 
## Between The Cradle And The Grave

##

By

Firoz Khan

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without written permission. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

"Between The Cradle And The Grave" Published by Firoz Khan

Survival information: Madhava Rao Reyya

Edited: Jaspreet Punian

Cover design: Rajesh Paleri Thyvaleppil

Copyright © 2013 Firoz Khan
Dedicated to the great shoulders

On which the world is standing

## Part 1

##

## Muhammad

## Chapter 1

"Boy Rescued from a Lonely Island." Under these headlines, I saw my own face, for the first time ever. I glanced down to read the content.

"While carrying out military exercises in the Indian Ocean, a boy was miraculously rescued by a US aircraft carrier. Upon investigation and with the proof that the boy had with him, it was found that he was the lone survivor of an air crash that happened thirteen years ago. 240 people died in this air crash. What is more unbelievable is that the boy is only thirteen years old..."

The door screeched. I looked up from the paper.

"Are you ok?" A man dressed in white pushed open the door and held it for the other man to enter.

"He is a police officer; Mr Joseph," the doctor introduced the policeman, "he has come to investigate and see if you are alright."

As the doctor left the room, the police officer gave a warm smile and extended his hand with a packet. I took it suspiciously and was confused about what to do with it. I turned it upside down. Quickly comprehending my ignorance of the new world, he extended his hand to open the wrapper and gestured to eat it. I chewed it. I had never tasted anything so delicious! I smiled at him, licking my lips.

"It's a chocolate. How's it"? The officer asked.

"Good."

I had no idea about this strange place. From the window, I can see the beautiful sun between the high rise structures. I have been here since yesterday. I know only my room and the strange people with white cloth over their dress – now I know that they are doctors.

On the day that I was brought here I was very frightened to see the vehicles and buildings, which I am now accustomed to. The man who checked my body told the others, "he is alright and all his bodily functions are ok. Normal food. Nothing else. No medications. Send samples for DNA test. Round the clock observation. His story is famous and strange. I too can't believe it". He smiled at me, and patted me on my cheeks and said, "Good boy. Courageous."

All the people here seemed very amiable. The sailors in the ship, who had rescued and brought me here, were also very friendly. Everyone stared at me strangely. I reached the place where, my guardian – Mama - wanted me to reach, with the people and in the original world where life ticks. Seven years ago he died on the sandy beach of the island when I was still a child who could not differentiate what is good and bad. He left this world after striving hard to make my life on the island smooth, until my rescue from there. Also he had planned my escape from the lonely island; in such an ingenious way that I would be able to understand it...

Now, Mama's soul must be resting in peace in the Heavens, as his clever idea to rescue me from the forlorn island finally came to a fruitful end. His plan was a successful one, so that a life – me – was saved. I owe my life to him. Or else, being a child, I would have been dead years ago. The island was isolated and dangerous, where wild animals and snakes dwelled.

If you listen to the story of my life, you could find a way even from the utter hopelessness. However bad the life turns out to be, you will find a purpose to your life and can make it wonderful in the end. That's what my mama learned (and tried to teach me) in his life on the island.

As it is clear, I am different from any other teenage boy as that I was born on an island. My mother died in childbirth as the hardships she had to face due to the air crash proved to be too much for her to bear. Then my guardian, the great soul, the only other human being to reach the island after the air crash, looked after me after till I was six. He died after that. Thereafter I was the only human being on that lonely island. I lived all alone on my own till I turned thirteen and was rescued.

And of course God watched over me.

I recollect my early days in the hut which stood on the sandy land surrounded by trees. In that dense jungle, an extension of the sandy beach, I lived in my hut, surrounded by a plantation – the size of a football field; having coconut, bamboo, yams, orange and banana trees. The sandy land ended on the edge of the pond which was covered by yam plants, at the bottom of the hill. My life was beautiful even in that loneliness. Having lived all alone for so long I felt as if I was no different from all the animals living on the island. Until one day when I learned that there is another world where I have a family.

My father and relatives!

And other human beings!

"How did you come to know about the other world and get the idea about escaping from the island?" asked the officer, scribbling something on his notepad.

I am sure a mere answer for that question would not suffice. So I searched for the waterproof notepad from the bag covered by a black cloth, and passed it to the officer. And then I repeated the sacred poem that I recited thousands of times on the island:-

"I am a human, who can think and speak.

Tutu is an animal, who cannot think and speak.

I can read and write,

Which Lily cannot do.

There is a God

Before whom I prostrate.

He will save me from this lonely island,

To a world where my father lives.

The secret is in the plastic

That shows the way to the new world."
Part 2

Krishna

## Chapter 2

The edges of the yellow colored notepad were worn out. Carefully the inspector turned the first page and read.

'My name is Krishna...

I sat on the seat of the costly aircraft as if I was sitting on a seat of thorns. The beautiful lady in the aisle, attired in an exotic dress, was giving instruction how to put on the life jacket and to escape from the aircraft in case of an emergency. I looked at her curiously. It was not her beauty that made me stare at her, but I was keenly listening to the instructions on how to put on the oxygen mask when required.

The lady was communicating with her hand forming different signs according to the recorded video that was being broadcasted. And I felt as if I was watching the news for the deaf and dumb that came every Sunday, at noon, on Doordarshan- the government channel.

I looked around. Many people, from the adjacent seats, were not listening to the lady as if they all had seen and heard this routine many times over. They were restlessly looking outside or seemed immersed in their own world. I could understand their anticipation to reach their destination as soon as possible. Some of them could be going home, going back to the world of their family: to their own land, India, after many years of living alone in this desert, working for the Arabs. Or it could be some emergency that caused them to leave everything in the desert of Saudi Arabia and return to see their loved ones. Adjacent to me was a burqa clad lady, who smiled at me, when I looked at her. She was fair and her smile was beautiful and it soothed my heart, as I was being smiled at after a very long time. I felt these are the moments that make our life valuable and worth living. A quick glance at her stomach; I understood she was pregnant, so she could be going to her mother's home for the delivery.

"Do you know how to put on this oxygen mask and to inflate the life raft?" I asked her. "I'm sure a two minute lecture won't teach us how to do it."

She smiled again. "Sir, don't think negatively. We don't need to use those things." She was right about the part that we should think positively. But, this 'it will not happen to me' syndrome has taken many lives in history. And it was going to take lives again, pretty soon. Who could have guessed that the aircraft would crash over the Arabian Sea and this lady was wrong in her views? And never had I known that the baby that was still in her womb would be my companion for the rest of my life and would provide me with a purpose for living, that too, on a lonely island.

Soon after, the captain of the flight was announcing the take off and the altitude, which again, did not seem very interesting to the passengers. They were all anxiously waiting for the sight of the Indian landmass, through the silvery clouds. Once the seat belt sign was turned off, the airhostess' and stewards walked around in the aisles offering us refreshments. I ordered coffee and enjoyed it fully, holding in both my hands, just like a Zen master does. That was the last thing I had, which was made as a result of science and technology. Whatever I had for the rest of my life was just raw vegetables and yams, barbecued in the open.

Around an hour passed by and then suddenly and unexpectedly there was a bang. I felt butterflies in my stomach, like I used to have whenever I mounted a giant wheel, in the village festivals. In a few seconds the captain announced the aircraft was out of control and descending rapidly to land on the waters of the Arabian Sea. He tried to calm us! Although he said it in a terribly shaky voice! But do you think anyone could sit calmly in that situation. There was chaos inside the plane. People started crying and shouting. Some people folded their hands together to pray for the last time. Oxygen masks came down and everybody was now fumbling to wear with them. At that moment of anxiety and danger the only thought that was crossing my mind was that the renowned doctors had given me four years to live, due to intestinal cancer, but it seemed that I had only seconds left ahead of me.

Chaos! Everybody was in a hurry to inflate their life jackets. This turned out to be a fatal mistake for their survival. Thanks to one of the programs on air crashes and survival on Discovery channel, I did not inflate my jacket until things settled down. When I looked at the lady I saw that the shocking news had already made her unconscious. So I splashed water on her face and helped her regain consciousness. On gaining awareness she was frantic, and with a lot of effort, I helped her to wear her mask.

Soon, I heard another terrible bang. The aircraft broke into two pieces the moment it hit the water. Cold water gushed inside forcefully. Owing to the oxygen mask I did not have to struggle for air but was seriously hit by the water that gushed in. Slowly the aircraft was fully filled with sea water and was submerging foot by foot. Though it was a frantic situation, I tried not to panic as it would do no good. I waited for the aircraft to settle down.

As we were fully submerged I tried to come out through the broken fuselage. By this time the lady was unconscious again. I pulled her towards me and moved towards the light streaming in through the openings. It was a mighty struggle, but finally I was able to do it. As soon as I was out of the plane, I inflated my lifejacket and that brought me to the surface of the water in an instant. Even in that desperate moment of escaping from the large metallic tube of airframe, I could see people stuck inside, and their struggle to get the next breath.

And that was just a glance among the many frantic actions.

At that moment I felt like the time was stretched.

I could do nothing to save their life.

Their faces facing the inevitable death haunted me for many days after that incident.

The eternal truth. I am aware this moment will come to all of us, one day.

They could not escape at that moment, because the already-inflated life-jackets prevented their escape. They were stuck between the seats and the roof of the plane.

Knowledge serves you well, and ironically, sometimes at the most awkward and precarious moments in life.

On the surface of the water, holding the lady, I gasped for air. I tried to keep her head up so that she could breathe. As I was looking around to get hold of some buoyant material, to my relief, I spotted a life raft swaying in the water, some distance away. So, I firmly took hold of the lady and swam towards the raft before it would drift further away.

As the large aircraft sank deep down, a whirlpool was created and it pulled in the surrounding water and everything else into it. The raft and all other debris that was floating, were pulled in. However, fortunately I was able to get hold of the raft with one hand while the other arm was around the lady. I hung on until the whirlpool lost its force. When the water around us calmed down, I tried to climb on the raft but with my arm around the lady and the lifejacket on, it was not possible.

Luckily I found a cord in the life jacket. I removed the cord from the lady's lifejacket and tied her to the raft. Then I removed my jacket and threw it into the raft, and with all my might I tried to climb on. I failed twice, as whenever I pushed the raft to get myself on it, the raft moved farther away due to its buoyancy. Then I thought of taking advantage of the adversity. I waited until a great wave came from the opposite direction. As we were in the trough of the wave, I pushed myself on the raft. I was successful. Now the difficulty that lay ahead was to get the lady on the raft without letting any harm come to her womb.

For that, first of all I untied her while I kneeling on the floor of the raft. I turned her face upwards, and slipped my forearms under her arms. Then with all my might I pulled her in. She was still unconscious but breathing. I felt relieved as we were in the raft now and survived the crash, at least for the moment.

Then, I looked out, for long, for other survivors but found none. I assumed that all others were dead. Slowly, as the situation became calm around me, like the calmness after the storm; I made up my mind to recover from the fatal accident, and started thinking of survival. I looked up towards the horizon for any a view of an approaching rescue team. Time passed quickly and I lost hope of any rescue team coming. I knew we were in the middle of the sea, far away from land, so it would take hours for such a team to reach us.

Though it was windy, until now the sun rays had kept us warm. The evening sun was diving into the horizon, so I closed the hood of the raft to protect us from the chilling wind. All around me was darkness and the sound of waves hitting the raft. I searched for survival items on the raft. I expected to find at least water. I found a bag fastened to one corner of the raft. Optimistically, I opened the bag and searched for a flashlight. In the darkness my hands scratched many items till I finally found it. I switched it on and it worked. I read 'Survival Kit' written on the bag. I flashed the light on and off a few times through the opening of hood hoping someone would find us. But soon after I gave up hope and decided not to waste the battery any longer. Through the small opening of the hood, I kept looking out for the light of any ship and my ears were alert to the sound of the rotors of a helicopter. But nothing... I could see or hear nothing of the sort.

Hours passed. I eagerly looked out for a distant moving light or the sound of the rescue team. Suddenly I saw flickering lights in the sky in the midst of uncountable stars. Hurriedly and anxiously I switched my flashlight on and off many times over. As the flickering lights moved away without noticing us, I shouted like a mad person.

It could be another passenger aircraft. Even if noticed us, it could not have saved us. But it could have given our location to the rescue team. I was not even sure if they had noticed us.

After many hours of looking out, I started feeling sleepy. The temperature dropped rapidly, so I closed the hood completely and retreated inside the raft. I did not know when I fell asleep.

## Chapter 3

Day 1

I woke up to feel the warmth of the morning sun. I looked around and instantly became aware that I was on the raft and the lady was lying beside me. That brought the conditions of my existence flashing before my eyes. The first thing that I did was to see if she was breathing or not and was relieved to find that she was alive but unconscious. I opened the hood and the saw the sun rising from the horizon. The raft was swaying just like the previous day. I eagerly I looked out and saw a curve of a rocky structures extending to a sandy beach. I pushed the boat but it did not move and I understood that the raft must be aground on some rocks. I looked at the beach and realized that the raft was stuck at the end of the rocky structure which was in the shape of lunar crescent, extending from the beach. It was curved and the convex of the curved structure was washed by heavy waves and while the concave side looked like a lake with calm waters. I saw the fish jumping up and moving swiftly on the surface of the calm water. The sandy beach was at least a hundred meter away from me, so I could not think of swimming with the pregnant lady. I could do it alone, but I did not want to leave the lady in the boat. The only thing left to do was to raise my hands towards the sky and pray. Meanwhile I examined the survival kit and was happy to find chocolates and water. But I did not have any of them, as it was written that they shouldn't be consumed for the first twenty four hours. The lady was still breathing and I did not want her to wake up, as it would only interfere in my endeavor to reach the beach. All the while, I pondered over how to get away from the rocks and reach the beach.

An earnest prayer said from the depth of the heart is always answered. As the sun rose, the water level also rose and the waves gained strength and our raft buoyed up. God's hands lifted the raft from the rocks, in the form of a high tide, and took it away from the rocky structures to the beach.

The water around the beach was crystal clear and I could see the sea creatures on the seabed. I could have enjoyed watching it had I come with my girlfriend here on a holiday. But now the case was different. I was marooned on this island and fighting for survival. I also had the responsibility of saving two more lives, though one was not yet born. I was tremblingly but relieved to see the land approaching. When the depth of the water reduced to knee level, I jumped off and pulled the raft to the beach. It required a huge effort, but I had to do it, else, perhaps I might lose the only possession I had.

Now, as I felt secure on the beach, I thought of waking up the lady. I took some water and sprinkled it on her face. The lady moaned. She opened her eyes but suddenly started crying out in pain.

"Ma'am, do not worry. You are safe and on land. We are not dead," I said to console her. Then I opened a water pouch and gave her some to drink.

As I placed the bottle on her lips, she sipped the water in. She was really exhausted and in great agony. She cried out loudly as if she couldn't hear a word I said. Common sense allowed me to understand that she was having labor pains. Her cries became louder and louder as the time passed and echoed in the distant hills of that island. I was helpless. I could only slide a hand under her head and comfort her. She was biting her lips hard and watching her I had tears in my eyes. But it was not the time to lament or panic and anyway it wouldn't have helped. I took my handkerchief, dipped it in water and placed it in her mouth between her teeth to prevent her from biting her own tongue. Then, holding her hand, I left things to God, my only companion at this time.

Suddenly, I heard a baby's cry and could not hold back my tears any longer. Yes, he was born! I reached out to the baby, and carefully lifted him and showed him to his mother. She saw her baby and held my hand and looked at me like she was telling something. Her eyes, filled with tears, conveyed the message to me. She was asking me to look after him, to save him from the island. The baby, bathed in blood, cried and that attracted danger from the forests of the island. Wild dogs... At some distance, at the end of the clearing, through the line of the trees, on the sand stretch, a group of wild dogs was fast approaching the raft and they looked furiously happy to devour something different that day. The air was filled with wild barking and I could hear my own heart beat.

## Chapter 4

Now, I was in jeopardy and facing a menacing situation. I wanted to save the dying mother and the child from the natural elements, as the wind and sun would kill them. In addition to that now another danger emerged, I had to protect all of us from the wild dogs. Sniffing and barking, the dogs advanced towards us to tear us apart and devour our body parts. There were around ten of them. One was leading the pack while the others were following him. Singly they were not that powerful, but together they were powerful enough to attack bigger kills.

