Hypothetical Shopping

H.G. Wells, the father of the science fiction genre of writing, shot to fame with his best seller science fiction novel ‘The Invisible Man’, published in 1897.

The protagonist of the story, Griffin, a budding medico turned physicist becomes invisible to the human eye by lowering the refractive index of his body to that of air, after years of research in optics. Initially, he thinks he has all the power in the world to steal, rob, smite or kill with impunity. However, the three notebooks containing his entire research in cipher language are stolen by Mr. Marvel, a tramp. Therefore, having become invisible once, he cannot reverse the process and has to remain oblivious to human sight for ever. Soon he realizes, however, that it is difficult to thrive in crowded streets where he is constantly jostled and stamped and may be run over by automobiles; that he is as affected by scorching heat and biting cold and inclement weather as any other visible human beings; that if he broke into a house he would make sounds that would arouse people; that dogs can still sniff and bite him and that if he is caught doing any mischief, although a rare possibility, people would show no mercy to him. After cogitating, he hits upon an idea- to shop for a mask to make his face visible, an artificial nose and  a pair of glasses to cover the invisible eyes, a coat and a pair of long boots  and cotton pants so that he can pass as a normal human being no matter how bizarre he may look. After donning this attire, if he wanted to indulge in any homicidal or misanthropic deeds as he was wont to, he simply would have to take off his shoes, remove his mask and throw off his coat and pants, become invisible and accomplish his wanton acts without hindrance. He looks around the marketplace, breaks into department stores, ram shackles shops to search for this ensemble but in vain; it is well nigh impossible for him to get such an outfit comprising numerous articles from one department store, or even from one internet site. Suddenly he hits upon a brilliant idea- why not search for a one stop shop site for any online shopper, which provides an opportunity to buy anything and everything- quality at the most reasonable prices for you from different sites. So, finally, the invisible man found his match in www.baggout.com He simply had to order his ensemble and lo and hold! It arrived at his doorstep, cash on delivery. He tried on the ensemble, looked at himself in a cheval mirror and was greatly amused After a long time, he felt like a true human being; his homicidal tendencies waned and he became a normal human being respected and loved, thanks to www.baggout.com the readers would be amused to know that www.baggout.com, changed the course of events as depicted in the novel; instead of getting killed( as in the novel), the Invisible Man lived happily ever after.

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down the memory lane

The countryside

         

We live in Jodhpur city.          But we love the countryside.                                      R         Pratham, would you like to go for a walk with Sunny?

So we bought a small farm house in the country.                                                       P          Good idea.     Would you like to go for a walk, Sunny?

We’ve also built a small pool there.                                                                            S          Yes, I would.

It’s a nice place to spend our weekends.                                                                    B         But Sunny might be hungry.

The countryside is more pleasant than the town.                                                        Mrs d   Yes, he might.             He was hungry an hour ago.

Today we’ve invited the Dagas to our farm house.                                                                He didn’t have anything to eat.

We haven’t met the Dagas for a long time.                                                                            He only had a cold drink.

They were our neighbours once.                                                                                 B         There’re some biscuits in the kitchen. Would you like them?

Our sons are friends of their son.                                                                                S          Yes, I would, please.

                                                                                                                                    P          Can I have some, too, mom?

Mr d    This might be Nahata uncle’s house.                                                              B         Yes, but let Sunny have more.

S          No, dad. This isn’t their house.                                                                       P          Have we got to eat them here?

            That’s their house. Look, there’s Nahata uncle.                                             B         No, you haven’t.         You can take them with you.

Mr d    Hello, Rajesh.              How are you?                                                              P          Thanks, mom.              We’ll be back soon.

R         I am fine, Surendra.                And you?

Mr d    Not too bad.                                                                                                    R         Would everyone like to go for a swim?

S          Where is Pratham?                                                                                          B         No, I can’t.      I’ve got to make lunch.

R         He was here a minute ago. He might be in the                                               Mrs d   Why don’t you two go for a swim?

            house now.                  Would you like to go in?                                                        I am going to help Bela.

Mrs d   Where’s Bela?                                                                                                 R         You haven’t got to help Bela.

R         She was in the garden a minute ago.    Here she is.                                                    She has done most of the work.

Mrs d   Hello, Bela.                                                                                                     Mrs d   But I would like to stay here.

B         Hello, Manoj.              Did you’ve a good journey?                                       R         Well… why don’t we go, Surendra?

Mrs d   Yes, we had a very good one.                                                                                                What time have we got to come back?

B         How was the traffic?                                                                                      B         About 1o’clock.

Mrs d   It wasn’t too bad.                                                                                           Mr d    What a beautiful place you’ve got here, Rajesh!

B         You were lucky.  It’s usually heavy at weekends.                                         R         Thank you. We like it very much.

            Would you like to sit in the garden?       There’re                                                      but it was terribly hot here last week.          We swam everyday.

            more chairs in the garden than in the living room.                                                      The children were in the pool all the time.

           

Down the memory lane

The beauty

A late night

Mrs J   I’d like the paneer tikka we had last month.               

