A Timeless Dream

Ansh had been feeling low today. Even when he stressed his brain, he could not identify the reason for this depression. Perhaps it was one of those days in life when all the accumulated frustrations of life decide to come together to trouble the person. There was no reason to fret over it. If he slept over it, his despondent mood might disappear in a few hours.

Although his mind was in turmoil, his eyes did not miss much. He could see a room, not very far off, yet not within his reach. At least that is what his mind told him. He decided to focus upon the room.

All the lights in the room were off, yet a few strands of light were visible through the curtains, which had not been drawn properly. The occupant of the room was sleeping peacefully. It gave immense relief to Ansh that his mother was comfortable in their small home. She always kept some gap in curtains to keep some faint light in the room while she slept. She had been living alone after his shift to another city for studies.

His happiness did not last very long. In a few minutes his mother was up in the bed, clutching her chest. It appeared that she was having some breathing difficulties. He expected this stage not to last longer. Hopefully she would be asleep again shortly.

However, instead of improvement there appeared to be deterioration in her breathing. She was panting for breath. It looked like she was having heart attack. Ansh panicked and thought of helping her. Then the realisation dawned upon him, he was in another town which was miles away from his home. If the situation persisted, he would need to call some of his relatives or friends for help.

Still there did not appear to be any cause for worry. She was sure to call someone for help. He was surprised that she was not making any move to reach for her phone. He wondered if she had misplaced her phone. He did not even remember when had she called him last from mobile. Her calls had always been from landline. He could still visualise the ancient black phone with a dial in a phone booth not far from their house. Perhaps the booth owner was helping her in dialling his number.

His mother was lying on the bed, unmoving. Silently, he asked her why did you not phone someone. To his utter surprise, she appeared to have got the message. She replied without moving her lips. “If I could go out for telephoning, I would have done that. But as you can see I am having a heart attack. I can’t move even my hands.”

He could not make any sense of it. Why would a person need to go out just to telephone? It was clear that he could not have reached in time, but there were people who would have rushed to his mother’s side at a moment’s notice. Apart from relatives, he had many friends in the area. They could always be relied on to act fast in case of emergency.

Perhaps there was a loss of memory for his mother in old age. He started looking for his phone. Somehow, he could not find the mobile in its usual place, i.e. near the bed. By this time his panic had reached the peak.

What should I do?

….

Ansh opened his eyes. There was nobody near him. Even his mother was also part of the dream. As he got up, he walked to the washroom. First thing he noticed was that it was not a twenty-year boy staring back at him, but a man thirty years older. So times had passed, yet memories lingered on.

The time his mother had died, there were no telephones. Mobiles had yet to become a mass commodity. Only a few ultra-rich people had and could afford mobiles.

Immediately upon hearing the news of his mother’s death, he had rushed home. She had died alone in a house. The doctor said it was heart attack. He wondered if she would have been alive today, if phone was handy.

Perhaps he would have to dream again to hear his mother’s answer.