The lady was panting, and I felt she was unable even breathe. The child was crying incessantly as it needed to be covered and wanted food. Although the temperature was normal, it could be chilling for a just-born infant. The lady was not in a condition to get off the raft and run for shelter from the beasts. And I could not pull the raft into the water, as it would take a lot of time and energy. It would have been impossible to escape before the quick dogs reached us. The only way out was to attack. Attack back. Either all of us die on this lonely island or kill all the dogs. Though I was aware that the latter was impossible for a single man, I had no option except one. Fight.

Immediately, with the paddle in my hand, I sprang down from the raft, closed the hood and waited for the dogs to come to me. The growling dogs had nearly reached the boat and a single leap would suffice for their leader to enter into the raft. The paddle was the only tool I could use as a weapon. Do or die. If I died, all three of us would become the food for these wild beasts. If I didn't then all the ten dogs would be dead in front of me.

The leading dog pounced on me, aiming for my throat. With my eyes closed and the oar in my hand, I swung it with all my might, like I would swing a bat to hit a six off a short pitched ball in a cricket match at school. A wild cry echoed through the hills. I opened my eyes to see the dog lying a little distance away from my feet, with a pitiful look in its eyes. All the other dogs were shocked and stood like statues for a second. The very next moment, frightened by the wild cry of their leader they all ran back to depth of the island.

I sighed. Then carefully and cautiously, I examined the dog. It was hurt and was unable to move. It was lying there and crying pitifully. The edge of the oar had sliced into the skin of the front leg and the powerful blow might have broken or cracked the bone. The wound was bleeding and as the dog tried to get up, it fell again. Although, I felt pity for the dog for a moment, I was delighted to be saved. And anyway, I tried to convince myself, it was my duty to kill it before it killed us. As for now, we were saved. I was relieved.

Now my mind was occupied with the problem inside the raft. I had taken a round of the raft and had looked out for any other dangerous animals from the beach. Then, being satisfied that there was no danger, I went back to the raft and closed the hood as the sea breeze was adversely affecting the baby. Inside the raft, tragedy awaited me. The lady was lying dead with the baby in her arms. The baby placed such that I figured that she must have wanted to kiss her baby before leaving this mortal world. Later I realized that she must have succumbed to bleeding. I sat down beside her, in the raft and cried and cried for her. I did not even know who she was. I cried as much for her death as I did for my own helplessness.

Now I was in real trouble. I was alone on a beach with a dead body and an infant. I had already had an encounter with the wild animals. I did not know how many of such cases I would have to face in the future. Looking at the body and carrying the crying child I felt devastated. I felt no happiness in escaping the terrible crash. I was anxious of the looming danger, the responsibility of the dead body and saving a new-born child and myself.

I didn't know the correct time since my watch had stopped working. I removed it and threw it onto the boat along with the other things for which I had yet to find some meaningful use. It was almost mid-day. Now I had three things to do. Bury the lady's body, find or make a good weapon, food and shelter for me and the child and protection from wild animals. However, I wanted to try my luck in finding any other human beings who inhabited the island.

I searched for tools which could be of use to me and found a Swiss army knife, and a commando saw – a wire with two rings on each side to hold it with, which could cut wood by pulling alternatively with both hands. I took them from the box and moved up the beach in search of an appropriate place to bury the lady. I didn't go too far so that I could reach the boat quickly, should the need arise. Then I dug out sand to make a grave of sufficient depth. It took me the rest of the afternoon and finally when I was satisfied with the depth, I came back to the boat and dragged the body to the grave. On reaching the grave, I looked for anything useful. I decided to take her burqa, which she wore over the salwar and kamiz, as I felt every bit of cloth would help me in surviving on this uninhabited island.

Then, before placing the body into the pit, I stood in front of the grave and prayed to God. I knew that Muslims prayed before burying the body, as I had worked for many years in a Muslim country. Being amongst many Muslim friends I had learnt a little bit about the Mohammedan culture. So I prayed, "Allah, please forgive this soul and may she rest in peace." Then I pulled the body with great difficultly and placed it in the pit. I placed big banana leaves which were abundantly available there and threw mud all over, to raise a heap about a foot high. I then placed two stones to mark the place.

The sun was red and the intensity of the rays was declining, as the sun had only a little way to go before submerging into the open sea. My problems now reduced to three. A good weapon for safety, food, as we had not have eaten anything that day, and shelter.

Now, I focused my attention to the infant. I cleaned it with the cloth I had. It was a boy. The infant was sleeping and I knew that if I did not feed him soon, I would have to dig another grave. No, I would not allow that to happen. I was determined. I took the child in my arms and carefully wrapped him in the burqa and then dragged the boat up to the heap of sand where I had buried the lady.

I had torn the burqa into two pieces and made two bags, one for the baby and one to carry things. As the child was now sleeping, I needed to find food, shelter and make a weapon before he woke up. I was in a hurry as the sun was unkindly hurrying to dip into the sea. From the sandy beach I entered the wild forest, holding the child in one arm and the paddle in the other, cautiously and looking around. Every few steps I stopped and scanned the surrounding for any wild animals and then for any fruits or eatables, and a place for shelter. I found some banana trees with bananas hanging from the top. The bananas were not yet ripe. The wild growls in the distance aroused fear in my heart. So, I decided to stop going further in search of food, but at that exact moment, a little away from me, I found a yellow fruit hanging from the branches of a small thorny tree. The fruit looked almost like an orange. I went and plucked one of the fruits, peeled off the skin and put only half a piece, to check whether it was edible or not. I waited for five minutes knowing it would take some time to mix up with my system after digesting and then to reach the brain. Almost ten minutes passed and nothing happened, so I left the decision to my experience and gut feeling and assumed that it was an edible fruit like an orange. I plucked the fruits that were in my reach. As the tree was full of thorny branches, it discouraged me from climbing it.

After plucking the fruit on the lower branches, as I was looking up, suddenly an idea struck me. With the help of the paddle and the Swiss army knife, which I was carrying, I carefully broke one of the long and strong branches to make a stick of around four feet in length. Then I cautiously removed the thorns at one end (about a forearm's length). Then I covered the part without the thorns with dry banana leaves and tied it with a cord made of those same leaves. My weapon was ready - a strong stick, full of thorns. I was sure that one powerful swing could batter the flesh of any animal. That would at least help me in escaping, or delay my death from the clasping of those wild animals.

As the sun had set, the light was fast disappearing. It was especially difficult for the light to penetrate the canopy of the tropical forest. It had been more than half an hour since I had had the fruit, and nothing had happened to me. I ate one full fruit and it was very refreshing. Now I had food and a weapon, I only needed a proper place to take shelter for the night, especially from the wild animals. I was already dreaded the howling wild dogs. They could come back to attack me in the night. I walked fast. But where should I walk to and what to look for? It was almost dark and I could not see properly. I had an intense fear of the dogs and wanted to get out of their area as soon as possible. I was sure that darkness was not a problem for them. It is only an obstacle for human beings. I had watched on Animal Planet that almost all the animals hunt their prey at night. I did not waste time and found a suitable banyan tree to pass the night. Its large trunk had enough space for a man to sleep. Then quickly I made a big rope out of the dry banana trunk peels. Then keeping the fruits and my weapon in the burqa bag, I climbed up the tree with the baby and the rope. After finding a suitable branch, I settled down and pulled the burqa to the top. I made a swing out of bag and carefully tied it on the branch above me, then cautiously slipped in the child. A cradle on the island. By this time the child had started crying. I understood that since he had not had anything since birth, he must be hungry. I peeled a fruit, removed its seeds and put it in a coconut shell, which I had collected while searching for the shelter. I crushed the fruit with my hands and then, took the hand kerchief that I had in my pocket and rolled one corner like a nipple. I then immersed it in the juice and placed it on the lips of the baby. I did not know whether the juice would help to quench the thirst, ease the hunger or help the baby to grow. I did only what I could do at that point of time. And now I feel that what I did was right. The baby sucked it and drank the juice, as it was inherent to do so and again fell asleep. I ate three more fruits and looked into the darkness and waited for the sun to rise. In the middle of the night the child was crying again. I crushed some fruit and put the juice-dipped handkerchief into his mouth. Luckily the flashlight in the survival kit helped me to do all these things and the half moon helped me in looking out towards the hills. In the early hours of the night I saw the dogs walking around in the forest, incessantly howling for their revenge and food. I was careful not to sleep as it would be deadly if I did. I had never endured such a long night in my life. Fighting with animals, nature and my own body's requirements such as sleep, hunger and fatigue, it was a really long night.

The gray light from the distance penetrated the canopy of the dense forest and it seemed the dogs had disappeared, grudgingly, as if they would return the next night to gobble me and the child. In a while the rays of the sun penetrated through the dangling leaves and I felt relieved to see the sun again. It was the most awaited morning of my life. I saw the form of the child in the burqa-made swing and was relieved to see the slow rise and fall of his chest. He was alive and nothing happened, as I had dreaded! I prayed to God and thanked him, for giving me such a beautiful morning and for saving me from amongst the hundreds of passengers in the air-craft. I felt very strange. I was undergoing treatment, and I knew that the maximum time that I had been given to me by the best doctors was another three years. However, now I was the only one who survived the crash, apart from the child who was born on the island. Strange! In the game of God, we are only players.

## Chapter 5

If you look at my life, you would consider me a failure. I was born in a poor family and studied in a government school. My father was a rubber tapper and my mother was a housewife. Even as a child I was infamous in my locality. My parents were fed up with my troublesome behavior and decided to send me to a boarding school. I fared poorly in even in school but somehow managed to clear my higher secondary level with border-line grades. Even the teachers hate me for my behavior and many a times I was given ultimatums to be expelled from the school. I was a really bad child. People hated me for everything... except my football skills. I was one of the most skilled players in my district, and wherever there was a match people hired me to play for their team. This was the only thing that helped me to stay in school, as I brought home the cup for them.

Soon after school finished, I was hired by different clubs and my life became beautiful with ample money and fame. Girls wanted me to be their boyfriend and boys were proud to introduce me as their friend.

Meanwhile my father was diagnosed with intestinal cancer. But I was not very worried about him as I hated him for scolding me all the time. One day when I was in a bar for a party thrown by the club for our victory, in which I had played a crucial role, my mother called me up and told me that my father was critically ill. To me, my party was more important and I continued with it. But the next morning I heard the news that my father had died. I was not moved by it as I was expecting it anyway, and I wasn't very attached to him. But I suffered another blow when within two weeks my mother had a heart attack and she too died, as she could not bear to live without my father.

Life did not change much even after these incidents. I kept playing football and indulged in drinking and smoking in the evenings. I also happen to have a beautiful girlfriend, who had many boys after her. I was proud and loved her to the core of my heart.

Time passed and my halcyon days started vanishing. Owing to my ill habits, my stamina to play football dwindled, my kicks did not have the same power to shoot and the balls did not bend as I expected. I started losing contracts and finally in a few months I lost all my glory. I did not worry about losing fame and money, but was concerned about losing my girlfriend. She insisted that I settle down with a permanent job. Finally, for her sake, I started training to be an air conditioner mechanic, so that I could get a job in the Arabian countries.

As expected I got a job in Saudi Arabia, with a good pay package. I left India to work in the desert country. I sent money to my girlfriend regularly for her needs and to keep her mine. I thought of marrying her during my next leave and to bring her to Saudi Arabia. But destiny had planned differently. One day I felt a severe pain in my stomach and it continued for many days. On consulting good hospitals I was told that I was suffering from the same cancer that my father had. Intestinal cancer. The only difference was that I had got it so early in life. The doctors said it needed to be treated immediately. There was a very slight chance of getting well and without treatment I would not live for very long.

Man is mortal.

We live as such we will live forever.

What a great mistake!

Sitting in an aisle in the hospital, I cried, for the first time in my life I felt all my glory and pride was taken away by the rain, which was pouring outside. Suddenly I became dependent and felt insignificant in the world. Regaining my strength, I informed my girlfriend, the only relation I had then, and also told her that I did not have enough money, so I had to depend on the government hospitals. For that I decided to return to India.

After a few days of preparation I was ready to return to India. Suddenly, I found that my girlfriend's mobile was switched off. When I contacted my friends, I got to know that she was engaged to a friend of mine, who was still a hero, playing football! That shattered my life and for the first time in my life I felt helpless and lonely. I understood, she had only loved my fame and money, not me.

I cried again.

Not for losing her.

But for losing my parents.

However, I decided to fight the cancer and return as scheduled. I boarded the aircraft and as destiny would have it, she never had to face me again. She must have been relieved.

## Chapter 6

Day 2

Though, I was happy to see the morning rays, my happiness magnified when the child started crying. He must have been hungry and in need of his mother's milk. I knew that though the fruit juice miraculously worked with the child, it only had some vitamins and fructose, which gave instant energy. But the child needed more protein to develop and gain weight. I needed protein to feed him. "Protein. Protein. Protein." I repeated as if I was reciting some Sanskrit mantra. I removed the swing carefully, took the child in my arms, climbed down the tree and started walking in the jungle in search of protein-rich food, which the child would be able to digest

With the child in one arm and my weapon in the other I glided through the jungle. I followed a strategy of walking some steps, stopping and scanning the area and again going further. In the middle of the forest, I found trees with the same fruit that I had had earlier, in abundance. I collected some fruit and kept them in my bag. I avoided collecting too many as I thought it would be a bad idea to carry the weight of the fruit all along the jungle. I kept a few for emergency. I also came across some banana trees which were somewhat ripe, but didn't collect them either as it would require a lot of energy to carry the bunch of bananas. I decided to come back once I found a place of shelter. I did not forget to make big arrow markings pointing to the tree where I had spent the night. The tree was not that great a shelter, but as a human being stranded on a lonely island, I found it was better than having found none other yet.

I could not reckon how much time had passed, but the sun was right above my head. The child did not disturb me much and only cried twice for the food. He slept peacefully after having the fruit juice. I had reached a clearing, which was a depression in the valley. At the bottom of the valley was, to my surprise, a beautiful pond with crystal clear water. I saw a clearing to the pond, as if it was a frequented path. I guessed it must be the usual path of animals, or humans, if they inhabited the place, to drink the water. I too was thirsty and had a strong urge to drink water from the pond, but I had not yet seen any animal drinking from it, so doubt loomed whether it was potable or not. I was also worried about creatures in or near the water, like crocodiles, ready to ambush the animals that came to drink water. I had not encountered any wild animals till now. I was wondering where the howling and barking of the wild dogs was coming from. They could be in a cave. Then the idea of searching for an abandoned cave struck me. A cave was the best option to take shelter until I made one on my own. As I was thinking, standing on the bank of the pond, I saw an animal like a goat, grazing on the hillside. There and then I knew where to find protein for the child, goat milk. I was happy and at the same time worried about how to catch a wild goat, which had long horns, was very agile and quickly hid between bushes and trees? Moreover, my requirement was to find a living one without harming and its health. Any trouble to its body would only bring diseased milk which would not be good for the child.

Glancing on the summit of the hill, I wondered, what could be on the other side of the hill. Where am I stuck? Is it an island or the end of a main land? Would there be inhabitants on the other side of the hill or is it a wild forest like this side? What kinds of animals are living on this island, and what are the foods available for me to survive? There were many questions ran in my mind, but as for now, I had focused my thoughts to one thing. Making a trap to catch the goat filled my mind. I climbed a tall tree with many branches near the pond. I rested to on a large branch and was lost in thoughts of making a trap. I was already exhausted and I did not know when I fell asleep, and suddenly woke up by the hustling sound underneath me. I realized that I was lucky not to fall off the tree. The branch was sufficiently large to accommodate a human being of my size. I found a herd of goats hustling on the edge of the pond and drinking water from the pond. I was excited to see that scene as it served me three purposes, the water was potable, no possible threat from within the pond and the number of goats was sufficiently large to easily catch one.

