PART 2 - THE DREAM OF A DISTURBED MAN – with due apologies to the makers of the film 'PK' and to Dostoevsky and his ‘The Dream of a Ridiculous Man’

PART 2 - THE DREAM OF A DISTURBED MAN – with due apologies to Dostoevsky and his ‘The Dream of a Ridiculous Man’

I stared at DY for some time, “You mean you do not have the means of returning back to your planet?” I asked in exasperation, now convinced that I was stuck up with him and wondering how I could shake him off and get away as quickly as possible from the place.

It was as if he had read my mind, he said “Oh don’t worry, I am not that dumb. You see when PK brought the idea of clothing ourselves he had not anticipated that we could, apart from covering our nakedness, hide many other things as well.” So saying he dug into the pockets of his trousers and took out what resembled a mobile phone and said “I hid this when I was put on that vehicle to transport me here.”

“So how is it going to help you” I asked.

He handed it to me so that I could have a closer look. It was black in color and as smooth as a pebble and of a size that would fit smugly in the palm of your hand. Except for a small round display screen which could accommodate just a finger, the rest of the object was opaque.

He said “It is called a Communicator in our planet. One has to just place his finger and think of the person you want to communicate with and you are connected.”

“But how do you talk to him? I cannot see anything that resembles a microphone or a speaker. Something like this” I said pulling out my mobile phone and showed it to him. He took it in his hands, examined it and returned it to me with a condescending smile.

“You guys are way behind by a thousand years. I told you that in our planet we do not have a language. It was only PK who brought it back with him from your planet and in the process set us back by a thousand years. You see I do not need to speak to communicate, I just need to place my finger on this small display screen and think of the person I want to communicate with and I will be connected. He would be able to read my thoughts and vice versa. You must be aware that thought travels faster than the speed of light, very many times in fact.”

“So how is this going to help you get back? You said you have been banished” I asked him, over emphasizing on ‘how’ in my eagerness to be assured that I would not be stuck up with him permanently.

He however caught on and replied “Oh don’t worry I will be going back as soon as I achieve my objective. You see, in a sense I allowed myself to be banished so that I may come over here and study how you earthlings shift allegiances – from one God to another. I am part of a rebel group, in fact their leader, who are dissatisfied with the rise of PK and the resultant confusion he has brought into the lives of the people our planet. You know this communicator is highly personalized and can respond only to the finger prints of the owner. It’s useless in another’s hand. I shall be transmitting whatever I gather to my group members over there.”

As I sat there wondering what his next move would be, he asked “Where can I get some carrots, please? I am feeling hungry.”

“Why carrots, you can have something else if you are hungry.

“You don’t understand, ever since PK brought back those sacks of carrots with him, it has become the staple food on our planet. You can find carrot farms all over the place and people munching carrots everywhere. It has become an addiction. Now the only things that have been growing are carrots and people’s ears. As it is, we as a race have long pointed ears, but now there is the danger of us becoming rabbits.”

“Look here, if you are really that hungry I can get you something to eat from a roadside food stall on the way for that is the only one which will be open at this hour” I said, making it obvious that I did not intend taking him home and feeding him.

But then what I feared happened, he asked me “Can I stay with you for the night, I am new here and you cannot expect me to sleep on the beach, please?”

Now I knew I was truly done for. Being of a tender disposition I could not bring myself to refuse. Luckily my wife was away visiting our daughter and so I with great reluctance said “Ok, but just for this night only.”

“Don’t worry, I will be able to find my bearings tomorrow and will leave.”

It was nearly eleven at night when we reached my place. On the way I had bought him a plate of bread and omlette for that was the only thing available, which he ate with relish. He walked alongside till we reached my house; all the while silent and trudging along in that stiff gait like PK, which I presumed to be a particular trait of all the inhabitants of their planet. Luckily there were not many people around and the few we came across did look back, at I presume what they thought was an odd couple.

As soon as we reached and I had opened the door, I could hear the ringing of the landline phone. It was my wife and from her voice I could guess that she was pretty upset. She literally shouted on the phone “Where the hell have you been and why have you switched of your mobile? I have been trying to get through to you for the last one hour. You got us all worried over here, in fact we were planning to ring up our neighbor and check out what’s happened.”

I realized that when I had handed over my mobile to DY, he had inadvertently switched it off. It took me some time for me to calm my wife and then related to her the happenings of the night.

“What, you brought a nude man back home?” she roared.

“No, no, he came fully dressed, not like PK. You see PK had already taught them to dress up properly. Don’t worry it’s just a matter of one night. He will be gone tomorrow.” I said trying to calm her.

“Well he better be gone. I am returning home tomorrow and I don’t want him over there when I come back. My God! An alien in my house, that’s the last straw.” She banged the phone down.

I turned back and saw DY looking at me with an impish smile “Women” he said “they are the same everywhere”

TO BE CONTINUED