Not a pleasant story

It is not a pleasant story. A story about a dead body cannot be pleasant. Death may be ‘deliverance’ to Walt Whitman’. But not to the three men walking on a dustry road to the next village. They were Amar, Akbar and Antony (and you know that). Contrary to your assumption that they must be three stars of the Hindi cinema, they were ordinary men on a visit to the tombs of soldiers who died in Panchalankurichi War in 1799. The three ‘A’s (that is why they were given these names) were from different states Amar from Gujarat, Akbar from UP and Antony from Tamil Nadu. All the three were connected by the subject of History, which they taught in their Universities in their States. Of course Antony was from nearby Tirunelveli and he was instrumental in their visit to the place. From the dusty road they turned right to a foot path when Antony raised his hands and showed the place where the tombs were, around fifty metres ahead of them. While there were long stretches of the foot path without any trees or shrubs, there were five trees on a particular spot just ten metres ahead of them.
When they were crossing the five trees, Akbar felt a foul odour and within few steps ne noticed a dead body. The stentch was nauseating. Amar walked faster and told Antony to walk quicker. This body of a male of nearly 45-50 years was lying on its face on the dusty ground. He had noted that there was no wound on the upper side of the body and he was not sure about other injuries on the body. He nervously walked ahead not knowing what to do and was confused by the thoughts about his religious duty towards the dead. He also experienced fears about being involved in a criminal investigation if not proceedings. He should not be part of anything so stinking that may cause problems with the extended hands of the law. Akbar presumed that upto this point of time, no one has noticed it. If they had, Police would have been here any moment. He waited for some time. Amar repeatedly called him to the place of their visit in the hope of weaning them away from the deadbody.. This was the Tomb of Col.Coxton of the British Imperial Army, Amar was standing before it. There were other graves with decorated tombstones describing the valour of the English soldiers who fought Kattabomman on a soil that was thousands of miles away from their native place, all for the glory of their empire and also for earning a livelihood for their otherwise poor familes. For one second Antony felt that how could these men who were oppressed into joining the army to save England and were performing to the majestic power could be treated as enemies. They were the dolls in the hands of British elite. He thought about their mothers’ fathers’ and sisters’ who were waiting for their return.
Something strange happened to them all at that moment.. They were standing before the King of England, so they thought. Being history professors they knew the dress codes, customs and the palaces of the kings and queens and emperors of England. How did they arrive there? It took time for them to reconcile to the situation. A White man who was sitting on the throne was looking at them mercifully and inquisitively. He asked them “Who are thee?” Antony the only Christian who was not afraid of another Christian, even if he is king of England replied “Lord we are history professors in India. Something has gone wrong and we have landed here in your presence. We had no intention of violating any rules for appearing before the King for we did not know that we would be brought here by the hands of fate…” The White man, for God must be white, sitting on the throne thundered, for it so appeared to Antony, “Oh poor professors of history you are not in England, but in heaven and have been brought to this place by the misunderstanding of my orders by my servants, the angles and demons of life and death.” Amar felt the greatness of his luck for he has been brought to heaven so early in life that too in the presense of god, for he has never done anything to deserve this boon. Even if it is a Christian god and Christian heaven, he would not mind, for all gods are the same in heaven and only on earth the gods are divided by religions. Religions as he understood are the last resorts of the compulsive sinners. Now that he has been summoned by God to heaven, it does not matter if it is a Christian or Muslim heaven as long as he can stay in it.
God, the Christian one, of course, continued “You were ordered to be thrown into the burning hell because all of you failed to follow the teaching of all gods by just ignoring the dead body of a man so pious and pure that now I am considering of burning you in hell.”
Akbar started to speak “God I was the one who smelled the stench of the body, for the dead body stinks even if it is of pure and pious men. I wanted to bury him according to the customs of his community for community matters since there are questions of either burning the body at the pyre or burying it or throwing it to the vultures. These two professors of history prevented me from ascertaining the community to which the body belongs. They were more interested in the remains of the dead bodies of British soldiers who fought for the glory of their rich emperor. They were not bothered about the the body of a man in front of them, who died recently of unknown causes. IF you give me permission I would immediately perform duty of buning his body on a pyre of sandalwood to retrieve my honour and to uphold your teachings. I presume that you majesty will secure a seat or a berth in heaven in future. I also may like to be assured that I don’t need to die now”.
God looked at the other two. Antony remained silent in the hope that the Christian god may have some sympathy for him as he had been the follower of the religion of Christ who practiced what had been prescribed in the holy book for as long as he can remember. But still he had to explain as to why he did not act as a Good Samaritan. “Lord, the holy spirit, duties of the Christian and a good Samaritan is towards another Christian and not to a man of unknown religion and a sinner for that reason, and secondly if he is a follower another religion his god might be offened by the acts of rank outsider like myself, who had no right over the lambs of his shepherd. He might send me, the outsider, to his prison where I could not find a single Christian soul and that may be the worst kind of sin that I could commit against our Lord.” The White God sitting on the throne did not utter a word and he looked at the third history professor.
Amar was an experienced Union leader and he had defended many delinquent collegues in punitive proceedings. He said “first I do not know who are you to sit there and question us? What is your authority? Second you have brought us here without our consent and this is an offence. Third, if a man is dead and his body is lying on a road, there are prescribed procedure to be followed by the Police, of which I am not one, and it is not for me, who is only wanderer in that place to help preside over the funeral of the Unknown Man, who I do not know yet, is a Sacred Men deserving a decent burial or condemned wretch deserving no nicety. Everything is done according to the Sins committed in previous birth, or this birth and Law, class and caste and none can violate the Shastras prescribed by gods or their ambassadors”
The white god was looking tired. He was in doubt whether he is the god here or someone else. He has never heard such a long soliloquy on morality and ethics for he is the one prescribing them. He ordered them back to the earth for he no longer wanted to see the men who had no sense of human values, leave alone the values he cherished as god.
The three As while returning from the tomb of unknown british soldiers found that there was no deadbody lying on the shades of the trees. But a man called them from the branches of the trees “Yo, bloody rascals” They looked above and found the man. He was the same man whose body they had found earlier on the ground. “You pious and sacred people worshipping God for you own sake, do nothing for others, not even when a man is dead. I curse you to go to hell not after death, not after you body is dried and petrified or burnt, but on the earth when you live that you will suffer the hell” He disappeared into the woods. The three A’s walked away towards the village on to their journey, to write History and teach it to their students.