Yash Rathod
I'm a person of Ethics and Sentiments
MY NOTES FROM ZOMBIELAND
I have learned that an ample level of oxygen is present in our atmosphere. And yet, they left the home in search of oxygen, medical oxygen. They wandered for hours over the road and asking for medical oxygen, a bed, and a doctor who knows something. No one was accepting him to be their patient. The family had given up and started arranging a proper place to die after living a day inside a rented four-wheel vehicle.
Fortunately, a playground accepted him after pleading for help And provided him with a mattress and medical oxygen. The oxygen concentrator was not only feeding oxygen to the patient’s lungs but pumping hope in the family. The fortune did not last long and, the continuous decrease in oxygen level reader was sucking out all hopes. My friend, who was standing next to the oxygen level measuring device can see the decrement in oxygen level in his father’s body and be reading it to his mother.
And very soon, his father’s heart ceased. The fumes of fear inside the heart of the family condensed into tears. They were not allowed to cry there because the bed over which his father’s body is lying had to be vacated. So the municipality was informed about the death, not relatives, strange. My friend offered a hand in tying and wrapping his father’s body because of the lack of municipal workers. He had done this secretly, without letting his mother know. And soon they reach home.
But without him.
SHORT STORIES
" Tales that are meant to heard. "
two hours and twenty-two minutes
Ved and Tara agreed to something. Perhaps a role play would be nice to put as the title of the agreement. A beautiful period when two best friends that were inseparable will now enact to be friends. They will present themselves as they were before. Both agreed to speak about the mess upon what they have fallen after the misunderstanding/deception/bluff.
To conclude everything, things are complicated. Still muddy water in the lake.
Let me tell you what happened back then.
Perhaps, this flashback story is much identical to any other Bollywood or a communal narrative between two beings: a boy and a girl.
Ved and Tara were best friends. But not when they were in the same school. Eventually, as they propel together ahead, they became Harry and Hermione, not solving mysteries together but participating in each health and sickness. In comfort and grief.
Tara believes in god. And Ved was not much of a follower. Ved and Tara both were introverts among the crowd but relaxed around each other. Ved is more kind of a concealed person, living in his world.
But Tara made him feel comfortable around her and helped Ved to breathe. And that is how their friendship began. As time passed away, the covalent bond of their friendship became strong. But the strongest bond in chemistry can be detached when introduced with outside energy into the chemical bond.
Let me refresh your scientific curiosity that we all have left behind. A chemical bond is what helps a molecule to form. A chemical bond can exist between two atoms, the smallest entity of a matter: when they have something in common to have a connection. And like electrons, in the case of a covalent bond, are what binds them together. Like, for example, water molecules. It is fused when both hydrogen atoms and oxygen atoms share electrons to form a covalent bond.
Ved and Tara shared faith and compassion for their friendship bond. That is what are friends for, right? And of course, to borrow money for the rest of lives.
However, nothing is strong enough. Everything falls apart after a while. And like that, a covalent bond also falls apart when proposed with additional energy.
So how can Ved and Tara be left? Even when the strongest of the chemical bond can wreck off. And just like the additional energy, a boy was there. He was before Ved but introduced later.
Ved evolved with time. He was able to communicate his thoughts and sentiments with Tara fluently and frequently. Later, his elder sister passed away. He was lost and devastated.
Ved is very mature and responsible. He handled everything well. But the loss he is going through was unbearable. Only he knew the pain of his shoulder and why he was unable to breathe again. Still, Tara was there whenever he needed her. She tried her best to hold Ved in one piece and, yet unaware of how much Tara meant to Ved. Ved consistently makes her believe that she is important to him. Perhaps his best efforts were not enough to embrace their friendship.
Time drifted, and with that period, Ved regained his composure.
A relationship curve goes through several ups and downs. And so, makes the friendship. The upcoming would be the incident or point of inflection after their curvature of the relationship began to fall.
It was a day of Christmas night, and Ved was writing Tara a beautiful message like he always does. A misconception is as dangerous as an infection. Ved received a call on the same day in the middle of the night from her brother. The phone call was inappropriate and created an unacceptable figure for Ved, and that is it.
She did not respond to this obnoxious behavior of her brother and did not stand up against it. Ved was disappointed and did not even try to call her. Ved thought that calling her would make him the person that her brother was implying.
