Artwork by- Mads Eneqvist
21 November, 2028
Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
“No, dad. I don’t want to wear this thing, it irritates me. See, I got rashes on my face because of it!”
Here the day starts, as always, with the adorable tantrums of little Agastya.
“But beta, if you don’t wear this, Police Uncle will lock you up in jail. Who will buy double chocolate-chip cookies for my Aggu there? Come on, my intelligent boy! Ah! Very Good!” It is an oxygen mask. The authorities have strictly recommended the use of oxygen masks for the next two months, at least. By the way, Noida has made a new milestone—of being the most polluted area in the world for a week! Happy Diwali! Wait, what? What do you mean it is not a milestone? Look at the international attention it is getting! Look at the positives, dear.
“Dad.”
“Yes, beta.”
“Are all of us going to die?” asks Agastya in the metro innocently.
“What? Who told you that? Hahaha, no, beta. No one will die,” Abhinav replies, wondering about the source of such negativity in his son.
“There was a lady on the internet who was saying that no one will be able to breathe and everyone will die. She was saying something about popution, or something, I don’t know…” says Agastya, worried like an eighteen-year-old who had just clicked the ‘check JEE result’ button and the site was buffering (maybe, just like his future).
“Popution?" Abhinav laughs and replies, "Beta, it is pollution. And I told you no one will die. Everyone will be happy.”
“Is pollution a monster? Will it eat me?”
“Well, it is not a monster, but it's no less than one. It eats up people who don’t wear their oxygen masks properly.”
“Oh nooo! Sorry! I will wear the mask everyday!” cries Agastya.
“Good boy! Mera pyara baccha.”
“Dad, did it eat my Mumma, too?”
Abhinav’s heart drops and he starts panicking. What should I say to him? Shall I tell him the truth? No, no! We are in the metro, I will tell him some other day. “No, beta. I told you na, God called her to help him with his work. She works there.” Agastya doesn’t reply. He has never seen his mother.
Ankita, Abhinav’s wife and Agastya’s mother, was an elegant woman. But a tiny virus had taken her away from them when Agastya was only two months old in the year 2021. The virus was named COVID-19.
Abhinav regains his senses with the announcement in the metro. ‘Next station is Mayur Vihar. Doors will open on the left. Please mind the gap.’ He drops Agastya at his daycare and goes to his office. This is the daily routine. He drops Agastya at daycare where he attends his online classes, plays with some of his friends and stays there till 7 p.m. when Abhinav comes and takes Aggu home. Sometimes, they have dinner at a restaurant on their way back home. Abhinav is a very hardworking person indeed!
“1054 deaths in Delhi NCR in the last 24 hours! What? Is this a joke? What are the authorities doing? We don’t even have enough oxygen masks,” says Anushk, a co-worker of Abhinav.
“Seems like masks are the biggest enemy of the 21st century,” replies Abhinav, remembering how similar the situation was in 2021. Daily death reports, wearing masks, shortage of oxygen cylinders. Ufff. What a deadly era.
“Oh! It’s so irritating. Let me remove the oxygen mask for a few minutes.” Anushk removes his mask and is able to work freely for a full 4 minutes and 21 seconds. What an achievement! A normal person can remove his mask in Delhi NCR for 4 minutes without any difficulty, WHO has said. After that, the person may face issues in breathing freely.
"Seems like my respiratory system is better than average people, thanks to my childhood Yoga teacher," giggles Anushk.
This is the dangerous monster eating up a thousand people everyday in Delhi, 24,000 people everyday in India and over 3 lakh people everyday in the world. There is a complete ban on diesel and petrol private cars in many states. People have to use public transportation. Afforestation is finally being practiced after the monster has arrived, which is just as effective as studying after exams. And the worst thing: people have to wear oxygen masks and carry a small oxygen cylinder everywhere they go, in all of the major cities and many of the small towns. In Delhi particularly, it is as much needed as water. Anyone who removes their mask for more than four minutes in Delhi starts experiencing difficulty in breathing. Eight hours is the maximum amount of time a person has survived without a mask. The authorities have done a very good job of circulating oxygen masks and cylinders for free in large numbers to everyone, which is helping to keep the death rate very low. They celebrate their success. The government proudly announces these achievements to secure votes.
