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An Unfortunate Accommodation

As they say, hindsight is always 20/20. The Mandarmani trip with my family started out exactly as one would expect, with a small caveat: it was a largely spontaneous one, and the 'hotel' was booked less than a week before. This obviously put our backs against the wall regarding accommodation options, since at this time of the year, every single 47-year-old man and his family in Kolkata decide to toss a coin between a trip to either Mandarmani or Digha to momentarily escape their day-to-day struggles, instead of just seeking professional help (perhaps we were an example of this phenotype ourselves). These 47-year-old men in question had booked every single decent resort to the brim, leaving us with no choice but to consider the next best option: a 3.7-rated hotel on Google with sea-facing rooms. Let's call it the Puffin Resort. Judging by the written reviews, the place was excellent, but for some curious reason, they came almost exclusively from young men who see...
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An Empty Class



A crisp winter morning. I'm at my Biology tuition, with a few students scattered around me. Our teacher hasn't arrived yet, although the class was supposed to start at 9:30, and it's almost 10 minutes past that now. 

The room is quiet. People are alone; their various friends haven't arrived yet. As for me, I don't have any over here (I didn't bother to familiarise myself with so many students hailing from different schools and boards), except the girl whom I occasionally exchange notes with, Shrestha. Can she be considered a friend? Anyhow, even she is missing.

I can hear the cars and motorcycles whizzing by outside. It's queer how much these everyday sounds get amplified during the winters. The door creaks ever so loudly as another student enters through it, a malnourished looking boy wearing glasses, with scruffy hair. He has earphones on, like almost everyone else in the class. I can hear the music blaring from some of them- stifled sounds, almost under duress, but music nonetheless. I don't recognize any of it, though. maybe I need to start exploring bands other than AC/DC.

Suddenly, the silence lifts.

"My mom doesn't even know that my results are out, yaar. According to her, i don't even know my marks yet. Kikore bolbo?"

"Same here man..."

I smile a little. we're all living the same lives.

The door creaks open again. Since I don't know the names of anyone here, I assign various nicknames to them. This girl in particular, is called snow white, because well, she's... white. Her sole purpose of coming to this class is not to learn Biology, but to sit beside her boyfriend and discreetly kiss him when the teacher is not looking. I'm sure he knows, though- it's too obvious not to notice. Also, CCTV cameras are situated right above them. He just doesn't say anything, but honestly, i don't know why.

Presently, the gross and bespectacled guy will arrive, who always sits beside me, uninvited. Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against him, but he somehow always manages to cough or sneeze when he's sitting beside me, multiple times. I'm getting tired of it now. 

A boy wearing a purple cardigan (yes, i think I know the difference between that and a pullover and a sweater now) comes and sits beside me. obviously, I don't know him. i think he just wants to sit beside his girlfriend on the other side.

The class is louder now. people's friends have all arrived. They discuss various things in their subdued whisperings, which I cannot decipher one by one. I don't want to either; I'm content as I am. My only worry right now is about my battery running out before I get home.

It's 20 minutes past time now, and our teacher still hasn't arrived. I normally wouldn't mind, but this means he will extend the class till even later. 

Damn, just as I type that, there he is.

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