Wake up in the morning to let the maid in and pick up the daily and milk. Get ready for office in record time. Gulp down breakfast. Run down the hill. Flail arms madly hoping to flag down a willing rickshaw driver. Coax the driver to drive fast AND safe. Reach the station and cross tracks looking out for oncoming trains and humans. Squeeze into a packed train. Either stand on someone else’s toes or be stood on your own toes by some one else. Watch helplessly as one’s bag is tossed with the aim of a Jonty Rhodes onto the luggage rack (assuming that one has found a Samaritan to do the job AND there is space on the luggage rack). Feel like a straw in a whirlpool as you are tossed around in the crowd of people getting off before you. Finally reach one’s destination and just wait to ‘flow’ out with the swell…
Roni was in a rush. His chemistry tutor had taken an extra half an hour of class today to explain about metals and non-metals. As if he needed the explanation. He had been raiding his elder sister Tanni's table for over 3 years now, studying the notes and solving the problems she would give to her engineering students while they struggled. Roni was in class 10, but he felt like he was ready for college. But that's not why he was in a rush today. He was late for his daily fix. Every day of the week he used to visit a different tutor straight after school. Staying in a small town filled with educators meant that nothing, especially teachers, was too far away. But every place, and everyone, has secrets, and he had discovered many nooks and crannies where, on his way home, he could indulge in the cigarette procured from the school peon in exchange for a part of his tiffin - usually a snack like an apple or some mithai, or the joint received from the school bully as reward fo...
Welcome to the real world Neo
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