On The Coldest Night Of The Year

To get an idea about the characters involved in this story, kindly read The Spirit Of Celebration before you read this!

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Manav shivered. Of course he would. It was after all the coldest night of the season.

And of course it would be the coldest night of the season. After all, the Spirit Of Cold, Shital was walking alongside him.

"Tell me again what the Superior said when They sent you to Earth." Manav implored as he rubbed his palms to generate some warmth. It was futile. When Shital was around, there would be no warmth. And tonight, she was in all her glory. There was no escaping the chill.

Shital sighed. "They said They want to check whether there is any hope left for the Spirit of Humanity." She looked at Manav apologetically. "I am sorry to bring such a testing time for you."

Manav shrugged and waved off the apology. He had reasons to be concerned. He was after all the Spirit of Humanity. 

That was not all. In the presence of the unbearable chill that Shital was emanating, Manav already felt weak. 

As the evening gradually progressed into night, a cold breeze started blowing. The coldest night of the season had begun. 

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Manav and Shital sat on a bench opposite to a park. They saw people passing by, wrapped in cozy sweaters and mufflers. Most of them laughed as they rubbed their palms gleefully. It seemed like they were enjoying the cold weather.

Manav saw Usha and his spirits sank. She was a middle-aged lady who had no home. She was the sweeper of the colony and usually rested at a hollow pit dug outside the park opposite to him. Once she had had a home. When her husband started taking her hard-earned money to buy liquor, she left the house. The street was now her home.

Manav wondered how she would fare. He saw her wrap her saree tightly around herself. That saree would do nothing to protect her from the cold.

When Usha came to the pit, she saw two dogs lying there, curled around themselves.

Manav suddenly felt very weak. He tried to hold himself up, not wanting to give any indication to Shital about his weakness. Both of them watched Usha with bated breath.

Usha sighed and sat in the pit, not minding the dogs. She took out a box from her jute-bag. There were some rotis in the box. She tore off some chunks and offered them to the dogs who started wagging their tails eagerly while finishing off the chunks. Usha herself ate and once her dinner was done, she took out a saree from her bag and draped it over the dogs who had resumed their curled-up positions. She then tightened her own saree around her once again and lay down, curling herself to get some warmth.

Manav felt some of his strength return to him. It seemed humanity hadn’t lost yet.

Even as Manav and Shital watched, a girl dressed in pajamas came out of the building opposite to the park. She had probably seen Usha and the dogs, for she had a pair of blankets in her arms. She gently patted Usha on her shoulder and offered the blankets to her. Usha gratefully accepted the blankets, keeping one for herself and using the other to drape over the dogs. The girl smiled and left. Usha and the dogs went to sleep, now remarkably warmer.

Manav sat up a bit straighter, feeling stronger. And Shital smiled. Some losses were worth it. It was score 2 for humanity v/s score 0 for cold.

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Manav and Shital had walked to another part of the town. Manav had to literally drag his feet. He had never been so weak.

This part of the town was secluded, except for the homeless who gathered here in large numbers. Some slept inside parts of a large water pipe that was broken. Others huddled and curled up on the roads, hoping and praying for some warmth from life in general. Shital watched them in silent despair. This was an uncomfortable yet true side of the world that the humans lived in.

Was a little bit of warmth enough to save humanity? Some chunks of food distributed to animals, a pair of warm blankets – would this suffice to give hope to humans? There was so much suffering, poverty and despair on the earth. Who all could be helped and saved? How many would do it? Most importantly, how much help was enough to redeem humanity?

She saw Manav walking with his head bowed. She knew that while the previous acts of kindness had brought his score upto 2, she herself was now at an impossibly high number.

Manav silently prayed to the Superior for a miracle. He loved the earth, he loved all the beings on earth and he wanted lots and lots of hope for them.

The sound of several vehicles approaching made them halt in their tracks. Manav looked around and saw four cars and three bikes park on one side of the road. Several people alighted from the vehicles.

“Utsav!?” Shital remarked in surprise. “What is he doing here?”

As if he had heard her, Utsav looked in the direction of Shital and Manav and waved at them. He said something to his friend and crossed the road.

‘Thought it would be your doing.” He said to Shital.

“The Superior sent me. Why are you here? What sort of celebration is happening on the coldest night of the year?”

Utsav shrugged. “My friend Jigyaas called me over. He and his office colleagues are distributing blankets to the homeless here. I joined in. It is a happy group and being the Spirit of Celebration, I couldn’t not be here. Also, Jigyaas is my favorite human. So, here I am.” He looked at Manav and patted his shoulder comfortingly. “Hang in there, bro. We have got this.”

Shital watched in silence as Manav joined Utsav, Jigyaas and several men and women and started distributing blankets to the homeless people who had started gathering around them, eagerly clasping the blankets as if their very life depended on it.

With every person who was helped, Manav regained his strength. The Spirit of Humanity grew stronger with every hand that offered help to every other outstretched hand. Within minutes, the whole street saw the homeless people wrapping themselves in blankets, not having a home yet but at least having warmth as a protection against the cold.

Utsav walked over to Shital and smiled. “At this very moment, there are several homeless people being helped in one part of the world or other. There is suffering and despair on Earth, but there is enough humanity to balance it out.” He looked around in satisfaction. “That’s why I spend more and more time on the earth.”

“Also because the Superior is partial to you and always lets you have your own way.” Shital smirked.

Utsav shrugged. “May be. I believe this is also the reason that Manav decided to stay back here.” He looked questioningly at Manav.

“Yes. I am here to stay for good.” Manav said simply, feeling grateful to see all the help that had flowed in and helped to redeem himself. “It is kindness and compassion that keeps me strong, and as long as I am strong, there will always be hope for every life on earth.”

Shital looked around and sighed. “It is time for me to leave. Apparently the test is all over and humanity won. I will see you both on the other side.” She nodded to the guys and slowly walked away from the scene.

“Want to join us?” Utsav asked Manav. “I am treating everyone to some hot drinks and snacks.”

“Sure.” Manav said.

The Spirit of Humanity and the Spirit of Celebration walked off, destined to be together, for where there was Humanity, it was always a reason to celebrate.