The Novelist - Me

Dressed in a shining black suit and a red tie, as I enter the auditorium, the hall reverberates with cheers and claps all around. Waving my hand at my fans and followers I move up on the dais with my wife - dressed in black with a contemporary hijab on her head, revealing her ever charming and sparkling face. A hint of kajal around her eyes and a touch of glossy lispstic adds to the charm of her beautiful and elegant look. As we move on we are greeted by the dignitaries of the ranks of Politicians, Writers and Novelist, Business tycoons, Sports icons, media persons and many more.

The anchor, Mr Anderson introduces me as one of the emerging novelist of the current era. With millions of copies of my first novel sold within minutes of its launch on flipkart, I have been a protagonist overnight!! While the flipkart is having a good business and feel itself lucky to have my sales right, offers continue to pour from across the globe from publishers and marketing companies for advance booking of my upcoming work.

Mean while, Mr Anderson goes into the depth of my career and finally invites me to deliver a few words and address the dignitaries and the audience.

As I walk toward the dais, I feel nostalgic for the days I have been dreaming to live this day.

“Thank you for all your love and affection. Thank you for considering me worthy to be read. It feels so awesome to bring smiles on the faces of so many people, and I feel blessed to have you all.”

The auditorium echoes with cheers and applause as I continue “Calm down friends!! I never want to be like a celebrity, because the very thought of it could be a curse on my writing. I am close to my reader’s heart, only because I am one of them. It is just fortunate for me to have the courage of sailing against the wind and realising my dream.”

“Though I am not in a position of giving suggestions, but this one goes for free for all the youngsters present here” The mood of the audience eases out and a short laughter fills the atmosphere as I continue, “Always live your dreams!! You never know what you deserve to be. Just a year ago, I was a hopeless guy working in a foreign country on the orders of my bosses. Though I was paid well, the job made me nothing less than an obedient and trained animal of a circus, trained to perform the same actions, what his masters has taught. As I quit the job, many cursed me for throwing away a golden opportunity to earn and settle down and the result is here.” Raising my voice I continue “Here I am standing before you, after a year of unemployment and frustration.”

Before publishing my first novel I was more of a critic and I knew this could spark a controversy and the media is too good at it. So just to play safe I continue further “Well, this doesn’t mean that each one of us resign from our job and try differently. I did, because I had made a mistake of choosing the wrong field. It was a mistake to get into a profession which was not made for me. So, while you step out of the college, think, research and know yourself to choose a profession which suits you, so that you may not go through the pain of unemployment and frustration which I went through.”

There is a pin drop silence in the hall with the audience staring at me with full attention. I didn’t know from where the words came out, as I never thought of me as an eloquent speaker, but there I was.

“Thank you for your love once again and keep reading” as I finish my speech, Mr Anderson invites me on the other side of the dais to sign a few copies of the novel for my fans. The queue is quite big and I patiently keep on signing until I come across my previous boss.

I enjoy the moment to see my boss struggling to get my autograph.

Before I could realise that it was too much of a dream and actually an alarm failure, I kiss my wife’s forehead, pose for the media and move toward my black shining Mercedes where the driver opens the gate for us.

Oh no!! Sounds ridiculous, but there I was a victim of alarm failure. As I got up hurriedly and cursed myself, I had the option of deciding what to do and what not to do. While you spend sleepless night thinking about the next morning, the morning sometime have different plan for you.

With a tensed mind and a tinge of smile for the thought of still being a trained and obedient animal of a circus, I hurried toward the bathroom.

That tinge of smile was so predominant that even though when I walked on the street of the London towards the Victoria underground, I couldn’t hide it. Lot of people noticed me with that hidden smile which at times went into full laughter.

Off course, I had lived my life, my dream life in dream itself, but what I was wondering then was the whip of my master-the hunter man, waiting for me in the office with full range of escalation and what followed next is indeed a taboo to be revealed.