Wings Of Fire





Dear Ruth,


               I know I should have written to you earlier, but its been really crowded here, with the sudden influx of arrivals. I think it is the single largest human migration in history after Moses and his epic march from Egypt, although the 'migration' in this case isn't exactly voluntary, as you know.


Ruth,look...please,please don't cry.... I want you to know that my death was virtually painless, honest. Granted, the element of surprise was there, but to be frank, I really don't know what I died from.... I'll hazard a guess that it was incineration. That my body was recovered and identified from the rubble was a miracle in itself, you see. It was like.... I was staring out the office window in fascination-turned-disbelief-turned-horror, and then bam! The screech of metal on metal, the shrieks...then everything goes black, and then I find myself here..... For a fleeting second I hoped it was a terrible dream, but nah.. as far as I remember, the worst of my nightmares involved me drowning in a glass of pineapple juice. Sometimes orange, for variety's sake.


But never this, Ruth....never this. And it sucks you know, being snuffed out just like that....  I certainly wasn't one of those people with a hundred dreams and umpteen ambitions...hell, the only things I had in mind were the weekend Knicks game, and our fancy Italian dinner date I'd planned...ah yes.... the place you told me about.... West 44th....Carmine's, isn't it? That's what I had in mind, it would have been such a splendid surprise for you.






Haha, look at me, going all sentimental and penning down sob stuff, which I've diligently avoided all my life. But the point is, now you know I'm okay. I don't know if this is the place they call heaven, but its nice, actually.  And oh! Look who's come....my boss Reggie.....Guess his injuries finally got the better of him. I think I'll go and ask him if I really was in line for promotion, and for the first time ever, I'll hope that  his answer would be a resounding 'no'. That would make it even harder, you see.


Yeah, and I finally proved you right..... I AM a major klutz. People get run over by trucks, buses, cars......... but aeroplanes? I know, I know.... it requires one to be exceptionally skilled to get run over by a flying behemoth, but there you are.... Hey, I got to go now, but I'll be writing to you often as possible, so you know....you'll be having a verbal version of me, if not the physical. 


I miss you. Terribly.


Yours forever and ever,
Kevin 
(you can take forever in the literal sense now)


PS- To those readers who happened to bump into my letter, I'm dreadfully sorry if I haven't been clear about my death. My apologies, but I really can't bring myself to go through those details again. If you wish to pay me a visit, you can find me at the Princeton Cemetery in New Jersey. Perhaps the date on my gravestone will tell you everything you need to know. 



In memory of  each and every life across the world that has been lost thanks to the heinous acts of those deluded fanatics who call themselves 'terrorists'. 
Like they say, give peace a chance. Please.


34 comments:

  1. its the kind tht leaves u speechless :)

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  2. That left me not knowing whether to laugh at the very refreshing take on death, the glasses you've donned to look at it from the other side or feel sad about how people, ones with wives and children and boyfriends and girlfriends, ones who have yet to experience so much more in life are killed without so much as a moment's notice, all in the name of a lost cause.

    Wonderful post.

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  3. After I finished reading, I stood up from my seat, eyes closed, in memory of Kevin. RIP.

    To you, Sushmit, I raise my glass for a toast, for the thought behind this post. I'm +1-ing this post to the world.

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  4. I can happily give you a standing ovation for putting this one up. The matter is so delicate and the way you added humor here and there, it's commendable dude. No one appreciate terrorism, but then, that's the ugly bitter truth. Very well written Sushmit :)

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  5. @Aditi- Says Pichonkun? :D :D


    @Priyanka (Peevee,if you so wish :P) Thanks a lot :)....Well, the problem is nobody seems to care...even as I write, I came to know that there was a blast in Agra. Like Kevin tells me, bam...the sound, the scream, then you're no more. It's sad P, really sad.

    @Ezazi-Did you now? :) I'm sure Kevin would be happy to know, wherever he is.
    And thank you so much, we really need to find a solution to this problem quickly, else we'll be responsible for our own extinction.

    @Risha- Thank you, thank you so much :) You see, I'm not sentimental at all, yet I feel very strongly for the people who die across the world "all in the name of a lost cause", as PeeVee puts it. Hence, instead of going for an all out boohoo fest, I attempted to keep it as light as possible. :) Thank you once again, Risha :)

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  6. Sushmit, this is one of the best I've ever read.
    I'm falling short of words at the end of reading this and I feel terrible 'coz seldom does this happen:P
    But this is one post that got me closest to feeling the agonizing sorrow of the one's who lost their loved one's on 9/11.
    I feel disgusted and tired.
    Disgusted at how innocent lives were taken away in the name of some irrational foolishness.
    Tired because how not only 9/11 but so many such days have left a deep, painful mark on every individual who is called human. (I would make a special mention of the word 'human' here because a part of the homo sapiens clan does not belong to the human section for me)
    :)

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  7. :( I replied on the wrong post :(


    :| I was saying, I only know one ruth and ie Brandon Routh

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  8. Gosh...that was one heck of a post. I mean its like bringing the reality on the face of the readers Sushmit. We all know what happened, how it happened, and well media in fact made us see it and erase the incident from our memories as well.. For quite some time I kept wondering what this post is abt and who is Ruth, and then you finally open the sad, bitter truths which reality entails with it..This one was creatively sad.

