Killing Lonliness

Time-judging by the darkness in the room, anytime after 8:00 pm IST. Though if we take into account the black curtains covering the windows, the time suddenly becomes even more uncertain. Whatever. Does it matter anyway?

Place- as you already read, the windows are covered better than the president covers his/her inability to speak proper english hence you cannot decide where it is. But you may establish as solid fact that it is a very dark room. Does it really matter?

It is a dark room, where the only source of light is a single LCD screen, 16’ wide with its brightness meter set to a very low value. Right in front of the screen is a young man, with an ugly unshaven face and uncut hair. The screen flickers and his face vanishes for a second. You can hear the continuous tapping of a keyboard and the occasional click of a mouse as the man works, presumably on his blog from which he has been absent for a few days because he has a life (or so he would claim on the aforementioned blog).

In the far right corner of the room, right beneath the ancient wooden cupboard, Mr. Rat watches as the boy continues the tapping. Initially he had feared for the boy’s life, when he hadn’t moved off the bed for 87 hours but he was reassured when he saw the boy move to grab a bite out of Mr. Rats favorite tomato flavored potato thingies. Hopefully the boy would leave enough for Mr. Rat and his family (including Mrs. Rat, the young, rebellious Will Rat, and his baby sister Leah Rat). As the time passes, Mr. Rat becomes more and more confident that the boy is safe, and that its only one of those human things, like eating sweet chocolate things at midnight, or watching each other mating on that light screen, TV like thing.

Mr. Rat wonders what his young son Will is upto. Will has recently been indulging in what can best be described as ‘inappropriate socio-rat behavior’. When Mr. Rat had found the lad leaving the room, he had been scared that things would get out of hand, but that hadn’t prepared him for what came next! As if leaving the safety of the room under the pretext of looking for better food hadn’t been enough to ruin the Rat families standing amongst the neighbors from the room across, Will had then gone on to sneak around with their daughter (in broad daylight at that) to the unoccupied room across the hall. What was the lad thinking! Was he planning to leave his father’s shelter behind for that room? Mr. Rat would never understand his son. Maybe it was the new friends he was keeping, such as the lonely single female lizard from the roof and the spider from the wall. Why couldn’t the boy hang out with his childhood friends such as bouncy the frog or greenie the grasshopper! Bah! Generation gap!

Maybe it was time for Mr. Rat to talk to the boy and knock some sense into him. He had even learned cheeky language and talking back and arguing and yelling at parents. There was too much of bad human cinema these days. Maybe Mr. Rat had chosen the wrong boys room. Why couldn’t this boy be more sensitive to the needs of growing rats? Was it appropriate to watch movies like ‘Never Back Down’ or ‘How to rob a bank’. Didn’t he know how corrupting an influence it had on the minds of growing rats? If only Mr. Rat had listened to his father about humans.  And why couldn’t Will watch good old things like Tom and Jerry!

Up on the roof, young Will, ‘Lizzie’ the lonely lizard and ‘Creepy’ the spider from the wall are talking. They have recently begun taking a closer inspection of the human. They feel there is much to learn from him. They have been observing him, lying on the extra long bed and looking intently at what they are proud to tell you is the screen of a Dell D630 Laptop, for about 147 hours now. Undoubtedly they idolize him. He is their hero. He keeps an eye out for them. When his roommate, who is thankfully not there these past few days, had suggested that the two boys take out the lizard and the rat infestation as he had called it, this boy had stood up and stood tall (about 6 and a half feet tall. Another thing they have learnt from the laptop as it is called), and he had told the boy to leave them alone, and that they were not harming the boys. Ah! Such a noble soul!

They have made their decision. Today, they shall make contact with the boy, and they shall ask him for help. As is obvious, they have a lot of questions for the boy. And so, they have been preparing a list of questions that they shall ask him as they think the answers shall be meaningful and insightful. One of the first questions on their list is ‘So why have you been lying inert there on your bed for the past few days?’ Though they do not know it, but this is an important question to the boy. It is only now that they have come to realize that the boy has had next to no human contact for the past few days now.

