Sharadh
had just finished his drink in a dingy bar downtown. A few years ago,
he would have not even let his driver have a drink in such a place.
It was he believed his misfortune, that forced him to go to a
below-par watering hole.
When he
drove out his car, he was not sure whether he would reach home in it
or would it be seized en-route by the loan sharks. He had changed his
number 3 times in the past month to escape calls from his debtors.
It
was only in the evening that he had paid a
visit to
a famous mendicant fortune teller `XY Godman'. This
godman
slept on the hard floor in an all weatherproof room and travelled in
an imported car seated on a rag, placed above the costliest leather
seat.
His diet consisted of a little rice, dal, roti, and fresh fruits &
vegetables. He had predicted that tonight will be the beginning of
the end of Sharadh's
worst phase of life. To ameliorate his condition, XY Godman had asked
him to leave his hermitage from the western direction, spend the
night under the oak tree precisely 14 kilometres away. He had asked
him to forget about signing the land deal which would have cleared
all his debts and start a new business with substantial capital.
Sharadh
was happy that the turbulence in his life was about to end, but he
could not understand why that this was linked to not signing the
land-deal that night. However, he was not in a mood to reason or
rant.
Sharadh’s
life had been a roller coaster ride. He had seen forty-nine summers
and a life full of incidents. His fiftieth birthday was a fortnight
away. Sharadh,
the son of a retired head post-master, had done his post-graduation
in Commerce. More than education, it was his innovative thinking and
convention defying
actions
which saw him touch meteoric heights both in business and social
life. It is these very qualities which brought him to the nadir of
his life.
As on
today he
had a broken marriage, couple
of failed
businesses, a
pile of
loans, a
pregnant
unmarried
daughter in
her 20’s,
a
few lost
friends, and failing health. He had sold his swanky house and got rid
of a
good portion
of his debts. All that was left with him was his ancestral house in a
prime area of his city, adjoining the international airport that had
come nearby. He had promised to sell the land. Possibly, his father
had some psychic abilities, he had written a will that Sharad could
sell this property only after he reaches the age of fifty. It was
further ordained in the will, that he could use only 50% of the money
immediately, and the balance would be deposited in the fixed deposit
of a bank. Sharadh
or his successors can enjoy the interest for another 25 years, beyond
which the principal will accrue to them.
Sharadh
had come to know of the peculiar will just couple of days back. Even
his daughter was not aware of. The
proposed land-deal would have made him debt-free, and provided him
with working capital to start a new business. Sharadh
had tucked away a neat amount of money with a reliable friend, to
take care of his daughter, for a few years, should anything happen to
him. Just
before he left to meet the fortune teller, he
had informed his daughter of the fortune
left with his friend. He
was in the danger of being bumped off by the loan sharks at any time.
Lost
in his thoughts while
driving,
Sharadh
stopped at the 14th kilometre, he saw an oak tree on the left
side,
switched off his mobile, and parked his car beneath it. Just
before he switched off his phone, he received a call from a female
whom he thanked for introducing him to the fortune teller. He also
confirmed to her that as per his advice, he will be sleeping for the
night under the said oak tree. He
began to wonder how nice it would be if he can go back to his past,
and correct some of the mistakes he had made. It was then
he realised
the eastern direction he took, contrary to the western side as
mandated by the fortune teller. He sighed because his whole life was
all about him
doing
the opposite of what was required. He
decided that he was doomed for failure, and his bad times will never
end thanks to his reckless manner. He decided to rest there itself
for the day. If
things get worse, he decided he is going to sell the land, settle
accounts with the
creditors, and drive off the cliff.
The
place looked spooky, but he did not mind being lynched. There was
nothing worth stealing from him except his costly wrist-watch, and a
few two thousand rupees in his wallet. It was 12:30 midnight, and the
day would break in a few hours. Sharadh stretched out his legs on the
back seat and closed his eyes. Soon he was asleep and was woken up by
a gentle thud on the window panes. He woke up to see a guy in whites,
garnishing his teeth. Before he could open the door, the guy was
sitting next to him and said "Hi".
Sharadh,
without blinking his eyes asked, "So who are you, a highway
devil, life has scared me enough, what can a spirit like you do to
me?"
The guy
replied, "You wanted to meet me."
