“Arey yaar, I am tired of my job,” said Marketing Executive 1.

Tie intact at the top button, sleeves tightened over the wrists, encumbered bag slung over a shoulder, helmet in one hand and a cigarette in another; ME1 was chatting with a fellow marketing executive under a tree, in the middle of a summer afternoon.

“Why, what happened now?” inquired ME2, while signalling at the chaiwala to get them two cuttings of tea.

“Arey, you know how it is,” replied ME1, “yesterday my boss caught me outside Roopali Cinema.”

“Oh shit!” A puff here, “what did he say?” A puff there.

“Arey nothing yaar, I pretended to be just passing the area. Thank God, he didn't catch me entering the cinema hall.”

“Ha ha, yeah. You know, this habit of yours of sneaking into AC theatres is gonna get you in serious trouble one day.”

“Who cares,” said ME1, as nonchalantly as possible, “I am looking for a change anyways.”

“Really? Where? You have an offer?”

“I am trying to get into this new industry that’s going to boom big-time. The Street Protest Outsourcing, SPO industry. Anyone can apply and get work there, yaar.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah, see, everyone is protesting these days. Political parties and NGOs keep protesting all the time; student unions, various associations, youth bodies and now even doctors are protesting.”

“So? What does all that have to do with you?”

“It’s simple, baba. All these people who protest need to make themselves heard loud and clear. But they get tired of all the shouting and marching, and so they hire people to shout and march with them.”

ME2 started scratching his beard. “Hmmm, you seem to have a point here.”

“Ofcourse I have a point. Protesting is the latest in-thing these days. The Indian middle-class is finding numerous issues to protest against. They don’t understand that such violence and outburst of emotions is not the answer to everything. They think about themselves only, not others.”

“What do you mean?”

“I am talking about these doctors who leave ailing patients untreated because they are too busy protesting. And it’s really sad that doctors from the lower caste, whom these protests are against, have to then work in double shifts and fill up for their protesting colleagues. And then there are these BJP workers who stop the screening of an actor’s film because they didn't like what he said about a completely different issue.”

“Well…”

“I know we won’t be able to look at these issues from the protesters’ point of view, unless something like this affects us directly. But my point is that what will burning effigies and disrupting peace achieve?”

“Yeah that’ll lead to nothing.”

“Yeah exactly, but who cares yaar. The more they protest, the more I’ll earn by outsourcing myself to them.”

“Ha ha. You go ahead, man.”

“Yeah, and I better rush and outsource myself before the Government introduces reservations in SPO as well.”

“Ha ha, all the best!” ME2 wished his friend.

“Ha ha, thanks,” ME1 replied, kick-starting his bike, “Protest! Protest! Protest!”