The God Question

The God Question

Early morning 5 o’clock as the alarm beeped Arya was wide awake. Sunita and Riya were sound asleep. He came to the balcony and viewed the sky. The sun’s rays were held captive by clouds. Rain was playing a mysterious drama of hide and seek.

Preparing to jog, Arya put on his shoes and came to the living room to find Riya standing near the door.

“Hey sweetie! Have you got up? Go back to sleep.”

“I am not feeling sleepy daddy. Where are you going? I want to come with you.”

“I am going to the park only, Riya. Mommy will scold if you are out with me. Now be a good girl and go back to bed.”

But as Riya was adamant, Arya was left with no other choice but to take her with him.

Arya ran five laps round the park and then sat on the bench.

Meanwhile, Riya who was playing with her ball came to sit near him.

“Mommy and I are going to Goa tomorrow daddy.”

Before five years Sunita had converted to being a Christian. Every year it was her ritual of going to pray at a church in Goa.

“I know you are going to Goa, Riya. I am the one who is going to drop you at the airport tomorrow.”

“Why aren’t you coming with us daddy?”

“I have lot of work to do in office Riya”

“You are lying, daddy. Mommy told me that you do not like Jesus, so you are not coming.”

“It’s not what you think Riya. I like everybody.”

“Grandma doesn’t like Jesus. She prays to Lord Krishna and Ganesha only.”

Arya remained silent without answering.

“Who is true god daddy? Jesus or Ganesha?”

“All gods are true gods only”

“Did god invent all of us?”

“Enough Riya. Looks like it is about to rain. Let’s go home.”

Arya did not even have the slightest belief in God. He was working as a scientist in DRDO. He was adamant in believing only those things which can be analyzed in a scientific manner. Even though he and Sunita had a lot of arguments, they were both clear in one thing; to give respect to each other’s beliefs.

Of late, Sunita keeps talking to Riya about Jesus a lot more. As a result, she seems to be confused. I must put forth this matter to Sunita wisely. I don’t know whether she would agree or not. She was of the belief that faith in religion must be instilled from childhood itself.

Both of them reached home. Sunita was busying herself in the kitchen.

“Why did you take Riya outside? It looks like it is about to rain. What if something happens to her? We have to travel tomorrow!”

Without answering her question, Arya went near Sunita and planted a kiss on her lips.

“You make up for all you have done by sealing my lips this way”, Sunita muttered under her breath.

“I have to be in office early today, Sunita. There is an important meeting today.”

“I planned to go shopping today. Can you drop us on the way to office?”

“I am sorry Suni, but I can’t today.”

“Fine, we will ride a taxi to the shopping mall.”

After having breakfast, Arya left to office at once.

Arya came to his lab on the third floor of DRDO office. There was a strange machine in the lab. While he was examining the machine, Amitabh came into the room.

“Arya do not mess up today’s demonstration.”

“I have completed all test cases. The demo will be nothing short of perfection.”

“The government doesn’t have enough funds due to global economic slowdown. So they are planning to stop funding many projects. Besides, people have started questioning the effectiveness of money spent on these research projects when there are few millions of people struggling in poverty. Central minister is visiting us today to find the status of all projects. He is planning to cancel few unwanted projects. People working on those projects will be sacked. So keep in mind that your whole future depends on this demo you are presenting today.”

“All will go fine. Don’t worry, Amit.”

“You are the one who should be worried. Not me. Anyways, your demo is to start in an hour.”

The demo started an hour later as scheduled. The minister seemed to be quite intelligent. Arya began his demo by stating some much needed explanation.

“Till date, science has defined that this universe is within the three dimensions of length, breadth and height. However in the last twenty years, science has evolved greatly due to the Principles of String theory. This principle states without doubt that the universe is in ten dimensions instead of the well-known three. The seven other dimensions are so minute that we can’t view them. Besides, it has been discovered that there exist other universe apart from our own. These are called Brane universe. And these are not away from us by few million miles but on the contrary they are within the reach of our hands.”

“Then why are we not able to view them?”

“There are two theories as to why we are not able to view them. First being, we are able to see the stars in the sky as the light from them is reaching Earth. But the light from these other universes do not reach Earth. The second theory being, the other universes are in the seven dimensions which are imperceptible to humans.”

“Ok. Coming back to your machine, what is it going to achieve?”

Arya placed a small book in the machine. After issuing a few commands in the computer the book vanished right in front of their eyes.

“This book called ‘An Elegant universe’ might now be read by some human in another universe”, said Arya with a smile.

“How can you prove that this book went to a different universe?”

