PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

© Bishwanath Mukherjee

Smoking and alcohol abuse is injurious to health.

The first attempt to write prose is quite difficult specially for a person whose mother tongue isn't English. I always thought of ideas but they never materialised. I wanted to copy style from authors but somehow ..............

The thirtyish young man on the drab Kolkata morning lazily woke up from bed,put an inch of toothpaste on his toothbrush, gazed blankly at his reflection. His mind wandered to the day when he received the appointment letter to work as an assistant in a private company which would pay him a meagre salary. He wanted to join the company because he had nothing better to do apart from loitering in the city streets sipping tea and dragging on half-cigarettes. He couldn't even afford to smoke a whole cigarette.

The water was being heated in a medium sized "dekchi". It was winter. Sunil needed some warm water to shave and bathe. A small one room measuring less that 100 square feet with a bath and loo shared by ten others. " I need to relieve myself !" It was eight in the morning.Two men clad in "gamchas" were queued in front of the toilet. He had to wait for at least ten whole minutes !! Cursing his fate , Sunil waited impatiently shifting from one leg to the other to prevent any mishap. 

The same scene floated into his mind when he used to attend primary school in a mofussil town. The toilet was worse !! One had to walk through an uncovered courtyard , climb two stinky steps and sqat onto a cemented footrest with a gaping hole in between. At a tender age he was scared lest he fall into the chasm into the muck below..... "Is this a lesser muck ?" From childhood Sunil hoped that he would study in an University and land a cushy job with a fabulous salary. But academic results were not upto his expectations... not that he tried too hard... He dreamed more and studied less. 

After completing college with mediocre grades he came to the magic city of Kolkata where he had heard that fortunes were made and there was always some work for the right person. He was lucky enough to get a reasonably good job in Kolkata. First day at office was disastrous !! He never had studied accounts.

"I'll be late to Office ! my boss may quite be a strict no nonsense person. It is better if I skip a bath today. " thought Sunil.

Sunil dabbed some deo onto his lean bare body, donned his "office dress " and left for the bus stop. It was a full five minute walk to the nearest bus stop and Sunil lost no time before he lit up a fresh cigarette, almost gagging on his empty stomach at the first drag."I'll have breakfast at the Office canteen.They offer cheap rates" No signs of No.23/A bus. It was almost nine by his cellphone. 

An incoming call, "Hello ! ".... " Forgotten me !! ?? " It was Swati from his hometown. "I'm on my way to office.Shall call you after reaching office.Bye!"

Almost full ten minutes Sunil waited at the bus stop but no signs of 23/A. He began to get impatient and anxious. Though mildly cool Sunil's brows were getting sweaty alongwith his armpits. 

"Lousy,damned Kolkata !!.... wish I had my trusted bicycle. I could have reached office within half an hour. But in this god-forsaken metropolis I can't ride one for sure. So much heavy traffic !! I'll surely be run over !"

Sunil envied the swooshing cars and cabs with one or two people sitting comfy. "Someday I'll buy a car for myself.............. But what about today ??"

He swore and cursed silently. His mouth felt dry. "Shall I take a cab ? It'll cost me Rs.60/- or 65/-. I'll take a cab ! It's almost 9.30. Can't afford to be late. It will create a very bad impression."

Sunil smoothened his shirt and hailed a cab. "Park Street" Fast !"

Paying the cabbie Sunil queued at the door of Lift No.2. Before him stood a stern-looking middle-aged lady wearing a crisp business suit and reeking of expensive perfume. Somehow, Sunil's sixth sense prompted him to avoid eye contact. She turned around briefly and gave him a perfunctory look filled with disdain as though men of his likes should not have stood behind her.

"Sunil... will you forget me once you are in a big city like Kolkata.There will be many attractive girls whom you may fall for leaving me 'plain jane' aside,"Swati had said on the eve of Sunil's Kolkata departure. Sunil was wistful and moody while he held Swati in a loving embrace. Their hearts and souls were heavy allowing the fact to soak in that they would not be seeing each other for a long long time. Swati , doing her final year B.A.(History Hons) She had wanted to study English honours but her parents dissuaded her because they felt that a girl of her standard should not study in a college with snobby rich girls. Swati accepted her fate as gracefully as she could. Yet she nurtured a dream that she would someday go abroad for pursuing higher studies after Sunil was settled abroad.Swati's mind was occupied with these thoughts of her "videshi" dream and somehow she felt that God would someday grant her wish. She never missed the Saturday pooja at the local temple on a fasting tummy. She looked pretty enough at nineteen with a somewhat roundish face, wheatish complexion and  reasonably attractive vital statistics. Much as she would like to go outdoors in jeans and tee, her mother never allowed it. She often quarelled with her mother on this aspect of womens lib with no avail. Sometimes she would stand in front of her mirror clad only in chemisole and panties and visualise herself as a modern city girl and indulge in narcisissm. She was allowed a cheap cellphone only after she joined college three years ago. She looked at the flashy ads of new cellphones in the newspaper,TV, hoardings and shop windows and very much wanted to own one. Her only fun was watching TV soaps and an occasional movie.

"Hi Swati ...." someone called from behind while she was fast-pedalling her old bicycle to college. It was Naina her classmate. Naina was hardly a small town girl. She dressed well... far better than the others and had a horde of boyfriends who were eager to please her all the time. Not that Swati was jealous... still.... girls will be girls..

"Hi Naina".... they talked ang giggled on their way to Vidyamati Womens College riding their bicycles.

"What about Sunil ? Any news from him ? " Swati reddened in the face and replied "Nah ! ...." Naina did not prod further.

Sunil held himself erect as he stepped out after the 'fragrant lady' and entered the cool matter-of-fact office door with a plaque reading "Sinha Consultants"

At the reception Sunil showed his appointment letter and was ushered into the office and was made to sit in a sofa outside a room with a shiny brass plate "Ms J Sinha,Phd,MBA, Manager HR" Shortly, Sunil was inside the lavish chamber which reeked of expensive cigarette smoke and room freshner. Though a smoker himself, Sunil felt like he needed to puke.With great difficulty he gulped and swallowed to prevent the nausea from overpowering him.

 The Manager HR buzzed a bell and an office boy entered. "Bring in three cups of coffee and tell Mr Ayier that I am calling him" A couple of minutes later a stout dark,grey-haired man clad in a spotlessly white dress knocked and entered the room. 

 "This is Jay Govind Ayier, our Senior Accountant. He will tell you what your job profile is. He is with the company for the last twenty years; so- I need not elaborate... you are clever to understand."

Aiyer extended his white full-sleeved hand and told me in the typical South Indian accent "Welcome to SC" Though the handshake was apparently cordial, I smelt some undercurrent as though Aiyer was uncomfortable at seeing me. We finished our coffee silently and I left with Aiyer leading me to my workdesk which I would occupy for the next two years.

Sunil was shown to a desk which had a PC and a few files on the table. Aiyer told me to read the files which contained the operative circulars of the company. The circulars were dated since the company was floated. All the intricacies of the business and the need to put on a friendly face was emphasised in all the circulars. They also contained a handful of letters written to customers in reply to their genuine complaints against the company. I now knew that my job would be quite difficult as well as sticky. My job profile was to hand over leaflets to the intending investor and explain the plus side of the schemes. The negative aspects were to be avoided at all costs. I any customer made queries on the intricate details, the I was to avoid giving a direct answer. "This is wrong !" I thought. But a job is a job and I had to uphold the views of the company.