One

 

I stood there, bewildered. I could not remember how I arrived at this place.

 

The sky was clear and starry. The place was deserted except for an object that stood at a small distance from me. I walked towards it.

 

It was an astronomical telescope.

 

I leaned, adjusted the telescope, and started exploring the sky. Jupiter got my attention first. I enjoyed the magnificent view of Jupiter and its moons.

 

Then there was Saturn. I savoured the sight of the beautiful rings that encircled the planet.

 

That was when I noticed another planet. At first, I could not recognize it. I focused my telescope and zoomed in.

 

As I kept looking, I felt a chilling sensation! 

 

I couldn't believe my eyes!

 

I was looking at the earth!

 

 

 

I woke up to the sound of the alarm. It was 6 AM in the morning.

 

 

 

Two

 

"So, another dream?" Rekha asked, holding my hands as we walked through the beach.

 

I nodded.

 

"Ok. Tell me about it." She demanded.

 

I felt relieved that Rekha was with me. Perhaps, she was the only human being who believed that I was not crazy.

 

"This time, the dream was very clear and vivid. I was at a deserted place, observing the sky through an astronomical telescope. I could find earth in the sky." I said.

 

Rekha walked along, listening with attention.

 

"Jupiter and Saturn were much bigger and closer than how they would appear from earth. One more curious thing was that I could not find Mars in the sky." I said.

 

Rekha nodded, realizing the implication of what I just said.

 

"So, putting the pieces together, most likely I was standing on Mars in the dream". I concluded.

 

Rekha faced me and said, "You are an imaginative guy, Anand. It is great to be able to see such vivid and diverse dreams. I hope this will inspire another Science fiction work from you."

 

She was right. Most of my fiction work was inspired by my dreams. But I had a gut feeling that these were not ordinary dreams. Though it did not make any logical sense, my intuition kept telling me that these were real memories. I had a nagging feeling that the incidents I was seeing in dreams actually happened at some point of time. 

 

"Rekha," I said. "I know I am sounding crazy again. I still have that feeling that I do not fully belong here. I had a forgotten past, in which I lived somewhere outside of our planet."

 

Rekha held my hand again and chuckled. "Yes, you are sounding crazy again, but don’t worry. I know you are not crazy."

 

She added in an assuring tone. "Anand, you can talk to me any time. I will help in keeping you grounded."

 

"But you need to connect one more dot, Rekha." I said, "Remember what I told you about my past? I was found unconscious in a forest as a small boy. I had no memory of who I was when they found me." 

 

Rekha nodded.

 

I said. "That means, none knows who I was, or how I ended up in that forest. So, we cannot rule out the possibility that I had an extra-terrestrial past."

 

Rekha would not give up. "Think again Anand. You know about Mars. You know that the Martian atmosphere is not suitable for human life. So, there is no chance that you could have lived in Mars."

 

I said. "Well. Mars is not habitable now, but it might become habitable in future. Some scientists have envisioned a process called Terraforming, which aims at conducting controlled nuclear explosions on the Martian surface to transform its atmosphere in such a way that humans can live there. This might become a reality in the next century."

 

"But that is in the future." Rekha argued. "But you are referring to a past memory."

 

"Who knows," I pondered with a grin, "that my memory is actually a memory from the future?" 

 

"What do you mean?" Rekha frowned.

 

I said. "What if I time-travelled from a future point of time where Martian life is possible?"

 

Rekha held my hand again and said. "Anand, what you are looking for, is a sense of belonging. I can understand the pain of being an orphan and growing up as a loner. Your subconscious mind is making up such vivid stories so that you can escape this pain."

 

After a pause, she said reassuringly. "But I want you to know that I am always there for you. If you choose to embrace reality, you will never be lonely again. There is no need to escape into a make-believe world to ease your pain. You are being loved in the real world."

 

 

 

Three

 

I stood before the telescope, still bewildered. I knew that I was dreaming.

 

That was when I noticed that my body was smaller than usual. I was not the grown-up man I used to be in the real world. I was a small boy. I checked my reflection on the steel plate that was part of the tripod that supported the telescope. There was my ten-year-old self looking back at me! 

 

I turned my attention from myself to the telescope once again. I started zooming in the telescope and appreciating the beauty of earth's oceans and continents.

 

"Beautiful. Isn't it?" A voice said from behind.

 

I turned back in shock. There stood a tall lean old man wearing round spectacles.

