Make your wish

The sun was setting. He sat beneath the tree, trying to catch a breath of fresh air, looking at the birds flying back to their nests. It had been a long and tiresome day. The vendor had finally passed on the data but the deadline was too close to meet now. It had to be late night work schedules for everyone in the team now onwards for the next month, else they would be in the firing line. Also, their programmers were not sure how long they would take to fix the bug. He had a lot going on in his head but this project was crucial for his promotion. He had always dreamed of a beautiful house by the lake with a garden in the backyard. And he had put in a lot of effort to realize this.

As he was thinking of this, he suddenly felt dizzy. And something seemed to emerge out of nowhere. It was like bright light, something more than light. Was this an illusion? Either everything had gone silent or he had become deaf. Then, a voice came from the light, “You have three wishes”. “Who are you?”, he shouted, “What do you want?”. There was no response. He continued with his questioning for some more time, but all he could hear was his own voice and nothing else. He was beginning to believe that this was a dream, but then it does not hurt to give it a shot. “Turn this into gold”, he said, picking up a pebble. He knew, nothing would happen, and his face had already broken into a smile at this little victory. Just as he was about to let go the pebble, he found that it was glittering, it had turned into gold. He could not believe it and started off with questions again, only to find none of them answered. “I need a big house, with a garden in the backyard.” His dreams were about to come true. He could not believe his luck. He was standing on the lawn in front of a beautiful bungalow. He desperately hoped this was not a cruel dream. His mind raced. He knew he could make one more wish.

He had always wanted to own the luxury car that his boss drove. He too could make his colleagues jealous now. But wait, why a car when he could own an airplane itself. His heart was pounding. He knew god had chosen him to be the lucky one and he had to make a killing out of this opportunity. But he realized how foolish he was being asking for a car or even an airplane when he could wish to be rich, and then he could buy anything he wanted. He was about to wish that he turn into a millionaire, and it occurred to him why a millionaire when I could a billionaire, better still a zillionaire. He could not believe his fortune. He would lead a life of his dreams now on. He almost made the wish, but he stopped himself at the last moment, just to make sure that was the best he could do.

He wondered if he could trade being a rich for something. Was there something that he wanted, something that money could not buy? The images of his parents flashed before his eyes. Memories came back. He was at boarding school and his parents were coming to visit him. Instead came the news that they were killed in an accident. He wanted to see them one last time. And now he had the power to bring them back to life. As he was about to make this wish, he realized something. He had come to terms with his parents’ death, but what about his friend’s family? His friend was recently killed in the war, survived by his two little children and a wife. He knew the hardships that the family faced. Probably he should ask for the life of this friend.

But something was still nagging him. What about the families of all his countrymen who lost their lives in the war, just like his friend? What about all those who were on the other side in the war. He was getting over whelmed now. He thought further. What about the millions worldwide who were dying because of incurable diseases? What about those who were dying of common diseases because they could not afford medicine? What about those who had no food and were dying of hunger? What about those in wretched poverty living in deplorable conditions, devoid of basic human needs of clean air and water? What about the children for whom a meal a day was more than a feast? And amidst all this, what about those being killed by ghastly acts of terrorists and communal riots? The list went on and on. He stood there dumbstruck by all that is wrong in the world and the list never seemed to end. He felt ashamed. He felt helpless.

He stared at the light. “Give me hope and courage to do whatever little I can”. He turned and walked away, and dropped the golden pebble on the way.