Life and Lies of M R Maiti

On the balcony of 39th floor,  He used to get drunk In the company of friends, Paul, Jacob and Old Monk. While the music played, He gazed far away Into the distance, At the City of Dreams, Stretching far and wide Against the backdrop of hills, The neatly stacked buildings Shimmering in the night. Income Disparity Landscape, He called it. The rushing vehicles were blurred lines, And the highway, a beam of light. Emanating from the heart of the city, It crossed the creek that flowed underneath,  Lined up with mangroves on either side. The flamingos, in abundance now, Would be leaving soon. When the music changed, He watched a boat Wading into the narrow creek And looked for people on board Only to find versions of himself, Or atleast, What he envisioned himself to be: The genius billionaire, The disgruntled caped crusader, The charismatic savant, The nonchalant pretender. It wasn't until  The night of rumination ended, And dawn broke, That he heard a voice, Faint but familiar, "

Somewhere in spacetime On the crossroads of human civilization, A predicament, Which troubled all those, Who ventured outdoors, Needed to be addressed. Dirty feet! There were but two choices, Put a clean blanket on the world  Or cover your own feet.  The latter was more economical. The world didn't need to be cleaned. Just wear a pair of slippers, And clean it from time to time. Slowly and gradually, we have resorted to  Fixing ourselves the same way. If problems of life seem paramount, Just wear a smile and visit  A psychologist from time to time,  Because it's you that needs fixing.  The world doesn't need to change for you. *** Liked what you read? Leave a comment .

After having his fill In a fancy restaurant He found a man Immaculately dressed Waiting on him Holding a box of tissues He politely refused After washing his hands In a well-lit washroom He found on the left  A hand dryer And on the right  A paper towel dispenser He paid no heed to them  He was a learned fellow If not a great scholar It had taken him a while Ten years, for that matter Of regular negging, Scoldings and punishments Until he had finally  Developed a habit Of carrying with him  A hankie, at all times  He took it out  And used it  Like some relic Of the distant past. *** Liked reading it? Leave a comment!

"Krishna is a married man but he's always revered along with Radha, his lover. What if... say Rukmani, said to Krishna one day, that she'd rather be Radha?"  Nitin uttered his thought out loud then looked around the room. While the others had stopped long back, Neil was pouring himself another drink. Only he could drink so much on a Sunday night, because unlike the others, his Monday had been declared a Bank holiday. It was Mukesh who was sober enough to reply to his question. "Radha spent her years in sadness longing for Krishna. Rukmani would not want to be in her place." "What if...'' smiled Nitin. He always placed the actual question he wanted to ask as the second question. "One day, after reading my work, my wife says to me that she'd rather be one of the women I write about so passionately." "The women you choose to write about are also inherently sad," Mukesh was quick with a reply. "Ask your wife then, would

Vishal wasn't very athletic but he was running at the highest speed he could muster. The street was narrow and engulfed in darkness. And there were people close at his heels, chasing him - them. Up ahead, in the distance, he saw a shimmering light. His head grew heavy and his sight grew dim, he had to stop and fight. The narrow street opened to steps leading down the riverbank. Vishal stopped and turned around, readying himself for the ultimate sacrifice while his friend ran away with the love of his life. "Are you alright?" Vishal came back to present and found Somnath standing beside him wearing a blue sherwani. Or was it a kurta? "I'm fine," replied Vishal. He actually wasn't. He was inebriated. But it was a celebratory drunkenness. The Sangeet event had just come to an end and his friend, Somnath was getting married the next day. He wrapped him in a hug and said, "You have disappointed me, you know." "Ok... how," questioned Somnat

Mugging up facts to score good marks in tests is an important part of everyone’s childhood. But, it wasn’t the good marks but the facts themselves that fascinated me. My younger self would be ecstatic if I went back and told him that I was heading to Majuli – the largest riverine island in the world.    There was water wherever my eyes ventured. The sky and the river had become one. I couldn’t decipher where one ended and the other began. It was an amazing sight. It appeared as if the boat was heading nowhere in an endless ocean for such is the immensity of the mighty Brahmaputra.  A grin spread across my face as I looked around thinking about what had transpired the previous night. As my last working day in Guwahati came to an end, I announced to my colleagues about my solo trip. They were stunned and also a little pissed because they had planned a going away party. They tried to convince me to stay but I told them that I had already booked my ticket. I wasn't lying. I