Welcome Back

a brief bilingual scifi story about making soup for someone you love but haven't seen for a long time.

Note: The story is in both English and Hindi. The version with the Hindi parts will be presented after the original, and even if you can’t read Hindi, I recommend you go through the stuff you can read in the original text at first. Try to understand what you can from the English parts, before letting yourself get the full picture.

Also, the Devanagari text may look overly small (at least on desktop). I can’t really control this, unfortunately, since it seems to be a Substack thing, so I tried making it bold. Don’t know if it helps. Most browsers do have the option to view pages in ‘reader view’ though so that might help.

775 words for the bilingual version.

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Oh, hello! It’s been some time since we met. It’s so cold, come in! So gray outside. ज़हरीली हवा, ज़हरीला आसमान। It’s been some time since we met. जब यहा के आसमान की मौत होनी शुरू हूई थी, तो तूं पहली फुरसत पे निकला। ये समझदारी का काम था, वैसे, लेकिन तुमने मुझे बताया भी नही जाने से पहले। तुमने मुझे इस मरते ग्रह पर ऐसे ही छोर दिया लेकिन कोई बात नही, कोई बात नही। मैं किस काम का हूं? जाने से पहले तुमहे अपना खून तो दे सकता था, लेकिन वो भी नही कर पाया… मैं किसी काम का नही और तुम मेरे बिना उस रॉकेट पे गए, यही सही था। Ah, but the past is in the past. Now we’re in the present and we can catch up. Finally I can make the meals I planned to make for you so long ago.

So… welcome to the new world. And welcome back to Earth. I guess everything has changed with the latest catastrophe in the world, but you’re still lovely. It’s been so long, yet you’re still so lovely! Do you want some soup, by the way? Sit down, sit down, you must be tired, I can bet you still work hard as hell 24/7 without taking enough breaks. Yes, yes I’m making you some soup.

हवा के सड़ने के बाद और तुमहारे जाने के बाद, यहा के पेड़ भी जरा अजीब लगने लगे… बिलकुल हड्डी जैसे। बिल्कुल सफेद, बिल्कुल मुर्दा। Hand me the knife? पेड़ों के फल अजीब से हो गए। उनको हुआ क्या पता नहीं लेकिन कुछ तो गरबर, कुछ तो गरबर… उनको खा के मैं जरा कमज़ोर हो गया हूं… लेकिन हवा की वजह से मेरी हड्डिया उभरने लगी हैं। क्या मतलब? नई हड्डीया। काट भी लूं तो नए वाले उगेंगे। देख, मैं अभी कटोरी मे छाति से रिबकेज काट के डाल रहा हूं। घबरा मत, देख। नई हड्डीया बन गई।

त्वचा हैं भी क्या, वैसे? बैग या डिब्बा जिसमे हम खून और खाना और हड्डिया रख देते हैं। और अब मेरे पास त्वचा हैं भी नही! So lovely and polite you are, you pretended not to notice that. बस हड्डी। अगर तुम ज़्यादा देर रहे तो तुम भी पूरि तरह से हड्डी ही बन जाओगे। तो जल्दी-जल्दी बाहर निकालना, ठीक? जल्द से अपने रॉकेट पर वापस चले जा। जल्द ही, क्योंक सिर्फ तुमहारी सेहत मायने रखती हैं।

कटोरे में हड्डी देख, बिल्कुल ठीक। बोन मैरो का स्वाद बड़ा अच्छा होता है। वैसे मेरे हड्डियों में कोई जान नहीं, लेकिन बेजान हड्डियों का भी अलग ही स्वाद है।

It’s really sad you’ll have to go so soon. But at least you’ll get to taste this soup. मैं अपनी हड्डी खुद भी खा सकता था, कई साल पहले, लेकिन तुमहारे लीए ही बचा के रखी, क्योंकि तुमसे और प्यारा कोई नहीं। I love you. वैसे अगर तुम नही भी आते तब भी मैं हड्डी बचा के रखता… उस समय खून नही दे पाया तो अब मैं तुझे पूरा शरीर दे दूंगा। My heart is forever yours. खून तो हैं नही लेकिन दिल धड़कते जा रहा है।

The soup is almost done now. I guess if I hated someone I’d poison the meal at this point, but hah. You’d joke about poisoned meals sometimes, strange sense of humour you had. I used to hate those jokes because they scared me, but then I started to miss your humour. So I learned to make those jokes myself, to remind me of you. They’re strange but they’re so you, and I still really really love you. I don’t know how you still love me, though, inadequate as I am. Inadequate as I always have been… of course it took you so long to come back.

