Month of April 2010, As soon as the eve of “APRIL FOOL” ended, summers went wild. Everyone was cursing God for the same, but I was cursing company HR people management for different reason. Actually as per rules, I was expecting my first salary on 1st of April, but due to the grace of a bunch of worthless, lazy people I could not receive it till 8th of April. Everyday I used to check my account details everyday in hopes of salary credit but all in vain. But as soon as I got it credited in my account, balance figures change from 000.00 to **, 000.00. That is the kind of unusual problems you get into even if you have not committed any kind of mistake on your part.
Everything was going fine in life except company work culture which s**ks a big time. As time was passing, my frustration level was increasing, but who knew at that point of time that things will change for me. On 10th of April I came across one line while surfing on the net which states, “One thing that can’t be recycled is wasted time.” Suddenly I realized that only few days were left for a PSU exam for which I filled up form thinking about cracking it. So I started concentrating upon my studies rather than worrying about job. But as they say, “He plans things for you, not yourself.”
On 12th of April I got a call from one of my good college friends, who insisted me to come to his marriage that was to be held at Amritsar on 14th of April. I started planning for the same because it seemed feasible as there was a holiday on that day in company due to VAISAKHI. I booked the tickets for SHATABDI as my salaried account was flooded with money. Finally on 14th of April, I packed my bags and was all geared up for Amritsar to grace the occasion of my friend’s marriage. The experience of SHATABDI was awesome. I was treated like as if I am son-in-law of the whole railway department. In the sweaty and humid summer I reached Amritsar in noon. After attending the grand & marvelous marriage at a 5* hotel in night, I took departure from marriage straight away to station so that I could reach Delhi on time and be able to save my one leave which generally means a lot to an employee. I reached home around 12’o clock and was getting prepared for the encounter with the boss. But this time lucky bell strikes and one of my colleagues called me up to intimate that the boss had not turned up in the company. So I decided to stay in my sweet rented home and relax rather than sitting idle in the company. Once you start earning money then only you realize the importance of sleeping in the noon.
After a busy and tired week, I desperately needed a Sunday to complete my dreams which were still in the dizziness mode. Finally 18th April came and Sunday times reached our sweet home. Moreover, Two of My flat mates made this Sunday special by giving a fabulous party at a pub called TANTRA. We all enjoyed to the fullest and were the last to leave the dance floor. So again, I was tired like anything and thoughts of office next day Monday morning were scary. After the bash of Sunday night, I was not at all in the mood of starting that journey of monotonous life again. But what to do, one has to bear all this to get his meter running.
Yet there are some great moments in office which you enjoy keeping aside all the tensions. One of such moments was on 24th of April. It’s been really hot this summer from March onwards and according to metro logical department, records of last 60 yrs had been broken. But that day, INDRA DEVTA was in full mood and determined to give us some relief. I was doing my work at my desk; All of a sudden I heard some voices of stones being thrown on office premises glasses as I sit near by one of the windows. When I stood up from my seat and tried to peep out from the window, what I saw was pleasantly unbelievable. To my surprise, the road was fully white instead of its natural color due to ice stones being thrown by INDRA DEVTA. All the colleagues gathered near the window to witness the incident. One can’t expect this kind of hail storm even in the winter; still it was happening in summer in front of all of us. Almost for 5 minutes, we were gazing at the road and sky simultaneously. As soon as the beautiful scenery vanished, I along with some of my colleagues went to have Samosas and tea outside the company on a small tea stall. As it was already 5’o clock, hence no one was in mood of resuming his work again. The sun for that day settled down leaving with some good memories which are still very fresh in my mind.
Then starts the last week of April, which was full of amusement, frustration and some good laughs. The week started on 26th of April as Monday. As we reached home after completing office, we got to know that our maid went on holiday that night. We all decided to dine outside at some good place. So we opted for PUNJABI PAKWAAN situated near to our home. We all had a consensus to order for DAL MAKHANI, MALAI KOFTA and MATAR METHI MALAI along with LACHA PRANTHA.
