The man closed his eyes, wishing never to open them again.
He felt as if small knives, with their small pointy ends, were having a go at him, somewhere near his chest region. He refused to cry, and the tears obliged accordingly, retreating back inside as if chided for making an uncalled-for appearance. He was sitting on a decrepit chair, purchased from a local vendor a few months ago. It was the only thing he owned in his one-bedroom flat, except the mattress. The rest – sofa, table, refrigerator and a broadband connection were subscription-based. His laptop, a Lenovo ThinkPad, belonged to his employer.
A few minutes ago, he had been sacked.
For sometime, he agonized. He decided not to tell his parents about it because he felt they would worry unnecessarily, without contributing towards any solution whatsoever. Hence, he would not. He would get by on his own. He had no choice. It was a question of survival more than anything. He knew it would be difficult to get a new job so quickly. He wished he were trained in artificial intelligence or robotics. That way, it would not be difficult. Of course, if he were a data scientist, he probably wouldn’t have been sacked in the first place. He was a sales and marketing guy. To be swatted away at the first sign of trouble.
He didn’t feel like doing anything.
He had been a little fortunate. His severance would give him a runway of at least 2 months, if he stuck to his current consumption pattern, which consisted of eggs, bread, butter, ready to eat noodles, water, coffee, milk, his house rent, electricity and internet. He hadn’t shaved for two months now, and had no plans of doing so in the foreseeable future. He had no qualms. Considering how a majority of his nation’s migrants had been left to fend for themselves owing to bureaucratic delays, he felt as privileged as a knight.
He roused himself to think and chose to read CB Insights.
Specifically a document called as ‘Cannabis for…..everything?‘.
He had downloaded and read the report, having come away fascinated by it all. It had been a few months ago, a time when he had begun making trades on the Indian financial markets, mostly in commodities and blue-chip stocks. He had checked the total value of his holdings the previous night, and the sight hadn’t been pretty. His original investment was now worth approximately 10 percent lesser. He had merely shrugged. He wanted to hold on to what he had for the time being, while placing a fresh order for a few shares in a company that dealt in exporting coffee beans. He knew it would be his last trade for at least one month.
As he read the report again, he realized the how big the global cannabis market was currently, and how it was likely to turn out be in the future. If he managed to understand the macro-economic scenario well enough, and account for Indian regulators’ timelines of working, he was convinced he stood amidst an early wave of a new market – Indian cannabis.
Something about it felt very right.
Marijuana Maharaj 