Finally, I figured out how to make a trap. Considering my situation, making a trap was like building your own home all alone in the normal world. It is such a difficult task. Anyways, I decided to dig a hole on the path to the pond and cover it with leaves so that a goat would step on it unknowingly and fall into the pit and get trapped. For that, first of all I needed tools to dig the pit. It would not be as easy as digging the grave on the beach. That was a sandy area whereas this hillside would be full of rocks and hard mud. Tough as it would be, I had to make it. It was urgent and important. Every hour that passed by meant that the child was nearing his death. Without thinking much I returned to the raft with the help of the signs and geographical landmarks like trees and pits that I had noted while coming to this place to bring sufficient tools for digging the pit.

As I reached the beach, I found many remnants from the aircraft were strewn all over the beach. I looked all over the beach for any people, dead bodies and for the useful items. I found some plastic covers, and many cans of petroleum, lubricants and hydraulic oils. I gathered as much I could, especially the oil cans which I knew were a precious commodity on this isolated island.

I collected all the items, that my mind sensed as useful, and stored the small items in the raft and the bigger items like oil cans outside the raft. As I was doing my work, I could see the wild dog that had attacked me pathetically moaning. It had not moved from that place as it could not manage to do so. One of its legs was broken or seriously damaged and thus it suffering from excruciating pain. There were flies and ants on the dried blood. Only a day ago it was my enemy, now my tender heart pitied it. After stacking the commodities, I went near it. It had moved slightly from the place it lay yesterday, not by itself, but probably by the force of the high tide. Although it was helpless, still I feared it would attack me. I knew it was hungry, wild and untamed.

I decided to help it since I could not see a wounded animal dying like this in front of me. Moreover I was the cause of its misery, although I did it only for my protection, so maybe it was excusable in front of God (I became more God-conscious after I had been attacked by the deadly disease and knew I had very little to live. I was lucky now that I knew my approximate date of death). I spun more ropes for my use and made a noose which I tightened around the dog's mouth. Initially it tried to make a noise but subsided as the noose was tightened. It could only move its head. Then I made another noose, carefully knotted it so that it would not tighten and strangle the dog, while I would pull it up. Then I brought a branch of a coconut tree and pulled the dog up. The dog must have weighed around fifty kilo. With all my might I pulled up the dog and put him on the coconut branch. Then I pulled the branch to the tree where the raft was fastened. It was very tiring. It took me around an hour to accomplish this task, as the dog was moving away from the centre of the leaf. I had to repeatedly reposition.

All the while, I was tensed that time was running out to make a trap for the goat. It was very essential to trap a goat. I was also aware that now I was adding another responsibility by saving the dog. Anyway, I could not ignore a dying creature. I prayed to God to give me strength to live up to his wishes, and then decided to nurse the dog. I abandoned the plan of going to the valley to dig the pit. If I went there, it would get late and dark by the time I came back and I would have to cross the dangerous jungle in the dark. I decided to spend the night on the beach. I would nurse the dog and feed the infant with fruit juice for another day.

With the commando saw that I got from the raft, I cut a bamboo and made two slim pieces. I tied the dog tightly, just in case it attacked me while I nursed his wounds. The dog did not move, due to fatigue, hunger and internal bleeding. First I tied the rope that was around his neck to a tree then I made another noose and carefully inserted his rear legs into it. Pulling them backwards I tied the rope to another tree nearby. I fastened the unhurt front leg to another tree opposite to the rear one. Now as a precautionary measure, I hit him slightly on his injury, with a stick. The dog tried to move and but failed and only grunted. Now cautiously, I sat near him and looked him in the eyes. I tried to send across the signal that, "I am here to help you, to nurse you. I am not your enemy, so please co-operate with me." It seemed to understand. Then, I held the lower part of the leg in my hand and straightened the upper part. I kept the bamboo sticks on both sides of the leg and tied it with the ropes that I had kept ready. All done in under one minute, I guess. The dog grunted in excruciating pain. Then, I broke two coconuts, collected the water, and mixed a Paracetamol tablet which I had found in the medicine box. I removed the noose around the mouth and poured the water with the help of a tender banana leaf. The dog drank it thirstily. I removed the ropes around the legs and left the one around the neck.

Now the dog was another liability on my shoulders. The child and I would live on fruit for some days, but I knew the dog would not. It would need meat for its survival, and that put before me the requirement to hunt.

What shall I feed the dog with? I mulled over. I searched for something edible in the box and found some chocolates. I took two pieces and put them in front of the dog. It ate it voraciously, and I could feel the grateful eyes. It must have never expected such kindness from the man who attacked him. Then I could see his eyes getting drowsing, due to the effect of the medicine. It was asleep soon. All this while the infant was sleeping in the cloth-swing which hung on a lower branch of a tree near us and he did not disturb me.

At that time I was struck with an idea. I searched for the gum, which I recollected from the list of contents of the box. It was heavy glue kept there for repairing the raft in case of any holes. There were rubber pieces for repairing the same. I took three rubber pieces applied the gum and kept them under a tree, just at the mouth of a pit and I kept one on the branch of a tree.

The sun was going down and it was getting dark. Looking after the dog had taken up the whole afternoon. By this time I was feeling drowsy and tired. Tonight I would not be able keep myself awake like the previous one, so I decided to make a sleeping-swing for myself also. I managed to make the two strong ropes from the same banana tree, almost ten feet long. I also made scores of small ropes of around five feet. I kept the longer ropes parallel, on the ground, four feet apart from each other and then tied the small ropes between them. The swing was ready, and the only thing left was to find proper branches to hang it from. That I could find easily in such a dense forest. I did it without wasting much time, as the wild dogs would approach me soon, I knew. I fed the child with the juice and ate three fruits and two chocolates. I kept the flashlight near me as it was the most important tool in that darkness of the wild. I prayed to God, as it was a crucial night, and I had decided to sleep and would be unconscious for at least four to five hours. I was also a deep sleeper. Small disturbances could not wake me up. I hung the child on a branch above me. Then I placed a large banana leaf on the rope swing, made it comfortable and lay on it to sleep. The tree was adjacent to the grave we had made. I don't believe in ghosts, but if anything like that existed then I liked to believe that the ghost of the lady would save us from other dangers. Though I was tensed, I did not miss out on watching the twinkling stars through the canopy of the tree. Every bit of beauty of the nature gave me a sense of God, and the true meaning of life. Alone on that island, I found the meaning of life. Enjoy the little beautiful things in our life, as the whole life is made of such moments.

It was the middle of the night. Suddenly I was woken up by chilly air blowing on my face. "Wake up, Krishna, wake up." It was unbelievable but true, when I think of it now... A lady's voice woke me up. I was really frightened. I heard a hissing sound and a pungent smell and that froze me for a second. Immediately, I slipped my hand, into my pockets and took the out the flashlight and switched it on. I searched for the boy first. "Ooh, gosh!"The sight was frightening and immediately and involuntarily I took out my weapon and hit hard. The stick thrashed the head of a python, almost double of my length. Its head was crushed and pasted to the branch and blood dripped from its trunk. A ten-second delay would be sufficient for that creature to gobble up the baby and then me. It was really terrifying. I quickly grabbed the child and took position on a branch away from the snake.

On fully getting back to my senses, I wondered, and still wonder, who was it that woke me from my deep slumber at the most opportune time? I had no answer.

I focused my dwindling light on the head of the snake. It was coiled on the branch and the blood was still dripping. The body hung loosely from the branch and I hoped it was dead. Underneath the tree the wild dogs were howling and they were waiting for the snake to fall off. They were jumping to get hold the hanging tail. Again, a wonderful thought struck me. I carefully hung the child on to the branch above me and moved to the next branch where the snake was hanging. I pulled the tail up, it was hard work, but I strived to do it, and then kept the snake wound on the branch. The dogs continuously howled, and they retreated after sometime. I could not sleep for the rest of that night too. I again dripped some juice into the mouth of the baby and waited for the sun to rise. I flashed the light intermittently on the snake and the surrounding area. I still harbored the fear of the snake regaining its life and taking its revenge on us. The sky was overcast and I prayed to God to not let it shower, as it would seriously affect the health of the child.

## Chapter 7

Day 3

As the sun appeared on the horizon, I recovered from the horror of the darkness and felt light. I left the child in the swing hung on the branch. I went to the dead snake, then struggled to unwind it from the tree and pushed it down. It fell with a heavy thud. It was a ferocious snake of a good size. Its head was squashed with that one blow. Fortunately the thorny club hit exactly on the head. The thorns pierced its skull and the innards were all expelled out. That was what made the snake die in an instant. No other damage and no other injury. Brain dead! Had it be on any other part of its large body, it could have retaliated with its mighty strength. God! I could not imagine fighting against such a creature, in the darkness, while the dogs were waiting for either one of us to fall down and devour us.

Fleas and ants were feasting on its body. I took the knife and cut off its head and decided to peel off the skin. I am vegetarian, and I had never even gone near any chicken shop. But necessity is the mother of invention, and deeds. I cut some banana leaves and spread them on the ground. Then I straightened the python on it, and using the sharp Swiss army knife, made a straight line across its long belly. Just looking at it was very frightening, so you can imagine how I must have actually worked on it. Horrific... but, I did it. I peeled the skin and washed it in the sea water and hung on a branch to dry. I did not know why I had decided to keep the skin, as I did not see any use for the same. But anyway I kept it for future use. Then I removed its intestines and other organs and cut the flesh into pieces. I covered my mouth with a cloth as its smell was disgusting and many a times I had to the urge to throw up. Urging myself to be strong I neatly cut the pieces and put a piece to the injured dog. He ate it voraciously and for the first time I saw its tail wagging. I broke a coconut again and mixed the water with the medicine and gave it to the dog. He drank it and slept peacefully. I cut the flesh of the snake into pieces of almost a kilo, washed them in the sea water and tied them by a rope and hung them on the tree. This was the only way to preserve the meat that I could think of.

It did not take me much time. I washed myself in the sea water, then ate three oranges and few pieces of chocolates, drank one tender coconut and prepared myself for my mission. Trap for the goat. I had to carry the weapon, the knife and bamboo sticks. So I decided to make a belt out of the same dried banana tree. I made a rope with many nooses around it. I tied it around my waist and put the knife and weapon in the nooses. I carried the child in my left arm. I threw the bag in which I carried the fruits, coconut shell and chocolates around my shoulder. I carried the bamboo sticks in my right hand. Although these were many items, none was heavy. By now I had gained a little bit of experience with the jungle and knew the path that led to the pond.

It did not take much time to reach the clearing. I scanned the area for any dangers, and climbed up on the tree on which I had climbed the previous day. I gave juice to the baby, and placed him in the swing and hung it on a branch. I found a suitable place for the trap on the path of the goats to the pond, and then started digging. The mud was dry, initially, but as I dug down a foot, it became wet due to the water in the adjacent pond. With the little knife and a fatigued body it was difficult for me to dig that pit. But I had no choice. No option. I had to do it.

Half way, as I heard the child crying, I went to feed him again and had some more fruits, chocolates and coconut water. I returned and started digging again. I wanted to complete it by noon but I could not do it. It would have taken me at least another four hours to finish. The sun was at around at a forty five degree angle, from my point, to the west. So I guessed it would take another two to three hours for the sun to set. Wild creatures normally come to drink water in the evening. So I quickly covered the pit with bamboo sticks that I had brought, and camouflaged it with grass. Then I removed all my tools and belongings from there, quickly scanned the area and climbed on the tree to wait for the goats to come to drink water. I waited and waited, but to my disappointment, nothing came. Anxiety grew, as the red disc of the sun would disappear into the depth of sea in a few moments. Disappointed, I quickly got down from the tree with the child and the tools and briskly walked to my shelter-tree.

The dog seemed to be recovering, and as I went near it, it wagged its tail, and made pitiful sounds as if it accepted me as its master. I gave it coconut water without medicine this time.

The third day was almost over, and I still could not find a cave to take shelter. My search to find substitute food for the baby was also futile. Having no alternative, that night also I spent on the swing hitched on the tree. I positioned myself on the tree and tried not sleep. But I did not know when I fell asleep, and the chirping of the birds woke me up in the morning.

## Chapter 8

Day 4

I decided to do two things that day; to go to the trap to find a goat, and to find a shelter to sleep at night. By God's grace it was not raining these last three days, but I could not take it for granted. I had to prepare myself with a better shelter. I climbed down the tree, and prepared to move to the pond.

Before going to the trap I had to make two things. These would be important in catching the goat; a long and very strong rope and a ladder. I made the ladder by cutting two bamboo sticks, then kept them parallel and tied them together with small bamboo pieces. I had enough rope as I had made it by spinning the bark of the banana tree. Then, after feeding the dog with a piece of flesh, I collected my tools, and only one coconut as there was plenty of fresh water available in the pond. I ate few pieces of chocolates and put some in my bag. I tied the belt and hung the tools around it, and being all set, I moved to the trap. I was anxious to see the result. On the way, I plucked some more fruits for the day.

As I reached the pit, I was happy to see the broken covering and shuffled surroundings, which meant that some animal had been trapped. I ran to it and lo, I found a dog in it, but it was of no use to me. I sat there dejectedly. The dog was looking at me and barking incessantly. Then I decided to activate the trap again. I decided to release the dog from the pit. I placed the ladder in the hole, and with a long stick I pushed the dog from the back. The dog, with the help of the ladder, sprang up and ran away... Then I removed the ladder and camouflaged it with grass again.

I still had sufficient time to find a suitable shelter and decided to move around the island. I made markings and numbers on the trees as I moved along. I made arrows in the direction of the place where the raft was kept. I found that place safe now, as I had my tools and other things kept there. I utilized numbers because the same kind of trees could be confusing and there were chances that I could be moving around in circles and would reach nowhere. So put ascending numbers for the same kind of trees starting from the tree nearest to the raft. As I was walking around, I found a grove of almond trees. Behind them was a cave. I was happy to see it but also dreaded going inside. I saw the footprints of a wild animal, around it. I waited for some time. Then mustering my courage I went near it and with the flashlight I had in my pocket I saw the wild dogs sleeping, grunting, and some moved as if they were disturbed. I stepped back and ran from the place, as I couldn't fight with them then. As I was running from there, I stopped to pick some almonds and put them in my bag.

The child was weakening and something had to be found to feed him immediately. Now, it was too late to go and check the trap for the goat. The chances were slim and I did not know how many days it would take to get a milking goat. But the probability was still open and I strongly believed that one day I would get the milking goat. The only problem was that the child had to be alive till then. Until then I had to find some other way of getting milk or any other liquid that the child could live on.

Sitting under the banyan tree, I pondered over it the whole evening, cracking almonds and eating them. Then suddenly, something flashed in my mind. I quickly gathered some almonds in a piece of cloth and hung them over a lower branch of the tree. I took two smooth pebbles from the beach, and holding them in my hands, I hit the almonds hard. The almonds crushed and the milky substance dripped to the ground, where I had kept a coconut shell to collect the milk. I was exhilarated to find the milk from the isolated island. With the help of the kerchief I fed the baby, and he drank it thirstily. I checked for any signs of indigestion but noticed nothing the whole evening. As usual I ate a banana, coconut water and the last piece of chocolate. As we both had enough for us, I looked at the dog which was still lying in the same place. I removed a pieced of dried flesh and threw it in front of the dog.

Darkness fell and I perched on the trees and waited for the morning to come.

## Chapter 9

Day 5

By now I had fallen into a daily routine, and I walked to the clearing to look for a goat. I decided that I had to have a goat by my shelter by noon and in the afternoon I would go and collect more almonds for the baby and myself. Since, I knew almonds contained protein, required for muscular growth.

I set off to the pond first. After reaching the clearing, I located the grass that camouflaged the pit. The cover was shattered, and I was so anxious to see what was inside that I ran. This time I was happier to see a goat, but to my disappointment the trapped goat was male. That would be of no use. The goat looked like it weighed at least fifty to sixty kilograms. It was muscular and common sense told me that the rope would not hold the weight of the goat. So, even if a female goat had been in there, transporting her to where I lived would be a problem for me. Thinking about that, I placed the ladder in the pit and nudged the goat to come out. It came out with the support of the ladder exactly like the dog, and ran away into the hillside.

