Skip to main content

Imaginary Paradises

Imaginary Paradises and Real Hells

Fiction

Aziz raised the machine gun and pumped a million bullets into the heart of his frustrations.

            Firoz lay dead in a pool of warm blood which exuded a smell that strangely reminded Aziz of the chemistry lab in his college.  Soon he would be lying in a similar pool of blood, his own blood, Aziz knew.  He had killed one of the top leaders of the organisation and he would be a fool to hope that he could get away with it.

            What would be the smell of my blood?  He asked himself.  Will it smell of the deodorant whose seductiveness is what first drew him to Miriam?

            “Miriam will be a suicide bomber,” Firoz had decided.

            Miriam was Maria.  Maria Joseph of St Antony’s College whose humid corridors carried various odours one of which was the seductive fragrance that wafted whenever Maria Joseph of B.Sc. (Bio) came along.  Aziz was a B.Sc. (Chem) student of the same batch. 

            When Firoz suggested to make a non-Muslim girl fall in love with him, it was the fragrance of Maria that rushed into his veins and made him blush.

            But why? He wondered. “Why should I fall in love with a kafir?”  He asked.

            “Who’s asking you to love anybody?” He growled. “The girl should fall.  In love.  With you.”

            But why?

            Our mission.

            Firoz explained.  A new world, a totally different world, emerged in Aziz’s imagination as Firoz spoke.  A paradise on earth.  One god, one religion, one Caliphate.  All infidels will be converted.  Or else eliminated.

            Miriam’s duty was to eliminate.  She would be a suicide bomber.  A martyr.  Firdaws, nothing less, awaited her.

            “But we thought we would be creating the paradise on the earth!” exclaimed Aziz.

            “Yes.  Paradise on earth requires martyrs and their work on the foundation.  Miriam is fortunate to have been chosen to be a martyr.”

            “But I love her,” Aziz protested in spite of all the training that they were given over months.   They were taught to forget earthly attachments until the mission is accomplished.  Once the mission is accomplished, their rewards would be manifold, so much more than they could ever have imagined.

            “In the meanwhile you can get another girl to fall in love with you,” Firoz grinned.

            It was then Aziz grabbed the machine gun.  To hell with Firdaws and Paradise.

            He flung the smoking gun and walked out. 

            He saw a drugged Miriam get into the driver’s seat of a car.  Suicide bomber.

            “Miriam!”  He wanted to call.  But his voice died in his throat as he became aware of the steel barrel of a pistol behind his head.  “Allah! Mercy!”

Comments

  1. sunaina sharmaJuly 11, 2016 at 8:22 PM

    The steel that comes between Allah's mercy and Aziz is the steel of irrationality of fanaticism that is wrecking our world. This is in sync with your previous post - youth being misled, willingly or otherwise. I am glad you came back with short story, your forte....:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 12, 2016 at 5:44 AM

      Fiction is the ideal form when emotions are high.

      Delete
  2. Tina BasuJuly 11, 2016 at 9:24 PM

    Very nicely written short story!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kala RaviJuly 11, 2016 at 9:39 PM

    I am having goosebumps after reading this! Short, action and emotion packed! I wish the truth was far away from the fiction you have written but sadly, it happens to be the bitter truth.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 12, 2016 at 5:45 AM

      Unfortunately it is the bitter truth. Perhaps, truth is even more bitter!

      Delete
  4. ChittuJuly 11, 2016 at 9:54 PM

    A very well written short story!

    ReplyDelete
  5. none to be knownJuly 11, 2016 at 10:03 PM

    It's a short story hiding a great plot for thinking. It Gives light on end of many terrorist groups. They will be wiped off due to their internal quarrel. Like Jesus said "for all those who draw sword shall die by it". The plot of the story is an important issue in the near future. Many girls even from our small Kerala has been abducted and used by such terrorist groups. So its the time to think..

    ReplyDelete
  6. UnknownJuly 11, 2016 at 10:06 PM

    Terrorism is the bane of mankind.The day it ends,humanity will triumph

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 12, 2016 at 5:47 AM

      The world has reached at a conflict between humanity and terrorism. Which will triumph is the question.

      Delete
  7. ManiparnaJuly 11, 2016 at 10:10 PM

    Truth it is. A compact story touching so many things in this short span; love zihad, the frustrations of numerous Azizs, the pseudo- religious reasons which the terrorists put in favour of the massacre...very well-written, Sir....:-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 12, 2016 at 5:48 AM

      Thanks, Maniparna. What exactly drives Azizes to terrorism is still a mystery.

      Delete
  8. IraJuly 11, 2016 at 10:59 PM

    Power packed story in sync with the present scenario where youth are lured into these acts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 12, 2016 at 5:49 AM

      A lot of youngsters are being misled, unfortunately. The idealism of youth is being mischannelled.

      Delete
  9. ShaiviJuly 11, 2016 at 11:10 PM

    Such a strong message in few words...

    ReplyDelete
  10. EshaJuly 11, 2016 at 11:30 PM

    Powerful story! Fiction reflects reality and a bitter truth.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Pranju chakrapaniJuly 12, 2016 at 7:03 AM

    Some say it is because of not wearing a skull cap that make them do such heinous acts. I say it is all written in the holy book that makes them have their own interpretations.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 12, 2016 at 7:27 AM

      If all the holy books perish in a mysterious fire or something, the world may be redeemed.

