Never Let The Genie Out Of The Bag

Janani was not happy that she has to walk back home. The missing network on her Vodafone was not helping. She traced back the steps that bought her to this fate. She did not feel stupid at the time when she rejected her friends request to drop her after the party. She came to the party with her fiancé Raghu, expecting him to drop her back felt very normal. But, Raghu had to leave in the middle of the party. He, however, promised to back to be not seen again the whole night. She is brought back to the present by her phone ringing. Someone seems to have left some network for her instead of watching lame TikTok videos. The excitement of picking up the call she did not watch her step and fell off the roadside into a bottomless pit. The pit was pitch black and she could not see anything. She was trying to recollect herself when rats started crawling all over her. She shrieked aloud but no one could hear her.

The end she was hoping for never came. Time passed and her brain started to come to sense. She realized the rats are no longer around there. Cosmetics on her seemed to have worked as a repellent. The rats seem to have lost their family members to all that cosmetic testing. She started to search for the phone which seems to have fallen out of her hand. After finding the phone was all right she checked if there was any signal to call someone. There was none. She was thirsty and wanted to find a way out. The torchlight on the phone came to her rescue. In the little light emulating from the phone, she could see a small pit of clean water. But she has no cup or glass to drink water from. She started searching further and found a small cup kind of thing with a holder. She picked it up eagerly and started wiping off the dust on it. To her utter surprise and astonishment, a genie came out of that. The genie started to talk to Janani. Madam, I am the genie in that lamp and now I am ... She breaks him in mid-sentence and starts ordering take me out of here, call a taxi, take me home, get me some drink, get me some food, and check where Raghu is. Genie stops her, wait for a second madam. I am not your boyfriend. I can give you only three wishes but under one condition. 

In the eighteenth century, I gave a Sultan a magic ring which, when rubbed, would force a woman’s private parts to speak, and confess all their indiscretions. In the end, the Sultan’s misuse of the ring forced me to take it back. Now two hundred years later I want to give you this ring. This works now on men. I want you to use this for a day and end of it if you don’t give it back to me I will grant you three wishes or else I will take the ring and go away. Are you trying to say I rub this and I can talk to my boyfriend's pee-pee? Yes, replied the genie and you alone can hear the conversation. Why do you think I will give this back ever, asked Janani eagerly? I too don’t want you to give this back. She agreed to the conditions, but as a request asked the genie to get her out of the pit. He did that and said will meet her next night. She thought the genie is stupid, why will I give this back and why will I lose the three wishes.

Luck has it that her phone signal is back. She immediately called an uber to reach home. She saw Raghu waiting for her eagerly. She was happy to see him, considering all things that happened that night. She hugged him there in the open and felt the familiar sensation close to her thighs. She is angry and but she wanted to be sure before going full nuclear on him. On any other day Raghu would have got the benefit of the doubt, today she has the ring. She rubbed it and started conversing. 

Janani: Hey pee-pee, how are you?

Pee-pee: Don’t call me that, it makes me feel like a 3-year-old. Call me a genie lamp, which is what Raghu calls me.

Janani: But, why?

Genie Lamp: He says rubbing "Me" results in a lot of magic

Janani: Are you talking about Raghu? He doesn’t seem to be funny that way

Genie: Yes mam. I only know him. Even though I have a head I don’t have ears on them. Few times you had your lips on me but you did not speak anything, don't know why.

She: Stop it. You are very dirty. 

She felt dirty after the conversation. She also is excited to know more about her fiancé. After a few more hours of Raghu´s begging, she calmed down. The usual things happened and they ended in the bed. Raghu was tired after and he slept. Janani wanted to try the ring again. She rubbed it without wasting any time and started a conversation. 

Genie Lamp: You are very easy, do you know?

Janani: What? Why do you say that?

GL: He planned for this before starting here. He knows you will be angry, vulnerable and he will apologies and get you to bed

J: OMG. I never thought this innocent looking man can be that cunning

Janani was flabbergasted. She could not sleep knowing the dark side of her fiancé. She also felt very vulnerable. 

Next morning, she started the day at the office as usual. An hour went by with no incidents, but she knows once the clock hits 10 the things will go crazy. In the tea break, the canteen guy eyes here like he has never seen a woman ever. Followed by the visit from the boss to her desk to spend an unusual amount of time. The PL from the other team reaches the desk to add to the awkward. Today she will be prepared. She planned to talk to the important thing to know what dirty is going on these guys’ minds. 

