On this day :
1779 John Adams appointed to negotiate peace terms with British, 1779 John Jay is appointed minister to Spain, 1967 My Mother The Car exported to France, 1864 Confederate guerillas sack Centralia Missouri, 1959 Khrushchev ends trip to the United States, 1989 Zsa Zsa Gabor storms out of the courtroom, 1854 Ships collide off Newfoundland, 1540 Jesuit order established, 1960 Sylvia Pankhurst dies, 1991 Reeves and Phoenix star in My Own Private Idaho, 1996 F Scott Fitzgerald stamp is issued, 1999 Placido Domingo breaks Carusos openingnight record at the Metropolitan Opera, 1869 Sheriff Wild Bill Hickok proves too wild for Kansas, 1938 Franklin Roosevelt appeals to Hitler for peace, 1930 Bobby Jones wins US Amateur title, 1967 Antiwar sentiment increases, 1969 Thieu comments on Nixons Vietnamization policy, 1915 John Kipling killed at the Battle of Loos, 1939 Poland surrenders, 1940 The Tripartite Pact is signed by Germany Italy and Japan,

Stories

Prashant

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Me: Hello? Excuse me!

Seller: Yes, would you like some mangoes?

Me: What? No, sir, actually I want to...

Seller: Come on, have some! I’ll sell for three hundred a dozen. Not too bad, right?

Me: I do not want to buy mangoes.

Seller: Then go away. I’m here to sell mangoes.

Me: If I buy some mangoes, will you talk to me?

Seller: Um... Yeah, sure.

Me: Okay. There goes my lunch money.

Seller: Mangoes are a nice lunch. Want some more?

Me: My name is Prem Sinha. What is your name?

Seller: Prashant.

Me: Oh, how nice. I want to know about your life.

Prashant: I grow mangoes. I sell mangoes. I make money. I grow more mangoes.

Me: You must be using some money on food.

Prashant: No, I eat my mangoes.

Me: Nothing else but mangoes?

Prashant: I have an acre large farm! I grow what I want to eat!

Me: A whole acre? You should be quite well off then.

Prashant: I only have land. I don’t have seeds.

Me: Well, why don’t you buy more seeds?

Prashant: I don’t have enough money.

Me: Take a loan from the bank.

Prashant: That’s the problem. They don’t just give money, but take it back also.

Me: Does your family help you in making money?

Prashant: No.

Me: Do you not allow them?

Prashant: I have no family.

Me: Oh, sorry. I didn’t know.

Prashant: It’s okay. At least I can live alone in peace.

Me: What is your house like?

Prashant: What do you mean? It has kitchen, a toilet and a door.

Me: Do you ever wish for more?

Prashant: You want me to answer that?

Me: Yes?

Prashant: Of course I do! Everyone has dreams!

Me: What do you dream of?

Prashant: I dream of Jeanie, my wife.

Me: You said you had no family.

Prashant: I had a wife, but she disappeared.

Me: How did she...

Prashant: Don’t ask!

Me: Could you just tell me...

Prashant: No, I cannot.

Me: Okay, then. How much money do you make?

Prashant: I make Rs. 5000 a month.

Me: Not too shabby.

Prashant: It’s enough for survival.

Me: But what about living?

Prashant: Don’t get philosophical in my face! Survival is living.

Me: No it’s not. Look at me.

Prashant: What do you do for survival?

Me: I work for a news company.

Prashant: And what do you do for a living?

Me: I work for...

Prashant: Where’s the difference now?

Me: That’s not how I meant it. Don’t you understand?

Prashant: Sorry, I didn’t go to school.

Me: Oh, that must have been harsh. I can imagine you craving to go to school as a child...

Prashant: Not at all. Rather, the kids who went to school wished they could laze around like me.

Me: Is that so?

Prashant: Yes, it’s like that. I spent my days chasing dogs and spinning tyres.

Me: Damn, that must have been smooth.

Prashant: Of course. Why education at all?

Me: It will teach your children how to...

Prashant: Do what? Do a job that’s more stressful and tedious than this?

Me: No, they will earn more when they grow up.

Prashant: What will they do by earning more?

Me: They will live in comfort.

Prashant: Do you consider yourself one of them?

Me: I am educated, so yeah.

Prashant: Are you always happy?

Me: No, but neither are you.

Prashant: So, what’s the difference?

Me: Um...

Prashant: See? What is your job again?

Me: I write interviews.

Prashant: So tell me, could you live without news, or without food?

Me: Food...

Prashant: So both of us are sometimes happy, sometimes not but I sell what people really need.

Me: So...

Prashant: So I am doing a service to mankind at no extra cost, while your family paid for your education so that you can get a job and do nothing that helps in man’s survival. You want more mangoes?

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