I returned to my shelter dejectedly. For the first time after coming to this island, I felt very low. I felt the chances of my survival were good, but saving the life of the child would be difficult. Disheartened, on reaching the raft, I extracted the milk from the almonds, and with the help of a clean cloth I fed the baby. It was afternoon and I thought of resting for a while before going out to collect almonds. I sat under the tree near the grave, holding the baby in my lap. Then the baby messed my pants. The stool was greenish and the baby was incessantly crying. I could feel the baby was in great discomfort, and I started losing hope. My discovery of almond milk was not working with the child. I could see that the baby had lost weight and if he did not get milk soon, I would lose him. I knelt down in the sand, holding the baby in my arms and cried. Tears ran down my cheeks profusely and wet the cloth in which the baby was wrapped. I prayed to God to show me a way to save the child. I had not even prayed to God like this, to save me, when I first came to know about my disease. It was intense and my heart ached when the air was filled with the baby's cries. Moreover, he was the only hope for me to live on the island; else soon, I would also perish.

That afternoon I did not ventured out to collect almonds, as it is it did not serve the purpose. My enthusiasm was draining out. I lost my strength. As dusk neared, I threw a piece of snake flesh to the dog and climbed up the tree and tried to sleep. But I could not, as the child was crying incessantly. It tore my heart. Tears continuously fell from my eyes. Throughout life I had been unmoved by attachments, but of late I had been completely swayed by feelings unknown to me. My girlfriend had taught me a lesson and now the child also was teaching me. I started feeling like a failure.

## Chapter 10

Day 6

As the day emerged from the darkness, I climbed down from the tree, lethargically. As a last resort I decided to climb on top of the hill in front of me, where I had found the goats grazing. I thought I'd catch one, even if I had to break its leg. I was ready to go to that level for the sake of the child. If I did not find alternative food for him, he could die. So I wanted to find a milking goat, chase it, and even break its leg if required and then to milk it immediately for the child. Today would be the last day. If I did not feed the child with milk, I would never get a chance to do so. I decided to do or die.

I picked up some heavy sticks of bamboo and other branches of trees, and practiced throwing them at a tree which was a little away from me. I could hit the targets, as I was also a good cricket player in my locality and school. I was a bowler, medium pacer. I was always positioned in the field as a third man, near the boundary, because of my long arm and the ability to throw the ball to a great distance without injuring my muscles. That ability helped me here on this isolated island.

Also I thought of making four wheels by cutting a big but thin tree trunk, which was sparsely available on the island. I knew the kind as I had seen it at home, where the merchants used it to make match sticks, being light weight and easy to grow. The trunk was almost round, so I made four wheels by cutting them into half–foot pieces, and made holes in the centre. From another strong tree, I made the axles and inserted the chaffed axles into the wheel. I made two axles with two wheels on both ends. Now with the help of two other sticks I fastened them together and made a square trolley, which could be moved easily. Then I made another stick which had a cut at one end and hooked it onto the vehicle. Now the cart could be pulled to carry items.

I pulled the cart on the rough plain. First I cleared the leaves and shrubs ahead of me, for say a hundred meters, and then pulled the cart through it. Though I had to exert much force, it moved. After traversing every hundred meter, I stopped again and cleared the path in front of me. As now I was somewhat aware of my whereabouts and the forest, it did not take me much time to arrive at the clearing. Now again, as I had expected, an animal was trapped in the pit. This time I did not run to see the creature. I just walked towards the pit, and to my surprise, I saw a few goat kids running around it. A sliver of hope rose in me, so I ran to see the pit.

Yes!

Oh my dear Krishna...

I cried and cried with happiness gushing from my heart. It was a female goat, with its udders full of milk, jiggling as she moved around the pit. The little kids were bleating and running around the pit restlessly, while the goat was agitatedly trying to get out.

According to my plan, I threw one banana into the pit. The goat ate it immediately. Now I took a tablet from my pocket and crushed it to powder. I peeled another banana and in it I put in the powder. Then I threw it into the pit, and the goat ate that too. Now I waited for a while. It worked and the goat fell unconscious.

Now I brought the ladder from where I had abandoned it the previous day, and placed it in the burrow. I went into the pit, keeping the baby on the ground, and with a lot of effort I tightly tied the goat to the ladder. Then I went up, made a slope at one end, and pulled the goat up, sliding on the slope. Now I wonder, how I gathered so much strength. Maybe when we require strength God sends us the same. As the goat was brought up, the kids surrounded us. I felt pity for them. So, I decided to drug them as well. But this time I reduced the quantity of the tablets. They too were unconscious in a while. I lifted the mother goat first and placed her onto the cart, and then the little ones on each side. They were not very heavy as they looked very young. Now, without wasting time I pulled the cart, before the drug wore off.

As the path for the cart was made, I did not have to search for the route, and easily pulled the cart. It was noon when I reached my place of dwelling. The child was crying all the way, and it had to be given the milk as soon as possible. I was worried as its cries would invite danger from the wild. But nothing came to attack us. As soon as I had reached the raft I brought the ropes and tied the goat to another tree near the one where the dog was tied. I hitched the goat kids near the mother. As I had ample rope, I used two ropes to tie the mother, as there was a greater chance of her fleeing due to her strength. But, since its kids were tied there, probably she would not go away. Anyway, I did not want to take risk, so I hitched all of them to adjacent trees avoiding entangling their ropes. Finally I tied two more ropes to the legs of the goat for fear of being kicked while milking it as I was sure that it was untamed.

I checked everything for a final time, and took some water and poured onto the face of the goat. It did not wakeup. I was slightly worried, thinking I could have overdosed it. I poured more water onto the face, but it did not move. I checked its breathing and heart beat and was relieved to find them normal.

Then I realized that it had only been an hour since I had given the medicine and it would probably get alright, in a few hours, by the evening. The child was incessantly crying for food. He only stopped crying when he was sleeping. It was like a cycle, one followed the other. He cried, then got tired and slept and again woke up and cried. It melted my heart and I wanted to provide the milk as soon as possible.

I decided to milk the goat while it was unconscious. I brought a coconut shell and went near the goat, sat on my toes and held one of the nipples in my hand, folded my thumb, kept the nipple between the thumb and other fingers, and pulled it by exerting a force. "Oh boy!" My eyes were wet. Not because I was doomed, because I had found the most precious liquid. The gift of God! Elixir of life!

I carefully kept the milk under the tree where I kept my tools. I took much care not to spill it.

Now the next hurdle awaited me. I had not thought of this earlier. I could not give raw milk to the infant, who was as it is suffering from indigestion. Goat milk is different from human milk so I had to boil it before feeding it to the infant. The baby was sleeping, and I didn't have much time to spare. I had neither fire, nor a utensil to boil the milk in. I sat down under the same tree, disheartened.

Five minutes must have passed. The child moved in the swing, hanging on the branch, as usual. "I need to do something. I need to do something." I walked around the dwelling anxiously. By now the red disc was shining just above the horizon, and I knew I had just an hour to spare before nightfall. I had to boil the milk and make some arrangement for the security of the goats as well, at night. The wild dogs would only be too happy to see the hitched goats.

I went inside the raft and searched it, and was greatly delighted to see the matches in a plastic cover, kept well protected from the water. A match box is cheap and you don't realize its value until you are in a situation like this. I lit a fire with dry leaves and shrubs and boiled the milk in the aluminum container which was a first aid box. The child drank the milk and was calm thereafter.

By this time the sun had gone down. I did not waste time and quickly made a big circle, of dry leaves, around us. Then I picked up whatever I could get to burn - shrubs, the wood chips left over after making the cart, coconut leaves etc and put them on the leaves. Dry leaves were abundant and I had no problem in collecting them. Now, my circle of flammable material was ready. As I stood inside the circle I saw the wild dogs running towards us in the distance. I took a piece of burning wood and set the circle on fire. We were inside the circle of safety. It burnt and the dogs stood in the distance looking at us. They did not come near the fire, and after some time they took position far away from us and waited for the fire to extinguish. So I was anxious to collect more leaves and continuously added them to the circle.

By now the injured dog was getting well and showed immense improvement. It looked healthy and tried to stand on its legs but fell down. It grunted as if it was telling me that it was hungry. I gave it food and water. He wagged his tail as a gesture of thanks and I felt happy for it.

As the dog grunted, the goat woke up and started bleating incessantly. It was especially scared because of the presence of the dog. I went near them and gave them some bananas, which they ate voraciously. Then I took the kids one by one and led them to the mother to drink milk. They bleated for some time and then relaxed since there was no danger from the dog. Under the tree they devoured leaves, bananas and grass that I supplied.

Now my family on this lonely island comprised of me, the child, the dog, and three goats. Though I was stranded on this island, the daily routine and the challenges made me busy and eased my stress. I felt happy to have survived and found happiness in raising my family. They gave me a purpose. I could find grass and shrubs for the goats, and was able to feed the child. I had some bananas left for another couple of days and had sufficient meat for another twenty days for the dog. When it came to food, I was self-sufficient at this point of time.

A thunder struck the air. That reminded me of one more important and urgent task - I needed shelter. That night I did not perch up on the trees, as I felt comfortable under the tree and was sure that the fire around us would not let any animal intrude and attack us. I arranged a place under the tree, keeping my weapons – the stick and the knife – and the flashlight near me, within reach of my hands and avoided sleeping. It was a full moon night, and I noted it, so that I wouldn't need to count the days but the moons would tell me the number of days that passed. The number of moons would account for the number of months. Six days had passed.

For the first time, I felt peace on that lonely island. I did not sleep till midnight, put more shrubs and wood on the fire, then checked the ambers. I thought it would be sufficient for the night, so I comfortably sat down.

## Chapter 11

Day 7

Shelter. Now that was my goal. For the shelter, I had to consider three things; the availability of water, a place where animal movement would be restricted and a site from where I could see the open sea for any ships, so that I could signal them for rescue. For that I had to survey the island and find an appropriate place. As I had no idea of the expanse of the island, and having a child and animals to rear and with lot many tools and the raft, it was not possible for me to move far away and search for a suitable place. The easiest way to survey the island was to climb up on the hill and to take a bird's eye view so that I could come to a conclusion.

As far as the animals were concerned, I didn't have a choice to leave behind the goats. They were highly essential. The infant had been surviving on milk whereas the goats had bananas, fruits, coconuts and other vegetables. But I was not so sure about the dog. Probably, when he recovered, he would go away and join its pack. I was sure that it would take a few days for it to stand on its own legs and run. So it became my responsibility to feed the dog till it was well again. But the difficult part about feeding him was that he needed meat, unlike us. That put before me the need to learn to hunt for the dog. I hoped that would bring out the hunter in me. I wasn't too happy about killing one creature for saving another, but it becomes my 'dharma' to save the one in need. Becoming a hunter now became a duty for me. I could still use the snake flesh for another eighteen days or so, and I decided to implement an idea to hunt little creatures.

The child started crying and reminded me that I had to milk the goat. The goat was untamed and milking it would be hard work. I thought of milking it like I had the previous day, but realized that after drinking that milk, the baby had slept the whole night without waking up even once. Now it struck me, why? The medicine that I had given the goat had also affected the baby through the milk, and it had been sedated. This was very harmful for the baby's liver and I could not do it continuously. So taming the goat and then milking it was the only way to get pure milk.

I brought the ropes, made a noose and cunningly slid it around the rear legs of the goat and tied them to a tree. Then I made another noose around the neck and fastened it to a tree on the opposite side. Now the movement of the goat was restricted from all four sides. I brought a bunch of bananas, gave it to eat and then I took the coconut shell to milk it. I sat down on my toes and as I held the nipples, it jumped up and realized that it couldn't move much. I tried again, and it did the same thing with more force and fell down on the ground. Its neck was getting strangled and it bleated incessantly. It was scared and I was dejected and angry about not being able to tame a wild goat. I took a few steps back, but the sight of the swing with the child in it, made me to work on the goat to milk it anyway.

I went near the goat, and ran my palm on its head. I plucked a banana and placed it into her mouth. The goat calmed down. I wanted to reassure her that I was her protector and I only need some milk in return. I talked to her, looking at her in the eyes. I believed in telepathy and that this would help me. As I was the only mature human on that island, I was free to behave in any ridiculous manner. I felt free to do anything stupid.

Again, I went under the goat, with an additional coconut shell. I wanted to transfer, and thus keep safe, even the little bit of milk that I'd milk from her. I peeled a banana, crushed it and applied the paste generously on my fingers, so that it would act like a lubricant. I once again ran my palm on the belly and thigh of the goat and slowly held the nipple and flushed it. Miraculously the goat stood still. Other than an occasional movement the goat did not trouble me. I shifted the milk frequently as any violence on her part would ruin everything.

I comfortably milked the goat, transferred the milk, and gave her more fruit to eat, as I was thankful to her for giving the milk. I untied the kids and let them have some milk as well. I boiled the milk and fed the baby as usual. I too had a banana and the other fruits and drank some leftover milk and relaxed under the tree.

As I was sitting under the tree, I glanced up to find the sky overcast with clouds. I feared it would rain. I was fortunate to have clear days till now, for a week. But now either I had to find a shelter, as I had thought earlier, or make one where I lived. I decided to do the latter, as it would be difficult for me to move around and shift all those animals and tools to another place. Building a shelter would be an appropriate decision then.

The island was abundant in coconut, bamboo and banana trees. I gathered some large coconut leaves, plenty of which were strewn on the beach and cut some bamboo.. I then shifted all my things and tools to the middle of the circle, as I felt comfortable working in my area, and could also keep an eye on the infant and the animals.

First I worked on the bamboos. I brought a long rope and placed it in a straight line on the ground. Then with my palm I measured the rope on the ground, to approximately a quarter of a foot I cut the rope to measure four feet. I selected two strong and tall bamboo trees from the ground, removed the thorny branches, and cut them in almost equal length, which was according to the height requirement of the hut. I decided to keep the hut seven feet from the ground at the entrance, accordingly I made the centre and corner posts. I broke the bamboos in two pieces vertically which brought one side flat. And then I cut many pieces of required sticks for making the skeleton of the hut, and kept them in different groups according to the size and requirement. I also made one strong and long stick for running at the middle, through the middle, for hanging things like the baby swing and to hang bananas, etc.

Now as the sun was at around at an angle of 45 degrees, I was happy to guess that I still had three quarter of the day to make the hut. I felt very thirsty and at the same time the child cried for milk. I had stored some of the milk in the shell, and fed the child. As for myself, I ate some bananas, and fed the goats with the leaves and grass which I found near my dwelling area. The dog was watching me all the time, and when I went near it with the coconut water, it wagged its tail and drank the water. I decided to take some rest, as being ready with the skeleton of the hut, the major portion of the project was complete.

The sun was playing hide and seek between the dark clouds. I felt the temperature drop. Low pressure, it indicated rain any time now. I sprang to my feet, took my tools and resumed building the hut working on the coconut leaves. Time was precious. My first job was to make the roof, so that at least it would save us from the rain.

Quickly, praying to God to give me some time, I started preparing the material for the roof. With the knife, I carefully tore apart the coconut leaves from the middle, so that each part had leaves only on one side. Coconut leaves are plaited and used for thatching houses and sheds in rural areas in Kerala. Although I had never braided a coconut leaf, today I was forced by circumstances to do it. I had seen my grandfather braiding the coconut leaves to thatch the house we had lived in, before we made a concrete house. I sat down with one piece, folded the mid-rib of the first leaf from the stronger side, and then wove it through the other leaves. As I completed the first one, I did the same with the second leaf. It took me around fifteen minutes to weave, one branch of the coconut tree. Then without wasting time, I worked on the other pieces.

