Faceless

‘Shit,’ I got up with a start.

‘What happened?’ wife got up too, a little alarmed.

‘There was a cockroach moving on my face’ I answered with disgust. ‘I can’t believe it. Last night there was one in my hair and tonight there is one on my face’ I said angrily. ‘We have to do something about them’.

‘But what the hell do we do? We got the pest control done a month ago’ she reminded me.

‘Yeah, but it can’t go on like this’ I said.

‘OK, we’ll think about something, you try to sleep now, you have to go for work in the morning’ wife said.

But my sleep was disturbed. ‘Cockroaches must be one of the most disgusting and creepy species on this planet’ I observed.

‘Yeah, you must be right’, wife agreed sleepily.

We discussed cockroaches and other creepy things for some more time before falling asleep. Kept having nightmares about cockroaches. I dreamed I was drowning in a sea of cockroaches. There were cockroaches all around me and all over my body. Got up in the morning feeling very uneasy. Went to the kitchen to make myself a cup of tea. A cockroach hurried away from the floor, just as I was about to step on it. ‘Man, they are everywhere’ I said, trying not to remember last night’s episode. Opened the refrigerator door and a few escaped from the side of the refrigerator door. Picked up the sugar pot and there were few on the shelve hiding beneath the pot. And few more beneath the tea leaves pot. ‘Disgusting! Where the hell they keep coming from?’ I wondered aloud. Wife got up groggy eyed and I handed her the cup of tea. She couldn’t sleep very well too.

‘What a horrible night’ I said. ‘Where have all these come from? We had pest control done last month only’ I asked baffled.

‘The whole building is infested with cockroaches’ she said. ‘They are everywhere. They just come from drainpipes or any other course they can find’.

‘I’ll have to talk to the society manger to do something about it’ I said as I gulped my last sip of tea. Got ready and left for office feeling like a zombie. Made my way to the bus stop through the sea of people. ‘So many people everywhere! Can’t even walk on the road’ I observed. Bus arrived already stuffed with people and I managed to push myself in. Got myself a ticket and stood in the gangway. Two youngsters were discussing last night’s match between India and West Indies.

‘Sachin is the greatest, saw his batting yesterday?’ one of them asked.

‘Yeah, six sixes and twelve fours, what a century?’ the second one added.

‘He is the true hero of our country. Has made us Indians so proud’ the first one stated.

Reached my stop and I just stood in the doorway and someone pushed me outside. Had to take a local train from here. It was impossible to get in this one with people hanging from the doors and at the windows. Decided to catch the next one. ‘What will become of this city if the population kept on growing at this rate?’ I wondered. The next one came and it was no better, rather it was worse. Was getting late for the office, so after a few pushes and pulls I managed to stuff myself in. No place to even stand properly. One foot was in the air while the other was placed uncomfortably on the deck. Someone stepped on it but it was impossible to make out whom, so just cursed silently. Someone breathed on my neck and another one elbowed me in my stomach. ‘Gosh! How do we live in such horrible conditions? Absolutely sub-human. Who are all these people and where do they come from? All look alike. Can’t even make out one from the other’. Reached my station, took a bus from there and reached my office building. There was a queue for the lift so I waited till my number came. ‘My god, there are twenty floors and must be at least hundred offices in this tower’ I figured. ‘How many people must be working here and how many must be coming in an out everyday?’ Reached my office on 12th floor and helloed all the familiar faces. Been working here for almost 5 years and yet unfamiliar faces outnumbered the familiar faces. Sunita, one of my colleagues and friends smiled and waved at me.

‘How was the weekend?’ I asked her.

‘Oh great, watched ‘kuch kuch hota hai’ again on Saturday’ she replied.

‘Oh god, how many times are you going to watch that dumb movie’ I asked her.

‘Hey, Don’t say that, it is a good movie and Shahrukh is so amazing in it’ she almost took an offense.

‘Come on, he over acts’ I tried to drive home some sense.

