Half Done is Well Begun

“And that’s a new miracle of science. An invention for which the only parallel lies thousand years back in history, when man first set a foot on the moon.  Or perhaps the even bigger ladies and gentlemen.” Prof Fem Fermi  dramatized, justly so, on showcasing his greatest invention to the elite group of best scientists of the solar system, government officials belonging to top echelons of power and wealthiest industrialists who were expected to bid for his invention after the demonstration.

“Behold your senses as I present you the dream the mankind dreamt since ages forgotton – the teleportation machine” – Said Prof Fem as one of his assistants unfurled the silky red cover from his machine.

It looked like a big space-car to the untrained eye and the scientists alike and was a bit of anticlimax for them. Of course, they knew that the show wasn’t over yet.

Prof Fem continued – “This teleportation machine ladies and gentlemen will change the way the humanity progresses. Let me ask a simple question to you my dear Senator Grechen. How long did it take you to come to Pluto for this demonstration?”

Senator Grechen was not amused, but he played along answering such a dumb question –“ Earth to Pluto is 8 light hours my dear friend. And I am the privileged to use the new C-fiftys. So that took 16 hours plus a few more at the surface.”

“And what if I were to tell you that from this moment onwards that will take just an instant?” – said Prof Fem Fermi smilingly, knowing that he had captured the fantasy of everyone sitting there.

“Then Spacester Corp. is willing to pay you the twice your basic bid amount Prof Fermi” – said Mooney - chairman of one of the largest transportation companies in the solar system

“Well, thanks for your patronage Mr Mooney, but after the demonstration I am quite sure that you’ll realize that base bidding price of 1 trillion credits is a gross underestimate for the value of this machine.”

“Well then, get over with this already. I have already waited so much and have other matters to attend to” – said another business tycoon while puffing his martian cigar

“Ok then Ladies and Gentlemen. Now what I am going to show you is instant transportation of myself from here to Earth and back. You’ll be able to view me on that visio screen telecasting from earth as I materialize there.”

“Let me just step in and show you the biggest miracle of your lifetimes. Mr. Grechen, if you’ll be kind enough to push the start button on the screen in front of you..”

“Very well…here I go” – said Senator Grechen as he pressed the start button.

And sure enough, the  body of Prof Fermi began to disappear heads down and started to appear on visio screen from earth as everyone in the room gasped.

As the onlookers watched in horror, the teleportation suddenly stopped as the waist down body of Prof Fermi lay in front of them. The assistant feverishly pressed some buttons to continue the teleportation mumbling the choicest words.

“What the hell just happened?”  Asked Mooney looking at motionless torso of Prof Fermi on visio screen

“Something what I feared the most” – sighed the assistant and read a note from the machine screen

“Windows 30 ’95 error. File not found. Please format your hard drive and reinstall your OS.”

************

Hi All,

This was written on a bit lighter note on the April Fool’s day. Please drop a comment and share it if you liked it!

Regards,
Vaibhav

Mahabharata - A Retelling

MAHABHARAT – A RETELLING

“ You don’t have to do this Bhim. Just look at us. Do you want the future of humanity to tell these stories and despise us? “ Said Suyodhan

“Duryodhan, you don’t deserve to live. You are the one who is the cause of this destruction. You will have to pay for what you did to Draupadi – she was ripped off her dignity with the whole bharat varsh to witness. I have made a pledge Duryodhan and today, on the 18^th day of the great war – it all ends here.”

- said Bhim swinging his mace in the air and destroying trees which came in his way.

“Suyodhan. Suyodhan is my name Bhim. At least call me by my real name now that you have won the war. Which mother will believe that I was named Duryodhan? And Draupadi …which act of indignity are you talking about – she was my servant, my slave Bhim and what I did was only lawful. When I won her she became a slave but when she was placed as a wager in Chauser, she had been a royal lady of the palace. So which act is more shameful Bhim? Why don’t you ask your Dharmraj who knows that I was right all along. And that is why he did not utter a word. “ – said Duryodhan limping while searching for a good tree to hide.

 He continued –

“And what about your Dharma? You killed my dear friend Karna by treachery. That Krishna was always justifying his misdeeds by convoluted arguments.

