Red v Blue

 A bright office. A brown couch. A man wearing a white coat sitting on a distant chair. A man wearing black lying on the couch.

The session starts. The white man begins.

“So Bharat, batao kya hua?”

The black man, motionless. Staring at the ceiling. A frown forms on his face.

“Qitaab.”

The white man drops his head. Picks it back up. And continues.

“Bharat, you need to get over this.”

Calm and composed, Bharat replies with an aggressive tone.

“How doctor, how can I get over it? I told you… this is the antichrist.”

The doctor opens his notepad. A few words written on the page, jump to his eyes. The pen meets paper. Ink is drawn. He looks at Bharat, who is now sitting staring right at him. He continues.

“Books aren’t the antichrist Bharat, they bring you towards the light. They educate you…”

“Life educates me…” Bharat interrupts. “Books… they just manipulate me.”

“How do know it’s not the other way round?”

Bharat gets up and starts walking around the room. He steps up to a curtain by the side of the window and gently pulls it in front of his eyes, blocking the light. With his gaze firmly fixed beyond the curtains, the diffused light illuminates him.

“Because books survive. They are immortal. Anything worth getting educated about, dies. Sooner or later.”

Just when the doctor is about to speak, he interrupts, “You and I both know. 99% of all knowledge mortals ever gained, they took with them. What were left, were manipulations masquerading as divine truths.”

The doctor gets up in anger. His pen falls to the ground.

“Acha? Toh itni saari kahaaniyan jo chhapi hai, log kyun maante hai inhe…”

“LOG CHUTIYE HAI.” Bharat’s words echo in the empty room, “Kuch bhi maan lenge.”

He walks back to the couch. And lies down again. A pleasant smile wipes across his face.

“Asli qitaab lal syaahi se likhi jaati hai Dr. Qadri. Neele se nahi. Bass, Lal dhul jaata hai. Neela nahi dhulta. Daag hai. Insaaniyat ka. Haivaniyat ka.”

The doctor walks back to his desk. Pulls out a couple of pills. He turns around and walks back to Bharat. Bharat has his eyes fixed on the doctor. As he approaches, Bharat gently extends his palms out. The pills get dropped in them.

“I’m upping you’re dosage by 50mg. Same time again? Next week.”

Bharat gets up. He looks at the curtain, puts the pills in his mouth and says, “Yes Doctor. Same time.”