Take a Break!!! Part 2 .. :)

Got this as a mail! LOVED IT.!!! Read the entire thing.. you will thoroughly enjoy :)

OK… So I was back in bench… I was a free bird once again… No more boarding of 7: 30 buses… No more onsite calls… No more work… I was released… Hurray!!!

Just then my mobile rang. It was my father.

“Hello… How are you?”

“Fine, how are you father?”

“I am fine. How is work going on? Are you busy...”

“Work?… Uh… Well… You see… Right now I don’t have work…” I gulped as I said these words.

“What?!!! You don’t have any work? Youngsters should work at least 12 hours a day. You are getting salary every month right?! You should take the initiative… Do you know what Gandhiji has said about work?... He said…”

My father was in the mining sector. There is nothing called bench in his line of work. Until the rise of IT industry, to be in bench is to be sitting in a classroom or in front of a tea shop.  And now, to the outside world, a guy in an IT company, sitting in bench, is a lazy and incompetent employee who should be laid off to recruit a better one.

I had a difficult time explaining to my father that I was just released from a project and will soon be put into another one, in the meantime doing any internal work. At last the call ended although I knew perfectly well he wasn’t convinced yet.

Three days passed. My enthusiasm to be in bench was dampened by my colleagues. Especially to meet a fellow employee in food court after a long time was more discouraging.

“Hi dude. How are you? How is your project going on?”

“Uh… I am in bench dude… Hey did you watch Inception?...” I desperately tried to change the subject. But it was futile.

“Bench?!!! You said the same when I asked you six months earlier…”

Idiot. I got into a project later that lasted for a couple of months and he knew it perfectly.

“No no. I was into a proj…”

“Hey I have a call now. See you later.” He hurried without letting me finish.

I retired to my cubicle with a heavy heart. One of my friends beckoned me to have some coffee.

“No da. I am tired. You have coffee now. I will have later” I said. As a matter of fact, I was really tired.

“Summa thaana irukka? Vaada!!! (You are jobless right? Come!!!)”

‘Summa’!!! (Jobless) The word echoed in my ears like thunder. The world around me darkened. Whatever could I do to avoid this insult in future? I began to maintain a low profile by staying in my cubicle longer that I used to, shortening lunch and other breaks. Days passed very slowly… I was tired of reading the same forwarded emails everyday.

For a change I decided to read the posts in MCITY INK. I found out that although a few were very different, many posts were based on a certain templates that closely resembled each other. The central theme – Love; with the following variations:

·          Guy sees girl. Describer her. First half over. One side love. Guy proposes. Girl rejects. Second half over.

·          Guy sees girl. Describer her. First half over. One side love. Guy proposes. Girl accepts. Second half over.

·          Guy sees girl. Describer her. First half over. Both love each other. Parents reject. Second half over.

·          Guy sees girl. Describer her. First half over. Both love each other. Parents accept. Second half over.

Despite being poor at writing, I felt an urge to write at least one post and started typing a story on MS WORD. It looked as if I was doing some documentation work so my colleagues didn’t bother to question me. I finished the story, posted it and went for lunch.

When I was back, I saw a comment on my story. It was from a girl named Jyothi. She was online at that time so I pinged her to say thanks.

“Hi Jyothi! Thanks a lot for your comments J ”

“Hi! You are most welcome!!!”

It was really boring to chat with the same girls everyday so I extended the conversation to while away the time.

“You see. Most of the love stories in our MCITY INK don’t have a twist at the end. They are very predictable…

“Hmmmm…”

“Enna pannureenga?” (What are you doing?)

“What? Hey I don’t know Tamil yaar… I am from Bengal”

Excellent! I always wanted to befriend a north Indian girl (South Indian girls don’t ask me why).  I tried my luck.

“Wow! Bengal? I like to watch Mithun Chakraborthy’s films… He is a good actor…”

That’s the only Bengali actor I have ever heard of. My father mentioned his name once when he was talking about vintage movies. I don’t even know how he looks.

“Mithun??? I hate his movies yaar…”

Clean bowled. First attempt backfired horribly… I was undeterred though. This mission must succeed. I continued giving careful considerations to what I was going to type henceforth.

“Oh. Well… I haven’t watched much of his movies I must say … What movie did you watch recently?”

