Vagabonds: Anthology of the Mad Ones Vagabonds Vol. 3 | Page 29

Mahendra’s Last Story
Mahendra Waghela
Mahendra crossed his forties and felt the dark void after he sent out his
701st story. He ignored this strange mental blankness for some time. His
non-productive gap grew from days to weeks to months. Every few days
he sat down in front of his old computer, wrote a few indifferent pages,
and stood up in disgust. He would read what he had written and curse
bitterly: "Is this me? Am I reduced to this kind of crap?”
Another birthday bypassed him.
His editor friend suggested the idea of a break in routine: “A complete
change of surrounding will put you back in circulation.”
Mahendra booked his ticket in hurry, and went off to a nearby hill station
to relax. But his gift of writing, his docile muse, his act of merciless self-
discipline, that white-hot inspiration, the smooth flow of effortless words,
all that he had taken for granted for so many years, had vanished. A quiet
panic started to build inside his slight frame. He began to see what greatest
of writers feared the most: he had written himself dry to the point of no
return.
He remembered the first book he read and enjoyed. He remembered one-
legged John Silver from The Treasure Island, and tried white rum as the
last desperate attempt to drown his private demon. Within a week, he had
to be hospitalized. “You have no enzymes to digest alcohol,” the doctor
announced after looking at the lab report. His wife stood by his bedside all
the time; his friends, his relatives, and well-wishers came over to console
him. Mahendra recovered from the prolonged illness but he knew that he
was truly alone in this world now.
Questions whirled inside his shrinking head: Is this why Hemmingway
slashed his wrist and put a full stop on his life? Or did he shot himself? Is
this how Raymond Chandler - his favourite crime writer fell from grace?
What was that rumour about James Joyce pushing his wife to have an
affair to revive himself?
He solemnly assured his dutiful wife and requested to be left alone. She
took the kids along and decided to stay with her parents for a few days.
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