Sunday 9 June 2013

A Future World Order

Topic : After World War III, the female survivors decide that, as men caused the war and did most of the fighting, it is simply too dangerous to allow them to be in control of the governments any longer. Men are banned from government and military service and, after a few years, banned from voting, having an education or having a job outside the home. A young boy, depressed by his limited prospects at home, decides to pose as a girl so he can join the navy.

This is a short story

****

‘Daddy I hate this, why can’t I go to school like Sara my sister to learn, play games and have friends?’

John was rolling out the pastry, but the pin instead of rolling on slipped away and disheveled it into a rugged lump. ‘Damn it’, he swore at it and lamented, ‘I will never make it right’.  It rung inside the big kitchen like an echo of his self-doubt that had been cram-ming into him for some time now, the doubt about himself as to how worth his life had become in the new dispensation.  In the previous dispensation-when the roosters ruled the world.- he was a police officer and had earned badges and accolades for keeping law and order in a big city immaculate. He held his both palms, over the rugged pastry lump and doubted, ‘how have they handled live ammunitions once, if they cannot use a silly rolling pin now?’

Mary had earlier messaged him, ‘John, please arrange lunch for two more people; they are my seniors and do not disappoint me this time’. Why can’t she take them to some fancy restaurants, he thought, she knew, I could only disappoint her. He was only doing what she had asked him to do, not on account of his preference, and there was no chance for he getting better at it. Since he received Mary’s message his head was pounding in a headache.

‘Dad, answer me, I want to know it now?’

Job has been asking that question for some time now. John felt pity for his son. Many a time he got himself ready to tell him everything but had retracted doubting whether Job would take them easily or had time come right.

‘Ok, I shall answer you Job, but after lunch; now, how about let me do this pastry. I am trying to make a special dish for lunch, your mummy messaged, there would be two guests for lunch’

‘Is it a promise Dad?’

‘Yes it is’.

John turned on to the pastry. When done with it, he spread an oilpaper over it, rolled it packed into a plastic bag and shoved into the fridge.

Then he opened the deep freezer and stared at the packets of vegetables and non-vegetables he himself had stored in. ‘How could I make that special dish that wouldn’t disappoint Mary?’ he had no idea. In the end he picked up a packet of red mince and thrust it into the microwave before pressing the defrost button.

‘Daddy, I am thinking about you as well, how come that you never get a chance to go outside like mummy? Are you happy here, to stay always in the kitchen and indoors?’

The question brought tears into Johns’ eyes, his son talks like a big man, he had only passed 17; using the apron towel he wiped the tears off his eyes. He wouldn’t show his pain to Job, he was already depressed.

‘You are right, sometimes it frustrates me too, but’

‘Have you tried to get out of here?’

‘No’

‘Why?’

‘That is a big story’

‘You can’t tell me. I am strong enough to hear your story’.

‘Ok, I will tell you everything after lunch’

Job looked happy. The Kitchen Maid by then had finished her round. He pulled open its handle, unloaded its contents -plates, dishes, spoons and glasswares –and stored them away into the designated places in the cupboards. Since the time the father and the son started managing the kitchen they had agreed to share the home chores between them.

He picked up the laundry baskets from the bathrooms, lifted them to the laundry room, sorted the linens according to their soil, loaded the first batch into the washing machine, added soap power and fabric softener, set the dials and switched it on.  Then he moved on to feed the pets- two Labradors and one Ceylon parakeet.  The Labradors wagged their tails and jumped around him while he dropped the pellet feed into their bowls.  The parakeet made a lot of undecipherable noises from its cage, when it saw him.

On normal days, when he was done with his chores and John with his coking, they two settle down with their learning and teaching session. John kept the session a secretive affair and had asked Job to keep it that way. Why should, it be so, Job had asked him many times; but he wouldn’t give a straight answer other than promising, one day he would disclose.

***

That day they did not sit down in the morning for learning, but after lunch.  Job was looking forward to hear that big secret from his father as he had promised when he entered into the learning place. He liked hearing stories.  He was seventeen, if he had gone to school, he would be in grade 10 or 11.

‘Ok dad the lunch was excellent’ Job told to boost up his spirit.

‘But your mommy was not impressed’

‘Why can’t then mummy cook for one day or at least show you how to cook better’

‘Um, she is busy’, Job thought his father said that to please him.

‘But she liked the dessert’.  John was pleased to say that.

When the two were settled, John started the long promised story.

‘It is not a story as such Job, it is the blatant history of our human race, a shameful one though, shameful for the majority of the male population that lived here and lives on, the majority among the lived are now dead and what they did forbids me even to mention their names’.  That was how he introduced it.