Sharadh
unable to fathom shot back, "Who are you?" (thinking in his
mind maybe I would have called him)
The guy
replied "I am the Time Keeper; you wanted to go back in time and
correct your faults. I have come to give you an opportunity and till
I am with you, time will freeze".
Sharadh
was
a drowning man, and he was ready to clutch at the proverbial last
straw. He
pinched himself and screamed "Wow! Let us get started then".
This was the first time in the last one year Sharad had got so
excited, otherwise it was always a grumpy face for him.
Time
Keeper said "Don't get excited so much, this is always your
fault, first listen, you will get a chance to revisit 6 situations in
your life and correct them. There will be two Sharadhs'; one in the
actual situation and another you from the future. You will never get
a chance to correct yourself physically but only can advise/shout to
Sharadh at the spot. You can instigate any other individual in the
situation to save it. You can be in each incident only for 10
minutes, and so you will have an hour to correct your past. Is it OK
with you?"
Sharadh
nodded his head in agreement. He had no option, did he?
Time
Keeper "Now
write down your choice, take your time, and you can always correct
the choices before I begin your journey" and gave Sharadh
a pen and a piece of paper to write on. Without
much thought,
Sharadh
wrote down the following choices:
1.
Neglect of his health after 2005.
2.
Refusal to support Preetam's business (Sharadh's best friend) with a
loan of Rs.5 lakhs.
3. His
second marriage to Nisha.
4. The
decision to send his daughter Veda to a boarding school.
5. Based
on the advice of Nisha, the decision to invest in the garment export
business.
6. His
decision to invest in reality shares during early 2016.
Sharadh
handed over the slip to the Time Keeper who remarked, "As always
fast".
Sharadh
grinned sarcastically, looked at him and quizzed with a shrug of his
shoulders "What next?"
Time
Keeper whispered a verse into his ears and told "Close your eyes
and repeat it 12 times. Remember you cannot come back till you
revisit all the six situations and during this time you cannot
contact me. All the best to you."
Sharadh
thanked
the Time Keeper with gratitude,
closed his eyes and repeated the verse 12 times. Suddenly, a beam of
light ejected him into a clock way. He could see the clock reversing
at a rapid speed, and suddenly it stopped in his flat which he had
purchased from the first million he earned.
07/11/2002
Time 5:30 am, the alarm rings and a blanket unfurls.
A young
Sharadh gets up and goes to sleep, banging the alarm. Till then,
Sharadh was very particular about maintaining his health and used to
exercise regularly. This laziness had set into him with expanding
business.
Future
Sharadh
could see what havoc this laziness would cause to him in future. As
on date, he
was suffering from diabetes, high cholesterol and weak joints. He had
to undergo bypass surgery and a knee correction in the past two
years. FUTURE SHARADH
shouted at the younger one "Please get up, go for a workout,
don't spoil your health". He would not listen, and time was
running out. FUTURE SHARADH
shouted expletives at him still of no avail. He tried to kick him but
could not.
He
remembered the Time Keeper's condition "You will never get a
chance to correct yourself physically". Just then he saw his
first
wife Sita opening her eyes. He pushed her into pouring a glass of
water on the sleeping Sharadh.
Sharadh
got up and shouted, "Shut up, Si, I am tired". She could
not understand why she poured a glass of water on his face, so she
kept quiet and slept back. FUTURE SHARADH
was left banging on his head and soon the time was over, and he found
himself in the clock way forwarding till he reached August 2004 when
Preetam,
his best friend
was sitting in front of him.
***********
15/08/2004
Time 7:30 pm, Preetam after hours of talking virtually was begging
with him for Rs.5 lakhs. His friend Rajesh was seated besides trying
to reason with Sharadh.
Sharadh
by that time had become a multi-millionaire. Preetam was trying to
start a business on his own. He, along with Rajesh, had come to
request Sharadh for an Rs.25 lakh loan. Rajesh was settled in his own
job, and had come along with Preetam to convince Sharadh. The amount
by Sharadh's standard was a petty one, but he refused to neither
invest nor lend this amount. Sharadh was not interested in giving the
loan or making an investment because he did not believe that farming
can be a sustainable business.
Preetam
even offered to pledge his house documents with Sharadh. Sharadh
displaying arrogance, had said, "I don't have enough servants to
accommodate in your big house, who wants those documents?"
Rajesh
held Sharadh by his collar and slapped him. Sharadh gave a
contemptuous smile, and Rajesh walked out of the house.