In the same way I made fourteen of them. Although it took me a lot of time for the initial one, as I progressed, I became more efficient at braiding. Though it was tiring, I had to do it to have a safe place by the afternoon. I ate a banana and fed the child with milk, then threw the peels to the goat. Again I started working on making the roof. No sooner had I had started working, than the wind became chilling, clouds darkened, and it looked as if night had fallen, but it was still just noon. The rain poured, and as a precautionary measure I had already removed the pieces of snake flesh from the tree and other tools and edibles from the ground and kept them in the raft and covered it with coconut leaf thatches that I had just made. I kept the child close to me, wrapped with the swing cloth, and went under the coconut roof I had tied between two branches of a tree to provide shelter in case of rain; and that idea had served me well. Standing under a braided coconut leaf, I shivered and waited for the rain to stop. The wind blew raindrops in my direction and drenched my lower half. The child had been sleeping but woke up as the water droplets sprinkled on his face. I expected a cry, but this time, he smiled looking at me, showing his bare gums. That gave me the meaning to live on that island. "I am nothing without you my dear. You are my motivation to fight for life, I will do my utmost for you, and I will save you from this lonely island," I said to him. I did not know whether he understood, but he moved his hands. He was quite fair and good looking. I was taken by his charming smile and kissed him on the cheeks and forehead for the first time. I kept him close to my body so that he would stay warm. Peacefully he lay there, hearing my heartbeat.

In some time the rain stopped. The strong wind took the heavy clouds away from us. Now I thought of build the hut rather than making the roofing material. I had calculated the area that required a roof. According to that, I should have woven at least twenty pieces of the coconut leaves. I had around fourteen, which would be more than sufficient for one side of the roof. With only a quarter of the day remaining, I badly needed the hut to spend that night. Because, on the ground the shrubs were drenched and making a fire for protection would not be possible.

I cleared the area where I wanted the hut, and according to the measurements, I made six sufficiently deep holes with the help of a knife and coconut shell. I placed the bamboos one by one, careful to keep the longer ones in the middle. Actually, the rain helped me to dig the holes more easily, as the mud was wet. Then I placed the bamboos horizontally and with the help of the ladder that I had made earlier tied them well with the ropes I had prepared from the banana tree. Alone, it was quite exhaustive and time consuming. Many a times the poles fell on ground, but I could do it only because of my persistence and the burning desire to complete at least half of the work that day.

When the basic structure of the hut was complete, that was the eight poles including the doors and the side bars across the poles, I decided to put all the sticks and poles for the roofing in one corner on top, as climbing up and down would cost me much energy and time. Then with sufficient rope I climbed up, and first fixed the slope and then the frames on it to hold the coconut leaves. It must have taken me an hour as the sun was again smiling in the sky, and it felt like a new dawn.

I came down, lifted the leaves one by one and carried them to the top. Then I climbed with the thin ropes. I was grateful to God for providing me all these materials. I was able to manage things on this desolate island having lived my life in rural Kerala, where most of the houses were still huts like this. I must thank my grandfather for teaching me to make this kind of a roof. While I was doing all the work on top, I kept a cautious eye on the child who was still in the swing, hanging on the branch. Being on top of the hut, I had a good visibility of dangers even at a distance.

Slowly I completed one side of the roof. It required twelve leaves for one side and I had two more, which I placed on the other side. I sat there relaxing, and saw that the red disc in the horizon only had very small distance to go down, and that prompted me to jump down immediately, and work on the walls. I placed the bamboo poles horizontally on a side, and hurriedly tied them to the main poles. When I completed half of the height on one side, I shifted to the other; likewise, I covered half of all the sides, by sun set. Now I felt a little secure to be inside the skeleton hut, though it was open from all the sides, the barriers would save me and my companions from the dangers looming on the island, the dogs, snakes and rain. But today, the danger would still be looming as the hut was incomplete, and with the rain all the shrubs and leaves were wet and it was almost impossible to make a fire.

Then I went out and removed the swing from the branch, brought it inside the hut and hung it on the hook I had made by tying a branch on the horizontal bar that ran through the middle of the hut. I thought of bringing the goat and its family inside the hut and tether them to a corner pole. I was slightly worried, what if the goat pulled the pole with its all might. I was sure that it could uproot the pole with the strength it had. First I hung some leaves in one corner, and then brought the kids inside. It was easy, the mother goat, which was incessantly bleating for her children, just ran into the hut when I unhitched her from the tree. To my solace, the goat family did not trouble me. They lay in the corner, huddled, and munching the leaves that hung over them. I added some bananas and shrubs to their fodder, and they seemed content with the arrangement.

Now the problem lay in bringing the dog in. He was hurt, and I had to pull him in. I planned to tie its rear leg first, so I was ready with the rope and went near the dog. And lo! To my surprise, seeing all the events and me coming near him, it might have understood, and it tried to stand on its legs. I stood there and watched him trying to stand. In a while it stood like a normal dog, with the help of three legs. I decided to risk unhitching the dog. If it was tamed, then it would understand my command and follow me. Or else it would come to attack me, with vengeance; so I had my weapon to protect me. If that happened, again, I would not hesitate to kill him, as he was only a liability for me. So I went to the raft and took the weapon and placed it behind me, and came to the dog.

I carefully went near the tree and untied the knots. The dog stood there. "Walk!"I commanded. And it obeyed! On three healthy legs he hobbled to the hut and went to a corner and sat down without making much noise. I was happy now, to have the tamed dog and goat around me. Needless to say, their company helped me not only to survive but also brought me immense happiness and keeping me occupied, made me forget my worries.

After I settled down inside the hut, I milked the goat effortlessly. I fed the baby, and threw some more grass and shrub for the goats, and a piece of meat for the dog. I fed myself too and started working on completing the bamboo wall around the hut.

The sky was overcast and fearsomely dark. Once or twice the dog grunted, and I thought he was signaling some danger. So before the batteries of the flashlight completely wore out, I had to find some alternative for the light. As the hut was incomplete, only half of it was covered with bamboo sticks, any wild animal could attack us.

I searched the raft for any item which could be of help in saving us from the dangers. With the child in my left arm, the weapon in my right hand, and the torch in my mouth, I ventured towards the raft. From there, I took an oil can and the signal flares with me and immediately returned to the hut. I opened the can and poured the oil into an aluminum box which had chocolates initially. I put a wick into the oil and lit it. In that light I worked to complete the wall. I tied the ladder, which I had made a couple of days ago, and barricaded the entrance.

In between, the child cried and I fed him. I did not know how many hours passed, as I was tying the sticks to the walls. Suddenly the dog started barking and foretold me of some danger outside. I heard the wild dogs panting outside, circling the hut to attack us. The walls were only half built and they could very well jump into the hut. I lit two flares to frighten them and also lit a fire inside the hut, by pouring the oil on the pieces of bamboo. Although the materials were drenched, the oil helped them to catch fire. The dogs retreated and they did not come to attack us that night. I could not sleep in an open area so I completed the wall that night only with the light of the oil lamp.

It was just before dawn and the grey light was spreading on the island as the sky in the east was turning yellow. I was so tired and wanted to sleep. I was trapped in between the dog on one side and the goats on the other side with the infant hanging above me. I lay on the banana leaves spread on the floor. I let the lamp burn and prayed to God to save us from the wild dogs and snakes and then slept.

But after some time it started raining. I was woken up by the rain water coming inside, as only a part of the hut was thatched and the water came down into the hut through the other part. Even some parts of the thatched roof were leaking. I again kept the child close to me and sat at a point where the water least affected us. I could not sleep and the animals were also awake.

## Chapter 12

Day 8

The rain stopped when the sun came up. The ground was completely wet and the thatched roof did not make any difference except that it protected us from getting wet directly from the rain. Water droplets were still dripping from the thatch. The dog and the goats were cuddled in a corner of the hut to prevent the loss of body warmth.

I did not sleep well that the night but the sight of the morning sun refreshed me. As usual I fed and milked the goats and then fed the child. I ate the left over bananas, and when I went to get meat for the dog, I found the meat was rotting due to the moisture from the rain. I could not give it to the dog and he would not eat it either. Getting food for the dog was another tension now. I decided to make another kind of trap to find game for the dog.

As I was pondering over making the trap when I remembered the way my tribal friends from the Wayanad used to catch their prey. I had many tribal friends in school, and they used to tell me about their culture and hunting tricks in the jungles of the Nilgiri hills. It was just a pastime then, but now after many years that knowledge would help on this island. I decided to put the knowledge to use.

The tribal people used to make a kind of a flat basket by braiding bamboo sticks, which they used for their everyday chores like cleaning rice, cereals etc. One end of the basket was narrow, which perched on a slim stick and a bait was hung on a thread, tied to the stick. When the bait was pulled the thread would pull the stick and the basket would fall down, and whatever was inside it would get trapped.

So first I searched for something like a basket. I emptied one of small oil cans, by transferring the oil into many coconut shells, and cut one end of it make an opening, and found an appropriate place to fix the trap. I perched the can on a slim stick and then hung a thread at the top end of the stick and put a piece of snake flesh hanging on it. I expected the little creatures to come and pull the flesh, and then the stick would go down, with the can trapping it. For the weight I had kept a little pebble over the can and tied it with banana strands.

I made the trap and went around doing my other chores for that day. I had to weave sufficient coconut leaves for the rest of the roof and the walls. It took me the whole day to make them and after that I put them on all the walls. In between I went to check the trap, and was delighted to see a squirrel in it. I killed it in one go and put it before the dog. Before coming back I made another trap in the same place.

The day went well without rain and wind. Before retreating to the hut I collected some more bananas and shrubs and checked the trap and found another squirrel in it.

The night was calm unlike the previous day. I was really tired as I had not slept much and had exerted myself a lot. Tonight I wanted to sleep well. I made myself comfortable after the routine feeding; I placed the ladder on the door and slept early.

After some hours of sleeping I woke up as the child was crying incessantly. A chilling wind was blowing which my thatched hut could not keep out. I then took him in my arms and covered him with whatever clothes I had. The rest of the night I slept with the baby in my arms. I was very careful not move my arms, as even a slight movement would wake up the baby.

## Chapter 13

Day 9

That day I decided to fortify my hut further to prevent the chilling wind from entering it. Initially I thought of braiding some more coconut leaves, but later dropped the idea as the coconut leaves would not suffice in holding out the wind and tiny creatures like snakes and rats could also come through it. I thought of pasting mud on the wall. It was the best option but required a lot of work. First of all I had to search for the clay. The area near the hut was the sandy extension of the beach and sand wouldn't stick to the skeleton walls and coconut leaves. So I had to find the clay and transport it here, which again would be a Herculean task. I needed a large amount of clay for all the walls.

Since I had decided to fortify the hut with mud, it had to be done, as I did not know for how long I was going to be staying here. It could turn out to be a very long time also. When I had dug the trap for the goat, the mud was hard initially but later softened as the depth increased. That indicated that the area near the pond or the pond itself was made of soft clay. Although it was a giant task, I was determined to do it, because I believed that a little improvement everyday would add up to big results. For digging and collecting the mud I had to find the tools. To transport the clay to the hut, I had the cart but had to clear the path for it to move easily. So first I started by clearing the path.

To survive on this island I had many things lined up, so I made a time table for myself. I would wake up at sunrise. Clear the excreta of the dog, goats and the child (it was putrid, living with all the animals. I had no choice but to keep them inside unless I made a shelter for them separately). Then feed the goats and milk it, feed the child, and also give some milk to the dog. I would then take the tools and the child with me and leave home to clear the path. On the way I would make traps to catch some game. It would continue thus till noon, and while coming back to the hut, I would collect fruits and pick up the kill for the dog. By then it would be lunch time. So we'd all eat. I'd feed the baby again, give the goats grass and feed the dog too. I also fitted in a nap in the afternoon to refresh myself, because at night it became almost impossible to sleep well. After coming to this island I never slept continuously for eight hours - the baby, nature (wind and rain), or the fear of the animals kept me awake. At dusk I would clean the hut again, milk the goat and feed the baby.

To calculate the distance between the pond and the hut, I climbed a tall tree, from where I could see them both. I roughly calculated the distance to be around one mile as the crow flies. I tried to make a straight path between the pond and the hut. So, from a height I took note of the land marks - the trees, bushes and the rocks - at regular intervals on the path to the pond. Then on the ground I marked them, by walking through the bushes. With the knife and the commando saw I started clearing the path, one mark to the next and finally I reached the clearing to the pond. It took me five days. Now I was ready to collect the clay from the edges of the pond and to transfer the same to the hut.

That day when I was getting ready to go to the pond, I saw that the dog was standing and hobbling here and there. I wanted to check whether he was well enough to walk. I untied the knot and took him around the hut twice. He limped. I was happy to see him wagging his tail. Once he even came and licked my leg. I was very cautious and kept the weapon ready in my belt. I was relieved to see him walk, so I decided to set him free to go back to the jungle. I removed the knot from his neck and commanded him to go. He kept standing there, wagging his tail. I did not mind it. I took my cart, kept the tools on it, took the child in one arm, closed the door from the outside and pulled the cart to the pond. Not surprisingly, the dog slipped away into the jungle. On the way to the jungle, that day I did not set any traps. Honestly, I felt hurt that the dog had left me. Ungrateful dog, a stigma on dog-human companionship.

The pond was almost in the shape of a circle, the size of the inner circle of a cricket field. Its periphery was covered with wild bushes, except at one point towards the hillside, from where the animals came to drink water. My path touched the pond, which was perpendicular to the path of the animals. I did not want to disturb them, so I decided to clear the bushes in front of me, to collect the clay near the edges of the pond. Before going near the water, I wanted to test the pond for any predators in it. I threw in a rope with animal flesh on it as the bait. I left it for some time, nothing came to eat it. I repeated this a few times. Nothing happened. Then I tied a stone to the rope and threw it into the pond. The stone took the rope to the water bed. On taking it out, I measured the depth to be almost the height of three men.

After safely hanging the baby's swing on a branch, I started clearing the bushes. It took me around two hours. Then I collected some mud, loaded it onto the cart and secured the tools on it and pulled it back to the hut. I also carried a bucket full of water.

Upon reaching the hut, I mixed the mud with water and pasted it on the wall. The mud was enough for only a tiny part of the wall. It didn't matter to me I would do it every day.

The same routine continued, and now I was convinced that the pond was utterly safe to drink and swim. I took a bath everyday just before coming back to the hut. I used to bathe near the edge keeping the child close to the water. The crystal clear water urged me to jump into it and swim. I resisted many times. When I finally gave in to the urge to swim, a terrifying thing happened. Even thinking of it sends a chill down my spine.

## Chapter 14

After collecting mud, as usual I was taking a dip in the pond. In my merriment, I went to the center of the pond, when I heard the wild dogs barking. They were running towards the baby. I was aghast, and tried to swim to the bank to save him. I was sure that the dogs would reach the child before I did. My legs felt numb, and I was unable to swim even a meter. I felt like I was drowning.

The dogs were almost near the baby. But something strange happened, as the leader of the pack was about to pounce on the baby, another dog attacked and stopped him. The second dog was limping slightly, and yes, he was the one I had taken care of. A furious fight ensued. Other dogs just watched in confusion. By this time I gathered my strength and swam to the edge. I quickly took the baby and swam across to the other end of the pond and remained in the water, keeping the child above my head. The dogs went back disappointed. Our savior lay injured by his own species. I was grateful to him and realized that dogs were one of the most loyal species in the world.

I came out of the pond, went to the dog and ran my palm on his head. He licked my hand. I carefully picked him and placed him on the cart and returned to the hut.

His leg had almost healed but the new bruises and bites made him almost unconscious. Although the dog's body was completely bruised, there were two bites which were serious; on the shoulder, and on the left thigh. I took one Paracetamol from the first aid bag, mixed it in goat's milk, and poured it into his mouth. Thereafter he slept peacefully and I removed the hair around his injuries with the Swiss army knife, and applied a tincture and antiseptic cream from the first aid kit. I was very grateful to the dog and also felt sad for what happened to him. But above all I was happy to have him back. Cuddling in one corner, the goat and its family watched the whole episode. It bleated sometimes as if it didn't like the beast in our company.

The next day the dog had high fever. I gave Paracetamol with milk, three times a day. I lit a fire in the middle of the hut and kept it warm, though it was slightly inconvenient for the rest of us. I got an idea to protect the dog from cold. I brought the snake skin from the raft. It was around three meters long, but its width was only two feet. So I cut it into three pieces, stitched them together widthwise and draped it over the dog.

I continued to give him the same medicine. Some days I could not find any animals to feed him, so I gave him milk instead. And life continued in the same routine.

## Chapter 15

Days passed and the full moon shone again. With the moon I kept track of our time on the island.

