Rajesh looked at the smoke rising out of the local train and quickly took out his white handkerchief from his pocket and covered his nose. He saw the platform overcrowded as usual and thought for a while about how he would enter the train without someone trampling on one of his feet. The train came to a halt and there was a huge commotion all of a sudden with everyone running towards the open door to get in quickly before the train starts again. With his laptop bag firmly in one hand and another on his back pocket protecting his valet, Rajesh ran as fast as he could to catch the train. He removed the hand covering his valet and caught hold of the steel rod at the center of the door when three others pushed him into the train. Rajesh was inside and he breathed a sigh of relief. He started looking at his watch and the number of stops on the display when a pungent smell struck his nostrils.

He wanted to take his handkerchief and cover his nose again, but he was unable to get his hand to his pocket. One hand was struggling to hold the iron rod on one of the seats for balance and the he was unable to move the other one, holding his laptop was sandwiched between two men. He was unable to breathe properly and continued sniffing at his co passengers who were oblivious to his discomfort. The smell continued to get on his nerves and he wondered why people have to be in so much hurry that they could even smell horrible. He looked at the three men he was surrounded with, sweat patches visible on their shirts, holding the rods over their head. As the train took a turn he fell on to one of them. He balanced himself and asked, “What’s the smell, boss?” His passenger was an indignant, pudgy middle-aged man who hurled some abuse about white collar people and their stupidity. While leaving the train, he trampled on Rajesh’s foot for good measure. Rajesh cursed and with his hand freed, took out his kerchief and covered his nose.

He stepped out of the train, walked towards his office and sat down in his chair breathing heavily for the effort. He found the air still carrying the bitterness of the local train and called the building maintenance services and asked them to switch on the air conditioning. He sat there feeling the cool air on his body for a bit, but still could not shake off the unease. He looked around and glanced surreptitiously towards his colleague in the next cabin. He was typing something on his desktop and was smiling within himself. Rajesh tried to see if there were any sweat patches on his shirt and if they were the source of his distress. When he found nothing, he went to his colleague’s desk and asked him “Do you find something wrong in the office today? It smells horrible. What’s the smell, boss?”. The colleague gave him a pat on the back and said, “I think you should take a break. I don’t smell anything funny.”

Rajesh had a coffee but that did nothing to brighten his mood. He could not concentrate on the job at hand and he found himself sniffing at everyone who met him. He earned a lot of snares as he wondered why did everyone smell so bad that day. It was as if everyone thought not to take a bath as a protest against something and he was the only one sane enough not to take such oaths. Wherever he went, the smell never left him. He got obsessed with finding its root and checked the dustbins to see if there was a dead rat or a stale pizza that was causing it. But he found no answers and his head started to ache. He messaged his boss that he would be taking the day off.

The thought of the journey back in the local train depressed him. He could not imagine an hour of that ordeal and ordered a cab to take him home. He slept on the journey back home in the cab with his kerchief tied tightly to his nose. His wife should be at home and may be they could catch a movie and lunch to utilize this free time.

Rajesh knocked on his door and his wife, Sandhya opened it for him. He got in quickly and removed the kerchief off his nose and breathed air in. She gave him a weird look as he came towards her. He tried to hug her, and she distanced herself from him. Rajesh looked bewildered and found that its that damn smell again. Even his wife? What was this? Some sort of conspiracy to play on his senses?

Sandhya came towards him and asked “What’s that smell, boss? And why are you wearing that shirt when I took out a freshly washed one for you to wear. Why don’t you go and have a shower. Gosh. You smell terrible. How the guys at your office bore you? “

Rajesh quickly went into the bathroom without a word.

This post is written as a part of Close Encounters of the Smelly Kind hosted by IndiBlogger