Morning Walk

 

MORNING WALK

Rajeev was out for his morning walk in the park. After half an hour of walking, he felt surprisingly energetic and decided to jog for some time. After ten minutes of jogging, he felt even better and decided to sprint for some time. After completing a total of an hour in the park he decided to head back home. Rajeev was proud of what he had done that day. "I'm eager to get home, I want to tell my wife about the workout I did today. Every day she complains that I avoid my walks and that I'm not fit. Wait till she hears about this," he told his friend Arun who also happened to be in the park that morning.

Rajeev hurried home, eager to boast about his achievements or at least what he thought were achievements. When he reached home, which was a bungalow in a plush suburban locality of Mumbai, he was shocked to see many people gathered there. People dressed in white were everywhere, the porch of the bungalow, the garden, the approach road and even the footpath outside. Rajeev was petrified. 
"Hello what happened, why are you all here?" he asked a man standing at the gate. The man pretended as if he did not hear or see Rajeev. 
"You can at least answer me you idiot!" he shouted and made his way through the sea of people towards his house.

"Hey Arun, what are you doing here? How did you make it to my home before me? And you even managed to change," said Rajeev. Arun also did not answer.
 "What? Are you guys deaf?" said an angry Rajeev and waved his hands to attract attention, "oh so you're blind too", he said and went inside his house. He froze as soon as he entered his house, he was in shock, confusion and fear, all at the same time. There was his wife dressed in a milk white saree, sitting beside Rajeev's body and his photo frame and crying. 
"Hey, Sanjana, what's happening? Whose body is this? Why is there a garland around my frame?" he asked his wife. She did not answer.
 "Hello!" shouted Rajeev, "why isn't anyone answering?" Yet, no one replied. It was as if he was invisible to everyone.

"He was never serious about his health. How many times did I tell him to take care of his diet, go for morning walks but he took it all too lightly," said a sobbing Sanjana to her friend. 
"Look now, I have lost him at such a young age," she said as she wept profusely. Rajeev walked up to his wife.
 "Dear I'm alive. I'm right here, can't you all see me?" he shouted. Rajeev stepped back in dismay, moved his hands through his hair and stood with his hands on his hips. 
"You never took your health seriously, Rajeev, my son. All you cared about was making more money", came a voice from near his body, Rajeev looked up in disbelief.
 "Dad? How's it possible? You passed away five years ago!" said a flabbergasted Rajeev. 
"You too have passed on my son. Don't you realise, only the two of us can see and hear each other because we are now in a different realm. You're a spirit now," explained his father. 
"So this indeed is my body", said Rajeev looking down at the body, he started crying. 
"Why? Why did I not listen to everyone, if only I had taken my health more seriously", cried Rajeev. 
"It's too late now son, come we must go, it's time to move on", said his father. "Give me some time dad, let me see wife and son one last time", said Rajeev. He took a few steps back and sat on a chair, still crying. 

Rajeev sat there for some time looking at his family. Suddenly an alarm clock on the table beside him started ringing. It got louder and louder but Rajeev did not turn it off. From across the room his wife stared straight into his eyes, "switch off the alarm honey", she said in a soft voice. 
"Can you see me Sanjana?" he asked with doubtful excitement.
 "Please switch off the alarm!" she said angrily. Rajeev was confused, he just couldn't move, he did not know what was happening. Sanjana got up and walked up to him, she grasped his hand and shook it violently. 
"Switch off the alarm", she shouted. That's when Sanjana succeeded and Rajeev woke up from his sleep. He was panting heavily and sweating. 
"Switch it off, as it is you never go for a walk, then why do you set the alarm every day and disturb my sleep too?" asked Sanjana. 
Rajeev switched off the alarm and thanked God he was alive, it had been a terrible nightmare. He rushed to the washroom to freshen up and changed to his walking gear. He went over to a photo of God, touched his feet and thanked him. Then he walked over to his dad's photo, with folded hands seeked his blessings and forgiveness too and rushed out for his morning walk. 
"Wonder what happened to him today?" thought Sanjana as she pulled the blanket over herself and went to sleep.


Comments

  1. Sonal11 April 2022 at 09:19

    So many of us needed to read this.. eye opener, really. Hopefully this story will prevent me from hitting snooze when the alarm rings! Well written as always Zeyd!

    ReplyDelete
  2. SAGAR12 April 2022 at 21:17

    Simply superb

    ReplyDelete

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