The End… not really!

Every now and then, I meet up with some friends for a chat after work in a ‘mamak’ stall near my apartment. Usually we will start with some random topics, such as our working life, exams and assignments or something or other that can stretch for hours. One evening, we had our normal usual conversation, until one of my friends suddenly brought up the 2012 issue.  He seemed nervous and uncomfortable when he asked “Can I ask you something…  Are you aware of this… 2012… they say the world is going to end… is it true?”

There was a moment of silence at our table until one of my friends said that he did not believe that the world is going to end soon and the rest agreed with him. The Mayan calendar predicts that in 2012 a new era will began and some natural disaster will happen but highly likely will be the end of our world.  There are two possibilities on what could happen on the 21^st of December 2012: a mega cycle of natural disasters like tsunamis and earthquakes will occur or NOTHING will happen just like the Y2K bug.

My friend also mentioned that NASA has already debunked this myth, a rumor, they said, which is spreading fast on the Internet to scare people. According to them there is no such thing as a new planet called the ‘Nibiru’ or ‘planet X’ which is heading towards earth. If there is such a planet, astronomers would probably have tracked it and let the whole world know “Oh come on… The world has already survived so long. Why would it suddenly end now?” he joked and laughed.

I decided then to voice my views on this. I agreed with my friend that the world is not going to end anytime soon and people are just being scared and threatened by some news from the Internet. In the past we heard too many rumors on the Y2K bug and now we keep hearing about stray asteroids coming to collide with Earth and finally, the rumor that the world is going to end in 2012. In my opinion, it is time for us to stop worrying whether the world is going to end or not, but instead take care of our planet before it really ‘dies’.

Even though most major religions’ believe in the end of the world, the exact date and time has never been stated. The Hindus believe that we are living in the fourth last stage of modern age which is ‘Kali Yuga’ meaning ‘Age of Darkness.’ During this time, many negative events such as wars, misunderstandings and bad influences are expected to take place, eventually leading to the end of humankind in this world but they never exactly predict the end of the world per se.

Even Islam which preaches on the existence of ‘The Day of Resurrection’ and ‘Judgment Day’ has never stated the exact time of the apocalypse. And same goes to other religions as well.  The Christians believe that on that day, Jesus Christ will return to Earth with all His angels to serve perfect justice for all. On the other hand, Buddhists believe that the world will end when the memory of Buddha Himself and His teachings are forgotten.  Therefore, I personally think that God still loves us and He is not going to put a full stop to our world for now.

After a long discussion on the topic, someone in our group said, “Okay, we all know that the world is not going to end just yet… but just for fun… what would you do if you knew the world was going to end in three years?” That’s when I heard all kinds of funny and interesting answers  - some want to buy  alcohol, Dunhill 20s, ice and coke and just wait for the ‘moment,’  some would spend the whole day with their family and seek forgiveness , some would like to try things that they refused to do before like bungee jumping and eating sushi, some want to work and taste their first month salary , some would want to experience riding a superbike and I said I would get married and experience my married life before I die.  Guess what, mine generated the most laughter!