Life and Lies of M R Maiti

Tick tock  Tick tock Morning prayer What to wear Vehicles' blare Going nowhere Upright chair No moment spare  Boss' scare Opportunity rare Colleagues swear Everyone beware Tick tock  Tick tock Nightly affair  Musical air Friends declare  Life’s unfair  Don’t compare Grow a pair Neon glare Moonlit flare Room of despair Wall clock's stare Tick tock Tick tock ***

Two things are prominent in the lecture hall.  Ms. Kulkarni's voice and the students scribbling away, trying to match their pace with hers. Vishal's notebook is filled with encircled words and arrows pointing towards them. Time and again, his mind turns on a famous Bollywood number of the 90s. Or he goes back to his schooldays, attending Biology class learning Taxonomy. Somehow, the lecture on International Trade Operation and Documentation seems similar to that.  When he manages to snuff all that, his mind races to something else entirely. He jots down a few lines then passes the note to his friend, Shekhar sitting beside him who goes through the lines and lets out a chuckle. A little too loud for the class. "What happened?" Ms. Kulkarni, approaches the front row, while Shekhar tries to hide the note. "Show me that!" Shekhar reluctantly hands it over. She then proceeds to read the note out loud. "Our coffee comes In strong brown sacks Load well,  but n

Lurking in the distance On the other side   Of the office windows  The grey sky And the advancing clouds Brought forth a fervour Never seen before In a colleague of mine Ctrl + S Windows + L Then he rushed me Down the elevator  And we were at the tea stall Next to the Exit Gate No words were required His mere presence was enough The shopkeeper held out Without any prompt A cigarette in his hand  Raindrops fell Few and harmless The wind grew stronger though  But my colleague didn't worry To light the cigarette He brought forth his Zippo Whose burning flame No wind could tame But before he could savour The first intake  The cigarette fell to the ground A flash of lightning A moment not lost  He picked it up And took a drag Noticing the dirty look I gave He smiled and said,  Unhealthy, huh? Fair enough,  I smiled back. And he let out another puff of smoke  Matching the grey of the sky. ***

The Sun sets, bringing the day’s battle to a close. Bhishma Pitamah lies on a bed of arrows. One by one, the Pandavas and the Kauravas gather around him. To collect blessings. To learn one last lesson from the wise soul. " You would have met a lot of people over the course of your life. You'll meet even more. And if you are lucky enough ,” Bhishma Pitamah takes a long look at everyone, before fixing his gaze on Arjuna. “ One of them will literally lay down a bed of arrows for you to sleep while you are taking your last breath. Not just that, he’ll even make you feel grateful about it. Stay away from those assholes ." "But…” Arjuna bears a perplexed look, standing beside Krishna. “I did it so that your body did not suffer the dishonour of touching the ground." "What a truckload of bull crap is that,” replies Bhishma. “Couldn't you have just conjured a comfortable bed from one of those magical arrows? It hurts, asshole. I wish Hawkeye were here. Might h

Like so many times before, he’s holding a cigarette between his fingers. He observes the orange glow leaving behind a grey residue. And suddenly, a thought strikes his mind. Why does Sean Bean die in every popular movie or TV series that he is aware of? An esoteric mystery for a selected few. An absurdity for the rest. He carries that question in his head, long after the orange glow dies out. And for days after, whenever he picks another cigarette, the same question harks at him again. At last, one fine day, holding another cigarette, a moment of epiphany jolts him. The answer is finally here. An answer that he knew all along. Sean Bean: that’s the name. The words themselves play a cruel joke on the universe. In spite of being spelled in a similar fashion, they are pronounced differently. The first name ‘Sean’ is pronounced as ‘Shawn’ (as in Shawn Michaels) and the last name ‘Bean’ (as in Mr. Bean). The pronunciation of his name should have been consistent throughout. Either, it should

2001: Drop a postcard every week. 2002: Call on the neighbor's telephone once you reach. 2003: Clear the entrance test. 2004: Well done! Here's your reward: a wristwatch. 2005: I bought a mobile phone. Now, you can talk to your mother anytime you want. 2006: Get up early. Play some sports. 2007: Don't go wandering in the mountains. 2008: Here's some extra. Spend it. Save it. As you wish. 2009: You are not going to Kota. 2010: Buy yourself a mobile phone. Then, you can talk to your mother anytime you want. 2011: Do whatever you want. Just do it well. 2012: You tried. You failed. Move on. 2013: It was just bad luck. Not your fault. Move on. 2014: Govt job? No? Fine. Then what? MBA? Ok. 2015: Take care of your sister 2016: Congratulations! 2017: Don't travel so much. You'll find it difficult to stay put. 2018: Invest here. Invest there. 2019: Sit. Here's how to do your taxes. 2020: Get married. 2021: Promotion? 2022: Congratulations!