I live in a small, cosy apartment with a beautiful loft in Hamburg, Germany. One day early morning I am surprised to see a stranger at my door. He gave me the morning paper the newspaper delivery boy had dropped at the door and introduced himself as Mr.Hartmann. He struck a chord inside me and we hit it off instantly. I invited him into my house and both of us sat in the sofa in my drawing room and started talking amidst lot of camaraderie. Now the man had brought a woman with him whom he introduced as his daughter Miss Klein. I immediately fell in love with Miss Klein and Miss Klein too responded positively and our romance had the tacit approval of her father. All of us talked animatedly late into the night interspersed with lunch and dinner and next morning took the mail to Frankfurt and reached Frankfurt. Now Miss Klein worked as a secretary in Siemens in Frankfurt. Also, Miss Klein had a male friend Bruno who was a banker in Deutsch Bank and a female friend Miss Anna who was a housewife. The setting for all this was 21st century Germany. With the permission of Mr.Hartmann I married Miss Klein and within two years fathered two lovely children Hans and Martel. I immediately took a liking to Bruno who became my best friend and Anna my best confidante and all of us lived like one big, happy family in my apartment in Hamburg. The years rolled on and slowly three decades passed by. Now the setting is 2050 Germany and Germany continues to be the powerhouse that it is in a world dominated by the top three economies America, China and India in that order with Germany coming up at fourth place. It is said history repeats itself. So, like it was in World War II now in 2050 a war erupted between Germany and Britain. As somebody said history is full of wars nobody thought would happen. German fighter aircraft bombed London and British warplanes too bombed Germany and in an air raid on Hamburg my father-in-law Mr.Hartmann is killed. My wife is grief stricken at the loss of her father. I console her and all of us mourn the loss of my father-in-law and best friend Mr.Hartmann. Now over time Germany had rearmed itself and that too with nuclear weapons. Everybody is afraid the world would be plunged in nuclear war. But what improves matters is both Germany and Britain have a avowed no first use policy. But, as many years ago the Indian Naval Chief Dinesh.K.Tripathi said "Ukraine proves modern conflicts won't be short lived and nuclear weapons may not necessarily be used". And so too in 2050 the conflict between Germany and Britain proved to be a prolonged and long drawn out affair. There were repeated air raids between the two warring countries and the German armed forces and the British armed forces dug in for a protracted conflict. Soon, war fatigue set in everyone's mind. However, soon, better sense prevailed, nuclear weapons were not used and with the mediation of America, Russia and the new big powers India and China peace set in and the doves prevailed. However, with a twist that unlike in World War II in 2050 history was tweaked and it was advantage Germany and Germany emerged the victor. Indeed, Germany and Japan were the real winners of World War II. Even, this time around unlike in World War II Britain was the aggressor nation and Germany was on the morally right side. Now my wife Klein and myself were in their 60s and Hans and Martel were in their 40s with children of their own. And Bruno was working in Berlin and Anna was still a housewife this time in Munich. Now, suddenly like a bolt from the blue my wife Klein was struck with cancer and soon passed away. I was all alone again and grief stricken. Only Hans and Martel were there to console me and because I was alone they moved in with me in my apartment in Hamburg. Bruno and Anna too came to visit us. A victorious Germany was re-energized after the war and moved forward with renewed vigor. I was wealthy now and purchased a villa in a nearby street in Hamburg and myself, Hans and Martel moved into the villa and Bruno and Anna moved into my old apartment nearby. Now, Hans got a job as a mechanic in General Electric in Hamburg and Martel too started started working in General Motors and all of us lived within a few yards of one another. Who says we cannot choose our neighbors?. Bruno and Anna are testimony to that. We all started living as one big, happy family in adjacent streets. This is the story of the stranger at the door who became my best friend and how we raised a family and all of us lived like one big, happy family ever after.
React
