Paulami
staggered in. Previously she had spent
ten minutes trying to open the door. Now all she was capable of doing was
collapsing……so she collapsed…..and passed off. Moments or eternity had
passed….Paulami woke up to a terrible churning in her stomach……she tried to get
up…. couldn't. Instead, a frothy blue fluid rose from her intestines….and forced
its exit through her mouth. Surprisingly it has remnant momentum, it traveled a
good four inches towards the ceiling before finally resting on Paulami’s
face…..the more energetic parts of the fluid did things like dripping on the
carpet or rolling down her neck…..the rest lay in melancholic disarray on her
face.
Paulami was starved of reaction
…..more over she had no time…the second bout of frothy blue fluid definitely
had more vengeance ..it managed a remarkable seven inches before crash
landing…ten more such bouts of various intensity …before her stock of the fluid
apparently ran out. Only then could Paulami afford the luxury of a stabbing headache.
For the first time in quite sometime Paulami realized that she had a head….it
made her feel better…much much better. Awareness of her head activated her
memory….her memory activated her vocal chords. She managed to say “damn it“.
Paulami was feeling heavily let down….no one, no one at all had warned her that
drinking life…or rather drinking life in gallons could reduce her to this…”damn
it” she hoarsely whispered again. Then she passed off. A good few months
witnessed Paulami’s “damn it”s and the spurting blue fluid. Sometimes she
would be well enough to touch her head and shout in pain. Wasn't before January
the Paulami could get up.
The blue liquid was a puker’s delight. It had
a happy knack of evaporating without a trace. Watching the frothy blue fluid miraculously
disappear had been Paulami’s entertainment for months now. Today it occurred to
her that it also meant ….no cleaning up jobs. Paulami deposited herself under
the shower. Hours later she could feel her skin reacting to the gush of
water…..a few weeks later she felt satisfied.
Only now did Paulami remember time-
she then realized that she had no track of it. Switching on her comp she found
out that it was 15th March 2003. Something struck her….it felt
strange. Paulami took some time to react and adjust to her
(re)functioning long-term memory….Then
all she managed to do was smile. Ten years ago on this very date, Jagdish had
given her his farewell bar of chocolate.
* * * *
Emotions. What business do they have
rearing their heads when one is just beginning to revisit existence?
Paulami’s eyes fell on the grocer’s
number scribbled by the telephone. She then discovered that the instrument was
as dead as gone.
Ten minutes later, Paulami walked past
the surprised appt. guard and into the basking sun. Surprised at herself on
locating the neighborhood grocer’s shop,
Paulami had just begun to feel good…. A college girl wearing a white
apron propped herself plonk in front of Paulami.
“Mamn” we have come out with a fruit
drink….mango flavor….designed to beat the heat out of the summer. Absolutely refreshing. As a launching scheme
we are giving a Rs. 2 discount….it’s called ‘Life’ and it absolutely lives up
to its name…..”
“ I am not interested”.
Paulami bought two packets of ‘Wills’.
However it was a halfhearted purchase. The fruit drink was making its presence
felt in her mind. As she was going out……. “Madam, if you place a party order of
more than five cartons today, then you get a free ticket to Timbuktu
*--------------------------------------------------------*
It was fiercely cold and windy in Timbuktu
Next day….bothering to finish her
breakfast, Paulami appeared at the mall….. It was deserted.
A solitary entity…..a young boy with a
big mouth was collecting garbage….mostly empty packets of ‘Life’. Paulami
approached. A polite enquiry revealed that the founding chairperson of ‘
Life.Inc.’ had died last night, and since Timbuktu
Upon reaching the guesthouse,Paulami
noticed that the guesthouse was functioning as if nothing had happened. A
flustered and puzzled Paulami approached the manager.
The manager was playing Solitaire with
his wife. A bottle of upturned rose wine lay upon the carpet…..gradually
emptying it’s contents onto some eager cockroaches.Paulami glared at the
man..till her gaze troubled his aura enough for him to look up.
“I
know your concern madam….you stay here as my guest. Just that years are
unusually long out here….you have to cope up with that. The mourning does not
effect this place…..” he paused and smiled…..”Freddie Mercury stayed here
once……all he ever said was “the show must go on”.” he paused again…. Took a
deep breath, “Freddie was the respected chairperson’s favorite musician.” Now
his eyes grew misty. ”One day the ever respected chairperson was sitting here
and sharing some cherry sandwiches with Freddie. Freddie looked at me and
said “the show must go on”…..respected
chairperson sir then turned to me and said…..” mister Bingo, so be it”…”.By now
the manager was blissfully sad and the cockroaches dead drunk.
Amazed at her calm self Paulami walked back to her room.
-------------------------------------------------------
Some sleep. It almost threatened never
to get over. Anyway, it was morning when Paulami woke up. Timbuktu Para
shoot swooping down. It blissfully flopped itself on the lawn. There was
nothing but a bundle of newspapers attached.
Someone cleared his throat. Paulami
jumped. She sighed in relief when she saw that the sound had originated from
the manager.
“They are kind enough to weekly para-drop newspapers. I wasn't sure how the
brash new men in charge of ‘Life’ would treat this place. But they seem very
concerned”. Paulami mustered up some mock optimism and inquired about tea…….the
switching over to her realist best …..she picked up a newspaper and walked back
to her room.
In a blatant challenge to boredom, she
opened the business page
-first.
-------------------------------------------------------
The main headline on the business page
was…….. a line declaring that Jagdish had acquired the world’s largest
chocolate company.
______________________________
* This was not
the intended name of the story. Ever
since it was written, my friends and I have been calling it Paulami….and thus
it was nick named.