 

"What sight is more beautiful than viewing our long-lost home from an unreachable distance? What longing is stronger than the longing to get back to the warmth of home?" The old man spoke poetically.

 

"Who are you? What is this place? Why am I here?" I asked

 

"So many questions." He remarked as he walked towards me.

 

Extending his arm towards the telescope, he asked. "May I?"

 

I let him grab the telescope. He zoomed in and looked.

 

The man said. "It all started when the ice caps in earth's poles melted due to global warming, causing the sea level to rise everywhere on earth."

 

He continued speaking, while taking effort to look through the telescope. "Oceans swallowed many major cities. Many islands disappeared into the ocean. In every continent on earth, people from coastal areas flew to inlands as refugees."

 

I listened in shock. The old man was speaking about incidents that happened on earth as if they happened in the past tense.

 

He continued. "But the inlands were not safe either. Sharp increase in temperature made living almost impossible in tropical regions close to the equator. So, there was another migration of people from equatorial regions to north and south. Poor souls had to leave everything behind and travel to lands where they were not welcome."

 

Looking towards me, he said. "And that triggered the climate wars. Instead of working together, countries invaded other countries in desperate attempts to gain more land and resources for their people."

 

"To add on to the misery," he continued, taking his attention back to the telescope. "Air and the oceans became so polluted that many animal and plant life forms became extinct."

 

His face became grave "The final blow to humanity was delivered when a country misfired a nuclear warhead. The country on the receiving end retaliated with another nuclear warhead. The allied countries who had nuclear power joined the brawl and the situation escalated to a nuclear holocaust which eliminated half of the human population."

 

He came near me and put his hand on my shoulder as he said. "The dust and smoke covered the earth's atmosphere blocking sunlight, thereby triggering a Nuclear winter. Those who were left, eventually died. And trust me boy, they had painful deaths."

 

He concluded. "Mars had been terraformed and made habitable. I am the descendent of the people who migrated from earth and settled here in Mars. While every human being on earth perished, we, the Martian humans survived."

 

The man became silent.

 

Slowly, I gained my composure and I asked him. "What year is this?"

 

"As per the earth calendar you follow, the year is AD 2322." He replied calmly.

 

Then I unleashed all the questions that I had suppressed in my mind.

 

"Who am I? Is this a dream? Or is this a real memory stored in my head playing out as a dream? If this is a real memory, does that mean I am a Martian human? If yes, how did I travel back in time and lived in the 21st century?"

 

Old man stood up with a thoughtful face. He said. "You deserve an answer. Don't you?"

 

 

 

Once again, the alarm bell woke me up. The time was 6 AM.

 

"Oh...no! Damn it, damn it, damn it!" I yelled.

 

I wanted this dream to continue. I wanted to hear what the old man had to say. I felt desperate.

 

 

 

Four

 

Impatience and helplessness took over me. I paced through the bedroom.

 

I found my mobile phone, and dialled Rekha. Rekha's energetic voice answered the call. I guessed she might be in the middle of her morning workout.

 

I gave her the full account of the dream I just had. I described the encounter between my ten-year-old self and the mysterious old man in vivid detail.

 

Rekha was silent for a while. Then she asked. "Anand, do you remember how we fell in love?"

 

Before I spoke, she answered it herself. "It started when I read your science fiction Novel "The pale blue home".

 

I listened intently.

 

“The pale blue home” was a novel into which I had put my heart and soul. I chose that name for the novel as a tribute to the famous photograph of earth taken by the Voyager 1 space probe in 1990 which is named “The pale blue dot”. 

 

She continued. "Apart from presenting a thrilling plot to the readers, the novel delivered a touching message to humanity that, in this vast universe, our earth, our mother planet, is and will always be our true home. Amidst all weirdness and injustice in this world, your story stressed the imminent need for human beings to unite and work together to solve the common problems that threaten the very existence of our species."

 

I felt touched by Rekha's words.

 

"You have a gift, Anand." Rekha said. "These dreams are nothing but whispers from your heart. Don't let those whispers go in vain. Capture them. Write them down. Share it with the world. That is what you need right now. And trust me, the world needs it too."

 

I felt happy after my conversation with Rekha. I made myself a cup of tea, took out my laptop and sat on the couch with the intention of writing down my dream.

 

But in a few minutes, I drifted off to sleep.

 

 

 

Five

 

The old man and I sat on two adjacent chairs. It was the same desert, but the telescope was at a distance. The old man was pouring me a cup of tea.

