One hour to correct your past

Sharad had just finished his drink in a dingy bar downtown. It was his bad time that forced him to go to such a place. 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 financers. He had changed his mobile 3 times in the past one month to escape calls from his debtors. Finally he got his good friend Rajesh to buy him a SIM card to escape being detected.

His life had been a roller coaster ride. He had seen forty four summers and a life full of incidents. He came from a middle class family. His father had retired from the Postal Department. Sharad had done his post graduation in Commerce. More than education, it was his innovative thinking and defying convention 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.

He had a broken marriage, failed businesses, mounting loans, pregnant teenage daughter, lost friends and failing health. He had to vacate his swanky house within the next few days and the alternate accommodation he had found himself would not be sufficient even to park the car he was driving.

Driving in his thoughts, Sharad had lost his way and treaded into an unknown road. He pulled his car to the roadside and began to wonder how niece it would be if he can go back to his past and correct some of the mistakes he had made. He was depressed to find his way back and decided to spend the night in the car itself, after all it was 2AM in the morning, and day would break in a few hours. Moreover, he was so desperate that he did not mind being lynched and there was nothing worth stealing from him except the costly wrist watch and a few hundred rupees in his wallet.

*****

Sharad 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”.

Sharad said “So who are you, a highway devil, life has scared me enough, what can a spirit like you do to me?”

The guy replied “No, you wanted to meet me”

Sharad surprisingly asked “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”.

Sharad could not believe his luck, 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 Sharads’; one in the actual situation and another you from the future. You will never get a chance to correct them physically but can only advice/shout to Sharad in the actual situation. You can be in each situation only for 10 minutes and so you will have an hour to correct your past. Is it ok with you?” Sharad nodded his head in agreement. He had no option, did he?

Time Keeper “Ok, now write down your choice, take your time and you can always correct the choices before I begin your journey” and gave Sharad a pen and a piece of paper to write on. After a lot of thought he wrote down the following choices:

1. Neglect of his health after 1995.

2. His refusal to support his friend Preetam’s business with a loan of Rs.5 lakhs

3. His second marriage to Nisha.

4. His decision to send his daughter Veda to a boarding school.

5. His decision to invest into a dubious garment export business on the insistence of Nisha.

6. His decision to invest into reality shares during early 2008.

Sharad handed over the slip to the Time Keeper who said “As always definite and fast”.

Sharad grinned sarcastically, looked at him and asked “What next?”

Time Keeper whispered a mantra into his ears and told “close your eyes and repeat this mantra 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”

Sharad said “Thanks” closed his eyes and repeated the mantra 12 times. Suddenly a beam of light ejected him into a clockway. 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.

*****

07/11/1995 Time 5:30 am, the alarm rings and a blanket unfurls.

A younger looking Sharad gets up and goes to sleep banging the alarm. Till then Sharad was very particular about maintaining his health and used to exercise regularly. This laziness had set into him with expanding business.

Future Sharad could see what havoc this laziness would cause to him in future. He was suffering from diabetes, high cholesterol and weak joints. He had to undergo a by pass and a knee correction in the past two years. FUTURE SHARAD shouted at the younger one “Please get up, go for a work out, don’t spoil your health”. He would not listen and time was running out. FUTURE SHARAD shouted expletives at him still of no avail. He tried to kick him but remembered the Time Keeper’s condition “You will never get a chance to correct them physically”. Just then he saw his wife (first) Sita opening her eyes. He pushed her into pouring a glass of water on the sleeping Sharad. Sharad got up and told “Shut up Si, I am tired”. She kept quiet and slept back. FUTURE SHARAD was left banging on his head and soon the time was over and he again was amongst the clockway forwarding till he reached August 1998 when Preetam was sitting in front of him.

****

08/08/1998 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 Sharad.

Sharad by that time had become a multi-millionaire. Preetam was trying to start an industry on his own. He alongwith Rajesh had come to request Sharad for an Rs.5 lakh loan. Rajesh was settled in his own job and just had come as a support given that Sharad would listen to him. Sharad refused to either invest or loan Preetam that amount, though by then it was a small amount by his standards. Preetam even offered to pledge his house documents with Sharad. Sharad in a display of arrogance had said “Even my servant quarter is well furnished than your house, who wants those documents?” That was that, Rajesh walked out of the house. Preetam almost went down on his knees but Sharad would have none of it. FUTURE SHARAD tried to scream at the top of his voice but Sharad would not listen and stuck to his stand. Soon Preetam too walked out. As fate would have it, Rajesh stood surety for Preetam’s loan and slowly but steadily Preetam repaid the loan as well as grew richer than Sharad. Most childhood friends distanced from Sharad after this incident and this was beginning of the fall for him. Time for FUTURE SHARAD was over and again he was thrust into the clockway till it stopped during October 2001 with Sharad’s mother arguing against his decision to marry Nisha.