“I can prove this, only by sending a human to that other universe. Unless he travels to that Brane universe and returns here to inform us, there is no way it can be affirmed.”

“This is a very boisterous piece of work. Nobody will come forward to take part in this research as they pretty well know that there is no guarantee for their life. Even if you find someone, judging the success or failure of this project by their mere words is foolishness.”

Amitabh started coaxing the minister.

“Human beings have not even set foot on Mars. Here he comes with an idea of travelling to another universe! It would be better if you start working on something else”, the minister said while heading out.

Arya was sitting dejectedly when he got a call from Amitabh.

“Bad news, Arya. I’m sorry to inform you that your project has been cancelled and your services are no longer required. You need not come to work from next month.”

Arya stood there silently, trying hard to digest Amitabh’s words.

“Sorry Arya. I told quite a lot of things about you to the minister. But he remained firm in his decision. I had earlier assigned you to a different project. But you disagreed to be a part of it. I feel bad to lose talented people like you.”

Arya thanked him and came to his car. His heart was heavy with sadness. He did not care about the job but losing his five years of research was much more painful to him.

Arya came home to find his house empty, as he remembered that Sunita and Riya had gone shopping. The silence and loneliness of the house made his grief even bitterer.

He went to his bedroom and closed his eyes. He lost all track of time. Suddenly, he woke up to find Riya patting on his back and yelling, “Daddy! You are home early today! Come let’s go out and play. ”

Sunita came near him and asked “Why did you come home early, Arya? Are you sick or something?”

“I lost my job Sunita. They stopped funding my project and people who were not wanted anymore were sacked.”

Sunita was shocked to hear that. She stood up and then pacified Arya by running her fingers through his hair. “Don’t worry Arya. Tomorrow I will go to Goa and pray to Jesus. Definitely you will be blessed with good news.”

“Do you really have to go to Goa this time? I thought it would be soothing if you stay with me in this bad situation. Do you think I will get my lost job back by praying to God?”

“Even if you don’t believe in this, please allow me to travel to Goa for my peace of mind. I felt thunderstruck when I heard the news. You are also equally vexed. If I return from Goa, I will regain my confidence. I feel at least one among us should be brave enough to face this misery.”

“Hmmm… Ok. Go ahead with your travel, as per your wish Sunita.”

“Talk and play with Riya for a while. That will definitely help in forgetting your troubles for a while.”

Riya took her father’s arm and led him to her play room telling “Come daddy! Let’s play V game together.”

As soon as Arya left the room, Sunita burst out into tears which she had managed to keep in check till then.

* * *

Next day Sunita left to Goa with Riya. Arya’s mind was driving him crazy by sitting all alone in the house. He came to his office and entered the lab.

He saw the machine before him for some time and then issued a series of commands in the computer.

The doors of the machine closed as Arya stood inside it.

“Forgive me Sunita. My loving kisses are always for you, Riya darling” were the last thoughts in his mind as he closed his eyes and prepared for his adventure.

As rays of light engulfed him, within a fraction of a second Arya had vanished.

When Arya opened his eyes and saw he felt like he had been woken up from a long sleep. Excruciating pain stung him when he tried to move his hands. Just wanting to stand up and walk a little bit was proving to be quite a struggle. There was green pasture of trees everywhere around him. The sound of running water he heard felt sweet. A beautiful waterfall stood before him after he had managed to walk a few steps. He remained dumb folded by its sheer beauty.

His mind raised suspicions about where he was at present. His old thoughts made an entry, along with many questions. Have I really come to another universe? Or am I still in Earth? Or have I landed in some other planet?

He was engrossed in his thoughts when a colorful butterfly sat on his back. He was astonished to see that pretty little thing. He was once for all sure that this world housed many living organisms. He glanced at the trees all around him. Each of the trees must be at least hundred feet tall. He made up his mind that this is not something you can see on Earth. Suddenly, he heard the loud sound of birds flapping their wings and saw some gigantic eagle like birds on the sky.

Arya could hear his stomach rumbling. He thought of eating the fruits on the trees near him. He plucked them and ate, which satisfied his hunger though they were sugarless and tasteless.

Slowly it began to get dark. There appeared a big red circle in the sky. Exactly in the opposite direction, a big blue circle and a small white circle had appeared. These must be moons, he thought. As this planet had three moons he ascertained that the place he was in was definitely not Earth.

He laid down under a tree and viewed the sky over his head. He fell asleep soon, partly mesmerized by the beauty of three moons and a galaxy of stars and partly because of his tiredness.

