We think that we, as a race, manifest progress. That having come down from trees, emerged from murky caves, we are getting smarter. Smarter than the rest of the animal kingdom. In fact, smarter than all of nature. Well, not according to the ancient Sanskrit writings. According to those, we began in a golden age, (call it the Garden of Eden, if you must), a period called Satya Yuga, which had been followed by Treta Yuga and Dvapara Yuga. According to some, the Kali Yuga began in 3102 BCE. They say it will last some 432,000 years. Well, don’t count on it. It seems that time is accelerating. The six biblical days of creation spanned billions of years. Now? Now it just doesn’t make sense. Anyway, there is evidence. Just look at some examples.

Apes, or tailless monkeys, are known to be capable of learning a meaningful sign language. They use upwards of 400 signs representing a number of objects, activities, qualities and emotions. When they swing their arms, they make sense. We don’t. When we look at Sunday morning TV news programs, we can see and hear crème de crème of our journalists, politicians, and successful businessmen, swinging their arms, to and fro, up and down, without any rhyme of reason. Not as the apes do––meaningfully, but like a bunch of humanoids with vastly depleted intelligence. On other channels, those illustrious personages compete with a bunch of sanctimonious preachers who still spread the news (as well as their arms) that a Big Juju, sitting on a high cloud, will punish us for our real or imaginary transgressions. When will they learn that we are punished not for but by our sins?

Soon after their ravings subside, we are treated to ‘music’. I put it in inverted commas because the cacophony is drowned by the stultifying beat of overpowering percussion. This pandemonium vastly exceeds the noise of the prehistoric drums of the darkest Africa. Yet, the so called music is still so dull, so completely devoid of any melodious content, that expert ‘lighting engineers’ endeavour to distract our attention with flashing, blinding, effervescent lights that are in danger of driving any even semi-intelligent Homo sapiens to an attack of recurrent epilepsy. Those who listen for more than a minute or two are not only deafened, but also blinded.

The ancient Hindus were right. We are regressing, and that, at an alarming rate. I took great pains to explain, in my novel Enigma of the Second Coming, just how it might happen: surreptitiously, insidiously, yet apparently with deep rooted, persistent premeditation. We, the human race, are on the way out. Our successors are already here. Waiting, biding their time. So if I don’t see any of you… have a nice Christmas. It maybe your last.

But, don’t worry. Only we, humans, shall be punished by our sins. The birds will continue to trill beautiful songs, the flowers will still unfold in glorious bloom, the sun will continue to rise in the east. And our next of kin will gaze, pensive, at the ruins of past civilizations, wondering who were their predecessors. Hopefully, they will not make the same mistakes we did. By then, we shall be gone. Oh, and by the way, The Age of Kali, in English, means The Age of Vice. Reminds you anything?

Well, as the Sunday preachers continue to tell us, some of us will survive. But only some. The Enigma of the Second Coming tells you who. I promise you one thing. You will be very surprised…