Kabirdas
Agarwal had no life. He was just alive. He led an existence of
absolute detachment – reminiscent of his namesake saint. The only
difference was that Kabir the saint was detached from the world in
his pursuit of devotional bliss, and our hero was detached just
because he had no other choice. He had no friends, except of course,
the tons of empty beer bottles whose contents he had guzzled down
with not an inconsequential gusto. That was, till he met Tony.
Kabirdas was above the average as a student, but by no means
intelligent. He always managed to cross the bar, but never with
enough points to ensure him a place in the hall of fame. To give
credit where it is due, he never bothered to try for an admission
into any of the top notch Institutes, because by the time he had
acquired his college degree in Commerce, he had had just about
enough of studies. He really didn’t believe in investing any more
time and money into forwarding the cause of igniting the inner fire,
so he took up a job – Searching for a job! Finally, his efforts did
bear fruit and he got a job. That’s where he met Tony Lawrence. And
Tony became the only bright part in Kabir’s drab life.
Kabir and Tony used to spend their daytime together – they used to
work nights. Weekends were reserved for getting sloshed together and
for myriad activities of a mildly heinous nature – watching
constantly lowering necklines and rising hemlines against the
multicolored background of disco lights, smoke an occasional joint
in any of the dirty back alleys of the city with a litter of cats
for company, and at times just sleep the night out in an unkempt and
fern overgrown park near Kabir’s room. In the office, they hardly
got time to interact with each other; most of the time was spent in
solving problems for a customer base that was, to say the least,
three continents and two oceans away. Kabir was uncomfortable to
begin with, but Tony was absolutely at ease. After all, he was an
American by virtue of birth. It was just that he had lived all his
life in the sub-continent and had picked up the ‘desi’ way of life.
That was not just by chance but also by choice. And that’s what
impressed the patriot in Kabir – his friend liked to remain an
Indian, in spite of an option of migrating to the United States.
Tony was slowly becoming the single most powerful influence in
Kabir’s life. He taught Kabir to love his work, in spite of the
issue of connecting to a foreign populace. He also helped Kabir to
get over his initial phobia of effectively talking to a person of a
different race in his language, on the phone. He was a constant
companion to Kabir – a shadow figure, a guardian angel! Tony was an
Employer’s Delight. He was totally committed to the cause of helping
out a customer and to ensure that he gives his very best to the
company he worked for – to the extent of being brutal with his
schedule and day planning. Kabir, on the other hand, was a very
happy go lucky individual who shared his friend’s exalted views on
work ethics and discipline; but always succeeded in procrastinating
the actual implementation of those ideals.
It started one night at work, when all the phone banks were
extremely busy. Tony was on a call with an exceptionally grouchy
customer when Kabir rushed in, and released the call. Tony was
shocked at the absolute lack of professionalism that Kabir
displayed, and was about to chide him, when he saw the expression on
Kabir’s face. Kabir had tears flowing freely, without any seeming
semblance of guilt or shame. It was the face of a man who had lost
his most precious possession. Then he spoke out, “Tony, my
mother….”, and collapsed.
The doctor washed his hands in the bowl filled with Potassium
Permanganate solution, and turned to Wajid Qureshi – Kabir’s
manager.
“Mr. Qureshi, Kabir has had an attack of severe hypertension caused
by extreme lack of sleep and dietary imbalance. I guess the shock
caused by his mother’s death has triggered out a psychological
disturbance, which might have been dormant for years. A volcano
waiting to erupt. By the way, who is this Tony Lawrence? Kabir was
calling out to him, when he was in a hallucinatory trance. I guess
he might be able to help.”
Wajid Qureshi stared hard at the doctor, “Doctor, Tony Lawrence is
Kabir’s alias name at the call center that he works for….”
Boloji.com is owned and managed by
Boloji Media Inc Privacy Policy |
Disclaimer No part of this Internet site may
be reproduced without prior written permission of the copyright holder.
