Real Time is a short story written by Amit Chaudhuri, an acclaimed Indian author known for his unique literary style that blends elements of fiction, music, and personal reflection. The story offers a glimpse into the everyday life of Mr. Mitra as he attends a memorial observance for Anjali Poddar, a distant relative who has recently passed away. As Mr. Mitra navigates the confusing lanes of the area and engages in conversations with acquaintances, the story delves into his thoughts, emotions, and perceptions, providing insights into the complexities of human interactions and the way people cope with loss.
Real Time | Summary
Mr. Mitra and his wife are on their way to a house, discussing whether to buy flowers. They are close to Jogu Bazaar when Mr. Mitra hesitates and asks the driver, Abdul, to slow down. He observes children playing on the pavement. Mr. Mitra is unsure about buying flowers due to certain circumstances, and his wife advises him to do what he would in a normal case of bereavement. They are running late and finally decide to buy tuberoses. Mr. Mitra leaves the car and buys half a dozen tuberoses. A boy offers to wipe the car, but Mr. Mitra doesn’t acknowledge him. The flowers are placed in the front seat, and Mr. Mitra reminisces about his marriage and the decision his wife’s parents made for her. They ponder on traditional theology’s view of unfortunate events like the one they’re attending – someone had jumped from a balcony.
They drive around, struggling to find the location, asking for directions multiple times. They finally learn that the street they are looking for is divided by the main road. Despite the delay, Mr. Mitra’s thoughts shift from getting there on time to the challenges of navigating the route. Mrs. Mitra expresses frustration about the confusing lanes in the area where they’re headed. They are attending a memorial observance for Anjali Poddar, who had passed away. They’d noticed her obituary in the newspaper, prompting them to attend the ceremony. Despite the confusion about the location, they’re determined to return by 1 o’clock to cook lunch.
They discuss the tradition of feeding a crow first as a part of the ceremony. The couple plans to visit the club for cookies and New Market after the ceremony. They’re already running late as it’s past 11 in the morning. As they approach Nishant Apartments, they struggle to find the right building due to the confusing lanes. Upon arriving at Nishant Apartments, Mr. Mitra enters the building with tuberoses, and they’re greeted by Mr. Talukdar. The apartment is decorated for the ceremony, with mats on the floor and some furniture moved aside. There’s a sense of pointlessness and a lack of defined emotions in the atmosphere. The shraddh ceremony lacks the usual mixture of conviviality and grief. Mr. Mitra feels bored and reflects on how little he knew about Anjali, her academic record, and her husband Gautam Poddar.
Mr. Mitra encounters various individuals and engages in conversations at the memorial observance for Anjali Poddar. He interacts with Mr. Sarbadhikari, discussing topics such as their companies and children. Their conversation seems to have an underlying uneasiness, likely stemming from the awareness of the ceremony they’re attending. Mr. Sarbadhikari excuses himself to go to the bathroom, and Mr. Mitra joins a group on the balcony, observing his surroundings and contemplating the situation. He reflects on Anjali’s past and her recent decision to leave her husband and live with her parents. He becomes hungry and tries to locate the man with the sandesh, but he’s nowhere to be found.
Feeling unsatisfied and somewhat disconnected from the past half hour, Mr. Mitra decides to leave the observance. As he returns to the car, he mentions his hunger to his wife, indicating a desire to leave and get something to eat.
Real Time | Analysis
Amit Chaudhuri frequently sets his works in Kolkata in the 1980s and portrays the lives of upper-middle-class families there. This specific tale illustrates a carefree attitude toward death. Although the name of the city isn’t stated clearly, the context suggests that the story is also set in Kolkata. Amit Chaudhuri’s short story ‘Real Time’ is about a memorial service for a young woman named Anjali Poddar (née Taluktar), who sadly killed herself by jumping from the balcony of her parents’ third-floor apartment in an undisclosed Indian city. The main character, a middle-aged, unenthusiastic, and somewhat bored professional Mr. Mitra, tells the story from his third-person, subjective point of view. He attends Anjali’s shraddh ceremony with his wife, not out of genuine sympathy for the family’s loss, but only out of duty. Mr. Mitra is looking forward to the event being over so he can get back to his usual routines and little joys, like going to the club, getting cookies for tea, seeing New Market, and having his usual meals.
