All's well that ends well

 All's well that ends well

"Oh! My God!" squeaked the little mouse shivering in fear. He was unable to bear the angry glare of his master Lord Ganesha who held him in a tight clasp.

"You wretch! Do you realise the magnitude of the horror of what you have done?" thundered Lord Ganesha in uncontained wrath.

"I am innocent, my Lord! I did nothing!" implored the puny creature shaking all over in fear.

"Did nothing? you wicked liar! you think it is easy to hoodwink me? You think I don't know where you have been gallivanting?" roared Lord Ganesha with unabated fury.

The terrified mouse looked up with disbelief. The little mouse had never seen his master so enraged.

"When I saw you sneaking into Lord Rudhra's arsenal I thought you were again at your silly pranks."

"Believe me, my Lord! I went there only to play a little game of hide and seek with my friends! wailed the mouse pathetically.

"But what happened when you scampered all over the nooks and corners of that highly dangerous place? You toppled the Corona virus vial and broke it!"

The mouse bowed its head in shame in front of the omniscient Lord.

"You rascal! You not only broke the vial but rolled over the spilt contents before you made good you escape to Wuhan in China! You stupid brat, do you know how horrid your act is?" continued the Lord accusing the unsuspecting little mouse.

"The meat market was tempting me very much, my Lord. I just wanted to nibble at the fruit bat!" confessed the criminal.

"Huh! you despicable glutton! You are not satisfied with gobbling all the platefuls of laddus and modhagams my devotees offer me!"

The culprit remained silent being caught red-handed.

"Look at Wuhan! It is now like a war scene from a Hollywood horror movie!"

The mouse closed its eyes to shut out the scene!

"Thousands of sneezing, coughing, gasping people are hospitalised and treated by doctors and nurses round the clock!"

"Really I never meant any harm, my Lord!" pleaded the poor mouse.

"Shut up, you rogue! The hospitals were full too soon and make-shift beds were provided! And people continued to die in hundreds because there is no cure for this powerful virus!"

The mouse was overwhelmed with guilt.

But the Lord continued to vent his wrath, "The contagion spreads faster than wildfire, you fool! It cannot be contained easily. It spread far and wide wreaking havoc all the way. It travelled not only to Japan, Korea, Malasia and Singapore but also to all the Gulf countries, European countries, Canada and the United States!"

A painful sigh escaped from the Lord and he continued in an anguished tone:"All the precautions, masks, handwashing, social distancing and indefinite curfews could not control the deadly Corona's contagion!"

The mouse's beady eyes shone in utter horror and disbelief. Lord Ganesha continued in his booming voice:"Do you realise how badly you have wrecked the life of the people? Corona attacks mercilessly. Children and old people easily succumb to it! It is heartrending to see euthanasia being resorted to in Milan letting old patients die giving priority to young people when the hospitals were faced with the crisis of lack of facilities to accomodate the avalanche of patients!"

The Lord's voice was choked with emotion. After pausing for a while he continued:"Look at the lockouts! Educational institutions are closed. Office-goers are asked to work from home. Temples, churches and mosques are closed. Annual festivals are cancelled. restaurants, malls and departmental stores are closed. Planes, trains and buses haved stopped service. Curfew restraints have simplified marriages and funerals to drab affairs attended by about 15 people. And the saddest truth is Corona continues to hold the world at ransom. More and more people are getting infected and more and more deaths are reported."

Tears flowed down the eyes of the mouse who was stricken with remorse and guilt. He felt ashamed for having reduced the world to this hellish state.

The duo sunk in their own gloomy thoughts were taken aback by the sudden appearance of of Lord Rudhra in front of them.

"Hi, guys! what makes you both feel so tragic?" asked the Almighty his lips curled in a mischievous smile.

"My Lord! don't you know what is happening in the planet earth?" asked Lord Ganesha unbelievingly.

"Yes, I do, my son because it was I who willed it!" answered Lord rudhra very quietly.

"What? You willed this colossal depopulation? Why, dad? Why?" screamed Lord Ganesha.

