The alarm rang. he put it on snooze. One hour and five minutes was all he had before his day began. He would steal five minutes from that. Look the other way, he told that frowning creature in his soul. I do it all the time. A little corruption. A little bribery. I negotiate with the world 24 /7. So why not an extra 5 minutes of sleep? he told himself and buried his head under the pillow. And so began another day in his life.

A couple of minutes later, reluctant, he woke up. Still yawning, he headed to milk dairy. Damn, he was late again. Looking at the queue, he was not going to reach office in time. “thank god” he said to himself, spotting his friend in front row. “good morning” he said going closer to him. After some informal conversation he handed him 20 Rs. note unknowing to others, and went away. After 5 minutes, friend came with his milk bag, and said, “kabhi toh jaldi utha kar”. He hesitated, just smiled. He came home. Wife was packing his lunchbox, kids were preparing for school.

He left home almost on time. Suddenly, he froze. It was third day his pass had expired. The ever complaining creature in him had given up. Let it be, he thought. He got into station, just threw a glance on the ticket window, there was huge queue again. He discarded the thought once again, got into train and found the window seat. This was his favorite place, cause he could read newspaper, with fresh air, and most important could spit anytime he want. He reached the station. “railway pass” he put reminder on his mobile, passing TC. White collar had saved his day!

It was just before the lunch time. He put some papers in printer. His nephew had given him a project report to print. It was easy, just took half hour to print 300 pages. After lunch, he went to tapari outside the office on roadside. It was there since he joined the company, illegal. He used to go there for a cigarette, with couple of colleagues. They had their cigarette and usual conversation on how bhaiyas have ruined the nation followed. “I tell u, if you exclude the two states, India will progress like this” he said, snapping his fingers. He threw empty pack on road and returned to work. He actually had a lot of work today. New project was due in next week.

He was on his way to home. There was a boy sitting on footpath with a bunch of books in front of him. He stopped for a moment, went through books, and picked one. It was latest release. “kitne me diya?” “60”. He got the book for 50 after bargaining. He was happy. He had just saved a couple of hundred bucks for himself.

He switched on TV for news. Another sting operation had happened. “ All these politicians should be hanged till death. They rob us in taxes; that’s not enough for them” he said aloud, furiously. His mobile beeped. Message from collogue. He switched on his computer. The channel changed to daily soap. His kids were studying in other room. He inserted the CD he had brought from office. Entered the serial key from message, his friend had sent. He finished installing the corporate software, he used in office, on his personal computer.

He had a deadline. He had to work late in night.