Heard some footsteps running outside. This was not something new. All of us in the town were accustomed to this. The situation is always dicey- we don’t know when the foot steps would stop running and bang the door summoning us out in the open. Ever since the rebellion broke out between the government troops and the rebellion groups started, this has become our daily life- not that we support one and don’t like the other- do you have a choice between frying pan and the fire- either way we are the losers- we have become inure to this fact- There is a Tamil song- “Ravanan aandaalum, raman aandalum enakkoru kavalai illai” ( Let Ravan, the daemon rule or Rama, the god rule, I am not worried)- but the fighting still goes on impervious to the overall picture- each group wins some skirmishes bit the battle keeps on going- looks like there is never going to be an end. The top brass of the two groups must have a gargantuan ego- just to capture the power and enjoy the benefits- This is what has been happening across the world- be it Somalia or Bangaladesh-where Shaikh Hasina and Begum Khalida rule in turnstile fashion- unmindful of what happens to the nation and how the ordinary folk are living.
At last the foot steps stopped running- not that the war has stopped- After a short time we started hearing banging noise on the door- after all, how long the door can withstand the constant pounding- it gave away- we could see some dark figures across the room with bayonets pointed at us and we were jolted out of sleep by ourselves- do you need really the prodding of the knife end of the rifle to wake you up?
We were walked out of the house into the moonlit dark outside. We could hear the shouting of commands by some self righteous bigot ( who must have the obvious support of a demagogue) in the distance- I prayed that he should also be subjected to a similar thrashing by someone, whoever it may be- The junior demigod asked us to start walking along the desolate roads which have already been found to get filled by people coming out of each house.- everyone is positively in the same predicament- We had to leave all our belongings in the house- we had to simply walk with whatever we had on the body at that time- Even the moon light seemed to be unusually hot and sweat dripped at this dead of the night, through fear of the unknown fate and anxiety about our continued existence. We started walking down the road- We have heard stories of the exodus, of people fleeing their oppressors in the bygone ages in distant Israel- now we are fleeing at the behest of the oppressors- do they want to own these ghostly towns and desolate houses- surely they must be aiming for the title of “Lord of the Dead”.
If everyone is dead and gone-who will be ruled?- like killing the goose that laid the golden eggs- short term ambitions clouding the judgment of long term objectives-
At last cool breeze started blowing in- It was so soothing- but was a little bit chilly. So I woke up abruptly, and realized that I had a bad dream albeit that’s what was happening around the world. I was happy to note that my world- ruled by my Lord- is still safe- for the various denominations are still united in worshipping our Lord and his words. Hallelujah for this oasis!