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  9. hey.
    thanks for visiting my blog and commenting..!
    this is really an emotional and well written post..! :(
    and the last line is so powerful..!
    RIP to the ones who died a death they did not deserve..!
    tc..!

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  10. Great post..
    Very meaningful and it's something all your readers will be able to feel.

    Lovely!

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  11. This is brilliantly written and I agree with Risha, a standing ovation for this piece of writing. Conveys a lot and terrorism is heinous. really! :/

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  12. @Chintan- We could certainly use a real life Superman now, wouldn't we? :)

    @Priyanka- Thanks :) .... and yes, after a point,your mind, body and soul tend to become numb to yet another news of a terrorist attack, not to mention the toothless reactions of the people in the parliament....

    @Aakriti- Its about the countless lives lost which pinch me the most; yaar ladai karni hi hai to samne aake lado, why choose such soft targets and kill innocent civilians who cannot fight back?

    @Nia- Is it? :)

    @Suvaiba- I remember a quote from The Lord Of The Rings in which Gandalf says, “Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.”
    I don't know why I wrote it, but its true, isn't it?

    @Philo- My first attempt at anything remotely emotional. Glad you liked it :)


    @Confused Soul- Thank you :) :) And terrorism is a lot, lot more than just heinous, isn't it? :\

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  13. Heinous was the only way to put it..though it's way beyond that...

    p.s. you need to blog more often dude :)

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  14. @Ashwini- Thanks :D

    @Philo- Invisible? :D Haha not yet, but going through a bumpy patch :) And yes, lets put it this way.... an advanced happy diwali 2012 :P

    @Destiny's Child- Oh yes, words fall short when you think about those pointless atrocities. And as for the PS, never has anyone been more correct in the history of humankind :)

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  15. You're alive! Oh My God :O I thought you were dead! :D Post something man!

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  16. it actually feels good when you don't take death in that so called very convetional way.....i don't get upset whenever someone i know is no more, in the form in which we know them.(yes the feeling of not seeing them ever, kills). but i don't mourn for long because i know its not the end. The energies which make us just take a new form, a new perspective.

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  17. I read loads of blog posts today, and might I say, this one truly touched me. Great work :)
    PS. I absolutely LOVE the name of your blog =D

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  18. This one socked the breath off my stomach..

    what a concept, buddy! *hats off*

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  19. @Philo- Yes I believe so, I have been MIA for quite some time, and that's stating the obvious :D

    @Guilty Conscience- Yes, but when someone weeps for the dead, its not technically for the one who died, but for themselves :)

    @Ruhani- Thank you. AND thank you. The name was indeed one of my better ideas, which I can assure you, are rare :D

    @Phatichar- I just read a couple of your posts, and its great to be appreciated by an legend in the blogosphere. Thanks a lot :)

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  20. It's a daring piece to write, to say the least. And I love the character you selected...I love the description...I love the 'I'm dead but it's okay' attitude....I love the way it hits you so bad that you want to double up and cry.

    Loved it!

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    1. Thanks a lot Shreya, the dead accept their deaths far more easily than do the living :)

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  21. That was indeed beautiful.. and kinda did leave me speechless.
    :)

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  22. Hi, Just bumped into you blog and this article..i am literally speechless after reading this !! To think somebody can write something so casual about death and yet have such a deep meaning..had tears reading it !! Great writing ...

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    1. Thank you, and speaking of writing, I am completely out of ideas currently :/

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  23. I'm speechless.


    P.S - I love the name of your blog, it reminds me of the movie Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, the purse called "Bagwati".

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    1. Thank you, Kiara. And yes, that is where I got the name from :D

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  24. awwwwww beautiful .. You know when i stated off, i was lyk 'err, mmmm what'... yea thats me.. newys getting to your post, I just have to say "absonfreakinlutely Awefabtastic' .

    I could empathise with Kevin, feel my heart being curled inside invisible fists when , he talk about west 44th, his normal life. Death is the least unexpected . I really ant to hug Ruth.

    The part where the letter ends with forever and ever ... hmm...i have read loads of stories on 9/11,but thi sine was the best of the lot.

    I love it, love the way you write too.

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    1. Haha thank you. And to be really honest, I don't know what made me write this. I am generally not given to writing emotional stuff. But glad you liked it. Thank you again, and do continue with Serah. :)

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  25. Wow, this was something....
    I don't know....If i died today, what did I have in mind?
    A guy, who I've been moping over when he will call me, and we'll be friends again for the least; tomorrows submission, my and Bilbo Baggins birthday,how nice hugs feel and the surprise THEY are planning for me, and maybe that I have be rich one day so that Mommy can brag about it.
    I don't know.....would I write anyone a goodbye letter? I don't know, but I hope I'm remembered as someone who was Very Happy!

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  26. Let's hope you don't have to find out that out; complete everything on your to-do list as soon as possible, you know. :)

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  27. I loved how you showed the other side with a touch of humor, and ended it with something so unexpected that stunned me into silence.

    That was incredible.

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