One day, I woke up to find that my world has changed. Leaves replaced modern synthetic and polyester clothes. A jackal’s skin was my bed. I woke up to the sun’s rays falling on my eyes, and I saw that I lived in a cage. I was a modern tech generation person living in the early human ages. I was surprised and astonished to see how the world looked without technology.
As soon as I got up, my mother gestured some signs to me to communicate something. I asked her, “What happened, mom? Where are we?” She did not understand a word I spoke, and in return, she spoke something in gibberish. I still could not understand her, so she gestured something else. Her actions seemed to say, “What are you saying? Don’t you want to go and clean yourself in the river?” I nodded my head and tried to ask her where the river was through my actions. Fortunately, she understood and showed me the direction with a rather perplexed face.
I went to the river and did my morning chores the traditional way. The river was super clean and free of pollution. I was rather mesmerized by the beauty of nature. I realized that the concrete jungle had eaten up the beauty and grace of Mother Nature in the modern world. I returned to my place after spending a long time in pure awe. My brother was waiting for me. He had a spear and a stick in his hand, and he handed me a small knife-like weapon.
He gestured to me that we needed to hunt animals for food. An earthquake of fear made my body shiver and my heart race as if it would break the ribbon of ribs of my body. I nodded hesitantly. We went ahead and entered the territory of animals. The first animal that we saw was a huge fox. It was quite far, though. Before I could even realize it, my brother threw the spear, and it was across the fox’s body. After that, small animals like rabbits and pigs ran away, and the territory seemed safe for us. He went to the Fox and called me to help him drag the beast to our cave.
I went to him but thought to myself, “How would I drag that Fox when I could barely pull my travel bag a week ago when I was going to Paris?” He called me again, and so I held one of the fox’s legs. I attempted to drag the fox, and the light of realization struck me that I was stronger than I thought. Maybe the childhood training of carrying heavy school bags had resulted in this power.
Soon, we were in the cave, and it was almost time for lunch. After an hour or two, according to my estimate, we were presented with a rather beautiful and colorful-looking meal. I asked what it was. They told me that it was the giant tiger that our uncle had caught a few days back. I could not digest the fact that we were eating a tiger, forget about digesting the food. However, my stomach was grumbling with hunger, and thus I ate it with a little hesitance. The flesh reminded me of a pizza that I had in Belgium. It was tasty. I ate the whole thing and was surprised by the sudden spurge of my appetite.
We then went to the jungle to collect berries and fruits. This was a rather pleasant task. My brother climbed on the trees and shook the branches, and I was catching all the fruits that fell from the tree. This made me feel like I was a part of a video game. We collected about 50 to 60 berries and then sat there for a while to get a little rest. Then, we saw a lion chasing a deer far away. The deer was running on bridges of fallen trees. The lion was very fast, but the agile deer somehow was faster. This reminded me of temple run and subway surfers. Innovation or deterioration?
Soon, we went home and gave the fruits to our mother. She served us, and we ate them merrily. Finally, the men of the house returned. They had an enormous leopard with them. They came and rested for a while; my brother and I also chose to sit and relax. I saw around and was soothed by the greenery and the chilling breeze, which embraced my senses. I did not realize that it was almost dawn now.
People gathered around the cave, and soon there was a campfire. The cave’s entrance was huge, and everyone was sitting at some distance from it. The fire warmed us as if mother nature had hugged us and we were in her protection. Suddenly, we heard voices coming from somewhere near. Before we could find out where it was coming from, a man appeared at the entrance and started acting out. There were other people dressed as animals. The light of realization slowly enlightened me. They were acting out how they caught the animals today. They had a story to tell. A thunderous round of applause followed the act. Soon, there were drum rolls, and everyone started dancing; I too was called upon, and we danced until our legs quit, and then we went to sleep.
The next day I woke up and found out that I was still stuck in the tech world, a world I didn’t want to live in. Here, campfires are Whatsapp groups, acts are movies, beauty is building, and connection is technology. I felt like an orphan because mother nature could no longer nurture me or give me the warmth I so desired.
