ChinmayC Blog

His house was less than hundred meters from ours and in the same lane, that is to say, in the immediate neighborhood, and therefore, he could pass as one of our neighbours in the strictest sense. However, our relations with him hadn’t been as good neighbours, it was a doctor-patient relationship . Per our information he rented this flat for his practice while his family lived in the parental house in a nearby locality. Unless in an emergency, he went back to his family every night. At times, his wife and son came over to live with him. The flat is a one-bedroom affair: a small lobby greets you in from the main door and as you turn to your right to enter his little chamber you find straight ahead the kitchen slab which looks hardly ever used staring at you while the room on your left you’re sure is the bedroom; as you pass the door of the chamber you find a few chairs and a table propped up against the wall on your right and in front is the interior of the room containing the doctor’s p...

I seem to enjoy a special relationship with the trains of the Indian Railways, for most of my train journeys always yield a memorable result—at times very amusing and at times dearly painful. Over the decades I must’ve spent quite a few sleepless nights on various railway station platforms thanks to the delayed schedules or freak/serious mishaps on various tracks or my missing a train or the connecting trains, not to mention other sleepless nights I spent on board looking to get a reservation on the way that never came my way! I meet various interesting people on most of the journeys that make my journeys delightful or rather irritating depending on their quality, and most importantly most of those precious guys end up becoming my characters in my short or mini stories (most of which you can find in my various published collections of short stories. A few remain here too!)! Now, I invite you on board a train for a brief journey I undertook recently which actually doesn’t qualify fo...

Breakfast at the dining table. Two ladies are talking in a rapt engagement. They've finished breakfast and the teas, but perhaps the interesting subject of their conversation keeps them engaged still. The younger lady belongs to the host family while the elder lady happens to be a surprise guest. At this moment the younger lady is describing something animatedly. The elder lady listens resting her hands on the table and bending forward to the other lady. Suddenly, a tiny droplet of the younger lady's saliva shoots out and unfortunately, lands directly on the listening lady's right forearm. She, still in the act of listening, looks mournfully at the droplet, but is too courteous lest it draws the other lady's attention and make the whole innocuous happening unnecessarily embarassing. It is not at all known though if the talking lady notices it or misses it, she as innocent as the other lady.  There has to be a bit of squirming inside the affected lady's mind, obvious...

It was many years ago, we were not exactly little ones then, we were about high school leaving age: myself and my younger brother. Thanks to our father’s ways we used to be sent to our native village absolutely alone since our primary school age; he used to request the government transport service bus conductor to look after us and to put us in a bus going to our village after arriving at the major preceding bus stations. All the time nothing adverse had happened, and therefore, we were quite used to travel alone or the both of us brothers. It is not at all necessary to identify the state, towns or localities; suffice it’d be that it was somewhere in India a long time back.   We boarded the bus at around eight o’clock in the morning after taking a light breakfast at home, from the then home city we were living in, heading for our native village to spend our summer holidays. Our journey was to take at least 8/9 hours which was to deposit us first in the preceding major station fro...

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, shoppin...

He was very sure that he had lost it. Where exactly it happened, however, he  didn't  know. At the time he moved to his permanent home it was very much there with him. But after a few days he started becoming increasingly aware of its absence. He  didn't  know where exactly to look for it or to search for it in an organized way. The term ‘organized way’ seemed to amuse him. ‘Why the hell am I confused about it, and confounding it?’ he thought. The answer eluded him. ‘Yes, I don’t know the spot where I dropped it and lost it, whether it was night or day when I did so; but how careless of me not to have any idea about it!’ his mind raved on aimlessly. Suddenly he remembered one old joke, and at least it managed to cheer him up a lot. One moonless night a pedestrian found a stranger desperately searching for something under the street light on a lonely stretch. The pedestrian sensed that the person did not belong to this part of the town. As the stranger stead...

