Immortal Knowledge

By Nilesh V. Parmar

Growing up Raghav has experienced the effects and after-effects of the pandemic. Under the guidance of his grandmother – his only remaining family, he discovers the secret of his dead parents. Will he able to unravel this secret weapon to its fullest? Will this secret prove to be a boon to human-race or a non-alterable curse!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nilesh V. Parmar
• Release date: Aug 22, 2020
• ISBN: 9781649193230

Book preview

Chapter 1

The man blew into his gloved palms in a futile attempt to warm them. The breeze blew the long loose strands of his hair away from his face as he shuddered against the wall. He pulled his coat closer around himself as he gazed up at the purple sky before him. In the almost empty parking space, where he stood waiting, the striking vista soothed him and he sighed, letting himself unwind.

The last few hours had been a cacophony of panic and apprehension. He had been in his basement office, neck-deep in a pile of research papers, when he heard his wife’s groans followed by a series of loud raps against the floor above him. He feebly climbed up the stairs to inquire about the situation only to find his wife sprawled across the floor in a pool of water. A litany of ‘ohgodohgodohgod’ escaped his lips as he dashed towards her. He remembered telling himself to calm down and that he had prepared for this but the defeated sight of this confidence and presence in his life made him go blank for a good second as his body tremored with tension. A distant voice in his head reminded that he had to call for an ambulance. He reached up to the kitchen and grabbed the phone and dialed at the buttons in a frantic hysteria only to have the phone forcibly snatched away from his grip.

You can’t. It’ll take too long, she spat through gritted teeth as she held the phone away from him and gripped at his shirt with her free hand. You have to drive. Get the keys.

Yes, he breathed out almost automatically and proceeded to tenderly raise his spouse by the shoulders and guide her to their front door. They drove straight to the hospital and with every passing moment, with his spouse aggressively pulling and gripping at his hands and yelling out in pain in the seat next to him, a part of him broke away from reality, thrusting in its place an impassive front.

Thankfully, they had made it in time but what followed after were few of the most excruciating hours of his life. It had been over six hours and there was little progress. The doctors urged her to push and push and she did, as she wailed at the top of her lungs and all he could do was stand and stare at her writhing form, quiet and useless; merely holding onto her as the color drained from her face as yet another harrowing wave of contractions hit her.

When their parents came down at the hospital they urged him to take a break and he somehow found himself plodding towards the nearest exit and out of the building.

Now, that he felt the anxiety and the rush slip away from his body in the cold scenery of the parking lot, he felt a sudden elation. He found himself feeling excited, euphoric...mortified. His heart raced, as he broke into a smile. He was going to be a father.

His body felt giddy with exhilaration as he inhaled the scent of the nearby lime trees one last time before turning back to enter the building only to come face to face with his father.

He’s here, his father breathed out.

He gaped at the man, his mind struggling to wrap itself around the reality of the words that were just spoken to him. He wordlessly passed him and broke into an almost run towards the delivery room.

The sight he was welcomed to, the instant he stepped into the room, left him breathless. His wife, who looked so terribly broken and defeated from her struggles carefully held onto a wrapped bundle of white, as she fondly gazed down at it. Her face painted in blush and her lips pulled into the most gorgeous smile. Right then, she looked up at him. Her eyes a terrible teary mess.

He has your eyes, she said as she broke into a toothy grin.

When he held his son for the first time, right there in that stuffy delivery room, he was scared that he might drop him, he was scared that if he held any tighter he would break him. He didn’t smile when he stared down at his tiny beautiful face. He wept. 

*****

Dad, what are you working on? the boy with the big hazel eyes, asked his father who cradled in his lap the fattest book he had ever seen.

Hmm? He looked up from his book as if he had just been broken out of a trance. Oh! Just things that we will have you know when it’s time.

Is it a secret?

You could say that, for now. You have problems with your homework again, kiddo?

Mhm.

Algebra?

Yes. I don’t understand a thing! the boy huffed out, dropping his head on the open textbook placed on the table before him.

Srikant! You need to see this! the voice startled them both as they peered up at the stairway that led down to the basement office that they were in.

C’mon, your mom sounds mad, the man said, grinning at his boy playfully.

They both rushed upstairs to find her seated on their living room couch, nervously picking at her nails as she stared at the TV screen at the other end of the room.

What’s wrong? the father asked, quizzically staring down at his wife who continued to peer at the screen.

They’re putting the country under lockdown, she said, finally looking up at her husband. They’re imposing heavy travel restrictions.

Corona? he asked, as he plodded towards the kitchen to get himself a glass of water.

Yes, she muttered. It will be in effect today at midnight.

It’s for the best, he said. Isolation is of foremost importance during such pandemics.

I need to get my materials, she muttered, as if in a trance.

What, from the university? he asked, almost choking on the water that he was in the midst of drinking. Are you crazy?

I have to! They have some really valuable data in them and from what I see, this won’t be dying down any time soon.

If you go out now, you’ll be endangering all of us, he said. You can’t! Especially with Raghav in the house-

Kids have lower chances of catching the virus, Srikant! I’ll keep my distance from others, she urged, staring back at her husband who had fallen into a troubled silence. Plus, the numbers of the affected are still considerably low now, I may not be able to go back for them later, especially if the numbers soar.

We all know why the numbers are low, Rekha. They’re barely conducting any tests yet. Once they do you’ll find out how frightening this situation is. This is our area of expertise; we know better than anyone how quickly things could escalate from here on.

Rekha got up from the couch and rushed to cross the distance between her and her husband.

That is exactly my point. This is our life’s work, Srikant; Our parents’ legacy. We could help our government; we could help the world with our data. Can you imagine how many lives we would be able to save? she said, as she gazed into his eyes.

Srikant, despite himself, failed to come up with a response. He wished to say- ‘why couldn’t they just sit this one out?’, ‘Why to endanger their lives for strangers he couldn’t care less about?’ But he couldn’t bring himself