I’m Santosh. My colleagues call me Sandy. I like being called Sandy; it has a nice foreign ring to it. It makes me feel accepted among the Firangs.I came to New York 4 summers ago. I’m a consultant with a large bank. I like my job. I wear a blue tie on Mondays. I have a very important 10 am meeting with clients today. I take the subway to work every day. Today is no different. Today is like every day.
As I sat down, I observed a man of African origin stare at me. He was sitting two seats to the left of the one opposite to mine. He had a salt and pepper stubble and looked shabby. He wore a black leather jacket over a white t-shirt. The t-shirt had some stains on it. I don’t like stains. Stains make me nervous. Poor homeless Bastard! I usually avoid eye contact in the train. But, today is unusual.
Today isn’t like every day.
I pretend to ignore his gaze and continue reading the paper. I pretend the news in the paper is important. I’ve been pretending a lot lately. Pretending has become such an intricate part of my life that I’ve to pretend that I’m not pretending.
“Father, Daughter found dead in Hotel room”- The headline caught my attention.
I have a very short attention span. Few things hold my attention these days. I closed the paper and checked my blackberry for new mails. None! I checked my twitter account. What!? No tweets? How boring! I changed my status to “On my way to work! What a nice day!” Gosh! I’m such a faker.I returned my blackberry to its leather pouch. “Everything in its place and a place for everything” my mom used to say. But something was out of place today.
Today isn’t like every day.
Something's bothering me. What is it? Oh yes! The bearded homeless bum. I quickly glanced to my left. Oh hell!! I cursed in my mind! Cursing is bad. “Gentlemen don’t curse” my mom used to say. But what was I to do? IT was staring at my shoes. I knew it was judging me. “You can tell a lot about a man by his shoes, his hair and his handshake” I heard my mom say. I retracted my legs hastily. I hadn’t polished my shoes today. I polish them while listening to the morning news. But yesterday, I was out partying with friends till late, so i woke up late. But how dare it judge me? Surely, this is a case of the pot calling the kettle black. Ha! A pun! I must remember to tweet this. I’m so funny and smart. I feel better now.
“Police say a man and a girl found dead in the Montenegro South state hotel on the weekend were father and daughter.
The bodies of Alex Pay, 46, and Dandy Pay, 6, were found by a cleaning woman on Sunday afternoon.
Police said Mr. Pay checked into room 106 at the hotel on Friday. Investigators are calling the deaths "suspicious" and are waiting for autopsy results to determine the cause of death.”
Uff! How boring! News isn’t what it used to be. I flipped over to the sports section.
“FedeEx meets Rafa AGAIN!”
I want Fed to win. He is such a gentleman. Rafa looks like one of those burly laborers back home. I hate how macho he looks with his rippling biceps and triceps. I used to hit the gym. I wanted to look big, strong and macho too. But, I was never really regular. I had to study hard. Who wants muscles anyway? “It’s his thoughts that maketh the man” I remember reading in some blog.
I took out my Gold plated Parker to solve the daily Sudoku. Sudoku makes me happy. It fills me with purpose. I love decoding the patterns and visualizing the numbers filling in. Just Like Russel Crowe in A Beautiful Mind. I feel so smart. But, I couldn’t concentrate like every day.
Today isn’t like every day.
The bum was getting up. Ha! I see a torn sole. Another pun! I must definitely tweet this.
A pair of black shades fell from his pocket. He was groping for them on the floor.
Oh My God! I'm blind!
A co-passenger handed him the shades. He thanked the kind soul, wore his shades and stretched his folded cane. As he stepped onto the station, tapping his way forward, he didn’t notice a smartly dressed Indian stare at him.
He didn’t know we shared the same destination. He didn’t notice the I didn't get off the train. He didn’t know that I'll be late for my meeting. He didn’t know that my shoes weren't polished.
At the station, Wallace stopped walking.
"I'm getting older" he thought, "but the lord is kind to me. Thank GOD for thy mercy, for you handed me my glasses. Thank you lord, for all the times thou helped me. Today,” he told himself, “is a beautiful day!”
