Skip to main content

LIFE AND LIES #65 | Neil Nitin Mukesh (#3)


The night lengthened at its usual pace. Soon, Sunday would turn into Monday. Even the mere thought was depressing for Mukesh, who sat in his living room, just beside the window, holding a lit cigarette.

“When I was a kid, I used to love Mondays,” he said, letting out a puff of smoke. “Don’t know what happened.”

Sitting opposite to him, Nitin was quick with a reply, “Life happened.”

That was followed by a long bellow and a hand gesture by a drunk Neil, “Nooo… job happened.”

“That’s true, I guess,” said Mukesh. “I went to the mall yesterday…”

“Did you…” Neil interrupted him but Mukesh cut him short. “No, I didn’t meet Robin Sparkles there.”

Neil laughed.

“While sitting in the food court, I couldn’t help but observe that everything seemed like clockwork, all around me.”

“For someone who likes wristwatches so much, this is paradoxical,” added Nitin.

“I’m thinking of finding a permanent WFH,” continued Mukesh. “Somewhere in a 3-tier city and settle there.”

“I’m telling you,” Neil sat up in excitement. “We need a detox. One boy's trip to Tajikistan or Issyk Kul.”

“He’s not looking for a detox,” replied Nitin. “But a cure.”

Neil came up with a witty retort, “Death is the only cure from a disease called life.”

“Like Albert Camus,” said Nitin. “Mukesh and I have already chosen coffee, that too black, over killing ourselves.”

“Let’s start a business,” Mukesh finally spoke. He was done with his cigarette. “Job sucks!”

“Honestly, that’s the dream, not being answerable to anyone,” Neil raised his glass to Mukesh, only to realise midway that Mukesh wasn’t drinking.”

“Not just that, I have realised that there is no better satisfaction than generating employment.”

“Yes, and you also get to utilise every hour productively.”

“True. And you go by your day with a sense of purpose.”

“I’m telling you, the three of us should move to Bishkek,” Neil was so excited that he spilled his drink a little. “First, we will set up a travel company, followed by a brewery and then a café. And once we have sufficient capital, a hospital.”

“So basically,” laughed Nitin. “Bring the tourists, get them drunk enough to be hospitalised, and once they recover, they can leave after having a cup of coffee.”

“Yes, we will have a vertically integrated supply chain.”

Nitin turned to Mukesh. “Don’t mind Neil. Live your dream. Open a café and serve your favourite English breakfast there. You can begin by opening one in your hometown; then the next one in Ladakh. Spend six months at each place. It would be amazing. We will come to visit sometime.”

“Seriously!” Mukesh grew a bit chipper than earlier. Meanwhile, the dreadful Monday crept closer and closer, the window grill casting a dark shadow on his face. 

***
Liked what you read? Leave a comment!

Also read, in the same series: 

***
Original Art - 'The secular communion of everyday people.' by Duane Kirby Jensen 

Labels

Labels:
Location: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

LIFE AND LIES #67 | The Shortest Story

Dedicated to a friend of mine who is no longer in this world. ********************************* A friend had died. Still, the world  Hadn't come to a stop. Perhaps, it should have. Because I gave my presentation Smiling from ear to ear. And later at night, I drank to my fill To honour him. Because life is too fricking short, But at times, Feels too bloody long. If you google 'Shortest Short Story' You'll get the following result: "For sale: Baby shoes, never worn." Popularly attributed to Ernest Hemingway. Ernest, I'm sorry  But I ended up writing  Something similar myself. "Hang in there, my friend. He did." I'm not proud of what I wrote.  It is what it is. "Who is this about," my friend asked after reading my poem. "He was my batchmate in school," I replied. "He committed suicide yesterday by hanging." "Why? What happened?" "Nobody knows. He had cut himself off from everyone." "Was he i...
1 comment
Read more

LIFE AND LIES #77 | The English Teacher

When we are young, the world is full of possibilities. We can do anything, and become anything. We antagonise anyone who even hints at thinking otherwise about us. It's probably why most of us have a story to tell where the villain was a school teacher. Even I do. I don’t remember exactly how I ended up in the Headmaster’s cabin that day. All I remember is that back then I blamed my House Master for it. It wasn’t just me who had bunked the STD XII Pre-Board exams. There were many. But he made a scapegoat out of me. And the moment, I set foot inside the cabin, I received a big slap from the Headmaster. My ears rang. But that wasn’t the worst thing that happened that day. The Headmaster instructed him to call my father. Tell him to come or his son would be rusticated. I wasn’t a notorious student. I was good in my studies and had no disciplinary complaints against me. Had this incident not occurred, I would have completed my schooling in a few months with a clean record. My fat...
4 comments
Read more

LIFE AND LIES #61 | The Summit Within

Dehradun to Sankri On an early morning, towards the end of March, I was sipping a cup of tea in Dehradun, surrounded by a bunch of strangers loading their backpacks on a traveller which was going to take us to Sankri, the starting point of Kedarkantha Trek. A thought struck me. Somewhere around this place, not so long ago, Ruskin Bond was racking his brains to come up with the name of a fictitious town. Subsequently, he came up with the name: Dehra, having spent his early adolescent days in Dehradun, the place which inspired many of his characters and stories. Ingenious, huh? I am struggling with a similar challenge. Let’s see what I come up with. I finished my tea. And soon we headed on our way. The first view of the mountains came when we were about to reach Mussourie. A smile spread across my face automatically in its unique way, like it happens when you meet an old friend after a long time. I was hoping to spot Cambridge Book Depot on the way, or even Ruskin Bond if I w...
Post a Comment
Read more