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:
Location: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Whispers and Words #22 | The Red Letterbox

A day before my vacation came to an end, while I readied my luggage, already occupied mostly with the snacks prepared by my mother, my father had only one thing to add - a stack of postcards, along with an instruction to drop one in the letterbox every week, during my time in school. I used to be a dutiful son in my childhood days. I did as I was asked. Every Sunday evening, I took a stroll on my own, carrying a written postcard. Where the road from the hostel turned towards our classrooms, there was a huge tree, and attached to its massive trunk was a red letterbox. It was cylindrical and had two openings at the front side. The top opening had a flap that swiveled back on a gentle push, allowing me to drop the postcard. The bottom opening had a small door with a tiny lock on it. There was a certain kind of mystery associated with the entire thing - from the moment the postcard dropped with a hollow sound in the box to the moment it was delivered to my home. I never got to see the post...
1 comment
Read more

LIFE AND LIES #57 | Neil Nitin Mukesh (#2)

"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 ...
Post a Comment
Read more

LIFE AND LIES #85 | By God's Grace

Gaumukh Tapovan Trek -  Part 3 of 3 Click to read Gaumukh Tapovan Trek - Part 1 of 3: The Bhagirathi Sisters Click to read Gaumukh Tapovan Trek - Part 2 of 3: A Hearty Submission "Did you sully my good name again to justify your coming here?" "The mountain is named after you. It wasn't that long a shot." "Why can't you stay in the city like a normal person? Plan your life ahead. Get married, have kids, and so on." "When I was a kid, we had this clay modelling class where the teacher expected us to combine earth and water to build statues of God. I always ended up with a dried lump of clay." "That's your take on marriage? Doesn't science tell you that life arose from a mixture of earth and water? Nature gave that a chance. Why can't you?" "Why are you asking me questions you already know the answer to?" "I know almost everything. That doesn't mean I can't delight myself with a conversation now a...
Post a Comment
Read more