He woke up the next day in this unknown mystic place and was roaming aimlessly. His feet took him to a place where he saw a big mountain. Again it had started to become dark. His thoughts of finding any intelligent organisms in this planet like humans were hijacked by a wonderful sighting. He noticed the light shone from the far off mountain peak. This must be coming from a fire or some sought of electric source. Arya was brimming with hope that he will find intellectual beings in this planet, to save him from roaming alone all over this place.

He made up his mind that he has to somehow climb that mountain to meet them. But to reach the top, which is several thousands of feet above, it would take him several months. Moreover, he did not find any easy path to climb the mountain too. Arya once again succumbed to his frustrations.

He challenged himself that during pre-historic era, man had travelled to many continents without any technological advancement, why can’t he climb this mountain? He started moving slowly over the mountain with the distant light source as his target.

He was climbing for a good whole one week. The plants and trees thinned out as he rose in altitude making it difficult for him to get food. This left him exhausted and dizzy. He felt half his life was drained and for nothing, as his hopes of reaching the top was turning sour.

He decided it would be foolishness to stay in this deserted land any longer and stood at the tip of a rock on the mountain. Images of Sunita and Riya smiling flashed in his mind as he closed his eyes. As he was prepared to jump off the rock, some force prevented him.

A bluish figure had stopped him from falling. That person had its hand on Arya’s head and they felt a sought of telepathic connection between them.

“Who are you and what are you trying to do?” asked the blue person.

Arya was so happy and excited to find someone.

“Before seeing you I was about to die. But now that is unnecessary I think.”

“Where are you coming from? Do you not know that there is no such thing as death in this world?”

“I am coming from a planet called Earth.”

“Don’t lie to me. There is no such planet as you say in this universe.”

“I am coming from a different universe.”

The alien was viewing him and was completely taken aback. He placed his hands on Arya’s shoulders and said “Come let’s go to my place.”

The next moment Arya found himself in a huge palace like house. Arya realized that these people have advanced in science so much that they use transporter technology for travelling to any place within a fraction of a second.

That alien told “My name is Vish. I am a Chief scientist in this Vaikund Planet. What is your name?”

“My name is Arya.”

“You told you are coming from another planet. There is no possible scientific explanation for that. There can never be light or any other form of waves that can travel from one universe to another. Then how is it possible for an object to travel?”

“I can prove what you are saying is wrong by giving a scientific explanation. You are telling that waves can’t travel between universes. But there is one exception to this theory called ‘Graviton’ which is gravity waves. We can convert an object into graviton waves send it to another universe and again convert it back to the same object.”

Vish was astounded on hearing this. “Fine, then be our guest in this universe. I will send you a person who can assist you and make you more familiar with our universe. Please take some rest” with these words Vish disappeared.

A beautiful woman came to him after some time. “My name is Megha. Our leader Vish has asked me to assist you, who have come from other world. First, let’s have food.” She stretched her hands in front of her and started making some gestures which led to the appearance of a dining table, chairs and food. Arya was chewing his food with hesitation as he found it difficult to eat tasteless fruits and vegetables.

“Do you like our food?”

Arya lied “Yes.It’s surprising to see people in your planet look alike to human beings. What language do you speak?”

“Sanskrit”

Arya couldn’t believe his ears. “Tell me more about your world, Megha.”

“We are now in Vaikund planet. It has got three moons; Swarka, Devesh and Narak. Our planet is headed by three scientists; Vish, Shiv and Jes. You have met Vish earlier.”

“Are the leaders in your planet scientists?”

“Yes. We strongly believe in the fact that this universe is functioning based only on scientific rules. Nothing happens by co-incidence. Every action can be explained by a scientific rule. Hence, we are of the opinion that only scientists can make a right decision. When the future seems muddled, only scientists can decide on right choices and lead the people forward.”

“If you say that all happens by scientific rules, then do you people not believe in God? Do people follow any kind of religion here?”

“The only religion we follow here is scientific rules. We believe the existence and functioning of this universe is only by scientific rules. We worship only those people as God who is well versed in the scientific rules, namely the three scientists Vish, Shiv and Jes.”

“Though humans have scientific reasoning we believe there is a force called God who makes the universe to function.”

“Even we had faith in God earlier. But that turned out to be non-existent when we found answers to all unanswered questions we had. It’s time for you to rest today. Tomorrow I will show you more about our world.” Even before Arya could answer, Megha had disappeared.

Next day Megha took Arya on a tour of her world. Arya found the people in the town not having a single concern, very enthusiastic and happy. Entertainment places and Restaurants were galore.

“What is the average age of people here?” Arya was curious to know.

“There is no such thing as death here. Our race had inhabited this planet for several thousands of million years. Ancestors belonging to that era are still alive. But as the population was increasing day by day, we have not given birth to a child since the last two thousand years.”

