Welcome to Htrae

“Welcome Mr. Arjun”, he said. It was a place just like Earth; Blue skies, green trees and oxygen to breathe. “Welcome to Htrae” he said. I looked at him, as my attention on the surrounding decreased. He looked just like me. I was baffled.

“Thank you, you look just like me”, I said shocked.

“I’m you in this world. I’m your mirror image. But not a billionaire like you to travel into this world”, he said.

“What do you mean by ‘not a billionaire’??” I asked him not completely understanding his situation.

“I’m still working in the same bank you worked in fifteen years ago”

“How’s that possible??”

He handed me the newspaper.  I turned the pages; I couldn’t recognize most of them. He took me to a nearby book store. There were books I had never even heard of. “So what do you think happens in our world”, he asked me.

“I don’t know. I’m confused right now”

“Ok, let me explain. Let’s go out and get some coffee”

We went to a coffee shop, which didn’t exist in our world.  The indoors had similar designs as in our world. We both ordered a Cappuccino and he began talking.

“Ok, so you people have thoughts in your mind. You think something; sometimes you do it, sometimes you don’t. We don’t do that. The thing that you don’t do, that is where our life leads to. The path you thought of and didn’t take, that’s what runs our life. You had two choices, to continue the banking job or go out from there. You took almost a year to think, but by that time my life had been set towards your thought of taking a banking job. It’s usually the first thought you have in your mind, that thing might not happen or might not do it in your world. But the thought becomes reality, that person does that thing in this world. Millionaires in your world, maybe mediocre businessmen here and beggar’s might be billionaires. Teachers might be industrialists, doctors might be writers and politicians might be waiters” he said as the waiter arrived with our order.

“Wow. So the thoughts that I think of, happens here in this world. Who are you married to??” I asked.

“The first girl you ever loved”

“Ok, I regret not telling her that I loved her. Anyways tell me more about your world”

“Have you heard about Dilwale Dulhaniya le Jaayenge??”

“Yes I have. It’s been around twenty years and it’s still running in Maratha Mandir”

“Well that movie was a flop and it didn’t star Shah Rukh Khan. It had Tom Cruise. He was Aditya’s first choice”

“What the fuck!! I didn’t know that.”

“Some movies worked equally well, though they’re stories were different. Some movies, I bet you wouldn’t even recognize”

“Ok. This is a crazy world or I could say the same about ours. Then how’s our boss??”

“He got promoted to some place, I think Delhi”

“Oh, he’s still in the Mumbai branch in our world. Then how’s Syrandri??”

“She’s great. Whom did you marry??”

“I’m a bachelor actually. But I do have a girlfriend. She’s great, but I think she loves my money more than me. But that’s what I get for losing the love of my life”

Televisions had TV shows with different stories, names that I hadn’t even heard of. Music I hadn’t listened to. We kept talking.

“Who’s our President?? Prime Minister??”

“You don’t even know him. President’s a lady this time”

“We had a lady last time”

“Till when are you going to stay here??”

“I’ve had enough of this world. Its fun but I can’t stay here. It’s a bit weird here. Can I meet Syrandri??”

“No way bro, I can’t risk that”

“I was just kidding. I better leave now. I’ve learnt a lot, lot more than I wanted to”

“Did you realize that the name Htrae is ‘Earth’ reversed??”

“Wow, I didn’t know that. I should tell you something. I used to think of a world like this, you know. Sitting in front of the mirror, I had these thoughts and I would think that these thoughts might be happening. Like a transparent man walks from within me, and leads this life like in the movies. Being here, it kind of feels special. I don’t feel like an alien.”

 “It’s because you’re not. After all it’s your thought”, he said and he smiled.