Mr. Rat watches, as his foolish young son goes across the room with his good for nothing friends, friends like the lizard that has no sense of social behavior, the girl who lives all alone in this hostile world! Doesn’t she know what all could happen? And then there is the spider, the one who is rat food, and who should be eaten by his son. Why would Will shame his father so?

He watches as his son walks across to the boys bed, with his wayward friends, and slowly climbs upon it right upto the boys feet. Slowly they poke him. Is this some sort of game, wonders Mr. Rat? If it is, it is a dangerous game. Why can’t kids these days stick with traditional games like bell the cat or so on? Ah children!

The trio walks up to the boy and they poke him in his chest. Until them, he hadn’t noticed them at all. He looks right down and sees them. They wave their hellos to him, just as they saw in the movies on his laptop. Then,

Boy- Why hello there little Rat. And you too, Lizard. And you Spider. Howdy? What brings three enterprising youths such as yourself here, to my bed?

Lizard- Hello sir. We sought some help. Some advice. Some wonderful insight into life that would solve the problems of life. Wont you help us?

Rat- Yes sir, we would really appreciate your help.

Spider- Yes sir. Indeed sir. Please do help.

B- Whoa there, calm down. Steady now. Hold up. Come at me one by one. What can I help you with.

In an undertone, he says- wow I cannot believe that I am having such a whacky dream. This has got to be one of the top five weirdest dreams ever!

Thankfully they do not hear him.

L-Sir, we observe you all the time. We have seen the things you see on your laptop, and we’ve come to realize that you are wise. Very wise. And so we seek your help, to help us lead better lives.

B- Is that so little lizard. Better lives are what the three of you seek? Well tell me, what according to you is a better life?

L- Well sir, a better life would be one where we could all lead more content lives, where we could make our world a better place, one where everyone would be content.

Boy laughs out loud. In the same undertone he says- Yeah right, if I knew the answer to that, I’d be a millionaire already, and I wouldn’t have flea infested rats and woe-begotten lizards on my bed! In a loud voice he proceeds to say- Hmmm. So tell me, what gives you contentment? What is a content life according to you guys?

L-Well sir, a content life for me would be one where I could eat to my full, and live without the social stigma of being a single girl living alone. Also, I would appreciate better lodgings than that crack next to the fan. It gets so hot in there.

B- Oh really? Social stigma? Wow. I didn’t know lizards had society, let alone social stigmas. And what about you, my furry friend?

R- Well sir, I could use some of those potato chips (hope I pronounced that correctly) for a start. My family loves them. And otherwise, yes a content life is where I can have good food, a nice room for my family, and a life where my dad lets me grow up to become my own man, and not be a replica of him.

B in that undertone- Lizards have society and Rats have family problems. Hopefully the spider wont have troubles other than the legs. In a loud voice- Well Spidey, what about you?

S- Me sir. Well, I am mostly content, but I would like it if we could all live as friends and not enemies. See my mother, was bitten by old Will Rat’s father, and he is told off everyday for not eating me. I hate that. Why cant we be friends? If that happened, I suppose I’d be content.

B to himself- Wow! Brilliant!

To all- So let me get this straight. You, Lizard, would like to be accepted by society? And also get good food and nice rooms? That would make you content. And what you want is to be more content. So I’m guessing you will need to become the one who decides social stigmas and who eats every waking moment, and also to have this whole bed to yourself where some one comes and gives you food everyday to be more content? Is that what you really want? And also, let me mention that you seek more contentment. What if once you have this, you want even more contentment? What more? And you Rat? What about you? Potato chips and a father who lets you be makes you content. So more content would be, if your father did what you said, and you got all the food you could eat? And what after that? Even more content? And you spider? You are the trickiest of all. You want everyone to live together as brothers? Tell me, if you get that, what shall you eat? What shall happen to the food chain? My friends, this is the story of the world. This is my own story. We all want things, and these things decide our contentment, and once we have them, we seek more contentment, and we keep seeking and seeking until we forget what contentment is all about. Now look at me for instance. I am content, if I can read good books, and write my own books. And watch the occasional movie. And if I get this, I shall want more things. And more. In effect, I shall never ever be content. My point is that you can never be content, if you aren’t already. That is the secret little ones. To be self content. You must limit your desires, and must learn to be content, instead of hankering after ‘more content’. You must learn to be happy with content, instead of seeking out more content. Of course, no one is happy with that, which is where it all falls down. But yeah, that is the secret.