He took a resolve not to submit the details as required or give in to the new pressure tactics. He considered this move totally unfounded, preposterous and unnecessary. Why should he or any other of his kind at all? How did it relate to the work they all were doing? He was not a broker or an agent or a dealer or a pedlar. He had been a simple honest straightforward employee eking out a living from his salary, didn’t matter at all if it was fat or lean. Whatever he did or didn’t was conditioned by his monthly salary, and he was not ready to share his kitchen details with anyone. Why at all? And what purpose would it serve to the party who wanted such details except for making wrong use of the information. His company suddenly wanted all its employees to submit full property details including family holdings of gold and silver. While most of the employees accepted it as part of duty and were going ahead with the procedure he resisted vehemently publicly announcing his decision never to c...

The spectre of being powerless scares him stiff. He has been winning the elections in that little state of the Indian republic last four consecutive times and has been a minister on different occasions enjoying immense bouts of power. Thanks to his power he has made millions of bucks and properties across the state. He has created pockets of influence at every level of government and administration. And, he thinks fondly, the luxuries and comforts associated with power and position are just too lucrative. How could he even think of foregoing all that? Not possible at all, but this election was different. The opposition brought in the issue of corruption and campaigned vigorously asking people to end the long period of misrule. The fools, he growls to himself, they fell for it…as if the new rulers would usher in an era of historic honesty! Why, anybody who becomes a people’s representative must first ensure his/her life-long safety and security—resorting to all means of doing it, he mus...

He was right royally amused by what happened—not only by the reactions, but more by the deep-rooted feeling of a rather inexplicable insecurity embedded in them. He was new to the city and was trying to gather as much information as possible about the local traditions, customs, linguistic-cultural characteristics and other significant happenings. That day while rummaging through the newspapers, he came to know about an important event taking place in the city. Deciding not to miss it he told his assistant to find out how his office could participate in the proceedings. The assistant immediately opined that Mr B…was very well known to the concerned organizers and so that person should be the right channel to go through. He knew Mr B… well enough to understand that he was one of the integral parts of the office. “Okay…” he said, “Tell him to arrange.” After some time, Mr B…called him. “Hello sir…I came to know you wanted to participate in the event. I…” “Oh yes! Please arrange it then.” ...

“Hello sonny dear?...You sound a little disturbed, tell me what’s on your mind.” “Err…mom!...You know how much I love you…how I care for you!” “I know son, go ahead.” “You know I work long hours at a place a quite far off from our home here. And you are mostly alone in this big old house. On the top of that you don’t keep well nowadays. I’m constantly worried about you, mom!” “I understand, it’s part of old age,…go ahead.” “Well…err…mom…please don’t misinterpret what I’m going to say. I want to ensure constant medical and personal care for you. So why don’t we sell off this useless house. You’ll be well looked after in a sanatorium or in a very good old-age home. Believe me mom, I really want you to be hale and hearty.” “That’s okay, but why sell the house. We don’t need money. I get a pension good enough for me.” “Money is always useful dearest mom. You can invest in the share market or… we can buy a new house nearer to my workplace. Whenever you want you can come over there for a ch...

Haven’t you already observed a helluva lot of times that your cell phone bursts out ringing at the most awkwardly wrong moments?   Like you’ve lathered up nicely and about to put your razor to work…you mobile rings. You can’t take the risk of answering unless you’d like it to have a shave too. Like you are in the bath happy and singing…you mobile rings. Let be assured that it would’ve been one of the most important calls. Like you are driving and in the worst of traffic situation…you mobile rings…not once, but several times and falls silent when you’ve reached. I’d not rather mention other situations when you feel mad, shamed and damned. However, the situation I suffered recently was as unique as it was hilarious, maddening, exciting and depressing. That warm evening I along with my wife came out of the supermarket after purchasing mostly grocery items. There were three moderately heavy bags, I was carrying two engaging both of my hands and my wife one. We walked briskly to reach ...