It took me around forty five days to completely build the wall of clay. I was fortunate to enjoy good weather during that time. Slight rain came and went but we were accustomed to it by now. Some days the dogs returned to attack us but the mud wall kept them away.

The dog recovered fast, and often accompanied me to the pond. Once he started walking and running, I stopped worrying about his food, he got it on his own. I did set the trap and whenever I found anything, gave it to him. I had also made two little huts on both sides of my hut, for the animals, as I felt loathsome to share the same room with them.

The weather was slowly changing and it was very hot these days. According to the number of moons that had passed, I calculated that it would be April 2000 by now; summer time. I was worried that from the next month onwards, if I was right, we would have heavy downpour for at least four months, as was the case in the southern part in the Indian subcontinent. I prepared myself for the rainy season, by collecting as many coconut leaves I could, and braided them to make spare material for the roof. I cut ample bamboo trees and collected enough logs to light a fire, to keep us warm throughout the rainy season. I made another small hut behind our dwelling, and stored the material there. Unfortunately, only after making my hut, did I realize that the floor was not raised, and the rain water flowed into the hut. So I decided to raise it by one foot, which would prevent the water from coming in. I carried sand from the beach and evenly spread it in the hut and finally topped it with clay from the pond.

I also collected almonds from the forest, in case it rained heavily for many days at a stretch. Banana and other fruit trees often got destroyed in the rainy season. So I gathered some mature, but not ripe, bananas. Now, I could go without any other source of food for fifteen days. As bananas could be kept for fifteen days and then they decay quickly. As far as the goats were concerned, I could gather grass, sufficient only for a few days as it would get dry, and the goats would not eat it. As for the dog, he found his food on his own, and whenever he appeared hungry to me, I gave him milk.

As I had expected, in a few days the rains started. According to my lunar calendar, it should have been early May. Initially the rain came in the nights and after some days it rained incessant throughout the day. Once, it rained for two weeks at a stretch. The wind blew like it would uproot the island and throw it somewhere in the distant sea. I was worried about my hut. Some coconut leaves on the roof got blown away, and the rain poured in splashes. It was very difficult for me to come out and repair the roof. I shifted myself and the baby to the goat's hut because of its low height, since it was adjacent to the wall of the main hut, against the direction of the wind. The wind generally blew from the south east, and the goat's hut was on the north west of my hut. My food supply had almost exhausted, as the bananas had decayed completely and were inedible. I put a few in front of the goats and they ate some of them. I lived for a week only on milk and almonds. I brought the dog also inside the goat's hut, as its hut was damaged being in the way of wind. The dog also lived for two weeks on goat milk. My foresight to collect logs helped us to light a fire inside the hut and that kept us warm. The sun did not shine all those days.

The rain stopped after fourteen days. I was happy and refreshed to see the sun rising from the east. It warmed us. Birds chirped and that heralded good times again. I brought the infant outside the hut into the sun. He squinted at first but then smiled at me showing his bare gums. That made my day.

Now my immediate requirement was to find food for me and my animals. I collected grass and shrubs in my immediate vicinity and gave them to the goats. Now, wearing my belt and securing the weapons and tools around my waist I went to make a trap for the dog's food and gather bananas and the fruits. To my disappointment I found that most of the banana trees had fallen. When I went to pluck the fruit, I found all of them were on the ground, completely decayed. So now, the availability of food in my area became a problem. I had to spread my search for the food to distant areas.

Whenever I went to the pond, in search of food I glanced at the hill in front of me, and thought of climbing up and to discover what lay behind it. My curiosity to know what was on the other side of the hill knew no bounds, but because of my liabilities I had postponed the trek. Now I had no option other than going beyond it in search of food. I prepared to tread up the hill. I took a strong stick, a meter long, wound it thickly with banana ropes then poured oil on it and hung it on my belt along with matches in my pocket. If I encountered animals larger than dogs, the weapon I had would not be enough. The only thing which can arouse fear in animals is fire. All the animals are repulsed by fire. Then I took the bag around me, and put a rope, which I had spun in my free time out of banana tree strands, in it. It was so strong that it could take a man's weight easily. Then I locked the goats inside the hut, took the child with me, and the dog followed. The path that I had made was full of shrubs and fallen trees, but I did not clear them as I didn't want to get exhausted before reaching the summit. I was not sure whether I would get anything from the other side of hill. If I didn't get anything, I should at least be able to return safely. With this purpose in mind, I kept some almonds in my pocket for energy.

Hurdling fallen trees I reached the pond. I was back after many days. Sadly, the water in the pond was not blue and crystal clear, but reddish yellow because of the rain, which filled it with muddy water from the hill. I was thirsty but decided not to drink from the pond. I collected two fallen coconut, sliced off the top with the knife and drank the water; I gave some to the dog also.

Though the sun was warming up the land, it was still slippery due to the rain, and difficult to trek up. Everything in the dense valley was fully drenched and it was not only hard to climb but I was also lost and could not find my bearings. I sat down there and decided to return to the hut. As I took a step to return, the dog barked, circled around me a few times, ran up some steps then stopped and looked back to see whether I was following or not.

I thought he wanted to convey something to me, so I followed the dog and climbed the hill behind him. We finally reached the summit of the hill. And lo! The scene in front of me was magnificently dreadful! Great God!

## Chapter 16

Below was a steep valley, which could be divided into two terraces. The first one was so steep that we need ropes to climb down. It was followed by a level but rocky structure, where I found hundreds of goats grazing on grass and little bushes between the sparsely scattered trees. The level area must have been a kilometer in radius. Across the level area, the valley suddenly plunged down deeply and the abyss was almost double the length of the first plunge. It looked as if a large cricket ground had been raised from the bottom of the hill and placed around the middle. I found another pond at the bottom of the hill, and to my horror, I saw swarms of snakes in different sizes, moving, entwined with each other. And that answered my question about how the python had come to my area that day. But why had I never encountered any other snake after that? Why were there no snakes on the other side of the hill, whereas this side was teeming with them?

While I was racking my brain to find an answer I saw, to my surprise, that no tree had fallen in this area in spite of it raining continuously for the last two weeks. I wondered why. Then I got my answer to both the questions.

The island was oval shaped. The hill divided the island into two. The wind always blew from the east to the west; i.e. from my side to the other side. The wind was so forceful that it destroyed everything that came in its way. This was exactly what had happened in the last two weeks. The dogs found it safe to stay on my side i.e. the windward side as it protected them from the snakes. The goats stayed on the terrace perched on the hill, as it had sufficient grass and plants for them to graze. The dogs hunted these goats whenever they came to drink water from the pond that was on the windward side of the hill, as the leeward side was too steep and housed profuse danger in the form of snakes.

At that precise moment, the dog tugged at my pants and pulled me to the left. There, in the steep valley, I saw watermelons in abundance. I was very happy to see them and patted the dog on his head. Standing on the summit, I had an unobstructed view of the entire island. Ensuring the child's safety, I left him there, trusting the dog to look him after. This was the first time that I was leaving the child solely trusting this animal. I was sure that he would live up to my expectations, as I had seen him, fighting his own species and risking his life for the child. Then I tied a rope to a sturdy tree and climbed down to pluck the watermelons. I could carry only one melon at a time, as it was heavy and very difficult to climb up with it. With all my might I climbed up to the top. I could barely carry my own weight, not because I weighed so much but because I was so tired and felt weak as I had not eaten much in the previous week.

Soon after reaching the top, I cut the melon, and ravished it in minutes. I gave one piece to the dog, but he refused to eat it as he only wanted meat. I was so grateful to him, as it was he who had brought me to this place. For the first time, I hugged him and he reciprocated by licking my hands.

I had never tasted a sweeter melon in my life. I started back towards the hut with the other half of the melon. On the way back I found a squirrel in the trap. The dog ate it, within minutes.

In order to prevent a similar situation in the future, the lack of food supply caused due to the rains, I decided to cultivate bananas, watermelons and other fruits around my area. That evening I uprooted banana saplings, at least fifty of them, and kept them near the hut.

Next day, I went to the pond, uprooted some yam plants, and cut them into many tiny pieces. I also collected watermelon seeds. After feeding the animals and the baby, I went to prepare the field for cultivation. I zeroed in on an area where sufficient sunlight was available, dug pits of around three feet and planted the banana saplings. Between the rows of banana saplings, I planted the yam, and watermelons. I planted them in rows so that it would ease my work later. I used goat excreta as fertilizer.

I worked till noon, and I by then I was tired and hungry. Not just for me, food was a necessity for all. The goats were also becoming thin, and the milk supply was dwindling. Since I had just sown the plants, it would take at least six months to be able to harvest the crop. I had only one way out, to gather more and more melons till I found something else. Plucking a melon was not easy. To reach the bottom of the hill and then climb back with a heavy melon was no mean feat. And all I could gather was one melon, at a time. The exertion was not worth the result. So I uprooted some yams, baked and ate them. Other than me no one ate the yams. The dog wanted meat; the goats needed grass and shrubs. I climbed the trees and gathered leaves for the goats. The rain had subsided by then and the things were returning to normalcy. Now for the dog's food I decided to catch birds.

I decided to use the glue that I had found on the raft. I evenly applied it on half-a-dozen flat pieces of wood, and kept them on tree branches, with a piece of melon at one end. I also used the sticky milk-like substance (resin) from trees as glue. When I was preparing the field for cultivation, I felled many trees on my way. One particular tree oozed out this sticky milk-like substance. I applied this substance on leaves and placed them on tree branches every day. Most of the time, I was successful in catching birds, which I killed and fed to the dog.

Meanwhile, as the days passed, many changes occurred in the boy. The boy started looking at me, and the animals and recognizing us, but was still unable to hold up his neck and head. Initially, most of the time he was in the swing; except, when I was feeding him. When he was around four months old, he started cooing and making different kinds of sounds. He could also recognize sounds, and turned his head in their direction. I made a toy for him, a rattle. I broke a coconut shell, removed the coconut flesh and dried it. Through one of the eyes of the shell I inserted a small stick and stuck it. I also put two pebbles inside. Then I stuck the two shells together again with the glue that I had. It made a clattering sound when shaken. The boy loved it. At five months he started rolling over, bore his weight on his hands and knees and danced like a see-saw. The dog and the goats were always keen to watch him cooing and kicking his legs, and clattering the rattle. Whenever I took outdoors he was very inquisitive to see the trees, sand and water. My life really changed as he brought me immense happiness and purpose to live on this lonely island. His beautiful smile erased every stress and sadness from my life. At eight months he stood with the help of some support. I encouraged him to stand up and walk, by stretching both my hands towards him. He grabbed my fingers with his tiny hands and pulled up his body to stand and take tiny steps. At the threshold of his first year he walked comfortable to.

As he had started babbling and talking slightly, I tried to teach him to call me "mama" – meaning uncle in my language, Malayalam. Finally when he was eleven months old, I had the privilege of hearing it. That day, listening to that babbling, my heart gushed with joy. I took him in my arms and ran around the hut. Laughing and singing. One of the greatest moments in my life.

It was then that I realized that I had never named him, and felt that I should do so immediately. I was unmarried and never faced this kind of a situation in my life. It was difficult to select a name and I was very choosy about it. A man would be called by it his whole life.

I am a Hindu, and I knew that the boy's mother was a Muslim. So, I wanted the boy to grow up like a Muslim. As I had spent many years in Saudi Arabia for, I had some insight on this religion and finding an Islamic name was not difficult for me. After thinking for a long time I named him Muhammad – the name of the prophet. When some day he'd reach his family, they should not hate the name I gave him.

As he was growing up, my concern was to teach him Islamic practices. Although I was not aware of the Islamic way of praying to God, I taught him to raise his hands, holding them together asking for Allah's mercy and thanking him for his generosity, as Muslims do. As he started running around the hut, he wanted to be with the animals; especially with the dog. He ran and played hide and seek with the dog. He loved the goat too. He named the dog 'Tutu' and the goat 'Lily'.

By this time the goat kids too had matured and one of them was pregnant. That was when I found out that one of them was male and the other female. In a few days the female gave birth to kids, and added to our milk supply.

## Chapter 17

Three years passed. I continuously worked on the fields and improved the hut and the premises. The wild dogs did not disturb us much, but they intermittently showed their presence. I made a fence, using bamboo sticks and coconut leaves, all around the fields and the hut, so the boy could play safely in that area. As I knew that my time on Earth was drawing to a close, I wanted to have everything set up for the child. Recently I had drastically lost weight. I wanted the boy to be able to live comfortably without having to face too many problems and if possible to teach him to escape from this island to the mainland. In spite of my intentions I could not teach him, since he was not mature enough to understand such matters. By the time he would grow up I'd have left this world. I was in a fix.

Like that, four and half years went by though the doctors from the best hospital had given me only three years to live. I had already over run my time by a year and a half. I think that the hard work and the natural food might have helped me to contain the disease and prolong my years on this island. Above all, the all prevailing God must have extended my age for the unique purpose, to look after this child. Recently I had vomited blood. I was not worried of dying on this lonely island but I want the boy to be rescued. I planned the life on the island in such a way that even if I die soon, the child must not face problem to live alone. For shelter, the hut would be enough, and as far as the food was concerned, I had made a beautiful garden where fruits were available throughout the year; bananas, watermelons and oranges. In one corner I had cultivated yam plants. I had planned the garden in such a way that at least one fruit would be available at any given time.

When it came to education, I used sticks to write the letters on the sand. He learned quickly. I wrote short stories on the waterproof notepad which was in the raft, and make him read them out aloud. Since he was very interested in these stories, my nights passed in narrating them.

In time he was able to spell most of the things around us like, tree, dog, goat, etc. Rather than telling about an object, I tried to develop curiosity in him. Like if he asked how birds fly, I did not just stop at telling him that it's God's grace. I taught him the pressure under the wings takes the bird upwards. He got so curious that he asked many questions and I answered them. But most of the times, he seemed not to understand what I said to him.

I had taught him to use the weapon. However, being a child, he didn't have the power to wield it as powerfully. I had also taught him to swim in the pond. He was a quick learner and very intelligent. One night I tried telling him about the mainland and the other world. He heard it like a story and slept. I felt he was not prepared to understand what I had to say about the mainland and things thereof.

By now I had learnt a lot about the island, its climate, its terrain, everything. Nothing unusual happened in these years, but in the fifth year something very strange happened.

## Chapter 18

One day I woke up to listen the unnatural howling of the dog. It had come out of its hut and was trying to open mine, scratching its legs on the door. The goats were also bleating wildly. I got a very eerie feeling and immediately came out to see what had happened. As soon as I opened the door, the dog sprang on me and barked wildly. It almost tore off my clothes in order to pull me out of the hut. I could not understand what it wanted to say, but sensed danger. As I stepped outside, it ran up the path to the pond, looking back to confirm that I was following him. As I was just standing there looking at him, he returned to me frantically. I followed him. Still barking loudly, he returned to the hut again and woke up the boy who quickly came out, rubbing his eyes. The dog looked as if he had gone mad, and I really started doubting his sanity. Anyway, I followed him. I immediately took my belt and tool bag. When we were leaving, the goats were also bleating. I couldn't picture what was going on. As we were on the path to the pond, the dog again went back to the goat's hut and tried to push it open. So I ran behind him and opened the door. No sooner did the door open than the goats fled out like lightening. I followed them and the dog who had overtaken us returned to walk with us. Time and again he would run ahead indicating to hurry up. We reached the pond in a short time. Unable to understand what was happening but gauging the urgency I just followed the animals holding Muhammad in my arms. . As we were running I could see the birds flying frantically, making different sounds. Smaller creatures too were running between our legs. From the pond, I had seen other wild dogs fleeing ahead of us, but nothing attacked us. I was really frightened and thought the world was about to end. The dog and the goats hastily ran to climb to the summit. Gasping for breath we too reached the summit in some time. From there I could see the both the sides and I astounded to see the goats, all tensed and wary. All the animals were running helter-skelter.

Sitting there on the rock, I saw the sun rising up and becoming so bright that I could not look at it directly any longer. The sea was looking beautiful and even in the midst of chaos in the animal world the boy and I were clueless and enjoying the sunrise and the beauty of the of island. I felt like we are the only humans in the world; and for the child it held true anyway.

