* This is the final part of the 'The curious case of Monday'. To understand the story, start from the part-1.
The last warning
God had almost lost His confidence in
humans to solve the Monday crisis. He decided to give them a last
chance. This time He sent emails to all nations and along with the
chiefs of their respective bureaucracies.
When they received an email from God,
there was a state of confusion. However, most of them were aware of
the prior email the UN had received, which added to their strain.
The wise old man
One of the senior-most member of a bureaucracy had read tales of the wise old man. If you are in the
habit of reading since your childhood and have read older folktales,
you might have come across the character, a wise, old man. It could
have been a wise, old woman, the gender not being the important
factor. This wise old man lives in a hut near the outskirts of a
remote village. The village can be a village in any country. In the
golden past, almost every village possessed one.
Alas, the modern times boast of the
scarcity of the character. There are still old men/women, but the
prefix wise was lost during the process of evolution some time after
the loss of the tail. However, the senior bureaucrat didn’t give up
hope. He searched far and wide, and found a wise old man in one of the
less developed villages.
The solution
The man, true to his character, lived
in a small hut. His wrinkled face resembled an orange peel, and he
carried a walking stick. He seldom talked but whenever he talked, his
words dripped wisdom. His coughing bouts must serve as an exercise to
his brain.
The bureaucrat presented him with the
Monday crisis.
“This is your great crisis, eh?” He
laughed. His eyes looked like slits cut in the orange. This was
followed by a feat of coughs.
“Declare Monday a holiday!” He
added, in between the coughs.
The bureaucrat was stunned. “It will
leave only four working days-”
“No such thing,” the old man said,
“Start the week from Tuesday. Saturday would be last working day.”
Light dawned upon the bureaucrat. Why
didn’t he think of it? People love holidays. He only hoped, they
weren’t confronted with the Tuesday crisis.
“It will take decades for that.”The
old man answered, reading his mind.
All is Well?
God smiled at Monday, "After centuries of work, you deserve this holiday, My boy."
Monday wasn't listening. "A holiday" he mumbled under his breath. He had another problem. As a workaholic, he wasn't used to an idle life. Well, one can't have everything, he sighed.
Previous<< The end.
How do you like this story? Suggestions and criticism are welcome. Do let me know your views.
So chhutti for poor Monday! 5-day week starting Tuesday- what next!
ReplyDeletePeople will oppose if Saturday is a working day!!
Nice ideas, Kiran :)
;) yup people wouldn't like Saturday then.
DeleteThanks, Anita.
With Monday kids go to school and spouse to office, I get some time for myself then. Don't tell me it is going to be a chhutti! :(
ReplyDeleteHa.. ha.. good one Kiran.
Lol, Indrani. So you loved a working Monday? Monday did have some supporters.
Deletehahaha.. curious case of Monday .. out of the rest part .. this one did the most justice to title :D .. nice :)
ReplyDelete:) Thanks. I think, the first one did actually.
DeleteHa haa :D What a superb ending! One of the best stories I have ever read!
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot Sindu.
Delete