It was late evening, as Ajay stood beside a dark blue sedan, waiting. People came and passed by, Ajay scrolled his phone, still waiting. Then the wait was over, he kept the phone inside the pocket and detached the tyre inflator from the tyre of the car, only instead of inflating it was being used for deflating the tyre and the car was not Ajay’s.
Ajay’s house faced one of the main roads of the neighbourhood, and when he had shifted ten years back with his family, it was fairly quiet here. Now, there were a lot of people compared to back then, there were more houses and apartments, more cars and there were also some people who didn’t have the patience to find a parking spot on a busy day and would aim for the only vacant spot, in front of the house.
The bell rang and Ajay opened the gate to a man older than him, tired and more prominently irritated.
“Did you deflate my car’s tyre?” asked the man
Ajay looked at the dark blue sedan, the tyre he deflated was now inflated. So, the man had got air filled in the tyre and then returned when he figured that there was no puncture and someone may have deflated the tyre.
“Why do you think I would have done it?” asked Ajay
“My car was parked here..” said the man
“.. and that is why I would deflate your car’s tyre?” asked Ajay
“….” the man knew why and Ajay knew why
“I know you have done it,” said the man trying to bring the focus on what was done rather than why it was done
Ajay looked at the man and said, “If you have the time to come to my house and argue, then you definitely have the time to find a parking spot, so do that next time or who knows what could happen.”
The gate was closed before the man could say anything further. However, this wasn’t over, if not the same man, there would be another doing something similar no matter what step you take. In short, the world is full of people who are good and sensible and I believe they are more in number, but at the same time it also has a fair number of those we call idiots.
Written by Anuran Chatterji
Early Morning Memories 
3 responses to “The Deflation”
What a brilliantly told slice-of-life story by Anuran Chatterji—sharp, relatable, and laced with a subtle humor that makes the scene instantly vivid. The pacing is excellent: the quiet suspense of Ajay waiting by the sedan, the reveal of the “reverse inflator,” and the perfectly timed confrontation all unfold with cinematic clarity.
The dialogue is crisp and realistic, capturing that unspoken tension between knowing why something happened and refusing to admit it aloud. Ajay’s final line is delivered with just the right mix of calm authority and weary frustration—a reminder that sometimes ordinary people are pushed into extraordinary pettiness simply to reclaim their own space.
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Thank you so much sir it means a lot for us! Yes life is all about mundane happenings with such ordinary tales of humans
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Nice! I live next to a school and cars are always stopping across my driveway, so I can relate. Once someone ran into the side of my car, as I was trying to enter the drive
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