Alternate Lives

He sat outside the court building, scanning the newspaper, and keeping an eye out for potential clients.." India win series", the massive headline on the sports page read, but he dismissed it with a contemptuous smile... he was no longer interested... he still remembered the times when cricket was his life, but that was a long time ago... these days, he sat outside the courthouse and helped people draft appeals, for a nominal fee. that was how he made a living. on weekends he went fishing, that was something he was good at since the old cricket days...
he wondered how his friends were doing these days, the old gang... he was still in touch with at least 4 of them. one was a visa consultant these days, waiting outside embassies in mumbai and helping people get the visa power... and having showdowns with underworld gangs while at it...
another was a bouncer at a popular discotheque in bangalore.. he was much in demand, because it was said that nothing could get past him, he was like a wall, and even the kids who couldnt get past him agreed that he was always technically correct...
the third guy was a mess. he had a problem with sticking on to any job. he was forever looking for some 'doosra' thing to do, and getting into trouble with officials, and girlfriends...
but the guy who was most successful was the telephone booth operator turned movie star.. he had initially got a phone because he used to regularly get calls from his mom, and since the phone was anyway available, he decided to make some money with it.. and since he was forever asking people "sir ji, mera chance", he finally landed a movie role, and became a superstar, of course, with blessings from his mom...
his thoughts were interrupted rudely by a client who was screaming at him, coz the appeal he had drafted had been turned down by the court.. some things never changed..
but life was a different ball game from cricket..once upon a time, he, along with the visa consultant and the movie star were the three S's, without whom the Indian cricket team couldnt exist. Between them and the 'doosra' guy they had taken indian cricket to its peak, but it was good only as long as it lasted...
until next time, howzzat??