No one contacted each other until his birthday. Tara unexpectedly called him at 3 AM and confronted her mistakes and apologized to him. But out of nowhere, she said the three magical words. Ved did not realize until the second time after Tara repeated those three magnificent words that it meant something else. On the morning of his 20th birthday, Ved admitted that he feels the same way. And when Ved turned 20 years and one day old, he got a call that reveals the truth about her boyfriend, the boy.
The flashback story of Tara and Ved ends here.
So, on the present-day, after almost two years, Ved got a message. A message from Tara with a different cell number. It is unsure about what has remained unchanged, but undoubtedly, everything has changed. Ved is lost and confused and has been through so much. The guilt he wore for a long time has taught him something. And that something has helped him to come up with a choice, a rather unpleasant one, and with what he is living by.
Ved is not accepting any opportunity to resolve the confusion. It is not like he does not want to talk and clear out his head, untangle the threads. He even tried to. But misery is all he got. He felt luxury in dropping things at a strange turn rather than knowing where this road will lead.
Ved messaged her back with a proposal for closure.
The text reads- Hi Tara, Ved here. What you want to get back as things were before cannot happen. Time heals the wound, but the impressions get darker. I will tell you what though we will talk, one last time. Like nothing happened before. And I will answer all your questions.
Ved smiled after replying. They both agreed on the proposal and arranged a time. Both decided to do this over the video call.
-Hi!
-Hi!!
-How are you?
-Fine and you?
-Okay.
Silence for a few moments. No one knew from where to begin. Ved was looking at her face.
-(Awkwardly) I like your new haircut and new specs; this kind of frame suits your face. I already told you.
-No new haircut. I had just straightened and highlighted my hair. Do you like it?
-I loved it. What are the highlights?(She laughed and covered her face with hands while laughing. Ved has reminded her several times not to do that. She removes her hand immediately.)
-See, I know you do not like when I keep my hands over my face.(Ved nodded with a massive smile on his face.)
-So, how have you been?
-Okay. Not good at all. Grandpa passed away.
-Yeah, I know.
-How are you? How have you been?
-Good. Mentally stable, yet. (She giggles.)
-You were asking something in the message.
-Yeah. Do not know where to begin. Everything has been ruined. Why cannot you be like before? How things were used to.
-It is not that simple Tara. You know…
- (She interrupts) It feels good to hear my name from you.
-Yeah. (A deep exhale.) It is amazing.
(Ved Continues)-It is not that simple. To get back as we have left.-I know I have done some stupid stuff that I should not have done. And you are disappointed even I am mad at myself. I have hurt you. But trust me, I never wanted to do that. Trust me. There was some misunderstanding also. I always wanted you as my true friend who is so close to me. I never wanted this to happen. I know there is a great man inside you, a pure soul. There is not a single day when I have not thought of you. I do not know why, but still, you come to my mind.
(She completed this entire paragraph in a single breath. Her voice got numb, started to shiver with each sentence. Her eyes were drowning in her tears. Ved’s eyes were shining as his eyes were dull because of tears. Ved recollected himself.)
-Please Tara, do not cry in our last call. I know and, I understand. But it is too late. Too late. I never taught my Tara to be a coward. You never stood up against whatever happened to me. After you lied, I lost trust in you. Never thought you would do such a thing. I understand that you had your reasons to hide the truth. But you should not have lied. And you were hiding things from the beginning. Now just try to think from my side. How would have I felt?
(Silence for a few moments. Situations have tensed up now. Ved notices that his voice has charged up. He breaks the silence calmly.)
-Achha, tell me one thing. What you said on my birthday, did you mean it? And please be honest. I do not know anymore that you are lying or not. (Ved sarcastically teases her to tone down the situation.)
-I do not know. (With sobbing voice)-I know you meant it. I still know things that no one can talk about you. (After giving a smile that declares that no one knows her better than him. Ved continues after a pause of celebration.)So how is your relationship with your boyfriend? Is he good? Better than me. No one is better than me. After all, I am Ved. No one can come between us. What do you like about him? Wait, do not tell me that. I do not want to know.
And just like that, Ved tried to keep things simple. He wanted her to move on as he knew that would be best for her. After all, she is Tara.
As they were catching up with the things that they have missed in all these past months and, surprisingly, Ved’s laptop battery drained out. And the video call abruptly disconnected.
