A Good Life

  Triiinnngggg…. the alarm went off. I hit the snooze button (the alarm was set on my phone) and snuggled into my blanket again. In five minutes, the alarm went off again. I was about to hit the snooze button when my inner voice questioned me, “Till when are you going to keep hitting snooze? It’s time to wake up!” I realised that it’s high time I got the better of my  laziness . I dragged myself out of the bed, switched off the alarm and headed to the washroom.   I poured myself a glass of warm water. As I sat by the window sipping on the water, I saw people walking and running in the park.  “It’s about time I started doing some workout,” I thought. I knew there was a severe  lack of exercise  in my lifestyle.  I sprang to my feet, took my diary and a pen and sat to draft a perfect workout routine. But, as I turned the pages of my diary, I saw that this wasn’t the first time I was drawing up a plan. “ All planning and no action makes Jack a dull boy! ”...

  Shekhar, a service engineer, repeatedly checked his watch while meticulously working his tools. He had come to this factory at a remote location for the maintenance of a machine provided by his company. The last air-conditioned bus from the nearest village left in half an hour. He was running late, but was honest in his work and did not leave till his job was perfectly done. Once he packed his tools and bag, he gave a demo of the serviced machine to the factory manager and left.   He rushed to the bus stop. The stop was empty barring an old man sitting in one corner. “Excuse me,” said Shekhar to the old man. “How may I help you?” “Can you let me know the status of the last air-conditioned bus?” “You are late, young man. That bus left 15 minutes ago!” “Oh God!” Shekhar looked up at the sky in frustration and sighed. “Where are you headed to?” Asked the old man. “Mumbai.” Replied Shekhar. “You are in luck. A non-AC state transport bus should come in about h...

  He woke up one morning with a searing pain in his head. He struggled to sit up in bed. He felt a lot of pain, as if he was sleeping on a bed of nails. He rubbed his eyes and looked around bewildered. ‘Where am I?’ he thought. He remembered neither the room nor how he got there. He struggled to his feet and limped to the door. Very gently he opened the door a little and peeped outside. He saw a man and a woman sitting at the dining table having breakfast. He quietly shut the door and limped back to his bed. ‘Where am I? Who are these people?’ he thought. He held his head in his hands and thought hard. But the harder he thought the more intense the pain in his head became. He felt as if someone was striking his head with a hammer. ‘I must search the room for clues,’ he thought. He opened the bedside drawers to search for clues. He found a wallet and in it a driving license. ‘Aditya Mehra,’ he read. ‘Strange, why can’t I recollect my name?’ He looked for more clues but couldn’t find...