As we sat there, I noticed something strange. The water level around the island had drastically gone so low that I could see the rocks and the corals in the distance. Then a ripple of tremors shook the island. I was horrified. Finally it came.

Tsunami!

I had seen it; the most majestic scene in my life. I was enchanted by it but also worried at the same time.

From the top I could see the water retreating into the sea. Then with all its force the water gushed forward and rose up like a huge King Cobra raising its hood. In one sweep it gulped almost the entire island; my hut, the trees, bananas, yams, and everything else. I sat down, bewildered and disbelieving.

Tsunami, I had read of it in books. It was a gigantic wave wiping out everything in its way. The waves reached the hill halfway. I had seen something like this for the first time in my life, and may be also the last. According to my lunar estimates it was either December 2004 or January 2005.

Muhammad was so petrified by what he saw that he stood clung to me. The goats too came and stood near us. The dog frantically circled us. How could I thank these animals? All my life I had studied in schools and learnt that humans are the most intelligent species in the world, but had the dog and the goats not saved us, we would be found in the depths of the ocean. And the dog could have escaped without bothering about us, but he waited, for us to escape putting his life in danger. This was true loyalty, true companionship, which I had never seen amongst humans. Tears fell from my eyes, not for losing all my possessions at the beach, but for the touching behavior of the animal. I hugged the dog tightly. It reciprocated the love by licking and sniffing. 

## Chapter 19

Other dogs saw this seemingly bizarre display of affection with distrust. I was ready with my weapons and the oil to light a fire, but I don't know what occurred to them, they simply went away without attacking us. They might have thought 'Tutu' would not spare in case of an attack.

After sometime, as the fury of nature gave way, we climbed down with the goats and dog, to see the devastating effect. Many trees and leaves floated in the pond and the path to the hut was full of sand and remnants of trees and leaves. Tutu went ahead and ensured us that it was safe to go ahead. We followed him. Except the gigantic trees and agile plants all the flora had been uprooted by the tsunami. I was devastated to see my fields wiped out by the waves. Not a single fruit tree was standing upright. All had fallen as if a single stroke of a sword had slaughtered them from the root. But there were enough fish lying dead and Tutu was happy to eat them. That was the only positive thing that happened due to tsunami.

As I went towards the hut, I could not find one. The hut was only debris now. All that was left was some bamboo sticks. I would have to start all over again from scratch.

I sat there looking at the debris. It would not be easy to start again. As it is my health was deteriorating. I knew death would come to me anytime now and I wanted the boy to be prepared to survive in that lonely island before I left this world.

I had made a plan and accordingly devised a time-table like I had years earlier. I looked for things that were still favourable for me. I had the child to live for; I had the dog for safety; the goat for milk.

Now more importantly I need food for all of us. I could find many dead creatures, especially fish. I cut a big fish into many pieces, and hung it on the same tree and fed the dog as and when required. The salt from the sea water kept it from rotting. I climbed up the remaining trees, cut the leaves and gave it to the goats; they ate reluctantly, as if they didn't like it. Next I had to find food for us, the humans. I decided to get the watermelons from the other side of the hill. Though it was dangerous and exerting, I had no other option. The goats were not eating the leaves as they did generally. I found some yams that would suffice us for a week. Though the yam plants had got destroyed in the tsunami, the roots under the ground were good to eat. But eating only yams didn't go well with our stomach.

That day we did not have anything except milk to drink. I tethered the goats to a tree, left the dog free for its own and the goats' security. Muhammad and I climbed the same tree, on which years ago, I used to sleep. It reminded me of the days when Muhammad was an infant. Remembering those moments gave me strength that if I could do it then, I could do again. I was determined and made a plan for the coming days. I decided to build the hut and cultivate the land to replenish the food supply.

In the morning the next day, according to my plan, I got a piece of fish but did not give it to the dog right away. The dog was after me for its food. Keeping the fish in my hand I commanded, "Wait". The dog did not understand and kept whirling around. Then I commanded the dog to "Catch"' while throwing the treat towards him. He jumped up and caught it. "Good", I appreciated.

The next day after my routine work in the field, I held a piece of fish in my hand and commanded the dog to wait. This time I tied the fish to a rope. I threw the bait in the air for the dog to catch it. He heard the swishing of air, looked carefully, jumped and caught it. I patted him in appreciation. After it had gobbled up of the fish I just threw the rope in the air commanding him to "Catch"'. He caught the rope every single time and we rehearsed it again and again.

The following day I trained the dog in the same way. It was clever and learned quickly. I took a piece of rope, tied the fish to one end and commanded him to "Pull". In order to get hold of the fish it pulled the rope towards him. After letting him struggle a little I left the rope. After many repetitions, I threw the rope over a branch and tied one end to a bucket-which I had made by cutting open twenty liter oil can on top and tying the ropes for holding- filled with sand. I took the other end threw it on the ground and commanded the dog to catch it. He immediately caught it. Then, when I said "Pull", to my delight, he pulled the rope and the bucket, attached to the rope on the other side of the branch, got lifted up. In between I commanded "Wait" and the dog held the bucket for some time. Now I took the rope from the dog and patted him on his back. I gave more milk to him as a token of appreciation.

In keeping with my routine, I took Muhammad to cut bamboos. The bamboo plants were safe and had not been destroyed in the tsunami, as they were flexible and easily yielded to the wind and water. The day was sunny. I cut the bamboos into the required length. We worked hard the entire day and cut the bamboo to build the hut again.

I started the next day by training the dog to catch the rope and pull anything attached to it and rewarded him with milk and fish. Then we turned our attention to build the hut. Since I had had sufficient experience in building and subsequently repairing it over the years, it was not very difficult for me to build a new one again. By now even Mohammed could give me a helping hand. I explored the complete scope of teaching him everything I knew about building huts and the geometry required for it. He was a quick learner.

As I had decided, we hiked to the hill to fetch melons the next morning. I took my bag which I rummaged in the debris of the hut. As we reached the top of the hill, I tied one rope to a tree and another to a branch slanting over the valley. Then I tied the bucket to one end of the rope and with the bucket I climbed down. I tied the rope around my waist too, for added safety. As I reached the valley, I saw that the watermelons were abundant and unaffected by the tsunami. I plucked one and placed it in the bucket and shouted "Pull"; Tutu obeyed and pulled the other end of the rope propelling the watermelon into the air. Muhammad who was standing on the summit, with the dog, collected the melon, and sent the bucket back again. The whole operation was successful and the Tutu played his role very effectively. In the same manner, I plucked several melons, and finally climbed up again. My eyes misted over, seeing the number of melons gathered on top of the hill. With joy, I threw up my hands and shouted. The snake skin came handy to collect the melons; I kept them all in it and slowly brought them down to the bottom of the hill. I loaded the same on the new cart that I had made in the preceding days and pulled it to the hut.

I spent the next week building the hut for us and the animals, and another one for keeping the logs. Once a week I would go across the hill and collect melons and build the huts for the rest of the week. It took me two months to complete the huts and paste the mud collected from the pond. By now the dog was trained to pull the cart, and the boy for almost everything else, like cutting trees, digging holes, and pasting mud. This helped me a lot as they shouldered so much responsibility.

In some days the banana saplings sprouted from the ground. I cleared the land around our hut like I had done earlier, and prepared the land for sowing bananas, fruits, watermelons, and yams. From where we stayed, the land extended to sea, in a thin line of rocks in a curved shape, making a shoal without high waves. The water inside the curved area was always calm and quiet and I took Mohammed there to teach him in the sea. He became a very good swimmer in the coming days and went to the pond daily to refresh and take a bath. I had found a fishing kit with different kinds of baits on the raft. We had made a catamaran by tying many banana trunks together and caught fish in the shoal. Also we sat on a rock, fishing for many hours with banana leaves as caps. It was one of our pastimes. I had brought him up eating fish.

In the time that elapsed, I vomited blood again and that indicated that my end was very near. When I died, I did not know how Mohammed would take it, as he had never endured the experience of the death of anyone close to him. For that, one day, I took some expired sleeping pills which I had recovered from the raft. I powdered them, mixed it with a banana, and gave it to one of the male goats, which now I had many of. The poor goat immediately slept and was dead in the morning, with froth coming out of its mouth. It was a heart-wrenching situation, but I had to do it. Muhammad was not aware of it.

I told Mohammad to check the goat as if I had not done anything, and he told me that the goat was not moving, and was not well. That was the right time to make him understand about the death of someone close. I taught him to check the respiration, the absence of which would indicate death vis-à-vis a live goat's breathing. I also told him to check the heart beat, by touching the chest, the presence of which made the difference between life and death.

When he got the point, I dug a pit and buried the goat in it. Mohammed was dismayed and terrified of losing one of his close companions, and did not eat anything that day. I knew it would sadden him, but I had to do it.

The next day, I vomited more blood and I knew it was time to make my own grave. I took Mohammed to dig a large pit six feet long and six feet deep. It was very traumatic and heart-wrenching to dig my own grave. Looking at my eternal abode, I sat there. I did not cry. I had lived my life well and done my duty to God, I suppose. I prayed and asked for his forgiveness for any wrong doing.

The boy asked me what that pit was for. I held him in my arms and hugged him tight. There were tears on my face and Mohammed, feeling the tears, turned around and asked me why I was crying. I told him that I did not have much time to live and that the grave was for me. I also told him that he should bury me in that grave, when I died. The boy was aghast and ran away towards the hut. I followed him and was persistent to teach him about the inevitable death looming ahead. After much cajoling and explaining, he agreed to do as he was told.'
Part 3

Muhammad
Chapter 20

Officer Joseph turned the next page. He could only see blank pages ahead in the note book.

He looked at me enquiringly and asked, "What happened next?"

With tears pooled in the corners of my eyes, I said, "Mama died that night."

Mr. Joseph returned the book to me. I could see his eyes had misted over reading the story. Then he grabbed my hand and said, "You had a very good uncle, my boy."

To hide my sorrow from the deepest part of my heart, I turned my face away, and looked at the blue sky through the window.

"But you were only about six years old when he died. How did you manage to survive alone for the next seven years?"

"It was my Mama's brilliant idea," I said. "Two days before he died he told me to do three things, without fail, to survive on the lonely island.

1. Keep a lamp burning all the time.

2. Every evening, at sunset, pray to God, after offering a log from the hut.

3. Read the following holy verse inscribed on the wooden placard on the wall, ten times aloud in every prayer:-

"I am a human, who can think and speak.

Tutu is an animal, who cannot think and speak.

I can read and write,

Which Lily cannot do.

There is a God,

Before whom I prostrate.

He will save me from this lonely island,

To a world where my father lives.

The secret is in the plastic,

That shows the way to the new world."

This verse, I found no meaning in. It was a godly verse, and I had to recite it every day to keep me, my animals, and my crops thriving and to ward off all evils. But now I know it had a totally different meaning and showed the way to escape from the lonely island. He told me to say it aloud so that I would not lose my faculty of speech. And the verse contained the message to find the wisdom that was buried on the island."

After a short pause, the boy continued.

"That night, Mama coughed a lot of blood. Holding his hand, I prayed to God to spare him, but my prayers were not answered. Tutu, who was inside the hut then foresaw the inevitable, and howled and barked as it had seen the angels coming and did not want them to come and take his soul. Early in the morning, mama took his last breath. He was dead, in the little hut leaving us alone on the island." My eyes misted over.

"I cried and cried. I lost the only man whom I had known and seen in my life. I sat with the body till noon. Unaware that I could not keep dead body, I thought I would not bury him but keep him with us instead. But the body started bloating. Then reluctantly I decided to bury the body and also to keep my words to Mama. I was taken aback when I realized that Mama was aware of his death that day, so he was lying on the cart so that it would be easier for me to carry the body to the grave. Great man! In the afternoon, I pulled the body out from the hut. I prayed to God to let his soul rest him in peace. He had taught me to perform the last rituals when we buried the goat. With the help of the ropes I lowered his body into the grave and spread the sand on it and made a mound of around one foot. I placed two pieces of stone on both the ends, and bore a hole and placed a green branch to make it look nice. I continued to replace the branch with fresh ones till my last day on the island.

For two days I did not eat anything. Even the dog refused to eat as he was saddened by the loss of his master. The goats were unmoved and ate normally. On the third day I had to eat as my hunger took over my grief. I went to Tutu and rubbed my hands over his head. I lay with him for hours and then slept. On waking up I decided to move on and gave him a piece of fish and I ate a banana.

Slowly life returned to normal, as normal as it could get without Mama. The fields supplied us with sufficient food; bananas, fruits, yams and watermelons. I became proficient in fishing in the shoal, where the current was insignificant. I mostly fed Tutu fish and sometimes squirrels. The weather remained good, except some rare patches of continuous rain, but I was always prepared with standby measures, like almonds watermelons and yams in the hut. The tsunami never showed its nasty face again in those seven years.

Mama wrote stories in a notebook, which I kept like a treasure. I read the stories, repeatedly, as I found happiness in reading about kings and queens and about different animals which I had never seen in my life. I also read stories about people from a different world, which, now I realize, was this world.

One thing he never mentioned in his book was that that the way he had taught me to pray was actually aimed to find his memoirs and how to escape from the island. This book gave me profound wisdom and taught me about this world. Although I had followed his advice without thinking, now I knew why he had done what he did. It was only to save me from the island to this better place, where people actually live.

After the tsunami, when we made huts for ourselves and the animals, rather than making a one-room hut like we had earlier, he made a hut comprising of two rooms. We lived in one room and the other room was exclusively for praying to God. He taught me that, "Allah is the light that shines to ward off the darkness in our life, so we pray to him every day in return of the blessings we get from him."

The prayer room was always very tidy and neat. Mama used to sit in the room whenever he had free time. Towards the end of his life, especially, he spent most of the time in that room.

It was a small room, three fourth the size of the room we lived in. At the side was a platform raised to a height of about three feet, where an oil lamp was placed. That lamp burned perpetually as there was no dearth of oil (we had more than enough oil cans). On one wall was a wooden placard, made by Mama, where the sacred poem was inscribed:-

I am a human, who can think and speak.

Tutu is an animal, who cannot think and speak.

I can read and write,

Which Lily cannot do.

There is a God,

Before whom I prostrate.

He will save me from this lonely island,

To a world where my father lives.

The secret is in the plastic,

That shows the way to the new world.

Below the raised platform was a fire place where we daily put a piece of wood and while it burned, we sat in silence for some time, thanking God for keeping us safe, and for providing us with food and comfort. We carried out this practice daily as Mama was very particular about it.

How praying daily, saved me from the island and bestow me with wisdom?

I'll tell you. Behind the hut where we lived, was another hut where we kept the firewood. The logs were two feet long of bamboo, torn apart into two from the centre. They were stacked in seven heaps in a well arranged manner like pyramids. He taught me that those were sacred pyramids and had divine power, which would save me from all evils. He strictly told me to take a log from the extreme right side of the hut, not from anywhere else, whatever the case may be. They were sacred bamboo pieces; hence God would be happy only with those logs, none other. If any other offerings were made he could punish us with natural disasters like the tsunami. My question was what if the logs finished. He replied that God willing, I would not be searching for more logs once these were over. In hindsight I realize that it was a prophecy that came true.

He advised me that when the first pyramid of the logs was over, I should start with the second one, and like that, finally I would reach the seventh one.

Accordingly, I started with one log each day from the heap, and burnt it in the room then prayed to God, chanting the verse inscribed on the wall. In keeping with his wishes I did that every day and one pyramid of logs lasted a year exactly. There were 365 logs in a pyramid. I had no clue what the holy verse meant, nevertheless I continued to recite it every day.

Years went by, and I grew up strong like mama. I had reached the last pyramid with only a few logs remaining. This made me very anxious. Although there was plenty of bamboo on the island, I did not know how to make them sacred. Other than that the island was the same and I was very well accustomed to the surroundings and the routine.

One day as I was taking the last lines of logs, from the muddy remnants I found something smooth, which I did not find in any other pyramid. Quickly, I removed all the remaining logs from the surface to find a plastic cover with a wooden box inside it. I didn't know when Mama had made it. I removed the box and opened it without much difficulty. Inside the box was a water proof note pad, about his life on the island, which you have read just now and a letter written to me."

