Tomorrow when the sun rises, Master ji will not be there to offer his soorya namaskaaram, for he is now nothing more than a corpse. “He used to say wealth should be to support the living, not the other way round” murmured one of the remaining 9 inmates of the ‘Heaven’ old age home, lamenting on the sad demise of their friend. Master ji was down with severe pneumonia for the past two days and all his friends’ prayers went in deaf ears. ‘Heaven’ was started by a trust and taken care by a 30 year old – the blue eyed boy of all the inmates. On him, the inmates showered selfless affection and they were paid back. He was not just a care taker for them. He used to give a speech from his heart on every funeral and today it was no different. Standing on the wet soil of the graveyard he said “I see god in our master ji and so in each one of you.” Words of reminiscence followed “Last week when we played hide and seek, Master ji was too innocent for a decent hide and put this fellow mate in trouble. When his turn came to find others, he never looks in the direction where I hide. He knows that I cannot move fast with this leg.” – A tear drop tricked down the cheeks and fell on his artificial limb. All of them returned back to their ‘Heaven’ from the graveyard. They tried to pacify each other, fighting their own tears. The final bulb was switched off in the dormitory. Night fell.
Couple of hours past midnight, a black car stopped at the gate of ‘Heaven’. Two of them got out of the car and headed towards the office room. Office room lit up. They took their seats in the cane chairs. Somebody slowly limped towards the room. As he entered the room, the doors closed. The two handed over the cheque of 3 lakhs, 10 minutes of strong bargain and another cheque for 2 lakhs were signed and handed over. He kissed the cheque and said “Money is my god and I see it in you, master ji”. Then the 3 went to the grave yard where Master ji was asleep forever. They got out of the car and spades did their job well. Master ji was once again out of the soil bed and they placed the empty coffin back. Not sure on which medical college will it be taken to, for their students to learn the autopsy of human body. Vultures did get their pay for feeding their prey in its last few days.
As they say, death is a destiny we all share. Don’t worry, none of us are worthless, provided we have a good bargainer to take care towards the twilight of our lives…….All the characters in the story are….wish I could complete the disclaimer.
