There are a lot many peculiar things happening around me and yet I’ve been so oblivious! For example, I have known a certain person for quite a long time. This person I’m talking about is a very honest fellow, and very down-to-earth [and god knows I have no intention of defaming him]. Last month he appeared for a lot many interviews; he cracked none. And though it was completely insignificant that I should come to know of the reason, nevertheless I was made aware of it. It had so happened that the man saw it fit to put on a very healthy smile for his passport photograph and had presented the same at the time of interview. And it was one of those unique one-sided sardonic smiles that instantly puts you on your guard, and you refuse having to do anything with one who wears it.
Now I usually dig deep, and here there was a gold mine going to waste! So I intended to pursue this man’s life-story and immediately got to work. And here are some very interesting facts that I learnt:-
In his earlier days in order to get to office, this man had to frequent the ferry. For those living in the outskirts of the big city, this is quite common. And it is also very common that these people who frequent the ferry so, may actually end up late on more than a couple of occasions. So one day he was late. And as he hurried to the shore he saw the launch drifting away. He didn’t have much time, neither to think nor to act. He measured up the distance, pulled up his pants, and then with a war-cry he jumped.
He had over calculated. Not by much though. Infact, he did land on the boat, albeit with one foot. But the momentum had been too overbearing. The people on the shore and in the boat must’ve been very amused to see such a composed ballet act during the tense, busy morning hours. And I am told he had that same smile on his face when he was fished out of the river.
An interesting man has interesting friends, and they will ordinarily indulge in very interesting past-times. So they did. In the post-dinner sessions, they would gather to play cards. And sometimes these sessions would extend a little beyond normal bed hours. It is not so much that they enjoyed the game, but the lot of the one who was to loose. That person would be subject to the whims of the winner, and sometimes, I am told, these whims would extend to be…..well…..whimsical. Now, one day it was time for our dear little fellow to loose, as he lost quite often. And as punishment, he was to draw (for he had a reputation in that aspect of fine arts) a bus. Simple, and uncomplicated. And after an hour long struggle he produced his masterpiece. Now everyone who was fortunate enough to discern that fancy sketch has confessed that it was very genuine. That they have never witnessed so much done with a scrap of paper and a much-chewed-over pencil. The artist had been so witty, that he had been able to produce the front, the top, the bottom, both the sides, and the back of the bus in one 2-dimensional surface, thus putting all his predecessors (artists and engineers alike) to shame. But his ingenuity did not fetch much praise from his peers, and they refused to let it pass as art at all. The world, we all know, is cruel to budding revolutionists. So, he was made to redraw. This time around, however, they were lenient enough to allow him a “Draw-as-you-like” decree.
The man had been an employee with a nut-n-bolt factory then and said that he would draw a nut. Simple, and uncomplicated. He had begun with that same silly smile on his face; after all, for six years now, he’d been seeing nothing but nuts and bolts. But soon, his face began to loose its former luster. Fifteen minutes in, it wore a very cloudy expression. And half-n-hour later he wore a countenance so shocking that his friends had to forcibly wriggle out the paper from within his grasp. I am told, that that piece of paper was preserved for a long time, and that it was brought to public view on many an auspicious occasion. As for the artist, he had yielded completely and begged for the most unpopular of punishments, a mild electric shock, taken in the tongue, and had obliged thus every other time he lost.
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