Page 33 - You Only Live Once [BooksLD]
P. 33
adds.
‘He is a guy,’ her father chuckles. I look at his chappal s. They’re the
ones you get from roadside hawkers in Mumbai for peanuts. It reads the
logo of Facebook .
‘What brand is that?’ I interrupt him as I sip my glass of cutting chai.
‘Facebook ,’ he says with confidence, still puzzled over what my
question has to do with his chappal s, and of course him.
‘Facebook’s COO was a woman who recently quit to pay more attention
to her own initiative.’
There’s pin-drop silence. While the girl smiles as she approves of me, the
rest of them now notice my colored fringes and unconventional features
with a distasteful glance. Indians judge you left, right, and centre. Wearing
traditional clothes gives you an upper edge. Knowing the local language
gives you a faster promotion. These are just a few things to begin with.
A shady guy with unkempt hair on the top berth looks over the entire
scene as if he is going to make a feature film on the same. He is probably
travelling without a legit ticket. You can tell these people apart by their
faces. See? I judged him. I am an Indian too!
A book hawker selling pirated copies of bestselling books passes by.
‘Bhaiya , which book sells the most?’ I ask. He points to a title which reads
‘Become a Millionaire Overnight!’ We’re a population of 1.3 billion,
struggling hard to make it big, and most of us want to become millionaires
overnight. Especially me. If I could pay off that education loan, I would be
free to do anything!
‘Do you want any?’
‘Yeah. Become a Millionaire Overnight ,’ I say as I hand him a 100-rupee
note.
In the compartment next to mine is a family on route to a wedding. I
assume that they will probably play Antakshari all the way to Goa.
Destination weddings are the new ‘in-thing’ in India. November is the peak
of the wedding season. Their children are all over the place, they would
keep going up and down on the berths and keep creating a nuisance.
Where do I get ideas for my script? Well, it’s all around me. All I have to
do is listen.