The God of Al Salvador

Salvador was best friends with Al. Al was a good guy and Salvador was better. They both went camping and Salvador started digging a grave for himself near the camp. "Why?" Al asked Salvador. Salvador smiled and kept digging the grave until his axe hit a hard thing. It was a statue of some God. They took out the statue and started worshipping it, dancing around like tribals. "Let me make Tang for you", Salvador says to Al, "you must be tired". He makes tang for Al and himself and they both replenish their lost energy. The statue of God starts levitating from the ground. A thunderbolt destroys their camp. "I'm pleased with your worship dance", a voice comes from the statue. "Then why did you destroy our camp?" asked Salvador. "Who the fuck uses an axe to dig the ground?", came the reply.

Destructo

He lived near the asylum for the sane. Insanity had taken over the world, and his father was sent to the asylum, while his mother worked in the insanitorium of the teenage people.

He was called Destructo, he could never know why. He liked creating. He liked making paper animals, and animals from play dough. He liked making poems about his imaginary friend Barney the hippo.

One day in the playground he was playing with children of his age when he fell upon a girl by mistake. The girl became furious but smiled at him later.

The sky suddenly got filled with enemy bombers and a bomb dropped over the playground. Everybody died. Except him and a bunch of others.

He was caught and charged for summoning the planes. He was made the commander of Parachute Battalion of Child Corpses and was presented a water gun and a lunch box full of grenades.

"But i like to create", was all he could say in the midst of applause.

The black goat

He had met her in a train. Trains are great places to meet strangers because they are places going places.

They were sitting besides each other when she asked him to open her bottle. He did, and with it he also uncorked his mouth. They got off at the same station.

He woke up on the bed covered in sweat. She was still sleeping. He did not even know her well.

He looks around and the green paint on the wall turns red. The walls start closing in and she disappears from the bed, leaving him into a cell the size of his bed.

He looks at the ceiling and sees a black goat drawn over it. The yellow eyes of the goat were gazing at him.

The cell suddenly becomes transparent and he sees her laughing at him, looking through the transparent wall.

She starts reading something from a book, finishes it, and then looks at him and says, "Sorry, my children are hungry!"

He turns into a black goat with yellow eyes.

मेरी बेवकूफियों का अंत नहीं है। बेवकूफियों में भाग नहीं लेने का फैसला कर के सबसे बड़ी बेवकूफी करना भी कैसी बेवकूफी है। मैं हिंदी में लिखना पसंद नहीं करता क्योंकि हिंदी में भावनाओं का महत्त्व कई गुना बढ़ जाता है। बचपन में जब मैं बाबा की गोद में बैठ के दूरदर्शन समाचार देखता था तो सोचता था की दुनिया बस इतनी सी है। बाबा मुझे पता नहीं कितनी बार उस जापानी लड़के की कहानी सुनाते थे जो अपनी अंधी बूढी माँ को छोड़ के जहाज़ ले कर उड़ गया ताकि अपनी जान दे कर वो अमेरिका का बड़ा विमान गिरा सके।

रात में छत पे बाबू मुझे पता नहीं कितनी कहानिया सुनाते थे। बड़े हो कर इन कहानियों का कोई मतलब नहीं रहता पर फिर भी बहुत मतलब रहता है। डर के जीने का कोई फायदा नहीं। पर अच्छे लोगों के पास डरने के अलावा कोई रास्ता नहीं है। यही सच है।

लड़ाके लड़ने के लिए पैदा होते हैं, किसी चीज़ से नहीं तो अपनी किस्मत से। मैं फ़ालतू लड़ाइयां नहीं लड़ना चाहता था पर असलियत जानने के बाद असली लड़ाइयों का औचित्य ही खत्म हो जाता है।

बेहतर है कि ये नकली खेल ऐसे ही चलता रहे। हर समय और हर वक़्त। ईमानदार लोग अपना काम ईमानदारी से करते रहें। मैंने अपना काम काफी ईमानदारी से किया है, और उसका परिणाम मुझे मिला है, अच्छा भी और बुरा भी। मुझे कोई दुःख नहीं है, सिर्फ इसके अलावा कि मेरे पास जानने के लिए कुछ बचा नहीं है।