Order! Order!” orders the Lord, pounding his gavel on the table. “Silence, the court is in session!” the Bailiff thunders, ever keener than the Judge to exercise control.
“M’Lord,” pleads the Defence Counsel, “How can we remain silent in the face of such a grave travesty of justice? My client has committed no wrong, let alone any crime. Yet, she has been awarded the capital punishment, which is beyond all norms of fair play. I beseech your Lordship to examine the charges levelled against her, frivolous as they are, and acquit her.”
“A man is known by the company he keeps,” the Lord states. “We are helpless if your client courts the company of a virus like cancer. She has invited the death sentence upon herself.” “But Your Honour, what can my innocent client do when cancer forces itself on her? She has always taken good care of her health. But instead of lauding her model personality, she is being sent to the execution chamber! My client’s only sin is that she knows not how to distinguish good friends from evil ones.”
“As she sows, so she reaps,” remarks God with a sigh. “I am afraid she will have to bear the consequences of her actions in previous births also. We are powerless.” “M’Lord, how can you take away her life in the prime of youth? It’s so cruel! You should consider her position as mother of an infant. Without her mother, the child will be lost. How is it upright to nip the budding world of young lives, while prolonging the longevity of old men and women?” God smiles. “I see. New to our Territory of Heaven, are you? You see, on earth a semblance of justice still prevails among men, which you can access through fair, principled means. But in our celestial world, everything is whimsical. Life remains a series of unregulated accidents. Like your client being hauled away before her time. Take her away!”
“Make way for the Accused and her escort,” shouts the Bailiff even as the long arms of death emerge out of the darkness. ... I snap out of my nightmare. Dawn is faintly growing on the horizon. My thoughts still cling to the daughter we had fought for but lost. Even after many years, I am treading two parallel universes—one the mundane everyday world of eating, sleeping, working, laughing and all; the other an empty numbness within that no God cares for or dares to fill.
Ishwar Pati
Email: ishwarpati@gmail.com