‘You can’t even dream of the amount of money he makes from his over acting’ she punched it right in my face.

I agreed with that.

‘And not to forget where he started from. Much lower from most of the people I know’ she added further.

I decided to end the conversation before it became too personal. ‘Ok listen, I am sick of cockroaches at my place. I’ve not been able to sleep well for the past two days. Any ideas what I can do about them?’ I inquired hoping for a solution.

‘You can’t do a thing about those little monsters’ she replied as her face became pale from some terrifying memory. ‘You kill them and they breed again.’ ‘Can’t make out one from the other. Faceless creatures! And some of them can fly too. Right on your face.’

‘They can live in any conditions. I’ve heard they can even survive a nuclear bomb’ I contributed to the discussion.

Day went by doing the usual and useless work in the office. The watch showed 5 PM and I was out with my bag. Again queue for the lift, queue for the bus, the usual pushes and pulls to get a seat and after traveling for one and a half hour I reached home. Wife was watching some Amitabh Bachchan’s movie. She is a great fan of Bachchan. I’m all right with him.

‘Have you seen this one?’ she asked me.

‘Looks familiar, can’t remember though’ I replied trying to think harder.

‘He looks so good in this movie and what a terrific actor’ she said handing me a cup of tea.

‘Yeah he is all right’ I tried to join in.

'You know he is the most recognized Indian face all over the world? At any given time, someone is watching an Amitabh’s movie somewhere in the world’ she added.

‘Really?’ I tried to match the enthusiasm although my attention was drawn towards the cockroach that was moving on the wall behind the TV. ‘I have to talk to the society manager regarding the cockroaches, be back in sometime’ I said getting up from the chair. Knocked the door of the society office and the manager looked at me. He was trying to recognize me. Gosh! I’ve been staying in this flat for almost 6 months and have attended almost all the weekly society meetings, yet the gentleman can’t recognize me. I introduced myself politely and briefed him about the cockroach problem. He assured me that he would look into the problem and that I should remind him during the next society meeting. I came back feeling a little disappointed. ‘At least I did my bit’ I consoled myself. Wife was cooking dinner and I started watching news on TV. The News reader was reading out the names of Nobel prize winners of the year. The people had excelled in their field of work.

‘Dinner’, said wife setting up the table. I shifted myself to the dinner table and took a spoonful of curry.

‘Jesus Christ’ I almost puked. I could see a cockroach floating in my spoon. ‘Thank God I saw it before I could put it in my mouth’. The whole pot was flushed down the toilet sink. ‘That’s it! I’m calling pest control guys tomorrow. And I don’t care if I have to call them every month or every week’ I almost screamed.

Called the pest control company and fixed the appointment for the next day. Didn’t feel like eating so skipped the dinner. Tried to sleep but kept dreaming of cockroaches all night. I was traveling with cockroaches in the bus and the train. My boss came out of a crack in the wall and handed me some files. Sunita and I were fighting with our antennae as Shahrukh Khan hovered around my face.

The guys from the pest control came over the next day with their spray guns. They sprayed all over the house, on the walls, in the drain pipes, in the cracks, everywhere the cockroaches could breed and could come from. I left for the office and wife decided to go to a friend’s place till the house was free from the toxic fumes. The day went by like the day before or the day before that. Came back in the evening. Wife was watching news on TV.

‘Did you hear that’ she asked me ‘there was a bomb blast in the city, a whole building was blown away’.

I hadn’t. An office building was bombed in the city at the peak office hours. ‘Must be terrorist’s work’ I tried to concentrate on the News. They were showing the bodies taken out from the debris. I looked around the house to see the effect of the pest control. The maid was sweeping the dead cockroaches off the floor and the shelves. Must be hundreds of them. ‘Thank god, I can sleep in peace for a few days now, till of course they are resurrected’ I took a sigh of relief and started watching TV hoping not to find any familiar faces amongst the dead.