Karma

Clouds danced to the tunes of the wind as they dispersed to unveil a panoramic view of the blue sky. A flock of birds fluttered their wings and adorned the sky with their glorifying presence. The leaves of trees oscillated to their left and right thanks to the fierce hooting of the wind. The sun ascended to its throne, disseminating its warmth around to facilitate a smooth transition from night to day. Rakesha woke up to the loud noise of an alarm. He hurled expletives at the one who disrupted his sleep before going deep into his slumber again. His mother, Kaveramma, was a heart patient who could die at any moment. His brother, Aravinda, made it a habit to wake up early in the morning and offer prayers to God. He was deeply spiritual and always helped and prayed for the betterment of others, which was a testament to his altruistic and modest nature, which his brother did not like. Rakesha was a lethargic, arrogant being who was poles apart when compared to his brother. When the clock chimed ten, Rakesha woke up from his mat, he couldn't stifle his yawn but somehow managed to get back to his feet.

"Rakesha, please start your day by offering prayers to God," Kaveramma said.

Her words seemed to have irked him which reflected in his response filled with menace, "Why do I have to fold my hands and fall at the feet of your God? What has he given to me? He made me a poor fellow dying in this pathetic house that could collapse at any moment. Why did he thrust me in your womb instead of pushing me into the womb of any rich woman?"

"Please do not speak like that. We need to be happy and contended with what we have," Aravinda said.

"Who asked you to stick your nose in our conversation? I don't want to hear your karma-based stories anymore. You are the most illiterate person on the planet who believes in God who never showed up in our lives."

Aravinda knew it would be better to resort to silence than to fight with him.

"Lalitha, get me a cup of coffee," he ordered his wife.

His wife was daunted by his fierce voice and she quickly brought him a cup of coffee before he could go nuts.

Rakesha had a breakfast prepared by his wife and even though the food was tasty he scolded his wife for not adding more spice. His wife being sensitive in nature concealed the tears that was desperate to spill out. He did not even respect his own mother and treated her like an orphanage. He went to the hut and glared at the cow that seemed to be in a horror state upon seeing him.

"You are happily consuming fodder when I am not getting tasty food."

 He released the rope and flogged the cow with a stick. The frame of the cow shook in paranoia and it ran as fast as it could towards the backyard. He chased the cow and whipped the helpless animal again deriving sadistic pleasure. Tears welled up in the eyes of the cow.

"Why am I not in a mansion getting massaged by servants? Why should I serve this cow?" he fumed.

The cow loved Aravinda's presence because the latter considered the former as a God and pampered it. He virtually saw Lord Krishna in the face of cow and even offered Pooja to it but his brother treated the animal like a street dog. Rakesha went to the bar and ordered a glass of liquor. He gulped down the glass of liquor in no time and demanded another glass. In an inebriated state, he wobbled across the streets and toppled over a dog that was sleeping in harmony.

"You idiot. How dare you sleep in tranquility when I don't have serenity in my life?" he tossed a stone at the dog which yelped and ran away.

He barged into the house and gazed at his wife whose heart throbbed in fear.

"Come here, my servant!" he ordered.

Her countenance brimmed with fear and she folded her hands to spare her from his wrath. Ruthless man slapped her hard and blood smeared her lower lips trickling down. 

"Please do not make an innocent woman weep. She is the Lakshmi of our house," Kaveramma cried holding her chest.

Aravinda materialized at the house and could see blood seeping out of his sister-in-law's lips. 

"What have you done? Have some shame. She is your wife and queen of this house," he stopped him from carrying out further attack.

"If she is the queen, then you become the king of this house. Why do you show so much compassion to her? Is something secret brewing between you two?" he sputtered in anger.

"She is like Goddess Lakshmi for me. Aren't you ashamed to make such baseless comments?" he found it difficult to cut through the fog of mental anguish.

"I know you guys have formed a team to put me down. I know how to confront and defeat spineless cowards like you," his words laced with venom pained them.

Kaveramma couldn't bear the pain anymore which seemed to have assaulted her heart leading to fatal heart attack. Aravinda and Lalitha crouched down before the old woman and tried to wake her up but to no avail. 

"Finally this diseased lady has bid adieu to this world has now become deceased," Rakesha had no iota of compassion left in his emotional tank. 

Aravinda cremated his mother's dead body and tears of pain streamed down his cheeks. Lalitha felt the pain of losing her mother and was inconsolable. The flames of the pyre rose to the sky.

Rakesha saw Aravinda offering Pooja to the God. He laughed at him deliberately.

"Did your God save your mother? She was doing partiality when it comes to offering love between us. She always reprimanded me and praised you. Now, look at her state. She has disappeared into ashes," he smiled.

Aravinda did not pay heed to his words, rather engrossed himself in the prayers. He then went ahead to feed the cow with grass. After that he went back to his work. Rakesha, quickly snatched the grass that was happily going inside the cow's mouth.

"My mother died. I want to see you die as well," he slapped the cow which recoiled in terror. 