 

With shivering old hands, he extended the cup to me. I accepted it. He settled himself with another cup.

 

He spoke. "My name is Roger Bernes. I am an Astrophysicist. My area of research involves developing the technology to create artificial wormholes."

 

I nodded.

 

I recalled that wormholes are portals that could connect different places and times in the universe. For example, suppose there is a wormhole connecting Delhi in the year 2022 with Athens in BC 300. The Delhi end of the wormhole would appear as a mysterious dark circle. You might just walk into it, and onlookers will see you disappearing without trace. But you will reappear on the other end of the wormhole, and you will find yourself in Athens in 300 BC.

 

In the 21st century, a wormhole was just a theoretical concept which had its foundation on Einstein's theory of general relativity. But apparently, in the 23rd century, Mr. Roger Bernes is talking about creating a real wormhole!

 

I once again regained my focus and asked my burning question. "Who am I? And is this just a dream, or a real memory?"

 

Old Roger zipped his tea and said. "I am sorry my boy. I know you partially, but not fully."

 

I asked in a confused tone. "What do you mean?"

 

Mr. Bernes pondered what to say for a moment. Then he said, "Well, I do not know who you are in my world. But I know who you were in the 21st century."

 

He looked at my further puzzled expression and went on explaining. "There is a high chance that you are a Martian boy born in the 23rd century who travelled to 21st century earth through the wormhole I created. Other end of my wormhole opens up to the forest where they found you unconscious as a ten-year-old boy."

 

I felt goosebumps in my stomach when I sensed that the dots were slowly getting connected by themselves!

 

I asked in excitement. "So, you know who I was in the 21st century? Then tell me about it, so that I can be sure that you are telling the truth."

 

Mr. Bernes shook his head and said. "Who you are matters so little my dear. But what matters are the gifts you gave the world. What matters are the lives you touched with your work. What matters is the positive impact you created on the progression of human civilization."

 

I was growing impatient hearing old Roger's poetic, but unhelpful answer.

 

Roger continued. "You touched many lives, Mr. Anand Kumar."

 

I was shocked hearing him uttering my name. But Roger continued, ignoring that. "Especially, you touched the life of a Martian boy who read your book and got curious about decoding the mysteries of our vast universe, so that he grew up to become the Astrophysicist who created the first artificial wormhole."

 

I shouted out loud, "You mean, you...."

 

While I was searching for words, Mr. Bernes took out a paperback book from his small duffle bag. With shivering hands, he handed it over to me.

 

It was a copy of "The pale blue home"!

 

Mr. Bernes put an arm on my shoulder and continued. "But it is a pity that you wrote only one book. I wish you had written more. Maybe if you did, a million people could have read it. Out of the million, a thousand could have realized the urgency of doing what they can to save planet earth by fighting climate change, by choosing clean energy, by not polluting land and oceans and above all by treating our fellow species on earth with compassion."

 

He concluded in a shivering voice. "If that happened, maybe, I wish, maybe, the tragedy that hit earth could have been avoided, or at least delayed a little."

 

Mr. Bernes sighed deeply and leaned back on his chair. My excitement gave way to an unusual calmness that my mind had not experienced in years.

 

There were a few minutes of silence.

 

I stood up and said. "Mr. Bernes, I still do not know who I am. But I know what I need to do."

 

He looked at me with hope in his eyes.

 

I asked. "Where is the wormhole you and your team created?"

 

Roger pointed his hands towards his right. I looked in that direction and found a two-dimensional shape floating in the atmosphere. It was a giant dark circle.

 

"Goodbye, Mr. Bernes" I bid him farewell.

 

"Goodbye, my dear boy." Mr. Bernes greeted me back.

 

I started walking towards the giant wormhole. But I stopped halfway and turned towards Mr. Bernes and said. "I promise Mr. Bernes. "The pale blue home" won't be the only piece Anand Kumar would be writing."

 

Mr. Bernes nodded. His eyes reflected hope.

 

I turned and walked towards the wormhole. I knew that I would reappear in the 21st century earth. The Forest guards would find a boy lying unconscious in the middle of the forest. Everything would start over again.

 

 

 

I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing. Display in my phone read "Rekha calling".

 

I answered the phone.

 

"Hello Mr. Dreamer," Rekha teased. "I’m off work today. Why don't we meet?”

 

"Sure. We have a lot to talk about." I replied.

 

THE END