IF ONLY FOR A PIECE OF MIND

These times are terrible. It used to be so much more pleasant back then. Open fields, even if not plenty, natural air, even when it was gassed and yes, most importantly: families. Though I have neither seen nor experienced any of these myself but have most earnestly heard it being described by my mother.

I guess it’s too late to realise how much I would love socialising because now, there are just virtual rendezvous. I don’t have to leave my room for even a moment for any single thing. These 3D printers really are a thing. Within crojets (crojets is our new term for the older version minutes), they can furnish you with every single necessity of life and greed alike.

Well, yes, except one.

Our poor only beg of one thing, oxygen, something that people like myself can artificially create. Though we are constantly told that it’s not for long even for us. For other things they have plenty, but what of all of them without the means to live itself. And that is exactly why we worship oxygen, oxygen and nothing else.

I know it’s too much to take in, but trust me, you can’t step outside your room without sun protection gear. It seems like raining coals every time you step out. And we know, even Mars wouldn’t be able to sustain us any longer. But they say, they are trying to find space elsewhere. We figure it will be Jupiter, for the size of it. Because Luna can’t take any more, and with Earth gone, it has to be Jupiter.

I can’t stop contemplating how badly we deserved it for ourselves. We owed it to ourselves. I just can’t explain the rationale behind such idiocrasy that human mind has adopted, however low I stoop. We never stopped improving our sciences and technology (as we like to call it, ironically) to such extents that we forgot there was a yesterday without all of it and people were ‘happy’. An emotion that we rarely have the privilege to experience. Happiness, how much I wish for it.

People do not live together in the time I speak of, because they seldom have the opportunity to interact with each other, being engulfed in work all day long. Moreover, rather than take pleasure in such rare interactions, people find it disturbing and a distraction from their so-called work.

How it feels to have a loved one to take care of you, a family member who is there for you through thick and thin? How it feels to be guided in the right direction, to be motivated when stressed and cheered when low?

I have no idea.

My mother used to tell me of it when I was young and we lived together. But today, I am quite fascinated when I remember her cherishing those moments. I could never relate to her back then but today, it’s like I feel something missing, maybe, that same feeling that she missed so much at that time.

And so, I decided to write this letter to you mom. I wanted to caution you of all that is going to happen 50 years from your age when you are reading this. I want to live my life with you by my side. I want you to try and make people understand the repercussions of what they are doing because believe it or not, it definitely is going to cost us much more than our lives itself. Wars, floods, tsunamis, pandemics, cyclones, famines all of them will happen and most unfortunately, all at once. The planet Earth will take its revenge on us. Millions will perish and still, still we won’t understand and overpopulate another planet, deprive it of its resources as well.

Because as you can see, human greed is immortal.

I believe that for once we should stop striving for perfection, striving for faster, and better tech. And enjoy the simplicity and complexities of life. Talk to a friend at least or even meet them if at all possible. Stop trying to earn more and more money and try to live for once. And then I suppose there is a slight possibility that we can realise how pathetic our condition is and repent in solitude. Maybe, that will be forgiveness for our crimes.

I really hope you will understand the complication of the situation and be the saviour the world needs. Try and reach the concerned authorities, raise support and work towards a better ending for the planet on which human life thrives.

For the good of all humanity.

May peace be with you.

Love

CS

These were the contents of a letter that I received the day before yesterday. I was dated Friday, 13 December 2065, and had a weird stamp on it. I have read the letter at least a hundred times since I received it. Somehow, it sounds serious but at the same time, I find it such a hilarious fantasy. I mean come on, it’s 2015 and as far as I know, our Earth is just fine. Even WWII had happened 7 decades ago.

I showed the letter to my parents and they laughed so hard their faces were red. Also, my friends who thought that it was some sort of a prank on me, refused to trust the source. But, I personally still have a feeling that all of it might be true, a genuine warning for us.

But then about an hour ago while I was pondering upon the letter and the extremities it talks about, I wondered why would someone from 50 years in the future write a letter to me? Then, it all became clear. It was a mere fallacy. So, I threw the letter in a bin outside my house. Let’s face it, I mean it was the most logical thing to do considering my upcoming examinations next week. Furthermore, I don’t have the faintest belief in such extreme a situation befalling us anytime in the future. And really, what are we doing to the Earth that it may take ‘revenge on us’? After throwing the letter off, at least I have some peace of mind.

“But, ask yourself a question, for how long will you take pleasure in that temporary peace of mind, knowing exactly what lies ahead of us?”