“Next we will be going to the scientific research lab.”

The next moment Arya found himself in a big building.

Arya was surprised to find objects functioning under telepathy, transporter technology and many other amazing things.

“You will be really surprised if I show you the next machine.” Megha said with some pride.

They entered another big room and Arya was bewildered to see the machine in front of him.

“This machine is capable of creating a brand new universe. All universes have been formed from a very minute particle, when under pressure have erupted into a humongous universe. We follow the same procedure to create many such universes in this place.”

Arya had to pinch himself to believe what he just heard.

“Vish was the mastermind behind this project. The number of universes he created would easily cross several millions.”

“Then can you find out how the universe in which I was born was created?”

“We maintain records of how each universe was formed. Can you give me details about any planet or star in your universe. I can then check our records.”

Arya provided details of Earth’s and Sun’s characteristics to Megha.

Megha’s face lit up when she searched the records. “What a surprise! The first universe Vish created was yours!”

“So this affirms that the God who created my universe was Vish. Can Vish control each and every happening in my universe?”

“I am afraid not. As a first step, we have to design the scientific rules which form the basis on which your universe functions. After your universe was formed, it operates based on these rules. So, not even Vish can control either the scientific rules that were designed earlier or the happenings in your universe.”

Arya was hit by a brilliant idea. “Megha, is it possible for you to help me get back to my universe. My wife and child are waiting for me.”

Megha hesitated before answering. ”Sorry I can’t help you without Vish’s permission.”

Arya did not want to let go of this golden chance. He held Megha’s hands and pleaded “I think your people might dislike visitors from other world. If I continue to stay here I may be in danger. Please consider my situation and help me this one time, Megha.”

Megha was pondering for a while and finally gave in to Arya’s plea.

Arya sat inside that machine and watched Megha operate it through hand gestures.

A little later, Arya had completely vanished into thin air.

* * *

Vish was seen with a worrisome face. There were Shiv and Jes along with him in the room.

“An unfortunate and totally unexpected incident has occurred. A man from one of the universe I had created has come to our world.”

Shiv replied “But you promised there was no probability of such an incident happening.”

Vish looked more troubled as he said “Yes. I had thought so till date. But it seems people we created are turning out to be more intelligent than us.”

Jes pitched in. “So, what have you thought to overcome this issue? Is it possible that we have to kill him?”

Vish shook his head.” As he has set foot in our world, he remains bounded by our scientific rules. As long as he stays here, he has no death.”

Shiv suggested “Then we are left with no choice but have him captive.”

A hologram image of Megha flashed in the room informing her presence. “Good day, Leaders! Our guest Arya has left our world. As per his request, I have sent him back to Earth using the machine in our lab.”

Vish’s face was reddened with anger.” You foolish girl! Arya was our prisoner. Had I not ordered you to keep close watch of him and not let him go out of sight?”

Megha replied “His presence was slowly becoming known to other people in our world. I received news that people are angered by his presence. In order to avoid any upheaval regarding this matter in the future I permitted him to go back to his planet.”

Vish was fuming “Did it not strike you to ask our opinion before sending him?”

Megha coolly responded “I would like to gently remind you that I have been given full power in matters pertaining to welfare and security of people here.”

Vish shouted “You foolish girl! Get lost!”

Megha wasted no time in disappearing from the room.

Shiv said “Don’t be angry Vish. Our threat does not stop with Arya. People from Earth are making rapid strides in science every day. Even if we had held Arya as prisoner here, we can’t say for sure another person from Earth will not travel here one day.”

Jes was curious “What are the threats that we incur if a person from Earth travels here?”

Vish explained “Humans were created by us. We must appear mystical to them, which they will find intriguing. Then only they will worship us as God. If they happen to see us, then the secret to their creation is revealed, which will lead them to lose faith in us. Who knows, they may even become more powerful and wage war against us.”

Shiv substantiated Vish by saying “What Vish told is 100% true. 10,000 earth years before, humans were rapidly developing in science and posed a threat to us. That time we sent a clone of Vish called Krish to Earth. Krish did a great job of raising animosity between the 2 sects of Pandavas and Guaravas, which resulted in the destruction of human race in the subsequent war between them. Thus, we were able to stop the growth of science.”

Vish was determined when he said “Well! Now the time has come to send another of my clone to Earth. The destruction of human race is inevitable. This seems to be the only way we can circumvent threat this time.”

Vish started detailing his plans to the other two present in the room.

* * *

One week had passed and still no news of Arya. Sunita was having sleepless nights. Riya was beside her hugging a Barbie doll and sleeping.

