Life and Lies of M R Maiti

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. ***