******

10/10/2001, Time 8:45 am, Sharad mother is asking him not to marry Nisha

Sita had expired during November 2000 due to Leukemia. She was the source of strength for Sharad ever since they fell in love during college. Though she was from a different language, Sharad parents readily accepted her. Her death had caused huge upset in balance of Sharad’s family. Soon his father died and mother was also incapacitated.

Sharad 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 Sharad. She did everything to entice Sharad into her web and he too willing fell for her.

Sharad wanted to marry Nisha. His mother, daughter 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 05/11/2001, 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 SHARAD 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 important business meetings to be with her or take her on a joy trip. She made him neglect Veda. She got him to invest into 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 Sharad of his wealth. FUTURE SHARAD screamed all this to Sharad but he would not hear him out. Soon time was over and he was back on the clockway to stop during April 2005 when Veda was sobbing on the dinning table when Sharad made known of his desire to send her to a boarding school.

*****

28/04/2005, Time 8:45 pm, Sharad is about to announce his decision to send Veda to a boarding school.

Sharad mother expired during July 2002 and Veda was left alone in the house. Sharad 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 in a far away place and succeeded in convincing Sharad.

Sharad “Veda, I am sending you to ****** boarding school”

Veda “Papa, you want to send me to a boarding school send me to ****** not this one. It is notorious”

Sharad “Enough, your mama has made the choice and your going there”

Veda agitatedly remarked “This female is not my mama”

Sharad came rushing, caught hold of his daughter, slapped her couple of times and said “If you don’t go you are dead”. Veda wept inconsolably on the dinning table, the truth was there was no one to console her at home.

Veda did go to the boarding school. It was a school for all the rich spoilt kids. Veda did hold on her ethics for a few while. Soon the pleasures of youth took her over. She started with gambling, dating, boozing, drugs and finally landed up being pregnant.

FUTURE SHARAD screamed all this to Sharad as he was leaving the dinning hall but of no avail. FUTURE SHARAD 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 SHARAD was on the clockway and stopped in Aug 2006 where Nisha was introducing her cousin who wanted Sharad to invest his “Hi-fashion garment factory”.

******

11/08/2006 Time 3:45 pm, Nisha’s cousin is explaining the project to Sharad.

Nisha’s cousin was impressing on Sharad to invest into his “Fashion Garment Factory” which he claimed had a lot of committed orders from abroad. The magic of Nisha was wearing away for Sharad. 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 Sharad’s fortune. Though his CA was against this investment, Sharad agreed to invest in it just to keep Nisha happy and the projections made by her cousin were too tempting to ignore. FUTURE SHARAD tried to scream for sanity to prevail. He shouted several questions about the project to Sharad. 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 Sharad. 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 2007, Sharad had lost 70% of his wealth on the project. He had started to borrow which he had not done for the past 12 years.

Then one fine 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.

FUTURE SHARAD lost another chance to correct his past and soon was back on the clock way to find himself in February 2008 when Sharad was doing the proverbial “last throw of dice”.

****

16/02/2008, 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 an investment in reality shares. Sharad 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 advices. Sharad financial position was beginning to look up, when he decided to invest into reality shares. Rajesh advised him not to do so but Sharad would have none of it. He felt that Rajesh was jealous that he would become rich again. FUTURE SHARAD knew there was no point in advising Sharad and remained a mute spectator. Sharad 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. Sharad had to sell of most of his remaining property.

The time for FUTURE SHARAD was over and he was back in the car with the Time Keeper. As soon as he reached, he howled “What a cruel joke it was, It was like having a read only document, I had no chance to correct my past except be a screaming unheard witness to the disaster”

Time Keeper “That is not my problem, Sharad did not listen to you. What can I do?”

Sharad “Where is the question of listening, he could not hear me”

Time Keeper “Really, come I will make you listen what your mind and soul was telling during those six incidents”

Sharad listened to it to realise what and all he spoke was what he had gone through his mind and heart when the incidents actually took place. He knew that it was wrong to neglect his health; not support Preetam; marry Nisha; send Veda to boarding school; invest in the stupid business of Nisha’s cousin and finally invest into reality shares. Just that he never listened to himself.

The Time Keeper told “Your future is always there with you in the form of your soul and mind, just that you have 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 Sharad started his car, committing to listen to his inner voice. A new horizon was waiting to unfold itself for Sharad…………..

Balu