Sholaram's Nightmares Author: Dr. K. S. Kang

Shola’s Nightmares

Author: Dr. K. S. Kang

This incident was narrated to me by one of my friend Sholaram, who got mild infection and as per Doctor that could possibly be Corona that could prove to be fatal. However, Doctor prescribed him a number of medicines hoping that one of them would hit the target and cure Sholaram as was the convention of those days that physicians employed every available arrow in their quiver in the hope that one of them would hit Corona virus. It was due to effect of the medicines that Sholaram had a series of nightmares that he related to me.

Nightmare- I

After a few days his illness enhanced and he was taken to the hospital in a sanitised vehicle and equally sanitised stretcher and quarantined to a special ward where everybody was wearing a mask or a transparent plastic shield. Every medical staff was staring him with fear and horror as if he was not a human being but a live time bomb that would explode if they came too near it. They literally threw medicines at him as they did not want to get contagion that pay ruin their families and life. Nobody not even your close relatives, friends, well wishers and even family members refused to get near him. As they were also behind cloth or plastic masks so they could not even utter a few words of encouragement that could help in his early recovery. All they would do was just to wave their hands as if to bid adieu to him from this beautiful blue planet as they would too afraid to come near to him fearing that if they get the fatal infection they might have to accompany Sholaram to the next world of the dead. Though doctors were trying their best to give best possible medical aid but as his position was deteriorating day by day so it appeared to Sholaram that now his days in this world were numbered and Lord of Death Yama had ordered his deputies to bring his soul from the earth.

Nighmare-II

In the world of the dead there was chaos and anarchy as the the souls were crowding at the gate of the world of the dead and there were very few couriers of deaths who were facing uphill task in handling the souls who had come in such a large number from the earth after the spread of pandemic. Most of the messengers of deaths were absconding from their duties as the news from the earth had reached here also that this contagion is going to remain ever if infected. It was true that it could not kill the Yamduts, but they did not want to spend the rest of their tenure here with consistent coughing and and heaving like a furnace die to weak lungs. Many Yamduts have applied for their privileged leaves that even Lord of Death could not deny them. The only fellow available for providing service were contractual workers who could not take any leave for a long time. However they were also getting cautious and had started wearing masks and transparent plastic shield besides their horned helmets. In fact they had started giving more importance to masks and shields and other protective gears than their horned helmets. They could forget to wear their helmets sometimes but they never forgot to put on their masks. Due to the shortage of staff the work in the world of the dead had nearly come to stand and still and most of the work bringing souls from the glebe and the files of their souls so as to get the orders from Lord Yama had nearly stopped due to this crisis.

Nightmare-III

Meanwhile on the earth it was either the result of the prayers of the family members or the good wishes of his friends and well wishers that the condition of Sholaram changed for the better. He started responding positively to the medication and his condition started improving day by day. And then finally that great day came when physicians announced him perfectly normal and healthy and he returned from the hospital to his home. It had appeared like a miracle to him and it seemed to him that his file had also been ordered to be brought before the God of Death but due to pandemic the work had nearly stopped in the world of the dead too and so his file could not be signed and Yamaduts could not get this orders signed by the God of Death, as the news of Corona had spread even here like a wild fire and even Yamaduts did not want to risk everlasting illness of coughing and heaving like a furnace to feeble lungs and so Sholaram’s life got spared and he returned back to his home- a healthy and smiling man.