Publisher's Synopsis
Abdul Rahman, a cockroach living in the water canal of a kitchen, dreams of escaping from the dungeon of darkness and moving into a world full of light, love and freedom.Having been inspired by his father, he wants to pass on this dream to his son Mohammed. But his wife Mumtaj, afraid of going outside the kitchen sink to get killed by the family living in the house, is against his attempts to go outside the sink, more particularly against taking their only son along.This whole novella is the description of the conflict between the husband and wife trying to teach their son two opposite systems of values, one inspired by love and the other inspired by fear.The house they live is inhabited by Mr. Isaac, his wife Sarah and their four year old son Abraham ('Monster', 'Lady Monster' and 'Little Monster' in the language of the cockroaches).Mohammed is threatened by a centipede, some German cockroaches, a spider, a rat who visit his cockroach colony and by a sparrow when he visits the garden. Every time, his Dad comes and saves him.He falls in love with Angel, a butterfly in the garden. Ibrahim, a male butterfly feels envious of the love between Mohammed and Angel. He kidnaps Angel with the help of his friends.Once again Abdul Rahman helps his son by rescuing her, with the help of some cockroaches.When Mr. Isaac sprays chemicals to kill cockroaches, the poison falls in the cereal bowl, which his son Abraham is about to eat. Abdul Rahman stops him and saves him, but he himself gets killed in the process.While dying, Abdul Rahman teaches the ultimate lesson his son can ever learn, about death. He narrates his dying process and says that he is just shifting from one state of consciousness to another. Death is the ultimate freedom, he adds: "Death is a beautiful experience, my son! It's painful only when you die halfheartedly. When you die whole heartedly, accepting it, loving it and embracing it, it's a joyful, blissful experience, indeed!"Finally, Mohammed lives in the garden with Angel, in a world full of light and beauty, as per the dreams of his Dad.Now, Mohammed is able to fly as high as Angel. Angel asks him, "How did you learn to fly higher like me?"Mohammed says, "Death has taught me the lesson. Fear of death has prevented me from flying higher like you. That fear has left me now. Without fear, I am able to fly higher like you.""This fear of death was the difference between you and me. This fear of death keeps the cockroaches in darkness, away from light. This fear of death catches a human, when he sees a cockroach. To avoid his own fear of death, he kills it. Without fear, a cockroach can become free like a butterfly."