Ved was sitting there. Did not move a muscle. His tears expanded their area of a claim and have reached to the collar. His brain was busy rewinding the videocall. And his rapid heartbeat is coming down.
He had charged his laptop to its full capacity but did not plugin when it showed to connect. They both knew who was wrong. But Ved believed that forgiving her for what she has done would not bring him his justice, his lost self-respect among their friends. And neither he wanted that justice.
One could never love another if they cannot love themselves. Ved has loved her. He cannot prove her wrong. If Ved had agreed on going back to things as they were, it would have never worked out. Then they will be role-playing in real life. So, he left things as they were. They both played the role of previous versions of them. And the call lasts for two hours and twenty-two minutes.
He knew that getting off the video call would be the challenging part of the role-playing. He had unplugged his laptop from the charger before the beginning of the phone call.
The End
The Invisible Boy Story
Ved, a 22-year-old boy from a small semi-urban place, lives with his old parents and elder brother. Senior is a scientist but bankrupt.
His fellow colleagues believe that senior is mentally unstable. And he talks nonsense, something about invisibility. The above allegations are absurd since scientists are already partially mad. Most of the time claims stupidity about making things that seem impossible at first. So he was forced to leave the firm because of the baseless accusations.
He was very confident about his hypothesis. So, he resumed his experiments in the space available in the house. But Ved did not follow his senior's footsteps and was pursuing agriculture. Someone had to take care of the land after father and fulfill their daily requirements of food. They were on the edge of a financial crisis as loss of their elder son's job and, yet they are grateful for the food they get.
On a sunny day, Ved walked home with his father in sweat after an exhaustive couple of hours at the farm. Father commanded Ved to bring water since senior was away with mother. Ved, in pursuit of a glass of water, to extinguish the thirst, sprints to the kitchen. But disappointment is all he got. He quickly scanned the kitchen and room for a container to carry water in it. He found a container, a beaker with some liquid in it. He casually drank from the laboratory beaker and runs to the kitchen for water. Shortly he fulfills his father's command.
After a while, when his father was in a sound sleep, he started to feel something. Some changes were happening inside his body. He grabbed the mirror placed in front of him and put his focus on the face. He was worried about the acne problems. The last time was horrifying when he got a pimple situation. Creases across his face relaxed when he saw his no-pimple face.
In no time, his face started to disappear. He can feel his face but can not see anything because there is nothing to look at, only the reflection of his house. He panicked. He observed the disappearance of his entire body as he stands but was disabled. Soon enough, he realizes the reason that caused this sudden fading, the liquid in that beaker. Ved regrets as he is invisible.
Stack of questions forms as he thinks about how can a human being be invisible, how it works, how long it will last, and so on. Ved paused for a moment. Creases across his face rise again as he is thinking of stealing. He receives this as an opportunity as he is invisible. He summons all his courage to theft as he did not know how long it will last. Ved has to act fast.
Ved decides to steal things that are possible and will help them through the crisis. So, Ved reaches a general store shop and prepares himself for the robbery. He went inside and tried to grasp every essential thing without being spotted. And after swiping, Ved returns to a safe place to hide the loot.
Ved continued the plan of robbing and extended his range. Ved visited several stores. Shops like general stores, clothes, shoes, accessories, technology, and even pharmacies. He once stopped in front of a pet store but steal nothing. When Ved halted for a few minutes at the pharmacy, he can not think of anything. So Ved snatches whatever he felt will be needed for their family. Ved went careless as the fog of greed covered his intellect.
Ved saw an accident when he ran towards the safe place to hide from store owners as they got alert. He managed to hide himself using his invisibility. But on return to look over where the crash took place, his eyes were drowning in tears. An old couple was struggling over the road after the crash. And no one was helping them. Passing by strangers did not even pretend to help and, nearby people were crossing over the old couple.
Ved got there as soon as possible to help them. He first helped uncle to stand erect and supported aunty with her balance. People standing around them witnessed the old couple magically surviving. Everyone was stunned by the impossible. Ved left medicine and two bottles of juice with them as they were taking care of each other. And as he walked back to the safe place, his visibility returned. Street dogs started barking at him.