Four teas, two samosas, 2 packs of biscuits she was ordering and rubbed the ring in parallel. The canteen guy was staring and she started talking to the canteen guy wee-wee. 

Canteen Guy: Hi madam, you should move a little. The guy wants to see the girl behind you.

Janani: What?

Canteen Guy: Yes madam. The girl behind you tried to give him a lot of signals and inappropriate touching

Janani: But, why?

Canteen Guy: She has a thing for Pillsbury doughboy bodies, fluffy and soft

Janani: I don’t want to know. Tell me if he has dirty thoughts for me

Canteen Guy: No, he respects you. You are the one of few who treats him well, despite his position. 

Her brain could not comprehend what is happening. She smiled at the guy for the first time. She finished her break and hit her desk. There comes her boss, he is there like clockwork exactly at 11:15. He has no clue what she is doing but he decides to ask her stupid questions. She never felt comfortable around him. She decided to know what is going on his dirty mind. She rubbed the ring. 

The ding dong of her boss started to talk to her. 

Janani: What he thinks of me in his dirty mind.

Boss: He does not have any dirty thoughts for you. He likes men.

Janani(Shocked): But, he is married

Boss: Yeah, but he always uses the wrong entry, if you know what I mean.

Janani: Then, why is here at my desk all the time?

Boss: He comes here to stare at the guy in the next desk. They both are a thing. They meet at your desk not to create doubt in anyone’s mind

Janani: My brain doesn’t know what to think now

Boss: They are in love for 15 years now, but due to fear of society they meet like this. They have a lot of options to meet in secret. However, they don’t want to make their interest in each other as something dirty by meeting in secret. Believe me when I say they had a million opportunities in these 15 years.

Janani felt guilty for thinking ill about them. For the first time in many years, she was eager to listen to the conversation. She wanted to do something to help them. But she was worried what others might think about her and let it slide.  

At lunch, she was thinking of the life the two men were living for society. Her friends joining her table woke her up from her deep thought. John started the conversation as usual with gossip about the make-up of the girl in his next cubicle. 

John: That girl thinks red hair makes her look nice. She looks like a Biyaachh 

Marie (Joining the conversation): Have you seen her boots on her, I had to control from throwing up

Janani did not take an interest in the conversation and was back into her thoughts on the events of the day. How come John did not mind being called openly gay? He is the only one she knows who is openly gay. Interestingly she has never seen him with any men, is it because of society other men are hiding? She got curious, she knows what to do? She rubs the ring and starts chatting away. The whistle in John’s pants started whistling. 

Janani: What is the dirty secret I need to know?

JohnW: He is not gay. Yes, he is not gay. He watches teen’s movie to act like a mean girl. He goes to lengths to make sure he does not create any doubts in anyone’s mind

Janani: How can he do that? He can befriend us without acting gay

JohnW: He did not do this for you. He did it for himself. Many girls in the past cheated on him. He turned a drunkard, drug addict, and almost killed himself once. He created this fake identity to survive this life.

Janani: How can a man or woman cheat this guy? He is the most compassionate person I have ever met.

 JohnW: All that could be right. But the girls wanted something more, a nice car, and a costly gift etc. 

Janani: He showed us crazy pictures from Bangkok, what about that?

JohnW: Bangkok also has beautiful women. I have seen them and felt them intimately if you catch my drift. Boink boink.

Janani: Why can’t he go back being straight? If he can survive being openly gay, he can survive anything. 

JohnW: He wants to. Every time he is with Marie he wants to reveal his secret and confess his love to her. But his heart cannot live through one more breakup.

Janani: He should do it. Marie too has a crush on John.

JohnW: Then, do something about that. I cannot go to Bangkok again to some strange.

Janani: Why don’t you do something?

JohnW: I know you girls call us the brain of the man, believe me when I say the only time they listen to us is when he can get a girl into bed. That is why we take our revenge by reacting too fast. 

Janani started thinking. Janani after lunch wanted to do something, called her best friends out to the lawn. She was ready to tell each the other’s secret. Before she could the reality of the day stuck her. What if Marie doesn’t like John after knowing the secret? What if John feels embarrassed in front of his best friends and never talks to them. She chickened out and ended the day with the normal conversation. They each went back to live in an imaginary reality they created for themselves.