If Arya was with her, they would be celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary tomorrow. The mere thought of it made her grieve much more than she already was. She closed her eyes but sleep was something which kept evading here.

The next day dawned beautiful and bright. She looked at Arya’s photo and said “Happy anniversary.” With a heavy heart she proceeded to prepare breakfast for Riya.

Riya went to Sunita and asked “Mom, did you cry? Dad has gone on an official tour. He will return soon.”

Sunita couldn’t do anything but hug Riya and kiss her.

Suddenly she heard a familiar voice calling her “Sunita!” and turned back.

She gasped when she saw Arya standing near the door.

She stood paralyzed not believing her eyes. She regained her composure and ran to Arya. With tears running down her cheek she slapped him hard.

“Where did you go all this time? Did you ever once think about me and Riya? Why did you put us through hell?”

“You won’t believe it, I went to another world using the machine I created. There I happened to see the God who created us.”

Sunita stopped him from uttering another word by placing a finger on his lips. “I know you are under a lot of mental stress. I got a call from Amitabh yesterday. He promised to put you in a different project. Take ample rest and join next week. Stop thinking about alternate universe and stuff.”

“Sunita, even you don’t believe what I am saying.”

“I do believe what you said. If I don’t believe you then who are going believe you? For now, what you require is rest.”

Riya came running into the room excitedly and hugged Arya. “Daddy! Why did you not call us even once when you were on your tour? Mommy was very worried. Have you not bought anything for me?”

“Sorry darling. I did not buy anything. Next time I promise I will get you gifts.”

“It’s ok daddy. We saw Lord Jesus when we visited Goa.”

“Even I visited God in person.”

Sunita interrupted fast and took Riya to another room. On the way out, she made eye gestures to Arya, not to talk things like this to Riya.

After feeding Riya, Sunita made Arya lay down on their bed and remained hugging him reassuringly. But little did that work in bringing back Arya from the magical universe he had visited. Sunita had to console herself by thinking time will heal the unpleasant memories.

* * *

A week passed before Arya went to his DRDO office and met Amitabh.

“Hi Arya! I didn’t see you around for a long time. I was worried you went to some unknown place due to depression. The other day I called Sunita. She informed me that you had gone to a relative’s wedding. I was relieved on hearing that. Anyways, good news is that we have proposed you to be in missile defense project. Today you have to meet your new manager regarding that.”

Arya was anxious when he asked “What is the state of the previous project in which I was working, Amitabh?”

“We are going to stop all ongoing work related to that project.”

Arya was overcome with worry. Yet he managed to tell “It’s ok. But please safely store the machine as I don’t want to see my several years of research go waste.”

Amitabh reassured him “Ok. Don’t worry. I will take good care of it.”

Arya shook hands with Amitabh and departed to see his new manager.

After two months….

Arya had come to his usual self completely. He rediscovered his passion towards work and family.

One day he went to pick up Riya from her school. Riya was not found in her usual spot. He searched her in many places but still no sight of her. Near to the library, under a tree, Riya was seen having a conversation with a man. That man started moving fast when he caught sight of Arya approaching them.

Arya enquired “Riya, who was the man you were talking to?”

Riya replied “ As you were late to pick me up, that uncle was with me. He narrated me many stories, daddy!”

Arya was interested “What stories?”

Riya told “Stories of God. He promised to take me to God.”

Arya was shocked to hear that. “Here after I must not see you speaking to strangers. Come let’s go home.”

As Arya was driving back home, his thoughts were clouded. He felt something fishy with that stranger. As soon as they reached home, Arya forgot all about this incident when Sunita started talking about her sister’s wedding preparations.

In the middle of the night, Arya was wide awake from his sleep. He turned and tossed, but still couldn’t go back to sleep. He had some water from kitchen and was getting to bed when he heard the barking of dogs and watched out of his window. He was terrified to find a man under the street light, glancing at his house. The man in the street must have sensed that he was spotted as he quickly disappeared.

Arya laid down confused. He made a mental note to give a police complaint next day. After some time, he fell asleep.

* * *

Arya’s new manager Sarath was fuming in fury.

“Arya! Your project status doesn’t look satisfactory to me. With just a month to go live, we have not even completed 40% of the work.”

Arya explained “All are new people in this team. They lack proper experience. I couldn’t complete the assigned work with these people. I need more resourceful and experienced people on board.”

“What is the use of giving me this excuse? Even if we change people now, there will be no progress as we have just one month left.”

“I believe that we can achieve good results by choosing talented people.”

“Alright. I will give it a thought. We will meet again at afternoon 2 PM.”

