The Entertainer

The shower was one place where she just couldn’t resist singing. Her melodious voice danced over the notes, with the flowing water keeping the rhythm. Her voice obeyed her every command, and the song itself seemed to bring life into the world. It was a wonderful way to start a wonderful evening.

All except…

“Would you cut out your singing and hurry up? You’re making both of us late!” screamed Anuradha from the other side of the door.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m almost done. Give me two more minutes,” said Samaira, while her reflection looked at her accusingly.

‘I should be an Entertainer. I’m supposed to charm people with my voice. Why doesn’t anyone get that?’

The evening was slowly turning into the night, and she was ready to take on the world. With the song still singing itself in her head and her heart, she walked to the Prakash Photo Studio. She needed some glamour shots for work, and Prakash (as it was fondly called in that locality) was the one place to get them from.

She spent an hour at Prakash. When the shots were done, she looked at them. The gentle hint of Kohl in her eyes, the black waves of her hair, the heart shaped face, they all told her that she was, indeed, beautiful.

‘I should be an Entertainer. I’m supposed to charm people with my beauty, with the ladylike grace that I possess. I wish someone else would see that for a change.’

On the street, she heard the sound of ghungrus coming from the local Dance School. She remembered how she used to go there as a child. The long hours she spent, dancing to the wonderful music. She remembered how wonderful and free she felt at that time, to move like she wanted to.

‘I should be an Entertainer. I’m supposed to charm people with my graceful movements, and the gentle taps of the ghungrus on my feet. I wish I could have that stage, once, where people would appreciate that in me.’

She reached her “Office”, her place of work, and met Greg. She didn’t know Greg’s real name, and he didn’t know hers. In the “Office”, she was Sam.

“Sam, your client’s waiting for you upstairs. He’s a Russian man, with big bucks, lots of it. Make sure you entertain him well tonight.”

She looked into the mirror, and the reflection spoke to her.

‘I am an Entertainer. I charm people with my body, and the things I do with it. In here, I’m Sam, and I fuck for a small fee.’

***

Image Courtesy pericomart(busy.. excuse me)

81 comments :: The Entertainer

  1. a grim tone throughout.Liked the character dialogue bit.
    Good read! \m/

  2. Beautiful story... wow!! and I liked Samaira's character... It has a tinge of Bittu (Dilli 6) in her character.. Loved it though...

  3. Do I need to tell you that I loved it ?? ;)

    Very well-written.

    And again lovely choice of names. Right from the characters' to the photo studio's. :P

    Cheers

  4. Stumbled across your blog n I found it gripping and well crafted.

    Keep at it (:
    ~B

  5. Wasn't prepared for the end . You gave the impression that she is a regular starry yed next door girl.
    Fine change of gears towards the end :).

  6. hmm. like u have fitted a big boss camera in my mind? Music I think, I write and you come again.. Food I think, I write. food there was..
    whatever, Billy Joel's song I think "I am the entertainer..." I love the song.. And I love the story.. it is so beautifully expressed. wonderful .. really..

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  8. So this is where my Samaira went. :) AMAZING read!!! seemed... so real. grim. and laugh-in-ur-face lik d way life is too. if tht even makes in any sense. :)

    D last line was the best part. Said and Done. excellent end to d excellent story.

    Keep up d writing, u knw wht shud be up next. :)

    Cheers,
    Annie.
    P.S: Wow, Grey Shades writing is amazing aint it? :)

  9. uhh..um..its not really dark..but its the tone all over.. nice..keeps u waiting for the ending,..:)

  10. very much alike sonam kapoor's character in dilli 6....
    very well written...love dit!!

  11. Hmmmm....Nice punch in the end....

    Espeiclaly that dialogue of hers.." I am an entertainer...." which kept on coming at intervals was nice....dude

    I liked it very much..it was beautiful....

    keep going...

  12. Lovely.. Listen, I am tired of saying Lovely, awesome, great, superb etc.. Give me adjectives before I run short.

    What I loved was the narration, yet again. Whenever you plan to write a book, I am the first buyer.:)
    Actually not, I should be getting it for free. Though, I've done nothing to deserve that, but being your biggest(only metaphorically and not literally ;)) fan, I think I should.

