Working Column

He didn't have anything to do. He had read this comic book for the hundredth time. He knew each comic in it by-heart.

He was looking at the clock. The second hand seemed to be moving the slowest.

His classes would not start until 11 am.

Niranjan was 16. He was sitting in a simple room that had a bed and a study table. There was a metal cupboard that had his books and clothes. He had more comic books than text books.

He was in his district's Skill School. The focus of these Schools had been practical and not theoretical. But, the machines and tools were not maintained and when they broke down, they were never replaced.

So, students like Niranjan were left with text books. One comic strip caught his eye. XKCD 293.

He looked at the ceiling again.

There was a table lamp on his table. A tubelight and a fan. There was no power. He was not sure if the Skill School hostel was connected to a grid or if they had stopped paying the electricity bill.

Nilanjana poked her head through the door. Unlike the rooms of other boys in the hostel Niranjan had a relatively clean room.

He seemed to have taken a bath today judging from the wet towel hung over the window. He had explained once how doing this dried the towel and cooled the room.

Nilanjana stepped in. She was a student of the Art School across the road. She saw his comic book open on XKCD 293. She picked it up and read it. He glanced up at her and saw her upside down. She wore a simple white kurti and black leggings.

"Wanna go for a movie?"

This is true from residential apartments to international borders.