Preetam
went down on his knees, but Sharadh would have none of it. FUTURE
SHARAD tried to scream at the top of his voice, but his past would
not listen and stuck to his stand. Soon Preetam too walked out.
Rajesh
stood surety for Preetam's loan. Slowly
but steadily Preetam repaid the loan and
grew richer than Sharadh.
Most childhood friends distanced from Sharadh
after this incident but Preetam still retained a soft-corner for him.
As fate would have it, it was to Preetam that Sharadh
had entrusted the last bit of his savings. This was to be handed over
to his daughter in the eventuality of his being
got rid off by the marauding money lenders .
Time for
FUTURE SHARADH
was over, and again he was thrust into the clock way till it stopped
when
Sharadh's
mother arguing against his decision to marry Nisha.
******
10/10/2010
Time 8:45 am, Sharad mother is asking him not to marry Nisha
Sita had
expired during November 2008 due to Leukaemia. She was the source of
strength for Sharadh ever since they fell in love during college.
Though she was from a different language, Sharadh parents readily
accepted her. Her death had upset the balance of Sharadh's family.
Soon his father died, and his mother was also incapacitated. Sharadh
became a loose cannon, and had many illicit relationships.
Subsequently,
Sharadh had met Nisha during a party. She was a small-time model/TV
actress. True to her name, most men fell for her charms. Playing
around with men was not new to her. She had never dated a rich guy
like Sharadh. She did everything to entice Sharadh into her web, and
he too willing fell for her.
Sharadh
wanted to marry Nisha. His mother, daughter Veda, and relatives were
against it. His mother was pleading with him not to marry Nisha. He
would not listen to her and chided his mother for being old
fashioned. He got up and announced, "on 10/01/2011, I am going
to marry Nisha; if you want you can come". Saying these harsh
words, he rushed out of his mother's bedroom.
FUTURE
SHARADH knew of all the tragedies that marriage to Nisha would befall
him. She made him a drunkard. She regularly made him buy costly
presents and skip crucial business meetings to be with her or take
her on a joy trip. Sharadh started neglecting Veda. She got him to
invest in the wrong businesses like that of a garment factory owned
by a mysterious cousin of hers. It later turned out that this cousin
of hers was a boyfriend in reality, and used as a ploy to fleece
Sharadh of his wealth. FUTURE SHARADH screamed all this to Sharadh,
but he would not hear him out. The 600 seconds were over, and he was
back on the clock way to reach April 21, 2014.
*****
21/04/2014,
Time 8:45 pm, Sharadh
is about to announce his decision to send Veda to a boarding school.
Sharadh’s
mother expired during July 2012 and Veda was left alone in the house.
Sharadh’s interest in his daughter had dwindled. Though she was
doing academically well, she had become a neglected child. Nisha had
begun to despise Veda's presence in the house. She planned to send
Veda to a notorious boarding school for spoilt rich kids and had
succeeded in convincing Sharadh.
Sharadh
"Veda, I am sending you to ****** boarding school."
Veda
"Papa, you want to send me to a boarding school, I have no
problem, but don't send me to that one. It's notorious and a spoilt
one."
Sharadh
"Enough, your mama has made a choice, and you are going there."
Veda
agitatedly remarked "This female is not my mother."
Sharadh
came rushing towards
Veda,
caught hold of her,
slapped her couple of times and threatened, "If you don't go,
you are dead". Veda wept inconsolably on the dining table, but
there
was no one to console her at home or
to stand for her rights.
Veda
reluctantly
went
to the boarding school. It was a school for all the rich spoilt kids.
Veda did hold on her ethics for a short while. Soon, the pleasures of
youth took her over. She started with gambling, dating, boozing,
drugs, and finally landed up being pregnant before
she could complete graduation.
FUTURE
SHARADH screamed all this to Sharadh as he was leaving the dining
hall but of no avail. FUTURE SHARADH was desperate to get back to the
Time Keeper to ask him what sort of option he had given him but could
not do so. Soon FUTURE SHARADH was on the clock way and stopped in
Aug 2015 where Nisha was introducing her cousin who wanted Sharadh to
invest his "Hi-fashion garment factory".
******
11/08/2015
Time 3:45 pm, Nisha's cousin, is explaining the project to Sharadh.