This really would be the perfect time to poison the soup, since it’s in that perfect state where its flavour isn’t too sensitive to any new ingredients, but it’s not cooled enough to prevent the poison from dissolving nicely. And I’m telling you all this because this knowledge might be helpful when you leave Earth again. And I know you wouldn’t poison the meal if you made it for me, but if you did I’d deserve it. और ये भी याद रखना: दिल और खून और हड्डियों को सूप में डालने से पहले बड़ी सावधानी से साफ करना होता है। सब कुछ बिल्कुल सुध रहे। मैंने यहा भी अच्छे से साफ किया, तो बिलकुल भी चिंता मत करो, मैने इस खाने मे सब कुच डाला हैं। तुम फिरसे चले जाओगे, ये तो पता है। तो उससे पहले मैं अपना सब कुछ तेरे हवाले कर देता हूँ, क्योंकि मेरा प्यार तो ऐसा ही है और मैं और कुछ नहीं कर सकता। Enjoy the soup.

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Full English version. 775 words.

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Oh, hello! It’s been some time since we met. It’s so cold, come in! So gray outside. Poisonous wind, poisonous sky. It’s been some time since we met. When the sky started dying, you left at the first opportunity. It was the sensible thing to do, of course, but you didn't even tell me before you left. You left me just like that on this dying planet but never mind, never mind. What use am I? I could’ve given you my blood before you left but I couldn’t even manage that… no, I’m useless and you getting on that rocket without me was the right move. Ah, but the past is in the past. Now we’re in the present and we can catch up. Finally I can make the meals I planned to make for you so long ago.

So… welcome to the new world. And welcome back to Earth. I guess everything has changed with the latest catastrophe in the world, but you’re still lovely. It’s been so long, yet you’re still so lovely! Do you want some soup, by the way? Sit down, sit down, you must be tired, I can bet you still work hard as hell 24/7 without taking enough breaks. Yes, yes I’m making you some soup.

After the wind rotted and after you left, the trees here started looking strange… exactly like bones. Completely white, completely dead. Hand me the knife? The fruits of the trees became strange. I don't know what happened to them, but something went wrong, something went wrong… I have become a little weak from eating them… but my bones have started growing because of the wind. What do I mean? New bones. Even if I cut them, new ones will grow. See, I’m cutting my ribcage from my chest and putting it in the bowl right now. Don't worry, look. New bones.

What is skin, anyway? A bag or a box in which we place our blood and food and bones. And now I don’t even have skin! So lovely and polite you are, you pretended not to notice that. Just bones. If you stay too long, you too will become only bones. So get away from here quickly, okay? Go to your rocket as soon as possible. Quick, because your wellbeing is all that matters.

Look at the bone in the bowl, it’s completely fine. Bone marrow tastes very nice. My own bones have no life in them, but even dead bones have their own unique taste.

It’s really sad you’ll have to go so soon. But at least you’ll get to taste this soup. I could’ve eaten my bones myself, many years ago, but I saved them for you because no one is more beloved to me than you. I love you. And even if you never came back, I’d still save my bones only for you… I couldn’t give you my blood back then, so I’ll give you the rest of my body now. My heart is forever yours. I have no blood yet my heart keeps beating.

The soup is almost done now. I guess if I hated someone I’d poison the meal at this point, but hah. You’d joke about poisoned meals sometimes, strange sense of humour you had. I used to hate those jokes because they scared me, but then I started to miss your humour. So I learned to make those jokes myself, to remind me of you. They’re strange but they’re so you, and I still really really love you. I don’t know how you still love me, though, inadequate as I am. Inadequate as I always have been… of course it took you so long to come back.

This really would be the perfect time to poison the soup, since it’s in that perfect state where its flavour isn’t too sensitive to any new ingredients, but it’s not cooled enough to prevent the poison from dissolving nicely. And I’m telling you all this because this knowledge might be helpful when you leave Earth again. And I know you wouldn’t poison the meal if you made it for me, but if you did I’d deserve it. And keep this in mind: the heart and blood and bones must be cleaned carefully before you put them in the soup. It should all be completely pure. I’ve washed it all thoroughly here as well, so don’t you worry in the slightest, I’ve put everything into this meal. You’ll leave again, I know. So before that I’ll surrender my everything to you, because that’s just how my love is and I can’t do anything else. Enjoy the soup.