And the people? They still celebrate Diwali and Chhath Puja by bursting firecrackers, because how can you even think of festivals without pollution? This is the biggest reason for the severe condition in Delhi and the achievement of Noida as the most polluted area in the world. But don’t worry, CoP-33 is scheduled next month. All the leaders of the world will meet in Paris and will definitely take a final call to combat pollution and climate change this time. We trust our leaders. This is a global challenge and we are all in this together. What is CoP, you ask? It is a kind of meeting where the leaders of the world meet to make false promises about climate change and always disagree with one another.
Also, we are very close to recognising the possibility of habitation on Mars. We have found water there. So we will probably shift there in the future and pollute it, too, and then we will search for habitation on Jupiter and continue the process till we successfully pollute all the planets. You say there are billions of them, right? What’s the problem, then?
2 April, 2071
Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh
“So, you say you don’t have a village?” asks Mridul, a co-worker of Agastya, while a robot serves them two cups of coffee and some sugar packets.
“I mean, I hail from a place near Haldia in West Bengal. But it was submerged as a result of rise in sea levels—climate change, you know. So, now I don’t have a place to call my village,” explains Agastya.
“Oh, I understand. That was the case with all coastal states. I have heard many heart-breaking stories. This is so sad.”
Mridul pauses, thinking about what to say next. They had just met yesterday. “So, what about your family? Wife and kids? Parents?”
“My wife works at a tech company and my daughter is 15 years old—in 10th standard.” Agastya replies, hoping that Mridul won’t ask him about his parents again.
“Great! You have a sweet and happy family. And what about your parents? Don’t they live with you?” asks Mridul.
“Uh, actually… actually my parents are no more. My mother passed away when I was two months old due to COVID and my father, he…he died due to a defective oxygen mask.” There was an awkward silence. Mridul regrets asking the question and Agastya tries hard to stop his tears. He didn’t want to cry in front of Mridul. He was a man. Seems like patriarchal effects are still hard at work.
The night that Agastya’s father had passed away was a sorrowful night. Agastya was in Hyderabad attending an educational seminar. Abhinav, very proud of this courageous act by his son, went to sleep and never woke up again. The oxygen mask was defective. Agastya always felt guilty for his father’s death.
“Popution? Hahaha. Beta, it is pollution. And I told you no one will die. Everyone will be happy.”
This is what Dad had said. Then why did you go, Dad? Why?
“I am so sorry. I shouldn’t have asked that,” Mridul finally says after a few minutes.
“No, no. It’s okay. Not your fault.” Agastya replies with a forced smile.
On his way back, Agastya keeps thinking about how he had been so unlucky. He has never seen his mother; his father died due to a defective mask and he has no village relatives because the village itself has vanished! Is he even sure about protecting his family from the evil monster of climate change? His daughter doesn’t even know what winter feels like because there is no winter. They all have to wear a fully transparent oxygen suit without which they cannot survive. They still have to carry oxygen cylinders. It comes with a monthly or annual membership, the way Dad used to subscribe to Netflix to watch movies. It’s just that movies have been replaced by oxygen. The colour green is a privilege. Agastya’s daughter has never used green to paint forests because she has never seen real forests. The giant panda, the Asian elephant, the sea turtle, the polar bear and many more animals are now extinct. His daughter knows no difference between these and dinosaurs. They are all extinct, after all!
But you know what? We have progressed and developed a lot! I mean, look at the GDP, man! Walk down any town, any street and you will find robots walking, roaming around, doing household chores, serving at restaurants and airplanes. Every possible place you can hope to see a person, you will find a robot. They are also emotionally intelligent. People no longer domesticate cats and dogs, they domesticate robots (or maybe, robots domesticate them instead). People don’t have private cars now. No, no, it is not a measure to decrease pollution levels. We do have electric cars, but those are too old-fashioned. People now own private electric helicopters. So, the traffic has shifted to the air, making the roads clean and free. And yes! Don’t worry, Agastya, CoP-76 is scheduled for next month. Also, we are developing a habitat on Mars.
21 March, 2155
Earth
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Surabhi
Political Science
1st year
Edited by Risti Ghosh and Shreya Jathavedan
Art curated by Anamika Chaurasiya
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