      Delete
  12. MoonJuly 12, 2016 at 4:34 PM

    A great story, sir! Misleading youth in the name of religion is perhaps the biggest socioreligious problem in today's world. However, I am unable to understand how highly educated people from educated, liberal and well-to-do families get influenced by such radical thoughts and become so violent in the name of religion!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 12, 2016 at 5:37 PM

      There are big discussions going on in the Malayalam mass media about this issue. One Muslim educator has done some field study too and his hypothesis is that there is a mental disorder that's gripping some of the youth today because of various psycho-social problems. Some are of the opinion that it's a politico-social problem which in other words means it's about power. Islam is trying to impose its power on everybody. But why educated people from liberal families should fall prey to that power game is a question which may be answered only by the mental disorder hypothesis!

      Delete
  13. UnknownJuly 12, 2016 at 8:30 PM

    Indeed a powerful one, and, enough to shake our senses within.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ivan the unusual friend

When you are down and out, you will find that people are of two types. One is the kind that will walk away from you because now you are no good. They will pretend that you don’t exist. They don’t see you even if you happen to land right in front of them. The other is the sort that will have much fun at your expense. They will crack jokes about you even to you or preach at you or pray over you. This latter people are usually pretty happy that you are broke. You make them feel more comfortable with themselves even to the point of self-righteousness. Ivan was an exception. When I slipped on the path of life and started a free fall that would last many years before I hit the bottom without a thud but with enormous anguish, Ivan stood by me for some reason of his own. He didn’t display any affection which probably he didn’t have. He didn’t display any dislike either. There was no question of preaching or praying. No jokes either. Ivan was my colleague for a brief period at St Joseph’s
14 comments
Read more

Machiavelli the Reverend

Let us go today , you and I, through certain miasmic streets. Nothing will be quite clear along our way because this journey is through some delusions and illusions. You will meet people wearing holy robes and talking about morality and virtues. Some of them will claim to be god’s men and some will make taller claims. Some of them are just amorphous. Invisible. But omnipotent. You can feel their power around you. On you. Oppressing you. Stifling you. Reverend Machiavelli is one such oppressive power. You will meet Franz Kafka somewhere along the way. Joseph K’s ghost will pass by. Remember Joseph K who was arrested one fine morning for a crime that nobody knew anything about? Neither Joseph nor the men who arrest him know why Joseph K is arrested. The power that keeps Joseph K under arrest is invisible. He cannot get answers to his valid questions from the visible agents of that power. He cannot explain himself to that power. Finally, he is taken to a quarry outside the town wher
13 comments
Read more

Joe the tenacious friend

AI-generated illustration You outgrow certain friendships because life changes you in ways that nobody, including you, had expected. Joe is one such friend of mine who was very dear to me once. That friendship cannot be sustained anymore because I am no more the person whom Joe knew and loved to amble along with. And Joe seems incapable of understanding the fact that people can change substantially. Joe and I were supposed to meet one of these days after a gap of more than two decades. I scuttled the meeting rather heartlessly. Just because Joe’s last messages carried words that smacked of intimacy. My life has gone through so much devastating fire that the delicate warmth of intimacy has become repulsive. Joe was a good friend of mine while we were in Shillong. He was a post-graduate student and a part-time schoolteacher when I met him first. I was a fulltime schoolteacher teaching math and science to ninth and tenth graders. My dream was to postgraduate in English literature an
11 comments
Read more

Kailasnath the Paradox

AI-generated illustration It wasn’t easy to discern whether he was a friend or merely an amused onlooker. He was my colleague at the college, though from another department. When my life had entered a slippery slope because of certain unresolved psychological problems, he didn’t choose to shun me as most others did. However, when he did condescend to join me in the college canteen sipping tea and smoking a cigarette, I wasn’t ever sure whether he was befriending me or mocking me. Kailasnath was a bundle of paradoxes. He appeared to be an alpha male, so self-assured and lord of all that he surveyed. Yet if you cared to observe deeply, you would find too many chinks in his armour. Beneath all those domineering words and gestures lay ample signs of frailty. The tall, elegantly slim and precisely erect stature would draw anyone’s attention quickly. Kailasnath was always attractively dressed though never unduly stylish. Everything about him exuded an air of chic confidence. But the wa
9 comments
Read more

Levin the good shepherd

AI-generated image The lost sheep and its redeemer form a pet motif in Christianity. Jesus portrayed himself as a good shepherd many times. He said that the good shepherd will leave his 99 sheep in order to bring the lost sheep back to the fold. When he finds the lost sheep, the shepherd is happier about that one sheep than about the 99, Jesus claimed. He was speaking metaphorically. The lost sheep is the sinner in Jesus’ parable. Sin is a departure from the ‘right’ way. Angels raise a toast in heaven whenever a sinner returns to the ‘right’ path [Luke 15:10]. A lot of Catholic priests I know carry some sort of a Redeemer complex in their souls. They love the sinner so much that they cannot rest until they make the angels of God run for their cups of joy. I have also been fortunate to have one such priest-friend whom I shall call Levin in this post. He has befriended me right from the year 1976 when I was a blundering adolescent and he was just one year older than me. He possesse
8 comments
Read more