There isn’t much action in the plot. The way Chaudhuri depicts Mr. Mitra’s experiences throughout the brief shraddh ceremony gives the impression that time is moving slowly and with monotony. The story contrasts the important (death and loss) with the unimportant (desires and observations), capturing the passage of time and people’s interactions. The narrative structure, characterized by intricate observations, captures the fleeting nature of time and human interactions. By detailing Mr. Mitra’s surroundings and thoughts, Chaudhuri prompts readers to reflect on the transient nature of life’s moments. The title “Real Time” encapsulates the immediacy of experiences, juxtaposing personal concerns with broader societal events.
The suicide is purposefully avoided in the narrative, receiving little emphasis. Only snippets of memory are presented, including Anjali’s credentials, her husband’s fortune, and their union. Her suicide’s motives are left unstated and lack depth and emotion. She had previously left her husband and had shown no desire to get back together, indicating that their marriage was unpleasant. The background information concerning Anjali’s past is delicately incorporated into the plot through Mr. Mitra’s reflections and hazy memories of her, reflecting the character’s lack of interest in the happenings.
The lack of traditional flashbacks adds to the confusion around the circumstances that prompted Anjali to make such a tragic and dramatic decision. Mitra’s activities are rather concerned with routine objects: she eats a sandesh, drinks Fanta, converses with a friend, and uses the lavatory. He tells his wife to depart at the conclusion, implying that the event was a waste of time. The Taluktars’ loss is not expressed with sincere sorrow, condolences, or compassion in the story. The story offers a layered exploration of human behavior and societal norms through Mr. Mitra’s perspective. Chaudhuri uses themes of discontent, appearance, tradition, selfishness, self-importance, and acceptance to challenge readers’ perceptions of authenticity, connection, and the significance of traditions in the modern world.
The writing is made up of brief observations, half-formed ideas, and seemingly haphazard transitions from serious to unimportant topics. There are also thoughts of rumbling tummies and the need to use the bathroom. These insights are mixed with hazy predictions about the daughter’s death. The story, however, purposefully downplays and avoids confronting the entire weight of loss and sadness, giving the sense of bereavement an almost unreal and unfelt feel. ‘Real Time’ presents a layered exploration of human behavior and social dynamics, offering insight into the character’s motivations and the underlying themes of discontent, appearance, tradition, selfishness, self-importance, and acceptance. Through the lens of Mr. Mitra’s perspective, Chaudhuri crafts a narrative that scrutinizes the complexities of human nature.
Real Time | Themes
A fundamental idea of Amit Chaudhuri’s story ‘Real Time’ is the concept of everyday life and interactions. This theme focuses on investigating the ordinary, everyday aspects of human existence and the interactions that occur in these settings. The relevance of the every day is highlighted through Chaudhuri’s storytelling approach, highlighting the depth and complexity of seemingly insignificant events. Despite the fact that the occasion is ceremonial in nature, the characters frequently interact in ways that have little to do with the actual observance. They get clear of the primary purpose of their gathering by talking about everything from businesses to civil engineering. This discrepancy emphasizes the genuineness of human conduct in varied contexts, where talks might be casual, impromptu, and even unrelated to the event’s goal.
Amit Chaudhuri deftly balances the ideas of authenticity and futility. This theme explores the difference between authentic encounters, real feelings, and dialogues that may be superficial or lacking in meaning. The characters converse frequently on topics unrelated to the celebration of Anjali Poddar during the event. Their conversations cover a range of subjects, such as business decisions and career options, without mentioning the deceased. The characters converse in ways that seem unrelated to the cause for their gathering, and this detour from the main topic underlines the concept of pointlessness. In spite of these chats appearing to be pointless, Chaudhuri spotlights genuine moments. Mr. Mitra’s self-reflective views and reflections demonstrate his desire for deeper conversations that get to the root of the issue rather than skirt it. His consideration of the circumstance illustrates his quest for sincerity in discourse and interactions.
The phrase ‘Real Time’ itself connects to the concepts of reality and promptness. It implies a link to the present and real events that take place in the current situation. Even if the conversations the people have have little to do with the observation, Chaudhuri’s portrayal of their inner thoughts and whispers highlights their sincerity in the context. The story’s examination of human conduct is made richer by the contrast between authenticity and futility. It illustrates how people navigate societal rules, customs, and expectations while making an effort to uphold sincere ties. The dialogues between the protagonists wind up being a reflection of the general inclination in society to engage in little talk and steer clear of more challenging or emotional topics.
