The four of us

“Well, I was sent away. Just like the other kids.”, said Ajay to the interviewer, “It was the floods. They became more frequent. My parents lost whatever little savings they had to those floods. I don’t know whether they didn’t have the money to bring me up or they didn’t have the money to come along but, they sent me away.”

“I was about 11 years old. It was the summer of 2051”-

It was pouring down heavily. There were people running in a hurry everywhere on the train station.

“It’s going to be okay, Ajay”, said Shivani , her tears indistinguishable from the drops of rain on her face, “Don’t worry. Your father and I are going to catch the next train and we will meet you in the city.”

Ajay was crying. He didn’t utter a word but was just nodding his head in agreement.

The train started and Ajay went inside the train, still crying. He saw another boy, just about the same age as him, sitting in a corner and crying.

“Why are you crying?”, Ajay asked.

“Why are you crying?”, asked the boy.

“I am being sent away by my parents,” said Ajay.

“Me too,” said the boy, “What’s your name?”

Both of them started to stop crying.

“Ajay. What’s yours?”

“Vikram. Where are you going?”

“I don’t know, but my mom told me that they will be meeting me soon in the city.”

“My dad told me that my uncle will be there to pick me up in the city.”

They talked for some time and fell asleep. They woke up and got down when they reached their station.

Vikram left as soon as they got down in search of his uncle. Ajay sat on the platform, knowing that he probably had to wait a long time for his parents to come.

After quite a while, Vikram returned.

“I cannot find my uncle. I have searched the whole station, all the platforms,” he said.

“Don’t worry. I think they are late. You can wait here with me,” said Ajay.

They both waited for a week on the same station roaming platform to platform, eating whatever they found.

“I don’t think my parents are going to come for me,” said Ajay.

“I don’t think I even have an uncle,” said Vikram.

They both left the station together. There were people everywhere, everyone busy with their lives. Then they went to a street food centre and asked for food. The owner agreed to give food, but in return, Ajay and Vikram had to work there and wait tables. They agreed and started working there. They met two other children who were working there, Saleem and Ramu. They were slightly older than Ajay and Vikram. Saleem knew how to read. Ramu didn’t, just like Ajay and Vikram.

“Where do you live?” Ajay asked Ramu.

“On the streets,” answered Ramu.

“Where are your parents?” asked Vikram.

“We…. we don’t know,” answered Saleem.

One day, the street food vendor, out of nowhere, fired all of them. They later figured out why. Saleem saw in a newspaper and told the others that it was one of the first global famines that year. The food became increasingly expensive and the street food centre was running in losses. 

“If food is becoming expensive, how are we going to get food?” asked Ajay.

“We have to find other work that pays us,” said Ramu.

They all started to work as e-waste segregators in the dumpyards. But, the money they made was hardly enough to have two meals a day. They all collectively bought food and shared it. They all used to sleep beside the same dumpyard where they used to work. 

“I read today that e-waste is worth lots of money,” Saleem said.

“But, where? We cannot even buy food with the money we are making,” said Ajay.

“Not to us, idiot. To them who know a lot more about how this works, where all the things we are separating go to, what they do with them.”

“Then tell us something that is useful to us, idiot,” said Ramu. Ajay and Vikram laughed.

“We have to find other work too. Just separating e-waste is not going to feed us two times a day.”, said Vikram.

And so they started fishing plastic when they were not working as e-waste segregators. They got sick many times from getting in contact with the rivers. But soon, they got used to it.

It was afternoon and all of them were having their meal. Ajay finished his meal and went to look at the news in a nearby store. They showed the village of Ajay and Vikram in it. He couldn’t hear anything as he was watching it in silence from outside without letting the store owner know. Ajay ran to Saleem and brought him saying that they were showing his village on the TV. Vikram and Ramu followed. Ajay asked Saleem to read and tell them what they were showing. It showed that the flood was violent this time and most of the people in the village died, some due to the water, some due to starving.

“They… are saying that there was yet another flood. But, thankfully, the villagers were rescued before the floods and moved to a safer area,” said Saleem.

“Thank god! Hopefully our parents will come to the city now, Vikram,” said Ajay.

“And hopefully, we will find them. Thank you Saleem,” said Vikram. Saleem left and ate his food in tears.

-

“What exactly happened to Ramu that year?”, asked the interviewer.

“A few years passed. It was the monsoon of 2058”-

“It’s official now. This is the driest year we had in centuries,” said Saleem.

“Like those famines we had?” asked Ajay.

“Yes, kind of. This is going to lead to a global famine once again in the coming years. But, for now, we have to move north to get access to water.”

“But, how?”

“Well, it’s not legal, strictly speaking, but hear me out. There used to be rivers that flowed all the time irrespective of season. Now, they are still there, but with much less water. They are controlled by the government. No one can touch them. Some people started rallying to gain access to that fresh water, most of them lost their lives in those protests, while some went underground. They have found secret ways to extract fresh water. So, what do you say?”

“Why would they give us access to fresh water?”

“Why do you think they were protesting in the first place? They want people to get access to fresh water.”

All the others had to agree, else, they would be dying of thirst. And thus, they embarked on a journey northwards. By the time they reached the place, their body already started shutting down because of dehydration. Their reasoning abilities were hardly sane. There was a tunnel inside a dumpyard that was almost invisible. Suffering from a severe headache, they started to go inside one by one. Ramu was at the last in the line. All the others drank their share. Just when it was Ramu’s turn, the police invaded the tunnel and started to hit everyone. They all got arrested.

Everyone was in jail for a week. Ramu died in the jail due to chronic dehydration. 

-

“I’m sorry, Ajay,” said the interviewer.

“It’s okay,” said Ajay.

“What happened to Saleem in the following years?”

“3 years after Ramu passed away, Saleem decided to leave us and join the army as they were recruiting young men. In the Winter of 2061, in the first water war, Saleem lost his life.”

“Oh my god,” said the interviewer, “What happened to you and Vikram?”

“The days just started getting hotter. So, they started making insulation suits that we are wearing today. We joined as workers in those factories. But, soon, they had to send us to different locations for work. So, we parted ways. I saw Vikram for the last time at the same train station where we first stayed for a whole week. We cried and hugged each other before leaving for our locations.”

“And you haven’t met each other since then?”

“No.”

“What do you feel after living through all of those dark times?”

“I feel that just like the universe, human life is nothing but random spots of light amidst darkness, yet we live for just those random spots. Just make sure those spots are bright while they last. I mean I am lucky to have lived past 40, but not all are.”

“Applause for this man here, ladies and gentlemen,” said the interviewer clapping his hands, “You all can go home and check out the movie ‘The four of us’, based on the book with the same title by Ajay, streaming from tomorrow. Thank you for coming.” There was applause in the entire room.

Ajay took his insulation suit, wore it and left the building. 

After a few days, Ajay, through the fans of the film and his book, found out that Vikram died a year ago with a stroke while battling lung cancer. It seemed to have happened because of inhalation of polluted air for an extended period of time.