The World This Week

A woman in faded saree sweeps the floor of a hotel where hundreds come to eat every morning. As she works, she thinks of her children and their school fees and the price of rice and their house that is falling apart.

The waiter almost trips over her broom, a curse rises to his lips, but he refrains from uttering it.

The customer blames the waiter for bringing him tea instead of coffee and turns to his wife to discuss the EMI on their house and other rising expenses.

The wife thinks of the little she has saved for medical emergencies and wonders if she should burrow into it. She looks at the woman with the broom and smiles. The sweeper looks again, not certain if the smile was meant for her, and struggles to coax a smile out.

In the conference room, an engineer demonstrates the path-breaking new product he is launching. He has invested in a number of people and organizations; he is aware that the world is observing his actions keenly. A great many things could ride on his wave of success.

The employee waits for a reply – at the very least an acknowledgement – from his Boss.

The cab driver waits in the sun for his passenger, then waits for the traffic to move at rush hour, then drops his passenger and waits for the next call.

A man loses his job of twenty years because his company decides to close down their operations in that region.

A mother yells at her son for not studying for his exams. She fears she is not trying hard enough to make him learn. She fears if he does not fare well, it would be her fault.

A teacher takes a deep breath, closes her eyes and takes the plunge into the unknown, risking everything she has built in ten years.

The writer continues to write and to wait for a reply from any of the agents or publishers she has queried.

Grandchildren look forward to a summer vacation with their grandparents.

March prepares to march out of sight.

The haunting rumble of an airplane every night at the same time brings back painful memories of a vanished aircraft.

Meanwhile in the North East, a doctor battles cough at the inauguration of a clinic that takes him one step closer to his dream of bringing relief to the suffering millions of his country.