house tonight and try to convince them...again. His class consists of ten students. He can't let ignorance block the path to knowledge.

Masterji was engrossed in his musings when something caught his eye. A hundred rupee note was lying on the ground.

Masterji teaches Moral Science at the government school. He also teaches Hindi, Maths and Science along with anything that he feels will help the students. Masterji had now stopped beside the hundred rupee note. A look around told him that nobody was watching.

Masterji is a religious person. He spends thirty minutes in silent meditation and prayer every morning. Also, he is very dedicated and sincere towards his job. Many teachers had refused to work at his present position. A lot of them had pulled even greater number of strings to get transfers to someplace more urbane. However, Masterji had stayed behind. He wanted to help in his country's progress. "The real India is in the villages", he vaguely remembered the quote.

Masterji owns a bicycle. However, he likes walking the five kilometres to school. Today, A hundred rupee note was lying right in front of him. He could make out a few people standing quite some distance away. What should he do? He had been standing and thinking for over fifteen minutes now.

Masterji stooped. With an elegant stretch of the limbs, the note was in his pocket. Nobody saw him. Masterji walked on to his home.

It is true that Masterji teaches Moral Science at a government school. It is also true that he is the ONLY teacher at the government school. It is also true that he hasn't received his salary for the past six months.

Only the educated are free. - Epitectus

(Inspired from a short story that I had read somewhere a very very long time ago. I don't remember the name of the original author. In fact, I only remember the gist of the story. This is my adapted version of the Hindi original. This line issued in the spirit of GNU. Give credit where it is due.)

Love Story II

Friendship is a word used by boys to start a relationship with a girl. Alas, its the same word used by a girl to end a relationship with a boy.

Can you be so close to a person that the person feels that if you come any closer, it might jeopardize your relationship? No, I don't care about what your answer might be because in my case it was a resounding YES.

The thing still feels like a bad dream. I can't believe that a girl could say something of the sort that she said to me. There was only one girl whom I truly loved. Its true that I ogle at hundreds of pretty girls, flirt with dozens but at the end of the day, I know that there's only one girl in this world without whom my life is meaningless. And that's her!

We have been friends for like ages. I guess that's the root of my problem. We were talking about our future together when she spoke her heart out. She said (not in her own words), "We are like best friends. At least I consider you my best friend. And I'm afraid that if we make a commitment, we might fall out and distances between us would tear us apart. In short, I'm too afraid of commitments and I don't want to lose you.!" And guess what, I know that she was telling the truth (A direct hit right below the belt!).

So, she stuck to the cliched "Just friends" because she did not want to lose me. Oh bother! No wonder I have such a low opinion of women. Not in a bad way, in case you misunderstand me. To me, it seems that girls and boys are tuned to entirely different frequencies. Neither can understand the other. Sometimes, this simple fact pushes me over the edge. Why can't I make her understand...understand that I'll be there for her...I want to be there for her forever...that I love her.

Anyways, it doesn't matter now. I've finally accepted defeat. So, we are now "just friends". She wanted us to be "just friends", "just friends" is how we will stay. I guess that my search for that special someone never did end. Damn, I was ready to spend an eternity with her! But she wasn't.

Oh well, maybe now I have to find my soul-mate. Or hope that she finds me. Those mushy Mills and Boons love stories have started giving me the creeps. I pray that the concept of soulmates is not simply a figment of someone's imagination. Or I'm screwed, bigtime.

Anyways, this is to certify that I, Anurag Saxena, will not resume my search for a soulmate (at least not until I complete my degree). My soulmate would have to make all the efforts to find me herself. Too bad!


Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus - Anonymous