On their way to the house, Mr Mitra said he didn’t know if they should buy flowers. They were very near Jogu Bazaar; and Mr Mitra suddenly raised one hand and said: ‘Abdul, slowly!’
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‘He sighed; his wife never satisfied him when he needed her most; and quite probably it was the same story the other way round.’
On their way to the house, Mr Mitra said he didn’t know if they should buy flowers. They were very near Jogu Bazaar; and Mr Mitra suddenly raised one hand and said: ‘Abdul, slowly!’
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‘I think there should be a National Service of Hospitality. The best way to see the true face of humanity is to serve it a plate of chips.’
Camilla Grudova on bad-mannered customers.
‘Anyone who has ever worked night shifts will understand the vertiginous feeling that comes with staring down the day from the wrong end.’
A.K. Blakemore on working nights.
‘I was constantly reading job ads, trying to find my holy grail – a job I could stand to do, and someone foolish enough to hire me.’
Sandra Newman on learning how to play professional blackjack.
‘I loved being a receptionist. What I loved about it was playing the part of being a receptionist.’
Emily Berry on being a temporary office worker.
‘Every part of you would swell, including your eyeballs, and no matter how much water you drank, you were always dehydrated.’
Junot Díaz on working for a steel mill.
Amit Chaudhuri is the author of seven novels, including Friend of My Youth. He is also a musician, poet and essayist. His new book, Finding the Raga: An Improvisation on Indian Music, will be published in 2021 by Faber & Faber in the UK, New York Review Books in the US and Penguin Random House in India. Ramanujan, his new collection of poems, will be published by Shearsman Books in 2021.
More about the author →‘Never, long as I live, will I forget the few days I had spent with the Millers.’ Buddhadeva Bose on his friendship with Henry Miller.
‘A scene in which nothing is ostensibly happening will absorb me; so will a paragraph that contains no vital piece of information.’
‘What am I doing in London? And what’ll I do once I’m back in India?' Amit Chaudhuri on identity, youth and nostalgia.
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