Aab has no relatives. In fact to him “relatives” is a very relative term. He prefers to relate rather than to have relatives. He watches people who seek the comfort and security of their clans, and wonder whether they would be better off without them. He sees brother fighting brother over pieces of land, and finally watches when both are eventually lowered into six feet pits for their graves. He sees relatives who are close to each other, sometimes so close that it can become suffocating. Aab very much lives in the present, but at times reflects over the future. He wonders how relatively different life would be if humans are cloned. Since cloning is still far away, he knows that everyone has to make do with relatives – blood relatives, in-laws, distant cousins, et al. Everyone has relatives – except Aab. When Aab sees relatives relating relatively well, he is happy. But when he sees so many families where the relationships with relatives are strained, and at times, hypocritical — he wonders whether community, relatives, and even family, are on their way out. He would certainly be happy with it – but only if the entire population of the world converts itself into one big family – Vasudaiva Kutumbam. He knows that is only wishful thinking. Right now people do not know how to relate to themselves, and are living as lonely islands emotionally separated by a vast ocean of turmoil, selfishness, misunderstandings. “Will we wake up before it is too late?” he wonders.
