What Do We Have In Our Pockets?

As of now I have a cigarette lighter (I do not smoke), a stamp, a cough drop, a slightly bent cigarette (who knows who might want it), a toothpick, a pen and some coins. But that’s not what all that I have in my pocket. There is more. It is just that no one questions. They see the bulge, (formed by the things that I have) but do not ask. They wish me hello on the street and walk away. They move the topic to the weather, but never, “Hey! What is there in your pocket?”, “Why do you have these things in your pockets?”

The fact is everything that I have in my pockets is carefully chosen so I am prepared for when the situation arises. For instance, there could be a girl waiting at the red post-box wanting to post a letter but realizes that she is out of stamps. She is not beautiful. She is not charming. But there is something entrancing about her smile, that takes my breath away and I am standing there looking at her. She walks across to me and did I mention that it is raining and it is almost eight in the evening? Well, I didn’t. So I am now: It is eight in the evening and it is raining. She walks up to me and asks me if I would know a post-office that would be open at this hour or for that matter, would I have a stamp on me? She did not ask me if I have a stamp. I made that up. But she did ask if a post-office would be open, knowing well that there wouldn’t be. Not at this hour. After all, who writes letters in this day and age? The girl with the entrancing smile does. Right at that moment, I give her the stamp from my pocket. She is happy and gives me that smile – the smile that started it all. I like this deal as is – even if the price of stamps soars and the price of smiles plummets.

After that smile, she will thank me and cough a little (because of the rain you know) and I will know what to give her next – the cough drop. “What else do you have in your pockets?” she will ask, in a gentle tone and manner. I will answer without hesitation. Everything that you will ever need my love. Everything you will ever need.

So now you know. That’s why we have pockets. We have things in our pockets. The chance to not screw-up. A slight chance. Not even a big one. Just a probability. A tiny chance let’s say when happiness comes along, I can say yes to it and not, “I’m sorry. I do not have a lighter/cigarette/stamp/cough drop/spare coins for the train ticket”. That’s what I have there – full and bulging pockets – a tiny chance of saying yes and not being sorry.

— Contributed by Vivek Tejuja

Meal

“All of us will eventually die. If we act smart though, we can survive longer collectively”, he said calming everyone down. They were stuck on an island with no flora or fauna. He was the only logician amongst the 31. “We will have to kill one amongst ourselves and eat their meat. All of us have unique birth dates and cover every possible day from 1 to 31. To keep it unbiased, I have devised a simple formula. We’ll use this formula to pick up the nth man to be killed. We’ll add 3 to n, square it, subtract 9 from it, divide it by n, divide it by 31 and look at the remainder. The man with that birth day will sacrifice himself for the rest. The last man on island will survive for 499 days with this scheme”. They trusted him and his unbiased strategy. One by one they turned into food. On the 372nd day only the logician and a young man were alive. They dined and finished the last portion of meat together. “I knew from day one that I would be the last but one to be killed”, the young man said. “There is a dense jungle on the other side of the island and its rich in vegetation. There are plenty of sheep too. We can have a sumptuous meal all our lives”. The logician smiled. “I knew it too” he said and smashed his head.

— Contributed by Saurabh Khurana