A Letter to Time

Dear Time,

Over the years, we have had a bittersweet relationship. You brought me the best things of my life, the most cherished memories. You gave me reason to wake up everyday and face you. And in my naivety, I believed you will let me keep them.

I didn’t realize that it was just a sick game to you. The sweet memories, the promise of you becoming better, even my loved ones — they were all just you dangling fruits in front of me and then making them go sour as I reached out for them.

You have taken countless human lives, and eventually, you will erase all of humanity from existence. As if, the uncountable mass of dreams, hopes, aspirations and pain that is each human life, never existed. We are just transient players in the grand play of time. Here one moment, gone the next.

You do mend heart breaks. Rightly it is said, Time heals all wounds. But you do it just to break us all over again. And today, I defy you. I refuse to play your twisted games for your amusement. I see the path you have laid down for me. I know you want me to work hard, marry the woman I love, start a family and then when I achieve some semblance for happiness — watch helplessly as you take it all away.

In the name of every human life that was, is or will be, I defy you. I can feel the weakness creeping in but better the poison of my choice than you taking away everything that was ever precious to me. Every breath that I draw may be your courtesy, but every breath that I won’t draw is a rejection to your slavery. It may be impossible to be free from you. And yet, I nurture a small hope that in time, we just might do it. And as darkness fills my vision and soul, this small hope you cannot snatch away.

Your greatest enemy,
Anirudh Jain