Real Time | Title
The title ‘Real Time‘ in Amit Chaudhuri’s story holds a multi-layered significance that aligns with the author’s distinctive narrative approach. It encompasses the temporal dimension, indicating the unfolding of events within the present moment of the narrative. The title reflects Chaudhuri’s focus on portraying the ordinary and mundane aspects of life, capturing the authenticity of human interactions and emotions in real-life situations. The title subtly underscores the story’s exploration of temporal and emotional dissonance, as characters navigate conversations that may diverge from the event’s purpose.
Real Time | Character Sketch
Mr. Mitra: The protagonist of the story, Mr. Mitra, is a middle-aged man who navigates the observance for Anjali Poddar with a mixture of detachment and introspection. He symbolizes the ordinary individual, observing the rituals and interactions with a sense of unease. Mr. Mitra’s internal reflections reveal his pragmatic approach to the ceremony and his contemplation of life’s complexities. He is hungry for authenticity in conversations, yet feels disconnected by the pointlessness of the interactions around him.
Mrs. Mitra: Mr. Mitra’s wife, Mrs. Mitra, joins him for the ceremony. Although she plays a supporting role, her presence draws attention to the couple’s shared experiences and their reactions to the situation. Her readiness to go and her interactions with other attendees make the story’s depiction of social dynamics more nuanced.
Anjali Poddar: The deceased person honoring whom the memorial service is performed is Anjali Poddar. She is a notable omission from the narrative, and the characters continue to speculate about and discuss her life and decisions. Curiosity and conversation surround her separation from her spouse and subsequent stay with her parents prior to her passing.
Real Time | Literary Devices
Stream of consciousness is a narrative technique that presents a character’s inner thoughts, feelings, and perceptions in a continuous flow, often without clear organization or structure. In ‘Real Time’ by Amit Chaudhuri, the use of stream of consciousness provides insights into Mr. Mitra’s mind and allows readers to experience his inner world as he navigates the shraddh ceremony and its surroundings. Throughout the story, Mr. Mitra’s unfiltered thoughts are presented to the reader. With the help of this technique, readers may hear his inner monologue, which exposes his real thoughts, opinions, and observations. Mr. Mitra frequently thinks in an associative pattern, where one idea sets off another and creates a series of connected ideas. This method mimics how the human mind operates, hopping from subject to subject without obvious breaks. The internal struggles and contradictions of Mr. Mitra are clear from his stream of consciousness. He goes through the motions of taking part in the shraddh ceremony, but his innermost thoughts show his distance, mistrust toward tradition, and his own concerns. His character is complicated in part because of this internal conflict.
Imagery is used to enhance the reader’s understanding of characters, settings, emotions, and themes. Tuberoses and flowers are used as symbols to represent Mr. Mitra’s efforts to live up to social norms and tradition. Mr. Mitra’s lack of actual emotional involvement contrasts with the vivid description of the tuberoses, their fragrance, and their delicate appearance, which conjures up a visual and olfactory impression. A visual representation of unimportant diversions in the midst of the serious event is the Mickey Mouse pencil box on the sideboard. This graphic emphasizes Mr. Mitra’s daydreaming and his disengagement from the event’s emotional impact. The depiction of Mr. Mitra consuming a sandesh and a Fanta beverage adds sensory insights to the story. The reader gets a visceral sensation thanks to descriptions of the sandesh’s texture, flavor, and temperature.
Amit Chaudhuri employs irony to draw attention to the gap between appearances and reality and to emphasize the characters’ conceited attitudes. The beginning of the story establishes Mr. Mitra’s unhappiness and irritation, which are present throughout the novel. Mr. Mitra is attending a memorial service, a solemn event, yet his mind is on unimportant things like his car’s discomfort and his white sandals. The irony of Mr. Mitra’s actions is brought out by the juxtaposition between the seriousness of the situation and his own selfish interests. The irony is also presented by the contrast between the characters’ outward behavior and their inner emotions. Irony is added to the story by the contrast between customary practices and the mindsets of the protagonists. The irony is highlighted by his loyalty to tradition despite his mistrust of tradition.
‘Real Time‘ employs a range of literary devices to convey its themes and capture the nuances of human behavior and interactions. Through symbolism, irony, stream of consciousness, and other techniques, Chaudhuri crafts a narrative that invites readers to reflect on the complexities of appearance, tradition, selfishness, and self-importance within the context of a memorial ceremony.
