A Note on Death Note

"Well... Light, it's been quite fun!"

With these words Shinigami (the celestial death agent) Ryuk brought end to a smart young man (Light Yagami), who was drunk on power to kill anyone at will and intellect to get away with it!

With this scene our binge-watch of the marvelous manga web-series "Death Note" also came to an end!

The series doesn't answer any questions on death but truly makes us take note of how death or rather the fear of death shapes the psyche in particular and society in general.

The first question is, who is the hero of the series?

Is it Light Yagami? Who shows all the best and worst in human beings put together?

Is it "L"? Who, with his amazing power of deduction finds out the real identity of Light Yagami. However "L" loses to Light in a shrewd diabolical plot set by Light and dies.

Is it "Near"? The child prodigy who took over from "L" and beats Light at his own game of double-crossing and serves revenge for "L"?

Or is it the Shinigami "Ryuk", who simply watched all of this drama with amusement while enjoying apples on "earth" (Because apples in death realm taste like ash!)

There have been so many beings who have joined the legions of dead, and in so many ways, and with so many thoughts, beliefs and desires left incomplete! 

Who among them is the hero?

Another line of questions...

What if there is a Shinigami who is watching us in a similar bored passionless but mildly amused way?

This Shinigami (like Ryuk), might be watching us and just to while time away, he might find our antiques, actions, pleasures and pains mildly entertaining. And when it is time to end us, he too, may simply make a note saying that "it's been interesting". !

If this is true then would our entire life mean more than a mildly interesting web series being watched by a celestial death agent, who is watching it because he doesn't have Netflix?  

In fact, each of one us, including me who is writing this and you who are reading it will also die. 

In fact, by the time I finish writing this blog entry (note), the minutes it took for me to write it would have passed away from my life. Never to return back. Those minutes are dead!

In fact, as you finish reading this, the minutes that you took to read it have also passed away from your life... eternally, forever, never to come back in your life! Those minutes are dead too!!

Does it not make every note ever, whether written and read - a death note?



Sincerely Mine!
Anand Kulkarni

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