In what ways does Chaudhri make this an interesting opening to the story?

/25

 Scarcity of dialogue + with little dialogue to progress story further – considering in media res
 Third person narrator – biased – version of his own self – discontent
 Immediate breaks in focus – discomfort – generating distractions for oneself to avoid difficult
thoughts
 ‘REAL’ time – calls into question effective usage of time(modernity vs tradition) –
observation/second by second account / evocative – linear flow of events – no flashbacks
 Double entendres + relation of time and relationship of characters plus usage of words like
‘bereavement’ and ’distraught child’—‘cradling with one arm’ – care contrasted with lack of care
– plus how he holds the flowers in little regard – claimed to be removed to a sphere too distant
for the words at the back to be audible – naming of ‘Abdul’ – doesn’t even look at boy and
similarly doesn’t describe him
 Lack of condolences/humanization to show empty gestures – contrast of tradition and
modernism – insignificance – gave other activities more ‘time’
 Suicide as societal taboo + indifference to anjah’s death—thinking in terms of money –
materialism – maintaining social profile simply
 Juxtaposition of serious but undeveloped thoughts and the banal – sweating and suicide
 What we don’t talk about is as important as what we talk about – class divide/contempt –
poor boy and giving directions – doesn’t acknowledge

Real Time is a short story written by Indian writer Amit Chaudhuri, which serves as an insight into the
pits of tradition, modernity and empathy and whether one can co-exist in the midst of the others along
with being morally justified. Through the use of literary devices like double entendre, characterization
through effective choice of words and sentence construction, the links between the title ‘Real time’ and
the structural/thematic implications of her text, Chaudhri serves to highlight the ever important
question ‘Can effective usage of time be given a universal definition in consideration of the
stereotypes littered in every society?” while simultaneously gluing the reader to his story.

From the very onset of the story, we see the usage of in media res to bring about a sense of abruptness
by Chaudhuri, developing a sense of intrigue in the reader regarding the main character ‘Mr Mitra’ and
his supposed indecision on buying flowers. The flowers become an important symbol in the
passage/story and symbolize the feebleness and pointlessness of societal habits which we will get to
later. The usage of spare dialogue along with evocative descriptions is a curious choice indeed by
Chaudhri. The evocative and detailed descriptions of landmarks that have no significance to the story
such as ‘Ashutosh Mukherjee Road’ and are only mentioned for a mere moment mirrors ‘Real Time’; just
like how times passes second by second in a uniform manner, in the same way, the story provides a
consistent account of the transposing events, regardless of their significance. In a way, these landmarks
and passing objects have been assigned tremendous significance because Chaudhri implies that without
the journey, there can be no destination which makes every point of the journey a destination itself.
Talking further about uniformity, it is mirrored in the structure as well which proceeds in a linear fashion
with no flashbacks to provide context. Instead, that has been brought about by the use of dialogue
which progresses the story further as seen in Mr Mitra’s musing ‘Why did she do it?’, which then leads
to a recollection of the deceased person’s family in the narrator’s point of view. Delving deeper, the
choice of adopting third person would make us believe that the narration would be unbiased, but
evidence from the text would indicate otherwise. The focus of the narration of Mr. Mitra’s actions,
thoughts and viewpoints. This could imply that the narrator is indeed a voice inside of Mr. Mitra’s head,
which allows the reader to understand or at least gain an insight into the emotions/personality of the
character such as when the writer uses the phrase ‘distraught child’. This serves to bring life into the
story and make it more interesting to the reader which would otherwise be missing by a simple
recollection of events without any sense of perspective.

Aside from that, the revelation of Mr. Mitra’s internal thoughts by the bias in perspective also highlights
thoughts of discontent and discomfort when talking about societal taboos such as suicide, which is the
focus of the short story. The usage of immediate breaks in focus when thinking over Anjah’s tragic
suicide highlight the ability of the character to generate distractions for himself to avoid difficult
thoughts. The prime example of this would be ‘In his mind’s eye…. He saw a blank. But Abdul couldn’t
identify the lane.” The abrupt introduction of a contrasting thought is proof of Mr. Mitra’s uneasiness,
which is further reinforced by the beginning of the sentence with ‘But,’ which isn’t used conventionally
to start well-constructed sentences. The shortness of the introduced thought is also similar to how one
focuses on the first thing that he sees to shake his mind of a worrisome thought. The usage of double
entendre in ‘his wife never satisfied him when he needed her most’ serves to introduce a sly humor into
the story while simultaneously implying that ‘time’ has taken a toll on the Mitras’ relationship in which
neither is content and growing together. This is certainly the case of the majority in South Asian cultures
where arranged marriages for the sake of carrying on one’s lineage and sating society’s irrational
demands leaves barely any room for mature and mutually beneficial relationships, something which
Chaudhri might be trying to portray to her wider audience through this example.

The usage of subtle language techniques by Chaudhri is also utilized to portray the bought flowers as a
symbol of pointless societal habits and their insignificance in the mind of Mr. Mitra. The fact that Mr/
Mitra is ‘cradling them with one arm’ after buying them contrasts their monetary significance to their
symbolic insignificance in the mind of the character. While ‘cradling’ implies care, the usage of one arm
only rather than two indicates rather the opposite. The fact that Mr. Mitra negotiates for 10 minutes in
the immense heat to bring down the price of the flowers a mere 2 rupees indicates his indifferent
attitude to Anjah’s death, since if he was truly sad, he would not have wasted time over an insignificant
reduction in money and would have instead bought them and departed quickly so as not to be late to
the funeral ceremony. The fact that he refers to the flowers as having ‘smeared the seat with their
moisture’ is also indicative of the light in which he holds them; he thinks that they are an inconvenience
and focuses on the trivial damage it does to his car rather than the consolation it might bring to the
family of the deceased. This indifference is also seen in a more tangible form later in the story when
upon reaching the ceremony, he starts talking about worldly matters with people he recognizes rather
than sympathize with Anjah’s family and be a partner in their grief. This is proof that the only reason Mr.
Mitra is going to the ceremony in the first place is not due to any degree of sadness but rather to
maintain a social profile of himself. Thus, Chaudhri makes his contempt of societal constructs and
traditions known from the very beginning of the short story.

Language has also been used to the effect of highlighting class divide within South Asian cultures such as
the one shown in the story. The fact that Abdul, the layman driver of Mr. Mitra is acting to be in ‘a
sphere too distant for the words at the back to be audible,’ is not just laughable in many ways but is also
indicative of the fact that people at varying echelons of society deem it improper to even interact with
each other in a manner befitting normal people. In effect, Abdul hasn’t just been physically but
figuratively estranged from his employers. Even the details given regarding Abdul, or rather the lack
thereof, are indicative of this disregard for people belonging from the lower class In the mind of the
narrator since he is only ever referred to by his name; that is the only thing about him that is worth
keeping track off. Additionally, the lack of any description of the boy running after Mr. Mitra mirrors his
attitude who ‘didn’t acknowledge the boy,’ and has no time to waste on a mere ‘boy’ and is ‘like a man
who has an appointment.’ This isn’t just ironical in the sense that Mr. Mitra just wasted 10 minutes on
an insignificant bargain but it also mirrors the indifference that Mr. Mitra holds in his mind for the boy
within the text without conveying it explicitly.

Towards the end, it must be said that despite being different from conventional stories that have widely
different definitions of what attracts a reader, the opening of ‘Real Time’ does a rounded job in
introducing the reader to the setting and giving a sneak peek into the thematic concerns to follow later,
all of which converge to the question, ‘Can effective usage of time be given a universal definition in
consideration of the stereotypes littered in every society?”