The Closed Chapters

Arjun knew many things about the lady who stood in front of him. She knew almost nothing about him. Armed with an intuitive grasp of her needs, Arjun found the lady the right car (perhaps even the car of her dreams) and made the sale. She left the Automobile Showroom and so ended his hundredth relationship with a customer.

Arjun smiled to himself. 100 sales to date on commission and he was actually new at this job. He glanced with amusement at the other salespeople looking harried or bored. They did not get a kick out of this. His amusement turned slightly to pity.

Congratulations!
said no one.
This calls for a celebration!
said nobody.
Arjun suddenly felt the lack of company to share his joy with. He had never bonded with his colleagues. They, like his 100th customer, knew very little about him, despite knowing him longer.

Arjun had erred a few times and entered into conversations with random people. Soon the same annoying personal questions surfaced and multiplied. His discomfort had frightened him.

Where are you from? How many people in your family?
He hardly wanted to relive the childhood trauma of losing everything in the earthquake- his loved ones, his belongings, his faith. Or his long days as a servant which ended with the horror of being jailed for theft of gold when all he really stole were books.

Arjun shuddered as a small wave of recollection passed through him.

Where are you working?
"I'm just out of jail. I was working as a servant before that. Now I want a job that pays higher. You see, I educated myself well by secretly watching my master's TV and extensively studying stolen books. So I'm sure to find a good job." No- he did not say it. To the lovely lady at the bus stop, he merely said, "I'm unemployed." She had looked away.

Are you married?
His fiance and big love had married somebody else who apparently was not in jail. How could he compete with that qualification? But he did not say that to his neighbour who did not know how rude he was being. To him, Arjun just shook his head.

Since then, Arjun resolved to be a closed book. He made no friends. He stayed focused on finding employment and with his neat clothes and polished speaking skills, he had fooled a big company into taking him. Fooled? No, it was pure merit. And he built his record from there.

The evening of completing 100 sales, Arjun as usual took a bus home. He spotted one of his new neighbours but avoided her gaze. He entered his house and locked the door. He quietly cooked himself some dinner. He ate in silence. He did the dishes. He read something and lay down on the sofa. He thought about his success. And he thought....however much he may achieve in future, his day was most likely to have the same ending. He did not know if that made him happy or sad. He soon fell asleep.