Adiga -- Last Man in Tower by Aravind Adiga

Author:Aravind Adiga
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Atlantic Books Ltd.
Published: 2011-07-15T18:30:00+00:00

23 JULY

The lift at Vishram Society moved like a coffin on wheels. When a button was pressed, a loud click followed: ropes, levers, and chains went into action. Through the lattice of the metal shutter guarding the open elevator shaft, you could see a dark wooden rectangle - a counterweight - sliding down the wall, and a circular light on the top of the lift rising, as the large dark box scraped past to the floor above, carrying with it a sign: 'ITS YOUR SOCIETY. KEEP IT CLEAN'.

Masterji saw the lift pass him before slamming its dark mass into the fourth floor. A latch clicked and the door opened, but he heard no one come out.

It was one of those phantom trips that the Otis sometimes took on its own - compensating for weeks of inertia with these spectral bursts of activity.

No children yet. He went back to his room, leaving the front door open.

It was seven o'clock on a Monday. Time for the first science top-up of the week. The ceiling lights were turned off in anticipation, and the lamp light projected on to the far wall.

Ten minutes later, Masterji ran down the stairs and found the boys playing cricket in the compound. Mohammad Kudwa was bowling; Anand Ganguly held a bat high. Sunil Rego was fielding at cover point.

'Masterji, don't stand there,' Mohammad called out, 'the ball might hit you.'

'It's time for class, Mohammad.'

The boy turned and grinned.

'Boycott, Masterji.'

He released the ball towards Anand Ganguly, who leaned back and smacked it high and hard; it bounced off a grille at a fourth-floor window and returned to the ground.

'Boycott?' Masterji asked, stepping back to avoid the bouncing ball. 'Is this a new excuse not to come to the top-up?'

He walked towards parliament, where he found Mrs Saldanha talking to Mrs Kudwa, who was tickling Mariam on her lap.

'Your son is refusing to attend the top-up class, Mrs Kudwa. Are you aware of this?'

The two women at once got up from their chairs, went into the building, and stood by the noticeboard. There they continued to talk.

'They are not speaking to us either,' Mr Pinto said.

Masterji went up the stairs to 3C. Mrs Puri opened the door with her left hand, the fingers of her right bunched together and stained with the curd and rice she had been feeding Ramu. He was seated at the table in his apron; he gave his Masterji a big smile.

'Sangeeta, what is going on?'

'Ramu...' She turned to her son and said (forcing a big smile on her face so he would not suspect the content of her words), '... tell your Masterji that the boycott is going on.'

'Boycott?' Masterji said. 'What does that mean?'

'Ramu...' Mrs Puri smiled again. '... Masterji, being a famous teacher, must know all about Gandhi and Nehru and what they did to the British. So tell him not to ask us what a boycott is.'

'Gandhi and Nehru and... Mrs Puri, this is madness.'

'Madness?' Mrs Puri chuckled. Ramu, at the table, joined in the fun.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.