Kicking my way to Heaven

Kicking my way to Heaven

When I was about 7 or 8 years old, I used to walk to school hardly a km away from where I lived and used to be so carefree without a worry or a care about kicking pebbles or small stones along my path. It used to be so much fun, being able to aim a kick to an intended destination. Of course when I got home I used to look silly with the kick marks clearly visible over my finely polished shoes. The marks would be erased the next day with more sooth added to the leather. Those were the days I did not fear anything in my path, I could whistle, I could sing, I could throw pebbles or stones without reason at empty spaces and feel that I was growing up.

Though I was carefree my poor parents must have been utterly worried what with my shoes opening their mouth like a fish taken out of water. The Local cobbler had his day tied up with the little naughty ones all lined up with their mouth wide open waiting to be shut ready for another day of battle ample proof of our pastime. 

Those were the days when we all coexisted peacefully; there weren’t any cracks or divisions amongst us, even though we were of different religions and denominations. We all had fun and we all enjoyed our time under the sun. Never did I think that a day would come when I would have to keep my playful legs in check, or it would be blown up by roadside plants. I never dreamt of reaching heaven with a harmless kick that so reminded me of my childhood and those playful times.

Unfortunately I am now in heaven because I forgot that the world of today is highly explosive what with different sects and religions all trying to prove its superiority. Along the way I forgot that in trying to prove ones superiority the pebbles and stones on the way have changed to little handmade explosive devices. Was it my fault that I did not care to be troubled by the world, all I wanted was to earn a few bucks for the family and live life joyfully kicking about in a playful manner.

All I do now is pray in heaven “God forgive them for they do not know what they do”. By ‘they’ I mean all these destructive forces anywhere in the world that are out to kill one another. I pray for peace to return and a new dawn when my children would be able to kick around like me. I pray for the peace and calmness that once engulfed my childhood. I pray so that my children may experience what joy I had living life the way I lived. I shall keep praying for the others so that they do not end up like me.

Robin Varghese- robin_vargh@yahoo.com

This article appeared in the Daily Tribune, Bahrain dated 7^th November 2012

(inspiration from little roadside bombs going off in Bahrain as a new ploy by the fighting parties to reassert their prominence and of people dying from just kicking something that seems harmless)