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I am going to the hall, the association hall. I will be returning in an hour. Mathew told his maid. Ok, sir maid replied. Mathew, a man of nearly 80, an average built person with brown skin, bald head and dark eyes. An old man, the grand old man of the society he lives. He was the first person to hold a house even before the society laid the foundation. He has an independent house initially, but the society convinced him to join his piece of land with society. He served in forces until he is retired. He had a wife, three sons. Two of them got married and flew to different countries with their families. He was with his son and wife. At the time of his retirement, he was paid with the bulk amount. He saved it in a bank and runs his life with its savings. Once, he was strong, brave, and influential. He proudly told his friends, I never had a needle in my body. He was sixty, he remembered the first needle entered his body. He was lost as he saw his wife passed. He was depressed with his wife's death, who served him the past forty years. He was more worried when none of his sons arrived for the funeral. It had broken his heart. He and his younger son managed all the activities. Five years later, his younger son died he was about twenty-five. They were looking for a bride, but he ended his life with an accident. The man was completely collapsed. As earlier, no one called him. He was completely collapsed. He sold his properties he had and deposited everything in his locker and started his living with the monthly interest. He hired a maid, she works free. As she is paid by society in order of his respect.

It is an old community hall, a new one is getting built. Regularly all the old people in the society meet there every Sunday. They talk all the stuff, of the week. Few read newspapers, watch television, playing caroms, snooker and on. The day was something unusual, they were discussing something serious. He sat and greeted them. They were five people sitting on a chair, a tea table between them. Mathew noticed something unusual. Bosco was missing, Mathews dearest friend. He was the one who stood with him in all of his dark times. He was passed away last night. He had to be buried, but there was no place in the graveyard so his sons without informing anyone put him in an electrical box, as an orphan found roadside. This incident made Mathew cry, as he couldnt see his best friend for the last time. Basco, a fat funny person. He last met him in his home, when Basco came and met Mathew telling him, his broken problems. Mathew noticed tears in his eyes for the first time. But today, he found him dead. He left the hall and returned to the home. He called his sons; none of them cared his words. He found nobody was interested in him, so he gave a thought to find a grave for him. He took all the money he deposited from the bank, gave some to the maid who served him all this time. He started in search of HIS GRAVE..

He went to the backyard, where he buried his son and wife, there was no place over there to find six -feet of land. He travelled to various places in the city, to his amazement he found placards and notice boards all over showing no place to bury. He laughed at himself. He travelled all over at a graveyard he found someone and got to know there was a graveyard at the borders of the city where he can find someplace. He took a bus to go there.

He sat at a window looking out. As the bus is moving, he finds everything new. The city was grown, grown to such a height where no one rests, rests even after death. He listened many times, six feet of land is the only place a person can have even after death. As the bus going, he went through the skyscrapers, offices, houses, he can simply find a concrete jungle but not a place where humans leave. He finds greenery but it is just a decoration but not any inspiration. He found advertisements of organic foods for good health that have an average span of sixty, it all seemed a joke for him as he never had or took such food. He finds kids playing in a park, a human-built four-wall surrounded artificially grown trees and smell less grass and flowers. It was all different from the one he saw earlier and now. As the bus kept on going, he was finding something more than he usually has. What all he learned these eighty years was much less than what he sees today. As the sun setting his destination is getting nearer. At last, he reached.

He walked for a while, he found a middle-aged man in a hut. He went to him. He asked him for six feet of land. He took Mathew to some dooms and he found someplace to get him burried. He made a deal with him. The deal says, The gravedigger needs to bring him from his house as he gets the message of his death and handed him his address and telephone number. He agreed. As it turned dark, the gravedigger asked him to sleep there itself and return tomorrow. He offered some food and a place to sleep. He paid the digger price for his burial. He was happy, as he found someplace to rest after a lot of struggle. He had food and a long journey made him tired and sleepy. He slept thinking, when his father died he was about thirty. When he heard the news, he left everything traveled across three days to get him. However, his sons have everything but wish not to see him. If he would estimate this situation earlier, he would reserve at least, three-foot of land dug six feet vertically beside his son and wife to bury him. He was there in the bad times of his family and friends but not a shoulder at his worst times when he lost his wife and son. Not even his sons, they havent come to see their blood shared- brother and blood - given mother. He was destroyed completely the day itself. Thinking all this he slept. The next morning, when the digger came to wake him he was dead.

He informed the maid by telephone. She along with five old men and the society head came. They waited until the afternoon for the son's arrival. But none came. They dug a six feet grave and buried him as he wished. They put some sand and left. By sunset, it was dark and dusk and the Old man finally found someplace to rest.

What all he got is,

A SIX FEET OF LAND, a lucky one as we are not fortuned to get that.

by

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