Later at 2 o’clock when Arya entered Sarath’s room he was horrified to see the man who was sitting there. The exact same man, who he saw talking to Riya at the school.

Sarath spoke “Arya, Meet Vishal. He is the new member to your project. He joined DRDO only last week. He completed his studies in America’s Princeton University and worked in NASA for four years. I believe that his inputs to your project will steer it to successful completion.”

Vishal extended his hand to Arya, who shook it half-heartedly. Both of them left Sarath’s room together.

Vishal suggested “Let’s have our conversation over a cup of coffee.” Both ordered coffee at their canteen and proceeded to have a seat.

Arya started with an apprehension. “I believe we have been introduced earlier.”

“Yes. You are mentioning the day in school when I was talking to your daughter, right? My niece is also studying in that school. When I had come to pick her up, I noticed your daughter sitting alone. Such a sweet girl! Oh! The questions she asks are truly amazing. I think intelligent genes run down your family after you.”

“That aside, why were you stalking my house yesterday night?”

“Oh! No, I did no such thing. I stay with my sister now, whose house is in the street adjacent to your house. I smoke when I am awake in night. I felt it would be bad to smoke in her home. So, I walked a little distance from her house and was smoking the other night.”

Arya lifted all his suspicions about Vishal at that very moment. He came to know more about Vishal’s previous work experience.

Arya finally surrendered “Our project is at present sinking deep. With your help I think we can prevent it from happening any further and make it run.”

Vishal chirped in “I will be glad to help you from this moment.”

Both of them went to Arya’s cubicle and Vishal came to know about the ongoing project. Arya outlined all existing design issues and was amazed to see Vishal suggesting some quick solutions. Soon he grew fond of Vishal in a respectful yet friendly manner.

Arya invited Vishal to his house for Saturday’s dinner which he gladly obliged.

* * *

Saturday had arrived and Vishal made a call to Arya. “Arya, you did not come to office for two days. You had invited me to dinner today, remember?”

“Sorry Vishal. My daughter is not feeling well. We are at the hospital now.”

“Oh! What happened to Riya?” Vishal sounded concerned.

“Two days earlier, she came home from school and suddenly fell unconscious. We took her to the doctor and they were suspicious that it may be brain tumor. Tomorrow they are conducting some tests. We are very anxious right now.”

“In which hospital are you now?”

“Malar hospital.”

Within the next half hour Vishal was there in the hospital. Riya was asleep in a separate room, while Arya and Sunita were sitting grief-stricken. They had not expected Vishal to come down to the hospital to meet them.

Vishal asked “How is she now?”

Arya replied in a hoarse voice “They have given her sedatives. She is now asleep.”

Both Arya and Sunita looked weak from tiredness. They had not left Riya’s side for two full days not even for sleeping.

Vishal offered to help “Arya, please both of you go and take some rest at your home today. I will take care of Riya in hospital tonight.”

Sunita declined politely “Why do you have to trouble yourself? No need. We can stay.”

But Vishal insisted “Please, I don’t consider this a trouble. For tonight alone, take some rest peacefully at your home.”

Finally they agreed and left the hospital.

Next day when they came to hospital they found Riya talking animatedly to Vishal.

Riya was bubbling with fun when she told her parents “This uncle made me laugh so hard today.”

The sight of Riya being happy left both her parents feeling recharged.

Vishal said “Her MRI scan was done earlier today. The results will be out in an hour.”

By the time Vishal could end his words, the doctor came with the good news that “She is perfectly fine. We can discharge her right now.”

Arya thanked the doctor profusely while Sunita hugged Riya and showered her kisses.

Arya took time to thank Vishal too. “Vishal, we can never forget the timely help you did. As soon as you came I felt a positive vibration.”

“Don’t worry Arya. I am always your friend. Never hesitate to call me for help. I am available anytime.”

Taking Riya with them, Arya and Sunita left to home from the hospital.

While driving back home, Sunita told Arya “Vishal is a perfect gentleman. You are blessed to have a good friend like him.” Arya couldn’t help but agree to what she said.

They were both happy to see Riya talking to them enthusiastically all the way to their home. It seems they were all in high spirits.

* * *

“Tomorrow is the day our project goes live. For the first time, we are going to test a missile which can hit a target 4000 kilometers away. I need not mention the number of hurdles we overcame to achieve this extraordinary feat. Please put all your efforts whole day long today. By this time tomorrow, if the test run had been successful, we would have made a new landmark in the history of missiles.”

All the team members were listening intently to Sarath’s motivational speech. When he finished, they dispersed to their places and resumed their work with renewed vigor. As night fell, slowly one by one left to home, until Arya and Vishal were the last people seen working in the otherwise empty lab.