  13. The twister twists again...! Awesome dude, that was some entertainment till being entertained...! :P
    Wow...! :)

  14. Hey Arnab, I made my first try at fiction, will you please go through that in my blog? I wish you to do that cz since itz just your cup of tea. Please,if you have time. :)

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  16. yes this happens girls come up with some dreams and end up doing some other things:( this si life!!

  17. Yet another thought provoking post!Loved it.
    Thousands of women are forced into this life as dark as night:(
    She seems to be so innocent and full of life but that indded is just a mirage...No one hardly knows what she feels inside:(

    Great work dear :)

  18. @ DPhatsez... Thanks a lot man, and for dropping by.

    Cheers...

  19. @ Sowmi... Hmm, that's interesting. Never intended her character to be anything similar to Bittu from Delhi6 though :D

    Thanks for coming here again... cheers...

  20. @ bondgal... :D You've already done that, haven't you??

    Thanks a lot...

    And another special thanks goes out to the special friends who helped me out with the names... the characters and the photo studio :P

    Cheers...

  21. @ Newbie Mommy... Welcome to Technicolor Collage. Good to see you here :) Keep visiting, cheers...

  22. @ BrownPhantom... Hmm... that was my intention with this story, good to see that it was a success! :D

    Thanks for the comments... keep visiting, cheers...

  23. @ riddhi... Hmm, I really hope it's a coincidence. Don't want you to predict what the next story's gonna be about :P Kiddin'

    Hope you enjoy the other stories this much too... cheers, and keep blogging...

  24. @ Ice Maiden... Yup, that's where you Samaira went. Not feeling sad for her I hope...? :D

    It made sense, somewhat. I won't say perfect sense, 'coz there's always gonna be some level of subjectivity about that now, wouldn't there?

    Yeah, I know what should be up next. I'm working on it again, so it should be done...

    Cheers...

    And yes... Grey Shades is beautiful. Pun fully intended. :P

  25. @ Niti... Glad to know that it's not really dark, didn't intend it to be that way actually somehow. :)

    Thanks for dropping by, cheers...

  26. @ Blue Eyed Soul... That has to be a coincidence. I never intended it to be similar to Bittu's character from Delhi6. I don't even know how that happened actually.. hehe

    Nice to see you here. Hope your net is wrking now, so we can continue seeing you here. Cheers :)

  27. @ Mahesh... Thanks man :) Cheers...

  28. @ Netika... I'm quite ok with you recycling em :)

    I'll surely let you know when the book comes out, and you'll get a free copy... thik hai?? :P

    Cheers.. and thanks :)

  29. @ Diya... That's a nice nickname for me, "The Twister" :D hehehe... Thanks a lot
    :)

    Cheers...

  30. @ Diya... I'll surely go visit your blog and read it. Cheers...

  31. @ Bondgal... Thanks for pointing that out :)

  32. @ Kunjal... I know. Life's weird sometimes...

    Cheers, thanks for dropping by...

  33. @ akanksha... Thanks a lot. It's really sad how so many people want to do so many things in life, but are forced to end up doing things they don't want to...

  34. wow mate... sadly beautiful... :)

  35. Perfectly fine with me.. :)Rather, more than that ..

  36. Very well written

    Its true so many in Delhi do this...some for existence, some for greed

  37. The 'twist in the tale' was too good... Very well written...

  38. Quite interesting

  39. @ Arv... Thanks man... how's Minnesota? Enjoy out there dude... Cheers...

  40. @ Netika... :D

  41. @ Pesto Sauce... Thanks a lot. I know it's very true, especially what you said about some doing it for existence, while the others doing it for greed...

    Cheers...

  42. simmmple yet so good!!!!!!!

  43. @ Kido... Thanks a lot. Go through the older stories, I think some of them have that twist that you'd enjoy :)

    Cheers...

  44. @ Winnie the Poohi... Thanks :)

  45. @ dont ask my reason.... Thanks man. Cheers...