The trio looks impressed with this knowledge. They proceed to the other questions on their list. Then, before the lizard can ask, Rat improvises.

R- So sir, what about you. Are you content?

Boy looks around, as if having difficulty believing the situation.

B-Well I get by you know. I’m as content as can be. Now take today for instance. Wait what is today?  I don’t know, but whatever. So today, and for the past few days, I’ve been alone in the room. I’ve been reading and watching movies and writing, and I’ve not got out of the bed. Now people would say that this is not healthy human behavior. And others would say that I should exercise more, or talk to people more. But I do not miss any of that, or desire any of that. I am content to just lie here all the time, doing what I do best. But other people don’t think this is good enough. So they wont let me be. And I also feel some things missing. I would for instance very much prefer it if my psychiatrists were highly paid professionals instead of rats and lizards. So in another way of seeing it, I am not that content after all. So is it all about the way I see life then? You could say contentment is all about how you perceive it. Maybe even about how you look at life and how good you are at convincing yourself that you are content.

They look even more content.

S-So sir, tell us then, why do you watch these movies. We see them with you sometimes. They are interesting.

B-well that’s just all about entertainment mate. I see these movies to amuse myself. And no there is no hidden meaning in them. After all, even guys like me, who tell others about how to live deserve our fun right.

L-So sir, why don’t more of you humans talk to us, and interact with us.

B-Maybe because their dreams aren’t as ambitious as mine?

L-meaning?

B-no nothing. Forget it. But tell me, why don’t you talk to more of us?

S-Well we tried a lot of times. But take rats here, they accidently spread the bubonic plague. And lizards are for some reason very hated. Same with us spiders. So we avoid you people.

B-Ah! I see. Well hope you guys don’t fear me anymore.

The trio, in various high pitched squeaks- oh no of course not.

B- Well I’ll see you around then, if you’re done.

The trio is dismissed. They return to their lives. They are suitably impressed by the boys monologues. They applaud before leaving. They have found their secret. They shall go back to their rooms that night, as more content beings than before.

The boy questions his mental health; visits a few websites dealing with mental sickness, and then puts it down to lack of sleep, and goes to sleep.

PS: Mr. Rat had a mini heart attack when he saw the antics of his son, but was suitably intrigued upon seeing the behavior of the boy. Maybe the boy is alright. He had heard the boys argument, and shall hence forth live with those arguments in mind. Tomorrow, he shall also preach the boys story to the frogs, and the other neighbors. The boy has instantly changed the life of a group of animals, amphibians and reptiles (not to forget the spiders).

Those who are, like the trio, suitably content, may ignore the rest of the post. For the others-

Two hours later, the boy has gone over his ‘dream’ fifteen times. With a lot of imagination, he proceeds to write about the dream on his blog. This is seen by the editor of a famous magazine, who advertizes it in his magazine. Soon, the boy has published the solution to the worlds problems, in fifteen different languages across 150 countries. He is now the world leader on lifestyle guidance. He frequently meets people like the pope, the Dalai Lama, and their brethren. He is also the most read blogger in history. His books are world renowned, and he is RICH. And he has forgotten that little lesson, to be content.

He fraternizes with the world leaders, he gives spiritual advice to supermodels (only during working hours). He writes another version of his book for sportspersons, he writes a version for dictators, for politicians and for beggars! He drives fast cars, he eats the good food, he drinks the French wine, he does all that and more with the Italian supermodels (or supermodels in general. The nationality doesn’t really matter). One fine day, his body, dies of lack of contentment.

And the rest as they say is history.

Now that’s one dream I wish could become reality.

PPS: The mental health of the author is under strict examination. He is being tested even as you read. Hence he was unavailable to put it up himself, and so I have done him a favor by putting it up in his stead.

Adieu.