Arya was preparing to leave too. “Vishal, it’s very late now. 11 PM to be exact. We have to come early tomorrow by 6 AM. I am about to leave. Are you coming with me?”

Vishal refused. “No Arya. I have to verify few tests in the last minute. Just to be sure they run properly. We will meet tomorrow morning.”

Arya left the lab and proceeded to his home.

When Arya reached home, Sunita opened the door half asleep.

“Why are you late today? You did not even bother to call and inform me. Dinner is on the table.” Saying these she was on her way to bed.

Arya devoured the idli in hot pack and watched television for a while. Then he slept dreaming of a successful day tomorrow.

Next day, Arya went to office and was surprised to see Vishal still working in the lab.

“Did you stay up all night Vishal?”

“There were small issues which came to my notice. I started rectifying it and did not notice the time gone.”

Slowly all the other team members started filling in one by one.

 Arya hastened to his place and engrossed himself in running a few last minute tests. He was in for a rude shock when he saw the trajectory of the missile in a simulator.

Immediately he went to Sarath and informed him “We have to stop the missile testing at once. The path on which it goes has been changed.”

Sarath was confused “What do you mean the path has changed?”

Arya replied “I checked everything before going home last night. All was perfect. But now the path has been changed.”

“So, where will this new path end?”

“We had originally designed for the missile to hit the Bay of Bengal. But as per the new path it will hit Shanghai city of China. I really don’t understand how the path got changed.”

“Did you notice anybody in the office after you left home yesterday?”

“Vishal was the only person in lab yesterday.”

Both of them hurried to Vishal and confronted him with the new discovery. But when Vishal showed the missile trajectory in simulation, it seemed right on the original track.

Sarath was irritated “Arya, are you feeling tired? If so get back home. Don’t give me unnecessary tension by blabbering something.”

But Arya kept repeatedly saying what he saw “No, when I checked, the trajectory was different.”

“Enough of this nonsense, Arya. Now go back to work.”

Arya retreated to his cubicle utterly confused. He saw the path in simulation again and found it to be changed. Moreover he was dismayed to find a nuclear weapon loaded in the top part of the missile. It seemed so strange to him that this test run had a nuclear weapon in the missile. Nuclear weapons were mounted only at the time of war and not during testing.

Slowly Arya shot a glance at Vishal’s place. He was frightened to see that Vishal was staring at him.

Arya leapt to his feet and walked out. His anxiety subsided a little, after he had a cup of water. He took an elevator to the tenth floor and locked himself in a room. He started viewing the simulation patiently once more with a clear mind.

Arya checked out all options available to him and sprang into action just five minutes before the missile was set to fire. He hastily made modifications to a few files.

By the time he reached command center, the missile countdown had begun.

“3 2 1” and the missile was fired. It travelled skywards with a boom. It’s long path in the sky was displayed in the huge television set in the room. After travelling two hours, it fell in the Bay of Bengal. But as soon as it hit the Bay of Bengal, a catastrophe struck.

Arya had time only to change the path of the missile. He did not have sufficient time to separate the nuclear weapon from the missile. If Arya had not stepped in to make the changes, Shanghai city would have turned to ashes now.

Sarath and his team were highly outraged. They couldn’t believe what they saw. They started questioning each other “How such a huge mistake was possible after thorough checking?”

Arya searched for Vishal in the room. But he was nowhere to be seen. At that moment, Sunita called “I went to school to pick up Riya. But she was not there. The watchman informed me that somebody else had picked her up. I am very afraid. Can you please come home?”

Arya consoled her “Don’t worry Sunita. I will search for Riya now.”

Arya was suddenly suspicious of Vishal. He feared whether Vishal was putting Riya in danger.

Arya drove to the school to be informed that Riya was taken in a red car. Arya had no doubts what so ever that it was Vishal’s car.

He searched for Vishal in many places and finally came to his office again. There he found Vishal’s red car parked.

He went directly to the command center but couldn’t find Vishal there. He searched each and every place. Out of the blue, he remembered the machine which could send him to another universe and went to that lab.

There he saw Vishal. He was operating the computer and beside him was Riya lying unconscious.

“Vishal! What are you doing?” Arya ran towards him. Vishal kicked him away and Arya went flying and hit the wall.

Before Arya could stand up on his feet, Vishal snatched Riya and stood inside the machine. Vishal’s body turned blue. They had both disappeared even before Arya blinked his eyes.

Determined to follow them, Arya stood inside the machine. He was consumed by rays of brilliant light and he soon found himself in the other universe.

Vish was standing before him in the other world. Next to him, Vishal was playing with Riya.