Ved confirmed by looking at the rearview mirror of a nearby vehicle. Ved took more than few seconds to introspect as he paused. He recollected his past few hours where he begins as a thief to seize every possible thing. Yet ended up helping a vulnerable couple. Ved knew that theft is wrong and immoral, but he did not want to harm anyone with his robbing scheme. Ved did not try to steal someone else's money. In spite, he goes for the essential requirements. Ved understands that his actions were evil but, his intentions were good. And this proves his great character. He returned to the place with a smile.
Ved slowly started to bring things back home after the tension among the store owners begins to calm down. It took four to five rounds to cover everything. On his last trip, when he reached home, senior was standing in front. Ved puts things he was carrying in the right hand to the ground and pats his brother.
And said, "You did it."
appa and me
Mr. Rajendra Bhai Mulji Bhai Rathod, Appa, owner of the home, the strength of our house. The soul of our family. My Appa is the most adorable person in the world. But like other physical people, my Appa also has some imperfections. Well, Appa has Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP). If put simply, Appa's retina is unable to form any decent image. Appa's ears now have achieved a higher rank in the hearing loss contest. But gratitudes to GOD, a hearing aid is helping him to at least receive. Appa also has a defect in speaking. An inability to understand or express language because of damage to specific brain regions. These defects are together with Appa from the beginning of his life and grew with him. The larger the number in the age box, the greater is the suffering caused by these errors. But Appa is all overhead to the truth that he has imperfections that cannot be, turned into completion.
Appa has transformed his life into pleasantries. He wanders all around the house and colony whenever he wants. He has remarked on his stations and visits them every day. Appa takes a nap like a sleepy child. Sometimes his sleep face is more comforting than anything. Appa loves children. Whenever he is nearby any toddler, he matures into a kid. Appa loves food.
I never had a Father-Son pep-talk. Neither Appa taught me to play, but I have learned so many things from him unknowingly. Appa is the sweetest. I remember the days from my junior school when Appa takes me to school every day by bicycle. Appa used to take me to the barber for a haircut on that bicycle.
Sometimes I miss when others get a call from their fathers and, I don't. Yet they are afraid of Appa's. Trust me, you're lucky. But time has transformed. Now sometimes I explain to Appa about technology. Someday back, I told him that Aeroplane has only one destination. How cute my Appa is, right? Now I take him to the dentist. I trim his beard now.
We all love peoples in our lives. Although to show them how much you love them is not exhibiting off. Sometimes they want to know how much you love them.
Show Love.
Spread Kindness.
blogs
the end scene
"Holding on to her was the best feeling I got after a long time when neither words nor any sentiments were exchanged between us for an exceedingly long period of time.
In the present state, we still are not talking to each other. But finding her into my arms has a cherry on top of the cream feeling.
Her heavily breathing is caused by her running toward me, pushing me two steps backward is to blame the inertia she was carrying.
But soon enough, this ridiculous physics has actioned into colorful chemistry. Our accelerating heartbeats could hear each other and were trying to resonate.
I do not know why my hands are holding her so tight; is it because of the masculine power I possess? or the longing to carry her in my arms is making me do this.
But one thing that I am clear about is that she has been through some tough times because of the breach voice due to sobbing. She is holding all the sentences in her mouth and wanted to spit out at the same time. And a sense of moisture on the right arm shoulder.
There might be some dust particles in my right eye which are making my tears come out. There is so much dirt in the surroundings. "
-Audience bursts into claps and woo-hoed. Ved gets up with his book to receive the admirations with a bow. Everyone was cheering up for him and congratulating him on his beautiful piece of work. He was autographing all the books for the people who had attended the reading session. He decides to go for a walk from the book store as this neighborhood was usual, I mean very close to him. He saw Tara over there, and Ved stops right there. Did not move a muscle. He saw Tara running towards him.
Missing brother
My brother is missing for a long time. I know I have turned my brother into ashes, and now it had mixed with the soil. But my brother is missing. It's been a long time since he patted my back and comforted me. He should be here, and I do not know why he left. It's been a long time since I sneaked into his bed while he is sleeping. We would cuddle each other and hugged each other firmly.
It's been a long time since we watched a movie together. He would have a look at me from the corner of his eye to know how excited I am. I noticed him. I used to cross-question him about the story, and he would taunt me not to ask questions while watching. I miss his voice coming from anywhere from the house. He likes to sing. I don't know where he'd go? He used to call me in a day or two to cross-check me.