Nisha's
cousin was convincing Sharadh to invest in his "Fashion Garment
Factory" which he claimed had a lot of committed orders from
abroad. The magic of Nisha was wearing away for Sharadh. Nisha
realised her time was up and was getting ready to pack off. This
supposed cousin was her boyfriend, and they had hatched this plan to
fleece Sharadh's fortune. Though his CA was against this investment,
Sharadh agreed to invest in it just to keep Nisha happy, and the
projections made by her cousin were too tempting to ignore. FUTURE
SHARADH tried to scream for sanity to prevail. He shouted several
questions about the project to Sharadh. He questioned the intimacy of
Nisha, and her cousin but all these, as usual, fell into deaf ears.
As
planned, slowly the investment started turning into a nightmare for
Sharadh. Nisha became the managing partner, and he had less power to
question its progress. Every second month there was some mishap or
the other, draining out funds. By December 2017, Sharadh had lost 70%
of his wealth on the project. He had started to borrow, something
which he had not done for the past 12 years.
Then one
day, he got up to find a piece of chit "Bye Buddy – Nisha".
Nisha had rendered him bankrupt and flown out with her "cousin"
to Bangkok. Sharadh never got a chance to divorce, and till date she
and Veda had equal share to his property.
FUTURE
SHARADH lost yet another chance to correct his past and soon was back
on the clock way to find himself in June 2018, when Sharadh was doing
the proverbial "last throw of dice".
****
16/06/2018,
Time 10:30 am, Sharad is handing over a cheque to his investment
banker
He was
handing over a cheque of Rs. 2 Crores for investment in reality
shares. Sharadh had over the past two months made some informed
trading calls in the market and made substantial money. His friend
Rajesh had given him these bits of advice. Sharadh financial position
was beginning to look up when he decided to invest in reality shares.
Rajesh advised him not to do so, but Sharadh would have none of it.
He felt that Rajesh was jealous that he would become affluent again.
FUTURE SHARADH knew there was no point in advising Sharadh, and
remained a mute spectator. Sharadh went ahead and made the deal. As
luck would have it by the end of October 2008, the investment value
was less than Rs.35 lakhs. Sharadh had to sell off most of his
remaining property except his father's estate.
The time
for FUTURE SHARADH was over, and he was back in the car with the Time
Keeper. As soon as he reached, he howled "What a cruel joke that
was! It was like having a read-only document. I had no chance to
correct my past except being a screaming unheard witness to the
disaster."
Time
Keeper "That is not my problem, Sharadh did not listen to you.
What can I do?"
Sharadh
"Where is the question of listening, he could not hear me."
Time
Keeper "Come,
I will make you listen to what your mind and soul was telling during
those six incidents."Sharadh
listened to it. He realised that what he spoke just now had gone
through his mind and heart when the incidents actually took place. He
knew that it was wrong to neglect his health. He
had felt at that time it
was inhuman not to support Preetam in his business. He
seemed to remember telling to himself that the
decision to marry Nisha can
turn out to be
catastrophic. He
had felt
sending
Veda
to that boarding school or to invest in the stupid business of
Nisha's cousin were
decisions bound to end in disasters.
When
he took the decision to invest in the reality shares, his conscience
told `This is the final nail in the coffin’. It is just that he did
not listen to it, all the six times.
The Time
Keeper reminded Sharadh "Your future is always there with you in
the form of your soul and mind, just that you have to listen to them.
Henceforth you will do that, and you will have a bright future".
Saying these words, he disappeared.
Soon the
sun began to rise and as Sharadh
started his car, committing to listening to his inner voice. To go
home, he had to take an U-turn.
While travelling back, he passed the oak tree, the fortune teller had
originally
asked him to park his vehicle under.
The tree had been felled, and it had smashed a car parked under it.
Out of the car, two dead bodies of a naked boy and girl was being
removed. A little distance he saw Nisha's best friend, gesticulating
and talking to someone on the phone. She
was the one who had introduced him to the fortune teller, and also
checked his whereabouts the previous night.
He deciphered the sinister design and decided to close the land deal.
It would get rid of all his loans, and help him start a new life. He
was not sure whether this decision was rational, but his heart and
mind seemed to be in harmony. Moreover, the expression
of shock on the lady’s face, when he waived at her made him doubly
assured that a
new horizon was waiting to unfold itself for
him, Veda, and his yet to be born grandchild.
