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The Dramatist

by Aditi Talapatra
(Kolkata, India)

His baritone voice reverberated across the hall as he flawlessly uttered the last few lines drawing the audience attention to the close of the curtain.The thunderous applause and the standing ovation Kuljit received at the end of the drama was beyond his own imagination.


His side hustle was unknown to his English boss. Kuljit's penchant for drama made him popular in his neighbourhood. He had drawn upon this quality from early boyhood. His art of voice modulation and mimicry was funny and appealing. Kuljit was too decent and never indulged this in office. He was tall and the turban on his head made him look taller .Kuljit could not overcome his constant fetish of matching the turban colour with his shirt.

To office he was forced to wear his uniform, a blue pair of trouser and white shirt. The only thing he flaunted were his badge on his shoulder lapel that shone under the strong lights.

Kuljit had a tough job working then ,for one of the world's best airlines. During the eighties, Kolkata was more of a smart city.It was linked to all European countries. Trade flourished, business bloomed, people came to the city to look for jobs. Trains, trucks were loaded with goods being transported to other places from Kolkata.

The flights were then overbooked with passengers. The days and nights were so busy that Kuljit could not return home. Sometimes he felt disgusted. This disgust was usually towards the beginning of the month when his salary was still deep in his pocket. As the month rolled on, he looked forward to the gruelling nights of overtime that his boss approved. He needed the overtime as much as he longed for money towards the end of the month.

Kuljit had an unbelievable presence of mind and was very witty, he was known for keeping his boss in good humour. His English was impeccable beating the rustic Punjabi dialect he shared with his parents. His English boss Drewell was difficult to outsmart. His long stay in India had been a lesson in the Indian culture, food habits and family values. As a boss he was often invited to his Bengali juniors house and served drinks and light lunch which he savoured with great delight.

Kuljit never invited his boss to his rented house.
The house was undergoing renovation. For most parts of the day, his family of six sat
outside while the labourers worked day in and day out to complete the work. Manju,his wife fought one night with Kuljit," It's time you thought about us instead of your firangi Saheb...good for nothing, keeping you always in office. I will leave the house if you don't stay back this week.” Manju was a sweet natured girl. She managed everything by herself but when the baby arrived, it made things difficult for her.

That night Kuljit decided to take leave atlast. He called his office and took leave for a day after much coaxing from his boss, he did not cow down. The second day and third day consecutive absence from the airport drew his boss's attention. Kuljit remained nonchalant in his approach.

In the morning as Kuljit sat down, suddenly the chowkidar came running to him whispering something keeping his lips close to his ear.Manju saw the chowkidar from the balcony, but could not fathom what urgency struck the family.

As the firangi entered the house, he cleared his throat and asked, “Madam, Is anyone at home? I need to speak to Kuljit.”

The person sitting on the charpoy held the baby in the arms cradling and humming a tune, trying to put the baby to sleep. The long hair let down, touched the charpoy, the Firangi boss couldn't see the face, he simply heard the effeminate voice say “Kuljit cannot be found anywhere. We are looking for him everywhere.”

The firangi boss returned to the door worried about Kuljit. Suddenly he turned around, the person on the charpoy had a blue kurta on, and the blue turban lay lifeless under the charpoy. He looked quizzically not sure of what to say to the person on the charpoy cradling the baby.

As the car veered clear from the door, Kuljit lay the baby down, threw his hands into the air laughed aloud jumping, tying his long hair and ....laughing at his tomfoolery!!

The office door creaked open Kuljit quietly entered and left, and as the firangi , Mr.Drewell opened the envelope that was placed neatly on his table,it read -

“Dear Sir,
Kindly excuse my absence as I had to leave Kolkata for an emergency in my hometown . I have joined office today.
Duly Signed by Kuljit Singh

Mr.Drewell did not waste a minute, he called Kuljit and asked him only one question
“ How long is your hair?”

***

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