                                                                                                                   I liked it very much. I am going to have it again.

Last night we went to a movie at Darpan.                                                                  Mr J     So am I.

We went with the Jains, who are our neighbours.                                                      B         I’d like a pizza. What would you like, Rajesh?

Before the movie, Bela and I walked down the road.                                                           R         I’d like a tomato onion pizza and green salad.

Bela wanted to see the Umed club.

Bela loved the movie. It was a musical.                                                                     The movie

Mrs. Jain liked the dances, but she didn’t like the songs.

I didn’t like the movie at all.                                                                                      B         Did you enjoy the movie, Nisha?

Mr. Jain didn’t like it either.                                                                                       Mrs J   Yes, I did…very much. I like musicals.

After the play we went to a restaurant for dinner.                                                     B         So do I.

                                                                                                                                    Mrs J   You didn’t like the first half, did you?

Dinner                                                                                                                        B         No, I didn’t.                The women danced badly.

                                                                                                                                                The men seemed nervous.

R         Excuse me, I am Rajesh Nahata.                                                                    Mrs J   Yes, you’re right.

            We have a reservation for four.                                                                                  Was the woman, who played the nurse, Juhi?

Rec      Yes, here’s your reservation.                                                                           B         No, she wasn’t.           Her name is Sridevi.

Rec.     Well, we have got two tables in the main hall.                                               Mrs J   She talked too fast and she didn’t dance well.

            One is near the corner and the other is near the door.                                                R         Did you really enjoy the movie?

            The one near the corner is a small round table.                                               B         Yes, of course we did.

            The other one is a large square table.                                                              R         You don’t really like musicals, do you?

            Which one would you like?                                                                            Mr J     No, not really.             I prefer comedies.

R         Don’t you have a table near the dance floor?                                                 R         Tonight’s movie was dull, wasn’t it?

Rec.     No, I am sorry, sir, we don’t.                                                                          Mr J     Yes, the actors and actresses weren’t good.          

R         Then the small round one near the corner is fine.                                           R         No but the costumes and the scenery were marvelous.

            Sorry, we arrived late.                                                                                     Mr J     I didn’t like the men’s costumes.

Mr. J.   Well you didn’t miss much.                                                                                        But the women’s dresses were lovely.

R         Good. Now, what would everyone like to eat?                                              R         Who was the actor who played the doctor?

Mr. J.   I am not very hungry.                                                                                     Mr J     He was Bobby. He was in a film I saw last week.

B         But I am very thirsty.                                                                                                  He played the doctor in another film last year.

            I would like a glass of water first.                                                                  B         Oh, let’s dance.

                                                                                                     -5-

The Railway Station

                                                                      

I am Rajesh.                I am at the railway station.                                                     Where

I am a friend of the Lodhas. They are arriving from Delhi.                          

The train is arriving on platform no. 3.                                                                       A         Hello, B, where is C? 

There are the passengers.        There are Mr. and Mrs. Lodha.                                   B         He may be in school.

They are getting down from the train.                                                                        A         And where are your parents?

There is a T.T.E.          He is examining the tickets.                                                    B         They are at home.

There is the waiting room.                                                                                          A         Where is the taxi?

                                                                                                                                    B         Just a minute. Taxi!     It’s coming.           Here it is.

Mrs.L  Where is Rajesh?                                                                                             A         Where are your suitcases?

Mr. L   Here he is.                                                                                                       B         They are in the cloak room.

R         Hello, Anil. How are you?                                                                              A         Where are you going?
Mr. L   Hello, Rajesh. I am fine. Thank you.

R         And how are you, Sarla?                                                                                Hello, I am Rajesh.     This is my wife, Bela.

Mrs.L  I am fine. Thank you. Here are the children.                                                  And here is my elder son, Pratham.

            This is Sanjana. She is eighteen.                                                                     This is my younger son, Prateek.

            And this is Sameer. He is fifteen.                                                                   And here is a family friend, Ajay.

R         Hello, Sanjana. Hello, Sameer. How are you?

S & S   Very well. Thank you.                                                                                    The train is about to arrive.

Mrs.L  Where is the taxi?                                                                                           The ‘Bandra Express’ is about to leave.
R         There is a taxi .Taxi, taxi!        Here is the Taxi.                                              Passengers are boarding it.

            Where is the luggage?                                                                                     There is the cloak room.          We have kept our luggage there.

Mrs L  The porter is bringing it.          There he is.                                                      There is the waiting room.            Passengers are relaxing there.

A         Have you got the ticket?                                                                                 A         Hello.              How are you?

B         Yes, here it is.                                                                                                 B         Fine, thank you.          and how are you?

A         And have you got the suitcase?                                                                      A         Very well, thank you.

B         Yes, here.        Here is the taxi.                                                                                   Are you from Jodhpur?

A         Good-bye.                                                                                                       B         No, I am not.   I am from Jaipur.

B         Good-bye.       And thank you.                                                                                   I am going to Lucknow.