The Perfect Man
Fiction
“I can get you arrested
for attempting to bribe a government officer,” Alex said imperiously to the man
sitting in front of him.
The man had come to get
his contribution to the Labourers’ Welfare Fund assessed. “One percent of the total cost of
construction is the legal amount,” Alex had told him. “I have assessed the cost of the construction
of your house as ₹70 lakh. So you have
to contribute ₹70,000 to the Labourers’ Welfare Fund.”
The man pleaded with Alex
to reduce the cost of construction to ₹40 lakh.
“₹10,000 will be yours,” the man said sotto voce.
After threatening the man
with imprisonment, Alex threw a glance at Leela who sat at the next table. Leela was Alex’s colleague. “Isn’t she impressed with my honesty?” Leela pretended not to have heard anything
and carried on with her work.
It didn’t matter, of
course. His honesty was not meant to
impress anyone. He was an honest officer
unlike other government officers. He had
an exemplary sense of morality. He was
proud of that.
He was proud of
himself. He thought he was quite a
perfect man. A man of values and
principles. A man of convictions. An ideal government officer. And an ideal husband at home.
Catherine, his wife, had a
high regard for him. She cooked for him
his favourite dishes, washed his clothes, pressed them, polished his shoes and
kept the home spick and span as he wished it to be.
“Then why did she do this
to me?” Alex could not understand. He had returned from office as usual. He expected his hot cup of coffee as
usual. And some snacks prepared by
Catherine herself. Instead what awaited
him was a letter.
Dear Alex,
I’m leaving. What you
need is a robot, a robot as perfect as you.
What I need is love. Raju who
works in our farms loves me. I love the
passion with which he makes love to me when you are perfecting your perfection
at the office.
Good bye.
Catherine
Excellent story sir!!! It does not matter how perfect one may be unless he or she has generosity of soul and is capable of love..
ReplyDeleteSelf-righteous people fail to establish strong relationships because of that lack of generosity of soul. They become priests, I think. :)
DeleteOuch...so much for righteousness and honesty ! In his quest for perfection he forgot the warmth of being a human :)
ReplyDeleteWarm people are very imperfect 😀
DeleteNow I didn't understand the sarcasm behind the post. What has honesty to do with love making capacity? Did I miss anything?
ReplyDeleteIs it honesty or self-righteousness? When the protagonist turns to his colleague for approval or appreciation, it ceases to be honesty and turns into self-righteousness. A man who treats his wife as a cook, laundress and shoeshine cannot be a true lover. Such people have one face in the society and quite another in private life. No woman will ever find them an ideal husband, though some women may like such people because such women themselves share some of the qualities of their counterparts. They know how to make use of the given opportunity and find their own limelight in the society using the husband's light.
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