While ordering I told waiter to bring M3 along with other dishes. He stared at me and asked me to repeat. Again I said, ‘M3.” Now he felt hesitated to ask it again as he was still unable to find this named dish in the menu. Finally, without teasing him further, I told him MATAR METHI MALAI. He passed a smile and moved on. We all had a good laughter on this. We thought that all restaurant owners should keep these kinds of short names for their dishes. Similarly one tries to find out ways to keep oneself happy, besides this professional life. 27th of April, Tuesday, the day of BAJRANG BALI, started on a happier note as the memory of last night incidence was still in my mind. Around afternoon I was told by my roomies that today we all would be going for the dinner outside as some vendor has arranged a presentation in some 4* hotel and followed by cocktails and dinner. In night we all went for the dinner (so called party for us) as nobody was interested in presentation. We reached at the venue when presentation was on its last breaths. As soon as it ended we headed towards cocktails but being non drinkers we opted for soft drinks only. Soup was smoking hot and concentration was too thin as if we were drinking the water which is usually left behind while our mothers wash the veggies before cooking them. It was not tasty at all. Although start was bad but the main course was yet to come. Ultimately food was good, but the much required laughter was waiting for us near the sweet dish stall. I was heading the group. All the descendants were relying on me. As soon as I tried to extract some ice cream with the help of scoop, the whole jar started to move away due to iced freezing ice cream. It moved so much that it was on the verge of falling from the table. But I was concentrating on ice cream only, not on the jar. Suddenly my follower, (one of my roomies) whispered in my ears,”Please stop, as they also have to eat.” This statement made me lose my control and I busted out laughing joined by my roommate. We both had stomach pain due to laughter. After having delicious dinner, we all came back and went to sleep. I was totally unaware about the things which were going to come in coming days.
Wednesday and Thursday went normal as per daily schedule. In the meanwhile I maintained a pace with the studies so that I could succeed in exam. On 30th of April, Friday, again our maid did not turn up for making dinner. Hence we again went to PUNJABI PAKWAAN. As soon as we entered, the same waiter recognized us and passed us a smile. But this time we did not order for M3. A bigger tragedy was waiting for me at home. As I sat up for studies, some transformer got burned up resulting in power loss, again I was choked out thinking why only me. Whole night I was trying to sleep but was unable to do so. Moreover mosquitoes were all thrusty to drink my sweet blood. Further, tension of exam was making me crazy. Next morning, Saturday, Nobody was in mood to go to office, but all managed to save their respective leaves and went to office. Moreover in office also one can sleep if you are smart enough. In office, whole day passed thinking about the tomorrow’s exam. I made some schedule for study even if it was for one day only. Hoping that last moment preparation might work.
On 1st of May, Saturday when I returned from office, I was already in semi consciousness stage due to uncompleted sleep. I went into my bed as soon as possible. I was about to study after dinner, then only I came to know that “Anti” had not come that day also. Fully frustrated, we all were cursing “Anti”. This was 4th day in 6 days of a week on which we were planning to go out again for dinner. But this time we went to MAGADH restaurant rather than PUNAJBI PAKWAAN. As it was somewhat cheaper, moreover we all had left with minimal money in our accounts. To add to our irritation, when we returned from dinner, power was not there, this time it was only our home which was attacked by some fuse. I dropped the plan of studying and started listening to FM to cool down myself. Music generally acts like a healing agent for me. I was mentally prepared for the exam tomorrow.
That was the worst week of my life. Whatever I was trying to do in that particular week, nothing went as per planning. 2nd of May, Sunday morning, I and two of my roomies were all prepared for the exam. We had bread slices with milk and went to appear in the exam. Exam center was in middle of a village.
Narrow streets were full of crowd. All kind of traffic was present starting from buffalo cart to rickshaws. That particular school seemed as if it was abandoned during the 1947 war. Even the fans were not working in my room. Windows without glasses were trying to work as an AC. When did exam started and ended, I did not realize as I was busy in solving aptitude questions, because technical portion was very difficult for the people who had not prepared for the same and Unluckily I was one of them. After I was done with our proceedings I headed back towards our home along with my friends. As we all were dying with hunger, all of us showed up their cooking skills which we have inherited from our mothers. I made banana shake, while other fellows prepared PASTA and baked bread slices. Now I could feel the peace deep under my mind. Since I had not slept for continuously two nights hence I needed a sound sleep. Moreover power was there. Without wasting a single second, I got into my bed and had a sleep under the cooling of rented AC. In night, anti also came. Life train was again back on the track.After this experience, I was totally charged up to pen down my experiences in words so that I could remember all of them throughout my life span. If I think upon the whole journey, it’s been full of twists and turns which firstly make you weak and helpless then finally it gives you a reason to work harder and stay calm. Take the life the way it comes, Ups and downs are the essential parts of an interesting life.
