Mr P
Updated: Sep 14
Mr P woke up, surprised, listening to the nine o’clock bell from the college clock. As always, his roommate had already left. It didn’t matter which day it was; his roommate would leave without bothering to wake him up. Once, Mr P even missed a quiz depending on him. Neither could Mr P blame him, nor could he find another roommate, considering how everyone hated his hygiene.
Getting down from his untidy bed, Mr P went to the common washroom, only to find all three sinks being used. He waited for a while, but everyone seemed to be taking their own time.
Not intending to be too late, Mr P smelt himself before starting to walk to the canteen. He felt that he neither needed a shower that day nor a notebook for his class.
The last time he wrote notes was two semesters ago. It was the last time he even tried to pay attention in order to achieve something in his life.
Upon reaching the canteen, Mr P stood at the end of a long queue of hungry and frustrated young men. On the menu board, it read “Poha”. This was his favourite breakfast, made of flattened rice flakes and spices. As he moved forward in the queue, Mr P realised he was the last person in it.
When he finally reached the counter, the server walked away with the small amount of Poha left. Though Mr P shouted, the server didn’t even bother to stop.
Frustrated, Mr P walked to his classroom, cursing the server. Settling down on the last bench where he was all alone, Mr P looked around at his classmates. He thought, “This day wouldn’t have been possible had I chosen the right drug.”
A little while later, after the professor arrived, she entered along with two of her friends. They settled down in the row before Mr P. While wondering if she would ever sit beside him, Mr P couldn’t help but think, “I bet she doesn’t even know you exist.”
Looking at the empty seat next to her, Mr P wondered, “How about sitting beside her now?”
As he stood up while the professor was writing on the board, Mr P was almost at his destination when another guy took the seat.
Looking at the guy, Mr P thought, “There he is. I was wondering how come she was all by herself until now.”
For a year now, Mr P has wanted to muster the courage to ask her out, but she has never even noticed him. It felt like, for her, he was a part of the shadows.
After the class was completed, Mr P felt too tired to eat lunch. So he decided to just have some tea before returning to his room to sleep.
Even this time, the canteen was so crowded that Mr P simply gave up and started travelling back to his room. He couldn’t help but think, “I’m a failure amongst achievers, and I cannot tell my parents the truth.”
As he climbed the stairs, Mr P thought, “I even failed at giving up. I’m worse than I thought.”
When he walked to his room, he realised he had left the door open when he left. As Mr P walked into his room, he could see his body lying on the bed.
In just a moment, Mr P realised the drugs he took to kill himself did work, and it was his thoughts that were still stuck in his monotonous lifestyle even after he lost his mortal form.
Credits
This story was written by Prakhyat Chatla, edited by Sreekar Ayyagari & Tarun Chintam and photographed by Pankaj Tottada.
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