Pursued Lifetimes

It was 2500 BC in the city of Uruk, in the Mesopotamian civilization when Rami lived with his mother and younger brother Essa.

Their father, who played an integral part in the excavation of the Mohenjo-Daro site, was part of a tragic accident at the construction emplacement and succumbed to his injuries when the boys were infants.

"Essa, Let's go to the forest and get some wood for the fire", Rami exclaimed. "Only if we stop by Munshiji's orchard and pick those berries", chuckled the cherubic young Essa.

These twins have been each other's buddies, confidants, guides and comrades since they were toddlers. They became each other's partners in crime and play and pillars in this endless and long journey, called life.

With their mother being the sole bread winner for the family, survival was hard, though the boys often found solace in each others' companionship. Wild fruit and one hot meal a day was their nourishment and navigating through life's obstacles was their school. They played with all the elements of nature, drank water by dipping their heads in the lake, self-taught themselves the art of negotiating and slept underneath the stars.

The scorching heat was beating hard on their necks and Essa went to the nearby lake to get a drink of water. The water levels had been going down considerably, since the past few months, as their town was facing a severe drought. As the boys chatted and played, while carrying branches and twigs from the nearby forest, they had to fast-track their way home, since the sun was about to go down and it was getting dark.

They were happy to get to their little earthen house, which was surrounded by a baked brick wall. They hugged their Mother and began feeding their little stomachs, which were almost empty from the entire day. They recited the little and monumental stories from the day to their Mother, who listened patiently with a tired, but beaming smile. The silent burden of the possibility of a drought haunted her, as she placed her fears behind the façade of a gentle grin.

As the days flew by, her fears began taking the face of reality. Many Uruk families were heading to other nearby and distant towns and cities, due to their lakes drying up. As Rami, Essa and their Mother began their journey on foot, not knowing what they would endure in the next few days or weeks, the fear of the unknown made them anxious. The boys held each other's hands and commenced their journey, not knowing what's ahead of them, other than a belief that they would be together.

The migration kept getting treacherous, with no sight of water for days and very little to no food. Essa was beginning to feel the repercussions of the lack of nutrition. As his physical body was sinking in the deep and undiscovered realms of the unknown, the only voice his soul screamed loud and clear was that he will definitely meet Rami again. "I will see you again, brother", he cried. "We will see each other very soon" and he closes his eyes to the world.

Helplessly watching Essa fade away and holding his lifeless body, a spine chilling pain ran through Rami and his Mother. For Rami, he had not just lost his twin and second half, but a part of his soul.

With a heavy heart, Rami and his mother had to keep walking, hoping to make it to where they could survive, even though they had lost all hope and motivation to live.

An angry gust of wind approached the caravan and Rami got separated from his Mother. After a few days of battling the heat, Rami's body bid adieu to the worldly realm.

Decades and generations went by and the socio-political structure in the region had changed and so did it's geographical boundaries.

Laughter, music and endless chatter surrounded the halls and courtyards of the mid 16th century palace. It was the Mughal Empire, which had conquered most of the Indian subcontinent. The Emperor's army, led by their military head, Sher Shah displayed the military's honor and grit in a town-wide parade. There were flowers, fruit, gold coins and precious jewels tossed for felicitating the troop, who had just returned after winning an important battle.

Sher Shah, had minor wounds, which were to be inspected by the palace doctor. The doctor, Shiv Shera was requested to look at the soldiers who had arrived, along with their military leader.

It was for the first time that Sher Shah and Shiv Shera stood before each other. Although they had never met each other before, there was a strange and unexplainable acquaintance, which filled the space around them. The two, almost immediately could sense a deep connection which was almost incomprehensible by anyone else in the room.

As the days passed by, even though the physical worldly mind had no memory, the soul has its own independent identity, which fails to recognize time, era or the physical form. Sher Shah would get repetitive nightmares of him loosing sight after a sandstorm. The only name he would keep saying aloud in his dream was "Essa". He would often wonder where he has heard this name, but it never left the existence of his very being.

Tragedy and the infinite connections our souls make, often take us to circumstances least explored or expected. One afternoon, when Sher Shah was resting under a large banyan tree, he saw similar blurry visions once again, though the name "Essa" remained constant.

The irony is when souls are connected, they often navigate a way to find one another, in some form or lifetime. Shiv Shera, who was passing by, became an unexpected witness to Sher Shah's dream and found himself astonished beyond his wildest imagination and could almost feel the Earth underneath his feet shift. At the time, he couldn't make sense of what he was experiencing.

With shock and unbound happiness he screamed "Rami".