June 1 – 15, 2004
By Sathya Saran

A futuristic fable...
"OKAY, children," said the old crone. "Let me tell you a story. This happened in the days when there were no people-transmit machines, and in a place called Earth, men and women went from one place to another in carriages with wheels... and a string of carriages, which were called trains. In an Earth city called Mumbai, people rode many kilometers to work in trains. They were always full, the people who travelled in them were usually hungry after a day's work, or angry because they were tired, and could get no seat...

''THIS is the story of two women. It was evening time, and the train was packed to the gills. In the midst of all this, our heroine decided to eat a 'samosa'. It was a small pleasure, and it would let her forget that she still had to walk to her house 15 minutes from the station before she started cooking for the evening... She ate her samosa, and then, crumpling the plastic wrap, flung it out of the window, where it would join other empty wrappers of samosas, sweets, and such like.

"AT that moment, the villainess spoke up. She had been pretending to sleep, waiting for some unsuspecting victim, and she pounced on our heroine. The poor girl blanched, and drew back. The villainess shook her head... 'Wrong wrong wrong...' she said in a low, rumbling voice. 'What you did was wrong.'

"THE poor girl looked surprised. 'What did I do wrong?' she asked. 'I only threw away rubbish, and that too, not on the platform, on the tracks. Everybody does it,' she added, emboldened by the fact that the compartment of women was listening to her defence.

"THAT does not absolve you,' the villainess intoned. 'You have sinned.' She spread out her long talons and counted on them: 'Sin one: You bought food packed in plastic. Sin two: You threw the wrapper out of the window. Sin three...'

''BUT our heroine had had enough. 'If you are so worried, take a broom and a bucket and clean them out yourself,' she said, and turned to look at her fellow travellers. They rose to her defence. Our heroine gathered strength. 'The whole world thinks nothing of throwing its rubbish on the streets, and you pick on me...' she said.

"THE villainess made one last attempt. 'You look educated,' she said, 'you should be teaching your children not to throw litter, and not to use plastic bags... Instead...'

"THE wrath of the compartment turned on her. 'What is it to you?' one voice countered. 'Have you never thrown litter?' 'You expect me to carry a wrapper all the way home!' another countered. 'You could use a dustbin,' the villainess argued, but the argument was drowned out in a chorus of Stupids, Shut ups, and What a silly fool.

"THE villainess however, was not to be cowed down. She kept her calm, and taking a small bottle from her black bag, opened the cork. A purple haze enveloped the compartment, and the women in it vanished. She could see and hear them no more.

"'WHAT happened next?' A child asked, as the crone fell silent.

"'NOTHING,' said the crone. 'The trains continued, the people continued throwing rubbish and plastic bags, till the very oceans choked and rose and drowned the cities.'

'''AND those who survived, like your grandfathers and grandmothers had to fly to this, another planet.'

''AND with that, she packed her bag, wrapped her cloak around her and vanished.''