Her world is changing and changing too fast. She thought the ring will open her to the dirty secrets of the men around her. She never thought the secrets will start crushing her world. She immersed herself into work the rest of the day to hide from the million thoughts in her head.

She started to walk home that night. It was very late in the night before she reached her street. That is when she remembered Randy, the convicted rapist who is living at the end of her street. She wanted to call Raghu to take her home safe. But she was too late, Randy has seen Janani and started walking towards her. Randy asked her if he can accompany her to her house. He understood her suspicion and said don’t worry I walk 10 feet ahead/behind you. I just want to make sure you reach home safe. Janani surprised and asked him why he cares. He replied I have my selfish reason. If something happens to a girl in this street I will be the one people doubt. She thought to herself, that makes sense. They started walking, he slightly ahead of her. She knows what to do next and rubbed her ring. The pinky in his pant started to talk.

Janani: Tell me his darkest secret

Pinky: He is impotent

Janani: What the hell? He raped a girl who is his best friend. She also had a baby because of this. If he has not agreed to marry her, he would have been hanged by the court

Pinky: That is all a lie. The girl was raped by her uncle who is a bachelor. She was ashamed to tell this to anyone. After a few months, she came to know she is pregnant. She told her mother only after that. But, her mother was not ready to believe the daughter. The mother was convinced herself the girl got pregnant from Randy, her friend. So, the mother went and complained to the police. 

Janani: How can a mother do that to her daughter?

Pinky: She too is ashamed. How can the family face shame after their daughter is raped by her uncle? 

Janani: What about Randy?

Pinky: He was the one who convinced the girl. He was ready to go to jail for her. 

Janani: Was the girl so selfish? How can do that to him? 

Pinky: The guy also had a selfish reason. He doesn’t want to get married to anyone with his condition. He felt this as an opportunity in adversity. If he is known as a rapist, no one will marry her. The girl with her bad experience with uncle never wanted another man to touch her. So, they both decided on this.

Janani had to end the conversation as she reached the door to her house. She wanted to talk to him more. But how can she face anyone if they see her with him? She ran home with only a courtesy thank you. 

She felt so very filthy of herself. She went to take a shower to fresh up before going to bed. Out of nowhere, she started crying and the eye drops cleansed her soul of the filth. Before realizing, the hour to meet the genie has come. Genie appeared before her. She was pulling out the ring in a hurry. 

Genie: What happened? Don’t you want your three wishes?

Janani: After what I have known today. I don’t deserve anything. No one in the world seems to be what they are. Before today I had an innocent fiancé, a boss who had everything, a best friend, and a gay best friend. I had great memories and a wonderful life with these people. Now all of that turned out a lie. People I respected turned out to be perverts and people I thought were perverts turned saints. Everyone, including myself, is dying a little to be accepted by the world. I cannot wish for anything when so many things are wrong. I also don’t want to imagine what will be my world, if this ring is with me. Please take it back.

Genie: Think hard for a minute. Don’t you think you can do something with your wishes?

Janani: I wanted to wish something for my boss, John, and the guy labelled rapist. But, that means I have to face the hardships of knowing the real world every day. I don’t know if I have it in me

Genie: You want to live in an imaginary happy world yourself, how can you complain when the real world decided to do the same. If you take the ring, you have a chance to live in a world more real than what it is today. 

Janani, next morning woke up with the ring on her hand. Rubbed it, just to make sure all this is not a dream. Raghu’s genie started talking.

Genie: This is the happiest part of my day. I am full in control of myself and long without getting to be abused by the human. 

Janani understood what GenieLamp was talking about. Raghu is having his morning hard-on. Janani got up from the bed to get ready to go to the office. The world may not be ready for her, with her new view. But, she is ready for anything world throws at her. She set up her both friends for a romantic outing herself and hoped love for each other to take over. She made all arrangements for the night dinner for her boss and the lead from the team to attend. She was not convinced she did everything. But she is happy at the least she no longer living in an imaginary world. 

She was walking with an assured step towards metro to reach office. She noticed Randy and his wife walking on the same road. She joined them, introduced herself formally this time and walked away with them happily chatting.