Locks Down…!

Husband: Looks like the lockdown is not going to be lifted soon. Of course, some curbs are being eased in the green zones, but in red zones no relaxation in near future. We’re boxed in for a much longer time…

Wife: Rightly so, the government’s doing very right. No risks need to be taken at this crucial time. The lockdown has yielded a lot of benefits…the spread is checked, contained. It should be extended as long as it’s required.

Husband: I fully agree with you. We’re staying at home, taking all precautions and keeping ourselves safe. However, there are problems too…an extension may really accentuate these problems. About the economy we’re helpless, but consider my problem, it’s, sort of, getting longer and longer!

Wife: Don’t complain. We’re much better off than many other unfortunate people, families, and countries. And hark; never expect human life to be the same after this. Don’t ever think of rushing back to your old ways…dining in restaurants, having parties, shopping in malls, visiting the movie houses and eating, working in congested offices, riding in overcrowded trains, buses and airplanes…and all that.

Husband: Yes, I perfectly understand that too. But fact is my problem remains. You see, some elements in our bodies do not possess a rational mind, and just go on like business-as-usual! There has to be a solution for such issues…

Wife:You’re not the only one facing this problem, you know. Solutions will come in due course, as is the way of life on this planet…

Husband: But when? There is easing of restrictions as I said…but for my kind of problems no hope at all…even in the green zones! Especially because, social distancing will be impossible to maintain…with the concerned professional inevitably breathing all over you from all possible angles!

Wife: (Silent)

Husband: Hey…why don’t you try? For me it’s difficult to operate on myself, but you can do it…with some intelligence and observation…I’m really scared, you must understand. They are coming down and down…with ominous progression! Very soon, my ears will be fully engulfed!

Wife: No way! I just have no experience in this line. Besides, I need you go out occasionally to bring in the essentials. I mean, you need to look presentable for that…

Husband: Ha! Ha! Trust me I have full trust on your skills. Anyway, you said earlier that I’m not alone in this. Yes! That’s the point! There are so many others like me…waiting for an opportunity to get it over with. Means there is tremendous demand and it’s growing all the time. See what I imply?

Wife: Not really! You know what…you’re getting a bit overawed with you problem. It’s not at all a life threatening problem and can wait. Of course, I sympathize with you! It’s very clumsy and uncomfortable considering the constantly rising temperatures…

Husband: Thank you, dear, for supporting me at least once. Okay, let me tell you about the point I wanted to make. With such kind of heavy and ever rising demand the fertile brains—the smart marketers—must take cue from this. They must start rapid online hair-cutting training courses! The moment they start I’ll get you enrolled, and be your first victim...sorry...first practical! I assure you; I’ll have full faith on you and bear with all the margins of error…!

Wife: (Smiles)

The VIP Brat: A Study in Contrast!

Here we’re talking about only two compartments inside a particular AC 2-Tier coach in a particular daily train under the Indian Railways that departs a particular originating station at around noontime and reaches the destination city early morning the next day. The train is popular because it is superfast and always on time. That fateful noon too, the train was ready for boarding about one hour before departure. We cut to the inside of that particular coach having those two compartments for our contrasting study. Two elderly couples were in a state of considerable distress. One of them, both technically senior citizens, had been allotted two upper berths and the husband was at his wits end how to proceed, because his wife was being taken for check-up after surgeries in both of her knees—she could hardly walk and her climbing up the berth was a sheer impossibility. The husband was also on the wrong side of the sixties, but he thought he could manage the climbing once he managed a ...

Mitali: The Trauma of Losing a Sibling

Maybe I lied to her when I used to reassure her that she was going to be alright and was going to resume her life in some measure of normalcy in the future years; maybe all my gestures/expressions were false when I used to run my fingers across her forehead or embrace her on occasions when she was able to move around a bit; and maybe all my exhibitions of love care and responsibility were exposed as superficial when I failed to turn up in Delhi where she along with my mother were treated during September-October, 2022 (my mother Urmila Chakravarty was also diagnosed with dental cancer the same month the same year as she was) and when all the members of my parental family and the in-laws converged. Since that fateful day in August, 2022 when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer to that disastrous day of March 6, 2025—the day my younger blood sister Mitali (Mainu) Chakravarty Sarma (November 2, 1963—March 6, 2025) passed away in the wee hours in a hospital in Guwahati after giving a bra...

Release of Book 'Randomized: A Dozen Short Stories'!

The fourth collection of stories titled 'Randomized: A Dozen Short Stories' by Chinmay Chakravarty has been released on Amazon KDP just now! This collection, short stories in a lighter vein plus with mild satire like the previous collections, has been published in both the E-book and Paperback formats. The links are given below: International: Click Here ! India: Click Here ! Other collections of short stories by the same author: The Cheerless Chauffeur and Other Tales(2021)--Notion Press. Funny and Fishy Tales(2022)--KDP. The Weirdos(2022)--Ukiyoto Publishing. All books of the author are available on Goodreads, apart from Amazon and other outlets! Have a look!