Thursday, July 13, 2006

Mitali, 26

Mitali Parekh died at a very middle age while travelling to work on the local train. She fell onto the tracks and was run over by an oncoming train before being flung into the creek. She is presumed to have been eaten by whatever survives in the toxic Vashi waters. Her body has not been found, which is as she always wished.

Mitali was born in February of 1980 and had a very forgettable kind of childhood. Till the very end, she was plagued by the search for something within herself that would raise her above the mediocrity she saw herself to be a part of. She never did, and continued to do jobs she hated.

Friends say that though she was extremely loving and fun (and a tad possessive), she tended to be bizarrely incapable of sustaining happiness. She had severed ties with all but a few of them in fits of insecurity and irrationality.

Her best friend of many years, Ahmed, says he wouldn't put it past her to plan the jump from the train. Though, he thought, she had been cured of her long-standing suicidal tendencies by the birth of her dog BooBoo.

Ahmed has been militantly keeping her family and friends away from her wardrobe and belongings, as instructed by her in a telepathic message from beyond the grave. He has also been told to bitch-slap any hysterics, and reportedly, some factions of her family have already been at the receiving end.

"We were always making plans to conquer the world," said a sobbing Ahmed, "and the last one was almost fool-proof. She should have waited." He was consoled by her other friends, whose e-mail ids he quickly made a note of.

Her twice-estranged husband of many years, Tushar stood lurking in the corner, bemoaning the fact that he would not cryogenically freeze her body and brain for future revival. He was later heard discussing with a friend about simulating her mannerisms by a program that could be hosted by his cell phone. It would nag, ignore, insult and pick sporadic fights with him just like she would.

BooBoo has curled in a corner and would not be swayed even by a shiny red ball.