Where was his Dharma when he asked Arjuna to attack Karna when he was unarmed?

Where was his Dharma when he asked Arjun to hide behind Shikhadi and kill great Bhishm?

Where was his Dharma when he spread the lie about Aswathama and then beheading our Guru Dronacharya?

Where was his Dharma when he asked you to hit me on my thighs against all the rules taught to us by the great Balarama?”

“You disobeyed the Dharma too Duryodhan- don’t hide behind false arguments. You also killed Arjun’s son ABhimnyu by deceit. Poor kid was killed against all the rules. You killed my son Ghatotkatch. Accept your deeds Duryodhan at least now when you are about to die”

“Weren’t my 99 brothers killed in the battle too? You say I made false arguments but do you think greats like Bhishma, Vidur and Dronacharya would have supported adharma if ever I did one? Do you think I would have had gathering of eleven akshohani armies on my side had I been wrong? What did I ask for? I asked for what was rightfully my own. Isn’t a son rightful owner of his father’s throne? I am the true son of Dritrashtra – and elder son of the elder son of King Shantanu. But what about you? You Pandavas are not even the sons of Pandu – you are the fruits of boon of mother Kunti. You can kill me now but heavens are the witness of whose side was rightful all along. History will vindicate me.”

“No it won’t Duryodhan. History is always written by the victorious. And history will remember you as what Pandavas want. History will remember you as Duryodhan and the name Suyodhana will be lost forever” – Bhim said with a grin on his face. He saw stain of blood on the leaves and swung his mace. The tree came down as if made of sand…and along with it Duryodhan , trying to hide in the fallen branches-blood streamed from his legs where Bhim had hit him.

“God will punish you Bhim –he will. Your all murderes will not go unpunished in the higher world. Ask Sahdeva – he the one with power to see the future. He will tell you what lies ahead. Supreme God will grant me heaven for following the path of righteousness and fighting for my right which is Kshatriya dharma and you Pandavas will go through torments of hell.” – said Suyodhana as Bhim finished him off with one final swing of his mace

The Dialogue

Date: 20^th April 1889

Place: Ranshofen, Austria

‘But you are wrong my brother. Violence is never an answer to anything.’ Said the younger one

‘Yes it is. In the hands of clever, it can unite the population. And unity gives power- power which can change this world. Yes, changing the world always requires few sacrifices but that’s a cost we pay for a better world in the end’ said the elder

‘Misery of thousands can not be a way to a better world for a few. You must understand it brother’

‘You tell me- won’t you rather have supremacy of those who deserve it? Mankind has always progressed by the efforts of the best and dragged down by the worst of the lot. Isn’t it in humanity’s own interest to leave the worst of us behind? Isn’t this what Darwin said -  survival of the fittest? That’s how any species progresses my dear brother. You have to discard the ones who will slow you down. You’ll have to purify the land of humans before you attempt to make it a heaven for the rest'

‘Such heaven is only as pious as the hands of the murderers who built it. Darwin’s fittest survives, but not by killing weaklings. You only have the right to fight for your survival but who on earth except God, gave you the right to cease others’?

And Aryan supremacy? A human is a human – he is not worse if he was born of another womb. Just you look at us. We are about to be born of the same mother but you and I can never be the same. How do you even fathom that belonging to a race gives one a supremacy over others?

Best of humanity won’t be the same if its foundation were to be laid on the corpses of others. The path you seek my brother won’t make you a better human but rather dehumanize you beyond redemption my brother.’

‘I understand now brother – ‘ said the elder one feigning his tone for what he was about to do 

‘I understand that you will be the first obstacle in my path of world domination. And for that, you have to become my first sacrifice for the sake of rest of the humanity’ – he continued as his tiny hands wrapped around the neck of his younger brother

‘Please don’t do this’ – said the younger one before his voice died down

**

‘Mrs. Klara – congratulations you have twins. Boys. But wait…one is not crying…‘ – said the nurse

Some documentaries say that Adolf Hitler had a twin brother who died at birth. My own rendition of events how it happened !!

Though i decided to not to write any more stories on my blog, i think i can't resist it! So, while I am working for a bigger project separately, i will occasionally update it with some such short stories. Hope you liked it.