He took a drag off his cigarette, ensconced himself on the chair and drowned in the world of ecstacy. Death of his mother had no bearing on his face as he continued to in

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dulge in bad habits. He swore at his wife for trivial reasons and gave her a sleepless nights. His bad karma was now spilling over. There is limit for everything and he was clearly going beyond limits. His poisoned mind cajoled him to be sadistic and fuelled his evil spirit. Aravinda and Rakesha happened to come together while walking back to the house. They refrained from seeing each other and the street lights dozed off. They happened to fall inside a huge manhole and got blacked out. The world of darkness seemed to have consumed them. 

Rakesha opened his eyes in horror. He scanned around to see where he was lost but couldn't comprehend the spot. 

"Welcome to the world of Pain" a tall man adorned with jewelleries said with a tinge of sarcasm. 

"What place is this? Can't I go back?" he requested.

"You are already dead and there is no way you can go back with this body. You are hear to go through pain because of your karma."

"What nonsense? I don't believe in this bullshit karma."

"You disregarded your mother, disrespected your wife, manhandled the cow. You perpetuated only hatred towards others. You think you can escape from your karma. It clings on to you until it is cleansed."

"Oh, stop your philosophy. I can't invest my time on your crazy lessons. Show me the path to go back," he demanded.

Some of the frightening creatures stung him hard and he screamed in agony unable to bear the pain. Some men dragged him towards a boiling oil making his frame shake in terror. He begged for mercy but they tossed him inside the boiling oil which exacerbated his woes. 

"Mother..." he tried to scramble back to his feet but the hot oil did not let him evade it's punishment. 

"I can't bear this torture. Please somebody help me. I will not hurt anybody," he lamented.

Subsequently, he got a release from the boiling oil but had bruises all over his body that continued to torment him. 

"Your soul is going inside a cat's body now." an order came and he disappeared into the earth as a cat.

Aravinda took in the panoramic view of the world that was indeed a sight for the sore eyes. He had never experienced something surreal as this which seemed to fan him with ecstacy.

"Welcome to the Spiritual Abode," Lord Shiva said.

His eyes widened in awe and tears of joy took a stroll down his cheeks. He couldn't believe his eyes. He quickly prostrated before the Lord and went on his knees with folded hands.

"I am a blessed soul. I can't believe this," he cried unable to handle the joy.

"You are indeed a blessed soul. Your frequent prayers punctuated with devotion and determination has won our hearts. The selfless service you rendered to animals, people and your mother has catapulted you here," Lord Shiva said.

When Aravinda scrolled his gaze to his right, he saw Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu who smiled at him. He swallowed hard unable to come to terms with the reality. Lord Lakshmi and Lord Sarawathi too materialized to bless him. He tasted the nectar of spirituality. He won the chance to do service to the God's which he deemed as his pleasure. 

Rakesha's soul was now trapped inside a cat's body. Mother cat died owing to sickness. He roamed like an abandoned cat unable to fend for himself. Frustration stemming from starvation made him take the risk to find food in places conquered by dogs. He happened to see a few biscuits wallowing on the slab. Slowly, he took paces to reach the morsel of a biscuit but quickly a dog raised it's eyebrows and chased the cat. Somehow the cat managed to escape from the jaws of death and heaved a sigh of relief. Starvation killed it from inside and it could not afford to play safe. To add insult to it's injury, other corpulent cats attacked him and he was now confined in the world of isolation with no one to support him. 

"Meow, meow..." the cat cried in agony unable to grapple with the starvation. 

A dog heard it's sobs and got exasperated. Gripped in anger, it chased the cat and locked it in it's clutches. The cat begged for it's life and the dog would show no sympathy. Before it could use it's claws as a leverage to tear open the cat, a woman came from behind and chased away the dog. It was none other than Lalitha. 

"Meow. Meow..." it was desperate to reveal it's identity. 

Lalitha fed the cat with some food and saved it from a potential death. Gripped by the feeling of shame, the cat licked her legs. The soul wanted to ask for forgiveness but the lady won't understand the cat's language. Some hurled her a series of insults for being a widow. She had to fight alone against the ruthless society that simply rejected a widow. The cat cried at her plight. It licked her feet as if to show that it was their to support her through thick and thin. Some men kicked the cat treating it as a lifeless object. To make matter's worse few dogs set their eyes on the cat and never missed an opportunity to attack it when it was outside. It also had to endure an ordeal like her. It used to go and peacefully sleep next to Lalitha to give her a comfort which it couldn't give in the previous life. The peace was short lived as the next day, it was attacked by a perilous dog which showed no mercy at all and put a full stop to it's life as a cat.

Aravinda got a promotion to be a blessed soul in his next life courtesy of his good karma. He was born as an intellectual, handsome, spiritual and a wealthy being who propagated love and peace across the world. Consequently, he was revered by the people. Rakesha was born as a poor being struck with poverty, riddled with a plethora of life problems, but this was his chance to undo all the sins committed in the past. He lived a honest life and cleansed his past karma through selfless endeavours. We cannot escape from the jaws of karma. It clings on to us like a moth drawn to a flame. The more bad we indulge in, the more bad happens to us. The more good we do, the more good happens to use. Let us all refrain from bad deeds and pursue good deeds to keep our karma refined.