He was happy, he was going to die… for a long time now, he had been bed ridden, unable to do anything without someone else’s help… he didnt want to be in this state, relying on others for everything, but he didnt have a choice…the past few days, his condition had worsened.. the doctors said he didnt have much time left, but he hardly believed them, they had been saying that for ages now…
he had come to the conclusion that he was going to die, based on his instinct…but his happiness was not only because he would finally be free of this disgusting existence, but at the thought of reuniting with his friends and relatives, who had died before him… though no one could ever be sure of what lay beyond death, he had a pretty old fashioned notion of what it could be… heaven, where it would be, well, like heaven, with all the angels and Him, of course… and all his friends, and everything good.. he was sure it would be like all the descriptions of paradise ever told… he would sit and talk forever with his friends, crack jokes… he was looking forward to all of it..
and he died…. and just like all the stories, he walked into the light, and was met at the gates of heaven by a very friendly person, who after several questions and tons of jokes on the people who generally landed up there, and reference checks from a big fat book, concluded that he had indeed been a nice person, and deserved a place in heaven….and with a ‘welcome to heaven’, the gates of heaven were opened to him…
and soon as he crossed the gates, he felt a wave passing over his mind, and all his memories slipping away…as soon as the wave passed, he realised that he no longer knew who he was….
until next time, maybe even memories arent forever….
(idea courtesy: the wife)
“memories arent forever….” interesting thought.
….but sometimes heart holds on wat mind forgets….
Very original…short and sweet and captured an unusual thought quite well!
Real nice way of putting the eternal question of what lies beyond death? Well memories are something that are always there but the case mentioned by you is a wee bit different but then what we cherish the most can sometimes be taken away from us and leave us….lost 🙂 i said it before n say it again ur style of writing is very nice 🙂
vanilla: isnt it?? 🙂
stone: we love to have control, dont we?? 🙂
ideasmith: thank you 🙂
anz: thanks a lot, but that has set me thinking again, will we recognise helplessness at such a juncture??
Interesting point.. would you rather go to heaven or remember all your loved ones as long as you can..I am scared by what I picked.
Thats a scary thought….loosing your memory…but then choosing between that and having a pathetic existence is like choosing between the devil and the deep blue sea..
sqrl/nt: difficult carrying baggage into heaven?? 🙂
angel: or going by the credo that what you dont know cant hurt you..:)
eeeeeeeee … sssssssssccccccaryyy :-s
cc
Does the wife blog? 🙂
coolcat: why so?
j: nope, at least not yet..:)
hmmm ,is the wife tryin to tell you something ..LOL
jokes apart , very interesing thot. so what happens next he doesnt enjoy the heaven anymore kya ? or may he enjoys more ?
very very interesting and also thought provoking stuff. what r we really without our memories….where would skinner & pavlov be if there was no memory? even in the hindu scriptures talk about the ultimate salvation as the union of the atman with the param atman/God…is ur ending inspired by dat philo?
sanguine: doubt, coz the idea came from a different context altogether..:)..but hmm…lol.. but think about this… in a scenario where theres no memory, could happiness and sadness switch roles, and we wdnt know anything abt it?? 😉
erratica: hadnt really thought abt it that way, but yes, i guess there definitely is a parallel..
erratica, babe stop showing off…
n manu *thumbs up* nice
and i finally get da hang o bulls n bears n sheep 😉
noooo…too scary…
Ooooh drinking from the river of oblivion and forgetting all about yourself …. old old old greek belief… Plato i think! 🙂
Its there in homer… odyssey… (i spent all my money on stoopid books … had nothin to buy homer.. ) shoot me now!
eh if it is abt the hard disk reformatting, wht abt the cycle of sooo many janams? punarapi janamam, etc?
austere
elixir: good good 🙂
gratisgab: but y??!!
garf: i am a big fan of homer simpson too 😀
austere: yup, with that kinda archives the system would crash..:)
We recognize helplessness when we are ready to give up but then it all depends on individual willpower 🙂
to get rid of the memories as you cross over is the sanest way to be born again ,,, start afresh