Canvassing My Life

6 Months ago

BOSS: "Hey punk, snap out of it. Where is your mind. Paint these damn toilets and after that you are needed in the painting of the sidewalk."

Tanmaya: "I'm on it boss."

B: "These are just fucking toilets, how long these gonna take."

T: "You don't understand. I have to do them right, that's why it takes long."

B:"Do them right" , That's always your excuse. Take them and shove it in your ass. Takes you an hour to polish a shoe.

T:I'm an artist

B:What you are, asshole, is FIRED.

T: Wait, you can't.......

B: GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE

(1: How many jobs has it been now, Tanmaya?)

And he gathered his brushes from the floor including his self- respect, and descended to leave.

The only place is heaven in this hell is Mr. Benny's Bar. The broken chairs and hopes is the epitome of this bar. "Do I belong to this place?" It doesn't matter. No soul comes here.

T: "Hey buddy, where is Arun now-a-days?"

M: "Haven't you heard? He died last week".

T: "Ugh. You're kidding me."

M: "Nah..... Last week, Arun comes in from his shift. Then, all of a sudden he says he's feeling sick and he just drops."

T: "Oh god! That sucks."

M: "Huh! Sucks more to be his wife and kids right now."

(1: What have you got, Tanmaya? No money. No job. A life wasted chasing dreams that are always just beyond your reach.)

T(angrily) : "You don't know anything about me."

M: "What the hell, T?"

T: "Sorry, I-I gotta hit the head."

Then he left the bar in a haste. Somehow he reached his home only to notice a ghastly figure blinked at his door for a moment .Trembling in fear , he backed off a little and fell on the alley of building due to lack of balance. Must be a bad hallucination and he pulled out a cigarette, and lit it.

T(thinking): "Ah!My head hurts."

Then his neighbor Yezna was passing through alley saw him sitting down in front of his door.

Yezna: "Those things will kill you."

T: "That's the least of my problems."

Y: "Shitty day, huh?"

T: ....

Y: "I said, 'Shitty day, huh?'"

T: "Yeah, I, uh.." ( and he looked at her for first time, who he found exquisitely beautiful.)

"....Got fired. I-I mean, I was working at Mental Hospital so I should be happy I'm no longer there, right? Now at least I can focus on my painting and..."

Y: "Let me guess, struggling artist? Couldn't have picked a more lucrative cliché?"

T: "Yeah... (Clearly dumbstruck by her looks) "Wow!, You're...."