Chasing Death

Chapter 10

"Hell is supposed to be more beautiful than heaven. But hell or heaven doesn't matter because the happiness in the afterlife is a mirage everywhere."

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"Do you know where this office is?" I huffed, almost out of breath. He was walking too fast. I had to run to catch up with him.

"I've never gone there, but I'll find out soon. They have their own wing in the Underworld Department."

"It's a whole department?" I asked.

"Yes. You're going to enter the main corridors of Patal Lok soon. I kind of preferred to stay aloof, so my office was further away from the general cluster," he sighed, "if I can still call it my office that is."

"It'll soon be your office again."

I was surprised at the determination in my tone.

"You really have a lot of confidence in your abilities." He slowed down and looked back at me. I was still huffing and puffing, trying to close the distance between us.

"Sorry," he apologised, coming to a stop.
I stopped too, sucking in a lungful of air.

"I had forgotten what it feels like to walk with a mortal. I was flying at my own speed. Why didn't you tell me?" Surprise laced his voice.

"Because..." I paused. 

His eyes scanned mine slowly.

"I didn't want to appear weak or inadequate," I admitted.

"Why do you keep on pushing yourself beyond your abilities, just to please others?" he asked.

"Maybe it gives me a sense of validation. I think people will like me only if I can give my best." 

He let out a long sigh.

"The ones that really like you will like you despite anything and the ones that don't won't bother. We can control only our behaviour. We can't control how others react to us."

"And you think I have not been told about that a million times already?" I hissed. "Only if it were that easy. I'm used to caring too much about what others think and I lose who I am in this entire process."

"Mortals and their thought processes are so complex." He started walking again, this time slowing down deliberately. I said nothing as he led me through stark passages with steely grey walls, almost like a posh business establishment. 

Soon we landed into a wide-open circular space with tunnels running in all directions like the spokes of a wheel. Each passage had gleaming gold plates stuck at the entrance with letters engraved in bold.

HOUSE OF KUBER.
YAMA'S OFFICE.
MAYA'S RETREAT.
THE YAKSHINI'S LOUNGE.

I marvelled at the names, still trying to get a grip on the entire office-floor system of the Pataal Lok. 

"Once you go in there, you may not find offices like mine," he warned. "There will be groves and gardens and beautiful places meant to distract you."

"But, I thought hell is a dingy place," I asked.

"That's where you mortals have half the knowledge," he chuckled. "Pataal or the bila-svargas, the subterranean heavens are more opulent than the upper levels of the universe, including the Swarga.

"You want me to believe that Hell is more beautiful than Heaven?" I laughed. 

There was no joke in his eyes. He looked dead serious. 

"This is a life of pleasure, wealth and luxury. No distress."

"So there's no hot oil? Or being fried?" I asked, almost to lighten the mood.

"Punishments are different. But the realms and lands, the palaces and the yards, the places where the inhabitants of the underworld roam, are something to admire."

"Are they real? Or just a show?"

"A good question. You're more intelligent than I thought." He winked.

"No. these aren't real. The whole of Pataal or Narak has been created by the demon architect Maya. Maya has no real form. She's an illusion, a mirage, just like this entire place. The beauty of hell hides the vilest of the secrets for over the ages."

"You're scaring me." I could feel my throat drying up.

"If you were normal, this reaction would have come the first time that you met me." He shook his head comically.

"Nobody said you need to be normal," I shrugged. "You just said I need to be myself."

"Fine, Mother." He raised his hands in a gesture of surrender."It's time that we move towards the place where the fates have made their office."

"It isn't here?" I asked, scanning each plate.

"Unfortunately, we are similar in more than one way." He gave a nervous smile, scratching his head. "They prefer to stay aloof from the others too."

"Oh!" I exclaimed.

"This way." He guided me to the widest of the passages which branched from there and we landed into a sea of gleaming gold.

The walls sparkled with stones and gold motifs. Everything glittered invitingly. Crystal chandeliers hung from the high ceiling of the passage, throwing its beautiful golden beams on all sides.

This was the attraction of hell, the illusion — the Maya.

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Mythology References

Maya - Maya means 'illusion'. Demoness Maya is thought to have created the entire underworld. It's filled with riches that many seek for a lifetime. The pains of hell are definitely not worth it, just to be the master of riches and riches are just an illusion, a mirage, like Maya.