  46. Wow! I liked it very much. :)

  47. @ Ki... Thanks a lot :)

  48. arnab, amazingly wistful man. dark and beautiful. and sad. you have a way with words :)

  49. Hard hitting! Keeps you waiting for more! Bring them on! :) Yes, truly the 'Entertainer'! Bravo! Words are Arnab's best friends! They listen to him so obediently and every word is meant to be where it is and nowhere else. Great! :)

    And feels terribly good to be back here, among such amazing stories! :) Any plans of getting into writing books? :)

  50. this is really an amazing read..what a treat!

    i loved the juxtaposition of the harsh realities of life and the desires of life within Sam...simply loved it

  51. @ Little Girl Lost... Thanks a lot :) Glad you liked the story... keep blogging... cheers...

  52. @ Tara... Hmm... I hope it delivers at the end, and doesn't just keep you hanging there... does it?

    Thanks so much for the things you said. I really hope the words listen to me always - whatever they say, sometimes they really don't! :P

    Welcome back here, I hope whatever kept you busy is over now... haven't thought of any book yet, maybe in future, someday... till then, Blog Sweet Blog :D

    Cheers...

  53. @ Phoenix... :) Good to see that you liked it. Feels so good to have dedicated readers like you around :)

    Cheers... and keep blogging. Take care...

  54. Lovely writing....This post made me reflect.

    That's quite an achievement for such a short post.

    Good writing.

    wander over when blogosphere time permits ;)

    -Cheers!

  55. @ Mon Espace... Thanks a lot :)

    I'll drop by your blog sometime soon... Cheers, and thanks for dropping by

  56. Nice. I did not expect this end. :)

  57. Awww... Arnab... abhi main kya karun tera...??

    Itna achcha kaisey likhta hain yaar... I am toh a big big fan of yours... I really wish I knew someone who cud publish your work.. U have immense talent..

    Pata hain ki nahi??

    Bow down to you...!!

  58. 1 it spoke the feelings of so many women out thr.

    very beautifully written arnab. khub bhalo hoyeche. :)

  59. @ Nikki... Makes me happy to know that :) Thanks a lot, keep reading... Cheers...

  60. @ Harshita... Arre, thanks so much for saying that yaar. You have no idea how great that sounds :) Keep reading the stuff that I write, that's like the biggest thing that keeps me going on with it.

    Cheers, and thanks again. Take care...

  61. @ Preetilata... Thanks a lot, bhalo laglo shune je tomaro bhalo legeche :) Keep reading, and writing... Cheers, take care...

  62. oh. lovely writing there. kinda dark. but awesome work :D
    *claps*
    sorry for not dropping in regularly :-s been very busy :(

  63. Wow...Beautiful story indeed...Keep it goin :)

  64. it's one of those stories that are short but eventually depict ideas worth a complete novel. brilliant work, arnab !

  65. @ Mads... Thanks so much. You liked it in spite of the fact that it's dark, right...?

    I hope you're back in the blogging scene now... it'd be fun to see something at your space. :)

    Keep blogging... cheers...

  66. @ Tabitha... Thanks a lot :) Have fun reading the blog, cheers...

  67. @ Saurabh... Thanks a lot man. I hope I did justice to the ideas depicted here though.

    Welcome to Technicolor Collage. Have fun reading... cheers...

  68. err...thought of trying my hand at writing. I'm really bad in the dialogue parts.
    Thanks :)

  69. @ Cursed... and a damn good job you did at it too! :D

    Keep writing... cheers...

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  71. nice one..
    well written..
    cheers :)

  72. @ Collegegirl... Welcome to Technicolor Collage. Thanks a lot for the comment, and your vote. Have fun reading the stuff on the blog... cheers...

  73. @ Amal... Thanks a lot :) Cheers...

  74. sigh. wow. and hi.

  75. @ Mystique... Thanks. And hi :) Welcome to Technicolor Collage... keep reading, cheers...

  76. Tis sure is a beautiful "Technicolor Collage" out here !!

    I read all your posts on this page.
    Wonderful work !

    Gonna be back for more.
    :)

  77. @ Cinderella... Thanks a ton :) Glad to know that you enjoyed the stories on the blog. Do come back and read the rest, and watch out for more stuff coming on out here too :P

    Cheers...

  78. @ Jagjit... Thanks man.

  79. @ Jagjit... Thanks man.

  80. m eally amazed by your style !! superb !!

  81. @ Pretty Me... Thanks a lot :) Hope you have fun reading the other things out here too... Cheers...