Respite

With the call for the Morning Prayer his eyes groggily let themselves open.

Lying in bed with that distinct smell of hospital ward all around felt strangely soothing. It seemed justifiable to find himself there; a necessary conclusion to all the nonsense that was piling up in his mind. How during the past few weeks he had wished to fall ill just so he can get a break from life itself. It always felt like as if a stage is being set for something far worse or like sitting in trenches just before a massive war is about to be waged; the deathly silence before the first shot is fired.

There was no familiar face around except for that nurse engrossed in a women’s digest, leaning comfortably in her chair. They had got acquainted as he had shifted from consciousness to unconsciousness during the past week.

“Allah will suffice thee, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing” (2:137), he loved reciting this verse from Quran. It was the verse on which blood was spilt when trying to save her husband; a wife’s fingers were chopped off. He was not sure what made this verse so special to him. Was it the words which consoled him even in depths of despair or the impact of that event where love made someone parry a sword with bare hands?

Lying there in the bed was like being in a state of deep meditation; the lying Buddha. For quite some time he had wanted to shy away from daily routine and spend some quality time all alone. He envied the saints for whom the worth of this world reduced to nothing. What a blessing that could be, he wondered.

The television was muted and one of those nauseating political talk shows was up; Pakistan’s way to tackle Indian soaps. The incessant prattle was getting on nation’s nerves. At least the world hasn’t changed since he was admitted to the hospital.

He had regained consciousness and it would not be very late before doctors discover that. He closed his eyes ridding his mind of all that was past, present and future. He had to cherish those few moments of bliss before he was discharged and flushed out into the world.