Hmmm...

Rajesh was never a man who wanted too much from life. He had a good corporate job, a decent salary, a house on EMI, a car that ran well enough, and a wife he loved. He was the kind of person who could sit with a cup of tea on a Sunday evening and genuinely feel happy. Not because life was perfect, but because he never measured happiness through bigger houses or bigger designations. Radha was different. Not wrong. Just different. She was ambitious. Very ambitious. For her, life was about growth. Growth meant moving forward. More money. More responsibility. More recognition. More success. She wasn't particular about how it came. A promotion. A business. A side hustle. An investment. Anything was fine as long as she was moving ahead. Many people would say opposites attract. Maybe they do. Because somehow their marriage worked. Like most corporate couples, weekdays belonged to office calls and deadlines. Weekends belonged to restaurants, movies, family visits, and the occasional holida...

And Srikanth died. It was nothing major. Just a simple heart attack. One minute he was arguing with the cable operator over a bill of ₹143. The next minute he was standing in front of a giant gate wondering what had happened.   Now Srikanth was not a bad person. He believed in good deeds. He donated clothes. Fed stray dogs. Helped neighbours. Attended weddings even when he didn't want to. And most importantly, he firmly believed all this good karma would one day earn him a direct ticket to heaven.   His image of heaven was very clear. Everybody would wear white. Soft music would play all day. The weather would be pleasant. Food would be unlimited. No traffic. No bills. No politics. No relatives. And definitely no housing society meetings.   At the entrance, an officer opened his file. Looked at it. Looked at Srikanth. Stamped it. "Approved." "That's it?" asked Srikanth. "No interview?" ...

Ramesh was 48 years old, happily married, had two children, a stable job, a growing belly, and enough WhatsApp groups to keep him busy till retirement. Life was busy. Office calls started before breakfast and ended after dinner. Friends had slowly disappeared into family responsibilities, children's education, loans, health issues and endless WhatsApp groups where nobody actually talked. Ramesh was always a balanced person. He was not loud with his opinions. If somebody gave a foolish suggestion, he would simply smile and move on. No arguments. No debates. No proving a point. He was also reasonably logical. Not perfect. There was a time when he bought a bright beach shirt because he liked it and proudly wore it to a formal dinner. His wife Radha laughed. His children laughed. Even the waiter looked confused. The photographs still existed. But over the years he had become more careful. More thoughtful. Every major purchase involved research. Every investment involved reading...