Arya was confused to see Vishal, whose whole body was now blue and looking like an exact image of Vish.

Arya got hold of Vishal’s neck “Come on! Tell me the truth. Who are you?”

Vish intervened “Arya, Calm down! There is no use to anybody if you turn violent.”

Arya let go off Vishal’s neck.

Vish continued “Vishal is just my clone. He fulfilled my orders. I will clarify whatever doubts you have. Feel free to ask.”

Arya was flabbergasted. “Why should Vishal come to Earth? Why should he kidnap my daughter and come here?”

Vish patiently explained “The last time you came to our world you would have understood a few things. For example, now you know for sure that we are the ones who created your world. But we were of the opinion that people from Earth could not reach our world. But you broke our assumption. So we decided to destroy your world. Hence, we sent Vishal to Earth.”

“Did Vishal change the path of the missile?”

“Yes. Vishal made certain modifications in the missile to hit Shanghai city. If Shanghai had been hit, China will counteract by bombarding India with nuclear weapons. This will then snowball into the third world war. This was one fail-proof plan Vishal had executed to destroy Earth. But once again you have sabotaged our plans.”

“Why did Vishal kidnap Riya and come here?”

“You were the only real danger we faced while executing these plans. We had no other option but to hold you captive here under our watchful eyes. That is why we had to kidnap Riya and bring her here.”

“What is the threat you face if people from Earth came to your universe?”

“We are your creators, Arya. We have to always remain mightier than you humans. We have to make sure human beings fear us. You must keep worshipping us as God. If humans started visiting us, then fearing us will slowly disappear. You will start to think of us as your equals. There might be a danger of humans waging war against too. These are the possible reasons why we are threatened by human’s presence in our world.”

It was Arya’s turn to clarify a few things. “You seem to have a wrong opinion about human beings faith in God. We have faith in God not because you created us. We do not fear you because you are the supreme power. But, having faith in God has taught man to make sacrifices. ‘If you are slapped on one cheek, show your other cheek’ have taught us patience. ‘ Do your duty, do not expect results’ has taught us a great truth. Above all, it has showed what true love is meant to be. Man who was roaming as a wildered beast was tamed and cultured by this faith in God.”

Riya put a beautiful garland of flowers on Vish’s neck.

“You look exactly like Lord Vishnu, my grandma used to pray. She has a ritual of garlanding Lord Vishnu’s photo daily. Today I have garlanded you in person.” Riya went on her knees and started praying with folded hands.

Arya continued from where he left “You will not face any threat from human beings visiting here. If you are the images of pure love as we think you are, then like Riya, other humans will come here and worship you devotedly. But if you wish to attack us, then people will not care even if you are God, they will rise and fight against you. You can be left with no doubt that this will happen.”

Vish’s face showed signs of weighing the facts which Arya stated. He gently lifted Riya in his arms and hugged her. He kissed her forehead.

“Arya, Krish from our planet gave a Geetha upadhesam to human beings. But you have given us a New Geetha to people in my world. You have illustrated what pure love can do. You can now go to your planet along with Riya. I hope that you will remain as a bridge between us, as a foundation of beautiful everlasting friendship of our worlds.”

Riya ran to her father and hugged him. Both of them bowed before Vish for one last time. Vish too reciprocated and bowed. As Vish made some hand gestures, both Arya and Riya disappeared.

The next moment their feet touched their doorsteps in Earth. Riya knocked the door and called out excitedly “Mom! Mom!”

Sunita opened the door. Her face was looking haggard. She had been crying for a long time. On seeing Riya, she hugged her tight. “Where did you go darling, leaving us worried?” and kissed her.

“Mom, I and daddy went and returned from heaven.”

“Sshhh! Don’t talk like that Riya. Is she alright?” Sunita anxiously asked Arya.

“She is fine. She was playing in Vishal’s home for a while. I went to his house to pick her up. I lost track of time talking to him. Nothing to worry.”

“Why can’t you call me and tell? This Vishal is blabbering about God, heaven etc. and confusing our daughter. Please tell him not to talk to Riya about these matters hereafter.”

Arya and Riya looked at each other and smiled playfully.

“I can only make out that you two together have done something mischievous. Enough for today, let’s have dinner and sleep.”

After dinner, all of them had a nice comforting sleep. But suddenly Riya awoke in the middle of night and woke up Arya silently without disturbing her mom.

Arya mumbled “Hey sweetie! What are you doing not sleeping?”

“Daddy, we went to a place where we met a person called Vish, right? Is he a good person or evil person?”

The End

Reference

The Hidden Reality – Brian Greene.