“Dostana… I liked it yaar…”

“Oh I see… That’s a great movie… I watched it thrice…”

Lies after lies… I haven’t watched a hindi movie since Kaho Na Pyar Hai (which too was Greek and Latin to me then).

“Will you teach me Tamil?” She asked.

What a stroke of luck!!! Just when I was scratching my head on how I should develop my forthcoming interactions with this girl, she has given me a perfect lead.

From that day a series of conversations began. Everyday I used to ping her early in the morning till I leave for the day. I understood that she too was in bench which was a great advantage for me. We used to discuss a variety of topics for hours and hours. Whatever she says, I would agree with expressions like ‘Oh!’, ‘Wow!’, ‘Fantastic!’ although there would be nothing admirable in them. This went on for a few weeks.

After a month, I entered level 2. I got her mobile number and started messaging her. My friends started suspecting my behavior as they used to see our instant messenger window always open.

“Dei machan!!! (brother-in-law – often used to address close friends)
Ennada eppa pathalum yaaro Jyothi nu oru ponnoda chat pannikitte irukka? (You seem to be chatting with a girl named Jyothi often).”

“Huh…. Jyothi ah? Illada (No!!!)”

“Poi solladha da. Naan pathen…(Don’t lie. I saw)”

“Oh! Andha Jyothi ah? Athu college senior da. (Oh! That Jyothi? That is my college senior dude)”

There was no end to my lies. At home, my mother used to shout at me for messaging till 11:30 to which I would respond that it was about my project or was playing a game on my mobile.

A few months passed and chatting with Jyothi became an integral part of my life. I couldn’t imagine a day without pinging her at least once. I used to feel a tickle in my heart whenever I hear my friends tease her with me. Yes. I found the right girl for me.

I made up my mind to convey my decision to my parents first. It was a silent evening at our home as usual. I approached my mother who was busy with some envelopes.

“Mother!!! I wish to tell you something… I…”

“Hey!!! Look at this girl da. Her name is Priya. Your father and I have decided that this is one you must marry and….”

All hell broke loose… I defended my decision. My mother defended hers. My father and brother took neutral stance (my brother was more interested in enjoying the fight anyway). A full week passed with the house divided on opinions. My mother was against all three factors concerning my decision; love, north Indian girl and moreover she is from IT industry. She argued that Priya is a very good girl… She is a doctor… From a good family… etc… etc… etc… I didn’t heed. My love was more important for me.

The following week I decided to disclose Jyothi about my love. I believed she will accept me, if she hears that I have fought against my parents and rejected their choice. I pinged her and started a talk as usual. Soon it was time to open my heart.

“Jyothi… I wished to tell you this… I…”

“Hey I forgot to tell yaar… I am getting engaged next month…”

Nooooo! Never!!!! I wouldn’t allow this to happen… I couldn’t digest what I read on the messenger window. Oh God!!! I started to cry like a child… I wiped my tears and typed with great restraint.

“Are you interested in this marriage?”

“Not much yaar!!! I want to develop my career first… Anyway it’s in fate’s hands”

Nonsense! These girls are always like this. When the moment arrives, they back off blaming fate and God. Neither fate nor God forced her into this engagement. I was thinking fast. It’s not too late. If I tell her my decision immediately then the course of things may change. It will be better if I meet her personally and discuss it.

“Jyothi… I wish to tell you something… We will meet tomorrow at FC2…”

“Hmmmm. OK yaar…”

I choose it to be the next day because it was February 14 ^th … The day dawned and I was all set to tell her how much I loved her… How much I wanted to share my life with her… How many hurdles I crossed when chatting with her… How hard I fought with my family for her… She will definitely empathize… She would feel my heart… She would accept my love… By the time we leave the food court, we will be made for each other…

It was around 10:00 AM and I was sitting in FC2. I took my mobile and messaged her:

“Hi. I am dressed in blue and black. Sitting near Goldline counter”

The clock ticked slowly… Very slowly… Every moment passed like a year…

A beautiful angel dressed in red was coming towards me… I couldn’t take my eyes off her… It should be Jyothi… I was dazzled by her elegance… With great control over my excitement I waited for her to come closer… A little closer… Yes… Take one more step dear… That’s it!!!

And she went past me…

I felt a pat on my shoulder. I turned and saw a guy.

“Hi. How are you?”

“I am fine… Uh… And who are you?”

“I am Jyothi…”

"BULB"