Au Naturel

A few weeks ago, he used to cry inconsolably while asleep. In reality, some mosquitoes must have bitten him but in the world of subconsciousness, the itchy pain miraculously transforms into special-effect films where he engages in losing battles with love or King Cobra or something. That was then. As of now, he’s having these very disturbing (and recurring) dreams in which he always finds himself stark naked. As far as he knows, he’s neither a closet nudist nor a potential pornstar. However, he is greeted by awkward stares from colleagues and “What’s-the-small-deal?” woofs from street dogs. Throughout he guesstimates all the reasons behind this embarrassing indecent exposure. Since he doesn’t get any straightforward explanation for his wardrobe malfunction, he acts along and tries to keep up with Christopher Nolan’s concept of Inception. On waking up, he wonders why he forgets to wear clothes in his dreams. After much deliberation with his memory, he arrives at a conclusion. Maybe, just maybe, Mowgli is responsible for this ironic change from PG-13 to R-rating. During his childhood days, whenever Gulzar’s Jungle Jungle Baat Chali Hai Pata Chala Hai Chaddi Pahen Ke Fool Khila Hai Fool Khila Hai... played, he used to imagine himself as that fool with boomerang. (In all probability, if ever there was a jungle boy he wouldn't bother with a wooly underwear as much as Disney did!) He even started having one-sided conversations with animals. So much for an ambition! Perhaps history repeats itself—wearing absolutely nothing—when the person in question dozes off.