Radhika and her husband, Neelkanth landed in Mumbai early morning, on a Sunday. Radhika cosied up to Neelkanth, her hands clasping his right arm, eyes tearing up, their taxi speeding towards their destination, Wada.
“Neel, I hope we did the right thing, coming back to India permanently. But we have to be with Aai at this challenging time”, said Radhika as she wiped her swollen eyes and glanced out of the window.
Neelkanth caressed back her hair and held her face, to comfort her.
“Yes Radhi we did take the right decision. We were in USA to build a future for us. But…but…”, he paused, lost in his thoughts. “Nothing to look forward to, so far away from our country…our family…friends. Let’s spend these last days with Aai.”
Various national governments had not disclosed anything fearing widespread chaos. Then, a buzz started spreading on social media about an extraordinary natural calamity, which was estimated to hit earth within an unknown timespan. People indulged in all kinds of speculations, finally seeking clarity from their governments. The US government was the first to finally disclose that an asteroid, 25 km. across, was expected to hit the Earth within 16 to 18 months. And it was expected to wipe out almost all life on earth. Initially no one took the warning very seriously. However, hardly 3 months had passed after the warning, when a new, bright star appeared in the night sky. And within the next 2 months, it had become the brightest in the sky. That’s when panic set in. The share markets started crashing everywhere. Looting and mugging became common.
It was in this scenario that Radhika and Neelkanth had that phone conversation with her Aai, which convinced them to make their permanent move back to her Aai’s village, Wada.
In the beginning, everything went on normally in Wada, a typical small town. However, as time went by, changes started to be felt. Once Radhika had accompanied Aai to the market. The vegetable shopping done; Radhika took out her phone. Finding no code to scan she asked, “Bhaiya, where is the QR code?”.
“Arre madam, I have discontinued code. No one knows what will happen in future. So, I will deal only in cash henceforth. I need cash to run my household. It’s better to carry cash, no use keeping in banks. Here, take these vegetables and pay Rs. 550/-.”
“550…but this is plain thievery. This is worth only Rs. 200. Why 550?”, a furious Radhika asked.
“What can I do madam? Prices have increased in the entire pipeline. Take if you want, if not, move ahead, but don’t eat my head”
When they reached back home, Radhika was taken aback to see the biggest TV in the living room and Neelkanth in front of it, his twinkling eyes watching the moving pictures on the screen. Eyes wide with surprise, Radhika asked, “Why have you splurged on this?”
“Radhika, have you not heard of something called a bucket list. Well, this was on my bucket list. If not now, then when?”, replied Neelkanth. Even though surprised, Radhika was happy to see the child-like excitement on Neelkanth’s face.
Next day dawned as usual. A red hue enveloped the skies while the winds dropped. Neelkanth went to withdraw money from the bank, but he was informed that he can withdraw only 50% cash. And since 50% was substantial enough he withdrew. As he exited the bank, two masked persons elbowed him in the chest, and sent him sprawling to the ground. One of them snatched the money bag and both escaped on a waiting bike. They disappeared in a jiffy. A few passers-by helped Neelkanth to his feet.
“Sir, this has become a common occurrence nowadays. These predators wait for vulnerable prey and pounce on them to make off with whatever they can get. Everything is so expensive now, not everyone has money for even the basic things”, said one of the passers-by who had moved forward to help him on his feet.
Without wasting any time, Neelkanth reached the nearest police station. When he asked for filing the FIR, he was surprisingly told that it was a futile exercise. The muggings were too many and the police, too few. To his utter shock and dismay, he was sent back from the police station without filing FIR. A dejected Neelkanth returned home, feeling resigned to his wretched fate. A fate he shared with everyone on this planet.
However, not everyone was resigned to their fate. The Government was making efforts. To counter the general anarchy in the country, martial law was declared to support the citizens and maintain a semblance of social Order.
Scientists all over the world coordinated with each other to find solutions. Though they had given up on their dream of deflecting an asteroid with the help of a nuclear explosion near the approaching asteroid, due to the sheer humongous size of it, they dreamt of escaping from the planet’s surface with the help of the super-secret SpaceXtreme program…at least by saving some of the brilliant human minds.
The Sun had been blocked out for the past few days by the huge asteroid, now occupying a major portion of the sky. Earthlings came to terms with the approaching end. While some like Aai, Radhika and Neelkanth became subdued and stuck indoors, others challenged the martial law, and indulged in mass looting and killings, just to satisfy their animal instincts. While some did their respective religious rituals to satisfy invisible Gods, others went berserk in a frenzy.
And in those last few weeks, while most of the humanity counted their remaining hours, a few rockets left for the new home, Mars, never to return. Whether they reached their destination or whether the huge asteroid’s own gravitational pull had any impact on the trajectory, will never be known.
