The Immortals
What if all of us are immortal? Will that be fun? Shilpa and Rohan go through a fantastic adventure to learn about Immortals!
Death is what gives life meaning. To know your days are numbered. Your time is short — The Ancient One
Shilpa came out of the bedroom with her eyes swollen and looking red. She was 10 years old. Her brother Rohan was 8 and was in a similar state. They had just lost their Tata (Grandpa) who was 90 years old and had passed away in his sleep the night before. He was playing and telling stories to them just last night but in the morning he was gone. It was too sudden for anybody to process and make peace with it yet. Ajji (Grandma) was also crying but slowly she was coming to terms with it. Rituals had started and Appa (Father) was going about his business with a stone face ensuring everything was taken care of in the right way. Amma (Mother) was busy helping Appa in everything. Shilpa and Rohan were with their Ajji.
After the rituals were complete and all the relatives had left, they all settled back to their own lives. Shilpa and Rohan had holidays from school as it was summer. So, they spent most of the time with their Ajji now.
“Ajji what happened to Tata? He was fine in the night and morning he had died”, asked Shilpa. “That is how life is Shilpa”, answered Ajji. “One day you are here and the next you are not”. Rohan got frightened! “Ajji! Do you mean we might not be here tomorrow?!” Ajji said, “No! I did not mean it like that. Say thuthu! Don’t talk like that!”. “What I mean is, everybody has to die someday. That is the way it works. Your Tata lived a good and long life. It was just his time to go”. “Where did he go Ajji?” Shilpa asked.
“Tata went to be with God. Everybody who dies goes to be with God if they had been good in their life”
Ajji chuckled to herself thinking how to answer this question and make a couple of kids understand. Ajji took a deep breath and tried to answer Shilpa’s question based on what she believed in. “Tata went to be with God. Everybody who dies goes to be with God if they have been good in their lifetime”. “What if they had been bad Ajji?” asked Rohan innocently. “In that case, they go to hell and suffer for eternity!”, answered Ajji curious to see what the kids thought of this. Rohan and Shilpa looked at each other a bit frightened. “Who decides where one should go?” they both asked. God does. “Seems complex!” they both decided.
“I for one never want to die. I always want to be with all of you and live happily”, declared Rohan. Shilpa agreed to this. “But, will you not get bored?”, asked Ajji. “No!”, they both said in unison. “I think it is better to live a good life and then die peacefully as your Tata did. I would not like to live forever”, said Ajji. Shilpa and Rohan did not agree to this. Why would anybody not want to live forever they thought. After this they went away and spent their day playing and just being kids. Then, they had dinner and settled down to sleep in their room.
They were just drifting to sleep when the room began violently shaking. A bright light filled the room. The siblings got scared and started screaming. Rohan, what is happening to us, shouted Shilpa. Rohan was clutching his bed tightly lest he falls off it. They both stood in the middle of the room holding each other and praying nothing happens due to this earthquake. Or so they thought.
This was not their town. Did they come to a far away land like Dorothy in Wizard of Oz?
After what seemed like forever, the room settled down and they both rushed to open the door and sleep in their parents room. But, when they opened the room they found themselves in the middle of a road and it looked like it was morning with the sun blazing hot. They were rubbing their eyes to get used to the bright light outside when they stepped out. This was not their city. Did they come to a far away land like Dorothy in Wizard of Oz?
After their eyes adjusted to the brightness, they could now make out people outside. Hordes of people crowded everywhere. They all looked shabby and sad but healthy. Many were just lying on the streets, some were sitting in the shade and some were just walking around. They caught somebody who looked like he could be about their age and asked where they were. The boy was surprised at the question but answered, “This is Eternia, a city in the country of Everlife part of the planet we call Earth”. Now, the siblings were really confused. “Earth? Even we are from Earth. But, we have never heard of Eternia or Everlife!”. They moved on thinking the boy was bluffing and were stopped by an elder asking who they were. After the initial small talk they again asked where they were to him. They received the same answer.
He explained to the kids that this was a place where everybody lived forever.
He declared that he was about 300 odd years old but had lost count in the last 10–20 odd years. The children began to understand now. That is why it was so crowded here. Now, they had a lot more questions.
People become complacent and lazy and lose interest in life after usually 250 years of living. But, they do not have a choice so they go on living
“If you are immortal, does that mean nothing can kill you? How about if you fall from a tall building or were shot with a gun?”, they asked. “No! We do get hurt. But, it usually heals in a week or so and we are back to normal. Nobody ever dies so our planet’s population is about 300 billion and growing. We don’t have much food for everybody. Not that we will die if we do not eat but it’s just something to do! Most of the people here do not work as they usually get bored of doing work after they cross 200. People become complacent and lazy and lose interest in life after living for more than 200 or 300 years . But, they don’t have a choice so they go on living and end up drifting, living on the street, taking up dangerous habits and just giving up on life and just existing. How we wish we could die!”, he rued. The siblings looked at each other knowingly and ran to their room which was still where they had come out from. They had got a lesson on what it means to be an immortal.
They prayed that they get back to their own house and tried to sleep as before assuming they will go back. For sometime, nothing happened, but then, they could hear somebody asking them to wake up as the time was 9AM! They woke up with a start and were happy to see Amma and Ajji smiling down at them. They were not sure if all this had been a dream or reality. They hugged them and wept saying they were so happy to see them. Amma was confused.
Ajji hugged them and knowingly asked, “Do you now understand what happens if we are all immortals, children?”.
The Immortals was originally published in Pradeep Kaushik on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.