The boy handed over the piece of paper to the police officer. He took it and carefully read it.

'Dear Muhammad,

When you find and read this letter, I will be long gone. Having lived all alone on this island for so long, I hope your time here has passed smoothly.

There was something I wanted to say to you all those years I lived with you. The time I spent with you was the best time of my life. I actually understood the meaning of life. Thank you for your company. Because of you I found the purpose to live. Your company brought back the smile which the adversities in life had snatched from me.

This might be the only world you know but there is another world away from this enormous ocean where many people live including your real family.

Please read my diary, so that you come to know about me and how we ended up here. I wanted to tell you this before my inevitable death, but you were not mature enough to understand it back then. Since I did not know how long I had to live, I thought of penning it down for you to read in the future. I told you to read the verse aloud ten times, so that you should not forget how to speak the language.

My dear, you must escape from this land. Otherwise, there is no use of my hard work. Living alone on this island is not a good idea. I had a purpose to live here alone – to protect and look after you in this lonely place. But now that you are all alone you must get out of this island to the mainland and if possible find your family.

You can cross this ocean by making a boat and just letting it drift. Geographically we are in the middle of Africa and Asia, two large continents. Either way you drift, you will reach some mainland or find some help, as many ships travel by this route to transport goods. I did not venture out earlier because my prudence prevented me from taking such a great risk with an infant. I did not want to risk your life as well. Now that you are grown up, you will be better able to face adversities which you couldn't have as an infant. Even though I am not with you in person in this endeavor, I will look out for you from above. You have a long life ahead of you, which you should not spend alone on this island.

You must be thirteen years old, if my plan worked out correctly. You must leave this island. I have preserved the raft, which will help you. It is in a good condition. I have folded and kept it safely in the corner of the hut. You can inflate it with air using the air pump, and wait for two days to check for any possible leak. But do not solely depend on it for your voyage, as years of disuse may have rendered it unsuitable for your escape and pose the risk of sinking. Therefore, make a catamaran by tying bamboo logs together. I have also drawn the diagram of a catamaran and illustrated how to make one at the back of this letter. Make a floating platform, hitch the raft on it and raise the hood like our hut. Secure the bottom of the raft properly so that it does not get detached from the catamaran and this should also prevent the water from coming in. Use a bailing bucket incase the water does come in. Stock food for at least sixty days as the time before you find any ship could be prolonged. Keep bananas, watermelons, almonds, coconuts, and oranges. Also carry your fishing material as you'll need it if you run out of food.

If you ever see any large structure or body moving in the water, do not hesitate to whistle. It could be a ship, in which men travel from one place to another through water. They may hear you and rescue you. A whistle is easy to blow and can be heard up to six miles, so do not try to yell, use the whistle. If the whistle is not heard, use the heliograph, actually a mirror, which will reflect the sunrays and pull their attention towards you. The heliograph will be more useful in the day time.

Muhammad, that's about all I wanted to say, and I'll be happy from the heavens if you do it, and reach your family. I'll think that my endeavor in this lonely island came to fruition. I wish you all the best in your voyage and in search of your family.

Thank you for making my life worth living, I found my purpose with you. I love you and God bless you.'

The letter ended there.

"After reading the letter, with the misted eyes, quickly I went through his diary and understood the rest of the story. For the second time I sat down there, and cried and developed a great respect for that brilliant man. I went to his grave and prayed for that great soul and promised him that I would find the way and God willing, I would reach my family. Then I went to my mother's grave, which was covered by bushes, cleaned it and promised her too that I would reach my father. I was convinced and decided to get off the island in search of my family and the new world, leaving things to God.

I searched for the raft and found it folded and secured in a large wooden box kept in the same room. I wondered how it had escaped my sight all those years. With little difficulty I took the raft out and spread it. It was in good condition. I checked the hand pump, and fortunately it was working. Getting the raft to an open area, I pumped the air, and inflated it fully. I rummaged through all the things that were stored inside and found some fishing gear in a small box which also had a whistle and a mirror. I was looking at a mirror for the first time in my life. And of course I was surprised to see my own face on a surface other than the surface of water in the pond. I wondered, and looked at my reflection many times. Then keeping the mirror away, I blew the whistle and it created a sound somewhat similar to the whistling of the bamboos, in the gusty winter season.

I waited for two days, as Mama had instructed and as feared the air slowly leaked from the raft. But pumping some air would inflate it again. Anyway I decided to make a catamaran and fix the raft on it to ensure redundancy and safety. I cut many bamboo trees and brought them to the beach as it would be difficult for me to bring them there once the catamaran was built. It took me only a day to make the catamaran. Then I deflated the raft and carried it to the beach and tied it to the catamaran. After having tied it securely I inflated it.

Needless to say I saw my face in the mirror many times a day. I liked to see my face, that little moustache, my eyes and every curve of my face. Once I showed the mirror to Tutu and he barked incessantly, mistaking his reflection for another dog.

My raft was ready that evening, and I decided to set off the next day. I went to collect as much as food as I could for us – of course Tutu would travel with me as I couldn't imagine living without him – and secured all the food on the raft.

The next morning I visited Mama's and my mother's grave bid adieu to them and the island. Tears pooled around the corners of my eyes then rolled down profusely. I had mixed emotions and was glad too in the thought that I would make them both happy by leaving the island. Then, coming to my goats, I unhitched all of them, and hugged and kissed them. They stood calmly. Surprisingly they were not in a hurry to get food, it was as if they understood my feelings and I saw tear in their eyes too. Then I called out to Tutu, and walked towards the raft. The goats followed me to the beach, bleating.

Then suddenly, something strange happened. I heard a whirring sound in the distance. As I looked around I saw a massive bird flying towards us. The bird from the horizon slowly reached the island and hovered above the raft. Looking at it, Tutu started barking incessantly and I too was very frightened. I ran into the hut and closed the door. Sitting in a corner tightly hugging Tutu, without making any sound, I waited for the bird to go away. Through one of the holes I watched the bird from the hut. A rope came down from its belly and an animal (that looked like me but) with a huge head slid down the rope. Behind him another one came down and they studied the raft and signaled to the bird with their hands. Then the bird landed on the beach, more people came down from the bird's belly. They approached the hut, probably in search of me. I sat there in the corner with hugging Tutu. They kicked the door down and entered the hut. Tutu started barking loudly. Looking all around the hut the animal removed his head gear, and I was amazed to see another human being covered with all clothes and gears.

He smiled and tried to convey that he meant no harm to me and wanted to rescue me from the island. This he tried to do through actions. As some time passed I was convinced that he was my friend, so I stood up and walked out of the hut with him. Tutu followed me. Then we were taken to the bird, which now I knew to be a helicopter. One man asked me if there was anyone else on the island. I pointed to Tutu but they were reluctant to take him. Seeing that I tried to jump off the helicopter, but understanding my feelings they allowed Tutu to come.

They put something around my ears and then I could hear only a slight humming of the helicopter. As it rose up I saw the island shrinking and my hut becoming even smaller. The helicopter took a round of the island and I saw hundreds of goats grazing in the valley and thousand of snakes crawling on the other side of the island. This had been my home all my life and leaving it behind left me with a heavy heart. The island became tinier and tinier until it was just a speck in the distance."

After the boy finished telling the story the police officer took some notes and sat looking at him astonishingly.

"But I wonder how that helicopter came to my rescue, at the exact time when I was ready to leave the island!" I said.

The police officer laughed and said, "That's not a wonder, my dear boy, it is fate or God as your mama mentioned in his sacred verse."

"If that's the action of God, how come they could not find us earlier in all those thirteen years?"

The police officer replied. "You were on an island in the middle of the Arabian Sea where very few movements take place. Recently, US warships were deployed in the Arabian Sea to oversee the worsening condition of the Middle East. The ships were far off from land and fighter jets were flying inland to spy, taking off from the US carrier." He stopped and searched the map in the diary, and showed it to me. "You were stuck here, and you and your mother were going to India, which is here. Our ship was at this place, the fighter planes took off from here and went here and returned back to the ship," he continued showing the places on the map.

"One afternoon, while returning from one of those sorties, the pilot saw something shining, a mirror, on the beach of a tiny island. So he closed in and took several photos in doubt. The photos were later seen by the sailors aboard and they decided to take a closer look with the help of helicopters. The next day early in the morning, they took off and the rest is as you know it."

"Yes, I'd heard a deafening sound in the afternoon when I was preparing the raft for my voyage. Although I could not see anything, I did not care to find out either." I recalled.

Just then the doctor came in and said, "Your DNA report has come and it has matched with a man in India, your father, whose wife was on the plane that crashed."

"That is good news", said the police officer, "Hope you can see your father soon."

Then the officer took his mobile phone from his pocket and asked, "Do you know what this is?"

"No," I replied.

"We can talk to people anywhere in the world with this."

Then he dialed a phone number in India and on hearing a voice at the other end he said, "Hello... Am I talking to Rashid?"

"Yes, I am Rashid."

"You might have heard about your son, rescued from the island."

"Yes, how is he now? I want to talk to him, can he talk like us, is he ok..." a stream of questions followed.

"Not only can he talk, he even knows many things which you and I don't know. Come over to video chat, you can see him."

Then in that little device I saw my father. He was crying. I could see tears flowing from his eyes. He said, "my son, Muhammad...'

I didn't know what to call him and involuntarily and spontaneously I said 'Mama...'

Because my mama was no less than a father or mother to me.

We did not speak for some time. The police officer took the phone and said to my father, "Hope, you see him soon," and disconnected it.

After a short pause, I asked the man in front of me, "Can we talk to anyone in this world?"

"Yes..."

With tears in my eyes, I asked, "Can you make a call to my mama?"

He held my hand, and whispered, "Dear, he's dead, we cannot talk to dead people. He was rescued from this far bigger island, to another better World, by the real Guardian... the Lord of all worlds. We'll see Him when we reach there."

Two days later on a passenger aircraft, I set out to India to see my real father. Tutu was also with me in a travel container. As the plane went into the air, I looked out through the window at the shrinking earth. I wondered how some souls become so great by having a purpose to help others and I felt as if the earth stood on those great shoulders.

## Chapter 21

Seeing the boy off, officer Joseph stood at the concourse of the airport. He could not believe what happened in the last three days of his life. A boy was rescued miraculously and he told a story that was hard to accept. The only proof for the story he had heard from the boy was now in his hand, the notepad - the memoirs by Krishna and his letter to Muhammad. Though he was in the midst of the enormous crowd, he was lost himself in a world of thoughts. The noisy announcements did not enter into his ears. He looked onto the scribbles and as he flipped the torn pages, a striking question flashed in his mind.

'Am not I in that same position as a stranded boy on a lonely island?' He pondered over the coincidental correlation between the boy's life and the normal life in the world.

' _Are not we living, as the boy on the island, completely believing that this is the only world to live?...'_

The answer to the question was obvious.

'Yes. We do live as if this is the only life to live, because we believe in the dreamlike, perceived existence and we are not aware of an unseen world.' He thought himself into a state of panic over the striking realization.

'Krishna played the role of a 'prophet' with his prophecy, because he was aware of the better world. The writing on the wall was the "Holy Scripts" and the instruction on it was the way to survive from these sufferings and to escape to a superior Place. The Heaven.'

'As the boy was sincere in performing the instructions by the Prophet, his faculties were preserved from losing due to disuse. He was able to find the meaning of the secret words in the script, hence he finally reached his destination, his father...'

Now, the things were becoming clearer to the officer. 'The teachings of the prophets and Holy books... because we are the children and our brain has not developed to the level to understand what our prophets wanted us to learn, so they left the books and paths of righteous life for us. The way to escape is in the Holy books and in those great people's lives... but alas, we don't read those books of wisdom and careless to learn from the lives of those 'prophets'. However though; the righteous path leads to the better world, we don't live as per the great souls wanted us to live.'

He walked out of the airport building. As he opened the door of the car, the sound of an aircraft resonated. He looked up in the clear blue sky, where an aircraft was taking off. He whispered to himself as he knew Muhammad might be looking over the blue expanse of the lonely planet, 'we all are deserted like you, my boy, all the way between our cradles to the graves, judging this planet as "real and the only world," unknown to the fact that a "far better Place – where peace prevails forever" is awaiting us, where we will see our real Protector. The Creator, to Whom all our DNA match.'

Officer Joseph sat inside his car and started it. Slowly, the car moved. He felt it as if it was a fresh journey on the righteous path of life. A new meaning was deriving, and in an unfaltering conviction, he decided to perform a thing, without fail, for the rest of his life: Praise the God and Read the Holy Book; to explore the secret treasures, to live the purposeful life, and to reach the destiny of peace and order.

'My Lord! Make me keep up prayer, and from all the people in the world too... O our Lord, accept my prayer...'

Then sincerely he whispered, 'Amen.'

## The End

Other inspirational books from the author

1

AUTHOR ALMIGHTY

The extraordinary journey of a message in search of a lost boy's family!

The message was written on a slip of paper by Raja, a beggar boy who lives in the slums of Mumbai.

Many years ago, when he was a very young child, a stranger abducted him from the school premises and sold him to a beggar.

Years have gone by, and Raja grew up, begging and suffering the cruel treatments his master inflicted on him. All the while, one thing has remained clear in the back of his mind: the undeniable truth that he did not belong to the beggars' world. The event of his abduction has been haunting him day and night.

Desperately, he wants to go back to his family, but he does not know who his parents are or in which part of the country they live...

One day, heartbroken and longing to find his blood, he scribbles a message on a piece of paper and leaves it in a busy street in Mumbai, believing that the Universe works in such a manner that it brings fortune to the earnest seeker and every atom in the creation works for him.

The message dropped in the street is like a stone thrown into a pond...

It causes a ripple...

The paper silently passes through many hands, travels thousands of miles, crosses rivers and mountains...

Will that ripple reach Raja's parents and reunite the family?

Is his belief true?

Does the Universe work for the earnest seeker?

A gripping story that can take you on an emotional roller-coaster ride.

Read, learn, and get inspired.

To read the free sample please click here:

AUTHOR ALMIGHTY

2

"GUARDED BY THE GREATS"

What would you do if you are suddenly given a boon to travel the time and meet people in the ancient world?

This is a magical story of a boy who receives such a boon. A boy considers taking his own life after realizing a terrible family secret. By twist of fate, his desire to end it all, ends up taking him on an incredible journey through time.

A fable in search of the secret to find the worldly treasure... on a life-changing odyssey in the adventure-filled nights to some of the most brilliant minds ever lived...

Will he discover the secret to the worldly treasures?

Or, will he end up discovering something much more valuable?

The book takes the reader through ancient life and provides spiritual inspiration, joy and abundance of mind... and much more.

In short, it is a fable about living a great life.

Whatever, the boy has to pay a hefty price for his journey... as nothing is free in this world...

Read and get inspired. Achieve your dream and enjoy in the great days ahead; as today is the first day of your rest of life.

To read the free sample please click here:

"GUARDED BY THE GREATS"

Excerpts from some reviews:-

"Another incredible book by Firoz Khan... This is one of my favorite modern inspiration writers."

"A thought provoking read... thoroughly enjoyed...Highly recommended."

"Great read."

A HUMBLE REQUEST

Dear reader, have you enjoyed reading this story? I would be glad to know it from you. If you like this story, then please post a review. I know your time is quite precious but just a 30 seconds of it will be a lot for me.

I have written this story with the best of motives to entertain the reader and to pass the message. Please help me to reach a larger audience by writing a short review, (even if it is a single sentence review, I would be glad to receive it). Your review will motivate me to publish more inspiring novels.

God bless you.

Author's FB page: https://www.facebook.com/firozwriter

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/firozwrites

Email: firozking@gmail.com

With love,

Firoz Khan.

## Acknowledgements

## To my father

My mother, for her prayers

My wife, for her support

My son, for the happiness he brings to me and the inspiration he provided me to write a novel about a child

My friend MR Reyya for providing the knowledge about survival

Above all, to the Supreme God for providing me the ability

to imagine and write. 