Now it's been more than three years, and I haven't received a call from him. I miss receiving his phone. It's been a very, very long time since I heard this sentence from him. "Stress na le, taro bhai ubho chhe tara pachhad" (In Gujrati).
In English, it means, "Don't worry, Your brother is right behind you."
Goodbye- Dec 29
Goodbyes are hard. Falling apart is difficult. Separating after a long-time togetherness with your school friends and saying ”see ya” is not easy. Tired from keeping a long-distance relationship alive and meeting the one you love, spending a great piece of time and asking each other, See you soon? Painful.
There is no perfect time for goodbye. But at the end of the year, we prepare ourselves to say goodbye. We pledge resolutions. We mold our minds to give away some of our guilty pleasures, awful habits, and other things.
The question arises, why is there a need for goodbyes? Well, I googled it. But all search results are copyrighted material, so you’re lucky to just stuck with me. Goodbyes are like cutting the umbilical cord that attaches a mother’s womb to her child. Goodbyes terminate you from the leftover feelings.
These feelings can take the form of anger or frustration, or they can be sadness, regret, or guilt from your inability to share your thoughts and feelings with them. And there can also involve a sense of relief. In simple words, Goodbyes help you to move on. So this New Year, say all your Goodbyes. Meeting again with your school friends with a new yourself would be pretty awesome. Keeping the spark alive in your relationship with a new version of yourself is Grand. I Know goodbyes are very hard, but this is what that’ll make you brave. And this will open portals for a better world. Trust me. I had lost a couple of friendships this year.
This Happy?
Hey everyone! I want you all to do something for me. Just picture yourself an innocent kid and live the moment that I am going to tell you.You are at the hospital with your favorite people. And you do not know why on earth you all are there.
The only thing instructed was to wait. And no voices were allowed to rise. Why? ‘Cause, it is a Hospital.
At midnight you are awakened off to have a look at something. Your eyes were looking at a group of people waiting outside of a room. Then a person walked out by that room and said, “It’s a Girl.” And everybody jumps out of their respective seats with joy and a big smile on their faces. They all landed on a group hug. Some old ones had tears on their faces and young ones of my age were cheering and applauding.
It was beautiful.
One of your favorite people says,
“That’s exactly how it was when you were born.”
“This happy?”
“This happy.”
“Who came out and told everybody?”
“I did”
“Can we wait for another one”
And everybody looked at everyone with a beautiful smile.
"When given a choice between being honest and being kind, choose kind. "
The stories/blogs displayed above are a few creations of mine. And hopefully, so many more to be added to the list. I am from a small town called Balaghat. Google says it is a 'city' in Madhya Pradesh. I don't believe it.
In my home town, there is no good cardiologist. Balaghat is also known for the contribution of manganese to the country's resources. About 80% of the manganese comes from the Balaghat district alone.
And now something about myself. I grew up on the campus of a central government-funded residential school entitled Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya. But I have spent most of my childhood at Balaghat. Nothing special about it. Just a kid who was taught not to eat chocolates and waste money buying junk food and soft drinks.
I had a small bicycle in the 2nd standard. I had to ride 4.4 Kms to attain school and a 4.4 Kms ride back. And this is my version of "Hmare jmane me to hm school 10 Km lambi ndi tair ke jate the". It means, back in our times, we used to swim every day through a 10 Km long river to attain school. But it felt like a 20 Km journey.
I had an elder brother, Divyesh. He left us in Dec 2017. And now I am the only child of my parents. He had a small hole in his heart and some damage to the valves.
But lack of medical facilities and not-so-good people around him was enough to pay the expenses through his death. I don't know if the previous sentence made any sense but believe me, I am in pain.
And now I temporarily live in Bhopal for my studies. I am completing my Bachelor's degree in Agricultural Engineering. And to get away from my own world's mess, I write. At First, I used to write blogs about my views on some specific topic.
With hindsight or over introspection, I realize that I like to write. Surprisingly, I found my work good. So, that's why I started to write short stories. To widen my horizons and to evolve my perception. And as Steve Jobs suggests, a thought of connecting the dots while looking back. I believe that this would be the dot.
And that's it.
I should feel sad that most of the things about me getting covered in just 350 words. But I know that this won't happen with my stories.
Cheers!!