Then he carried on and a brief summary of what he told was like this:



In the beginning, there was the land and then came the people. They were modest, respectful, gentle, just, loving and caring. Humanity thrived in its every endeavour. There were good and bad among them; but the good always prevailed over the bad; and the bad bettered themselves or tried to be better.

Perhaps in the process of evolution the evil begot more powerful evil; the evil always wanted to bring calamity into the world.  For that, they created gods, devils and religions.  Gods and the religions ruled over the weak for them and the devils organised the strong and the powerful for them. In the past 3000 years, there happened an incredible increase in the god’s population and in the spread of religions; their secret roles in war and conquer, many haven’t grasped yet. But the nexus between religion and politics is not a secret. One of the lethal discovery of that nexus in the 19th century was racism; it classified humans into super, best, better, worst and useless objects, with females confined to the last.  Females fought against it, but in many cases they could not find success and so, gave up on it. (True many females joined their male counter parts in oppression) Theories of racism and oppression were made and justified, books were written to eulogize discrimination, deprivation and aggression.

According to the best of those theories, occupation and territorial aggression became the right of the civilized and the powerful that belonged to the so called ‘super races’; what evolved out of that was the most criminal human on human exploitation-colonisation. World Wars happened as a direct consequence to that. Already three WWs, I, II and III were fought and the last one started in 2030 and ended in 2032; it would have continued if the supply of trained men hadn’t stopped.

One notable thing was that all the three WWs and the situations leading to them had happened under the leadership of men. All organisations and institutions that directly or indirectly involved in carrying out and supporting the wars were men or women who thought like men.

So when the WW III ended, the majority females all over the world got united and decided to take over the world leadership on condition that men were banished from all positions of leadership and responsibility; meant they were banned from all public places and offices.

Now, 13 years have passed after the banning was finally ratified into orders and in the meantime, females have made remarkable improvement if not turned this world into a perfect one. The most important of their reformation was to banish all world leaders including heads of states, into distant islands where they were asked to settle down with the farming under female supervision.  Another excellent action from their side was the banning of all religions and of the god men and the women, the leeches that thrived on fabricated lies like human sins, otherworld, heaven and hell and the destructive constructions like holly rituals, holly cross, holy war, terrorism, etc were also packed away into the farmlands.  As a result, now the food-shortages and poverty have become a thing of the past.

***

Job gave a big sigh when John had finished the narration.

‘So Dad, are you saying that this is a fair dispensation’

‘It is, son; if the men had continued ruling this world, it would have become a lost land by now’

‘But what have I done, dad, why am I banned from having an education?’

‘You are right. They are unfair on you and many like you. So I have a made plan for you’

‘What plan dad?’

John unveiled his plan before Job.  A week ago, he watched on the TV that a girl’s navy recruitment team was visiting a nearby place, in the coming week.  He wanted Job to appear for the recruitment.

‘But how could I, I am a boy’

‘Listen you become a girl’

‘How?’

‘You can be Sara, your sister. Look at this’, he pulled out of his apron pocket, Saras’ ID book, opened its font page; there was a photograph of Sara.  ‘If you change your hair style a bit, you are Sara’.

Job looked at Saras’ photograph, Sara was 15 when she took that photograph; she looked like a boy in it because there was no make up on her face. It showed she was in a tea-shirt.

‘But what would Sara do?’

‘She can report to the police that her ID is lost, when she finds it out, and once the police had established that it was lost she could apply for another one’

‘This is the only chance for you, you have to make it good’

Job thought, his father was right.

‘This is Sara’s old cell phone’. Job took the phone in his hand and turned it around; so far he was not allowed to use a cell phone.

‘From today on, you are Sara, you have to mentally and physically accept that, is that ok’

Job agreed.

‘So next week, I am leaving you Dad?’ his words got chocked at his throat.

He moved towards John and hugged him. The separation was unbearable to both.

‘Who is going to help you once I am gone, dad?’; he was sobbing.

‘I will manage; Job and you too will manage. You are a brave boy’

‘And when I am gone, what would you tell mom’

‘Don’t worry; I will tell her something, what, I have to find out. But you get ready for the recruitment’.

***

At the Navy recruitment centre a week later:

There were more than 10 applicants. They were asked to take seats in a hall and were given application forms to fill in their personal details. Job filled in all his details searching through Sara’s ID book.

Once they had filled in the application forms, each had to face an informal interview. After the interview they were seated back in the hall and in a short while the result was announced. Sara Johnson Smith was one among the new recruits.

____________
Written By : Prasanna Raghavan
Original Post at : India Blooming

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