Never Be Lonely

You have a raging fever for several days that makes you want to lie down and die and never get up because the office refuses to leave you alone and because you won’t switch off the mobile in case an ‘important’ call is missed.

You have to catch a fog-delayed flight to Hyderabad on Indian Airlines (or Air India as they now call themselves) and the soup tastes like dishwater, the food looks like it’s been eaten once already and the blanket is dirty (and you’re travelling Business Class!).

You reach ISB at midnight, seven hours after you left home, where you’re going to be part of a three-day course for which you’re completely unprepared… and discover that the campus is heavenly. Even though it’s dark all over.

You want to reach out and speak to someone, anyone.

But the people you’d like to unburden your fatigue on are either asleep or have turned against you or have gone far away to an alien land.

So, you’re alone. Which is good, because that’s what you’ve been yearning for anyway. Some time to yourself.

But there’s a difference in being alone and being lonely.

And then MTV plays Never Be Lonely… the number of times Never Be Lonely is repeated at the end is special – for me at least.



It’s better than a hot chocolate or a cognac. Though not as good as snuggling up… but hypnotic enough to get six hours of dreamless sleep.