"The people on earth needed a corrector, Ganesha. So, I sent Corona virus to cause great disater," calmly replied the Almighty God.

"I do not understand, my Lord! Will you please explain?" said Lord Ganesha submissively.

Lord Rudhra began to explain:"For the past few decades I felt unhappy seeing the people on earth going overboard with their ventures into science and technology. Extraordinarily excessive usage of electricity had very serious consequences affecting the people and the planet. they are too many and variegated like deforestation and increased radiation everywhere. Man in his supreme arrogance and ambition trespassed into the cosmos crowding the blanket of the planet with countless satellites. He grew more and more greedy to increase comforts and to indulge in carnal pleasures."

"Oh! I see!" put in Lord Ganesha after listening with rapt attention to what Lord Rudhra said.

The Lord continued:"All his motives were selfish. I wanted to send a leveller to show that regardless of culture, religion, occupation, financial position all are equal. I wanted man to understand the false borders he has put up are meaningless and that what affects one person has an effect on another."

"Wow! Exactly what Corona has been proving making a mockery of all political borders and making man to see brotherhood in dire situations," conceded Lord Ganesha.

"Listen! There is more!" continued the Almighty God, "I wanted man to know the value of health which he had started to neglect gorging manufactured foods and gulping down contaminated bottled water. food, water and medicine are the only essentials he needed and not all the materialistic acquisitions he was greedily making."

"Absolutely true proves the Corona experience! The compulsory lockouts and isolation have brought him back to wholesome, fresh, home-made food!" agreed Lord Ganesha.

"I wanted to pull him out of the cocoon of electronic gadget and spend quality time with his family," continued Lord Rudhra.

"Ya, ya! There is noticeable gadget deaddiction after the Corona attack," nodded Lord Ganesha.

"I wanted to teach him humility" asserted Lord Rudhra.

"Don't worry. corona has has punctured his ego, alright!" giggled Lord Ganesha.

"I wanted to give him a chance to be a nice person cooperating with his fellowmen and feel happy instead of being mean and selfish," added Lord Rudhra.

Lord Ganesha looked up at Lord Rudhra with awe and admiration.

Lord Rudhra continued, "I wanted him to see the earth is sick because of thoughtless deforestation, unplanned urbanisation, reckless destruction of the habitats of other living creatures which have every right to live freely and happily in their habitats. from the common sparrow to the arctic whale the whole food chain is facing danger from man. Many rare species of birds and animals are already extinct and many more are on the brink of extinction. Man must follow the policy of live and let live," said Lord Rudhra vehemently.

"Ah! the dolphins have come back to frolic in the Venice waters after continuous absence of the gondolas. Geese families now cross freely across the empty airport floors," exclaimed Lord Ganesha joyously clapping his hands.

"Ganesha, I have one last question to ask you. During these tough times of the global pandemic did you observe the general mood and behaviour of the people? Did they panic or maintained poise?" asked Lord Rudhra.

Ganesha replied: "In this era of communication even while in prolonged isolation with the availability of internet whatsapp, facebook and twitter became convenient channels for sharing updates, ideas, advices, videos and announcements about prevention of Corona infection.The volume of information exchanged is huge and astounding. But the comedy in it is much of it was pure rubbish. people knowingly or unknowingl passed on fake news and unauthentic claims. it must have been a tough job to remove the chaff from the grain! I don't know how many panicked and how many wore a brave front. But one thing was clear: there was no dearth of wit and humour in mankind!"

"Well, that is heartening news!" laughed Lord rudhra and added "this crisis will soon be over. As a silver lining behind this Corona virus cloud you might have observed considerable decrease in the air pollution as a result of all vehicular traffic emitting dangerous quantities of bad gases having been stopped for long periods of curfews."

The revelation stunned Lord ganesha.

"Such cleansing episodes have already happened in history. Yes, it is true that the price paid is heavy, the lessons learnt are bitter, but the event is necessary. Hope mankind has learnt its lessons well and need not be reminded again and made to suffer," concluded Lord Rudhra.

A sigh of relief came from Ganesha as he clinched the story saying "All's well that ends well."

(My unselected entry for Notionpress contest)