I was keeping an eye on the watch. I was waiting for the match to begin and also expecting a phone call. I knew my team has been doing well in recent times. From being a lowly ranked team on our process to a top ranking one, I had seen it all through. I got a great combination of people going in my team. The game never started (I mean it did but I had slept long before it) and I did not realize when my phone rang. I rubbed my eyes, the clock said 3 am and the first half of the game was already over and both the teams where tied at nil. Maybe the game was nothing but just an over hyped contest and I should not even bother about it (It’s a case of sour grapes). I tried to reach for my phone
“1 missed call” it announced
I checked the phone. It was Amol, my hands started shivering. I knew the news was coming. Before I could think of anything else, the phone started vibrating again. It was Amol again.
“Hullo”
“Hey Sameer Amol here” he said as cool as a cucumber.
“Buddy I got some bad news for you”
“What?” I knew this was one of the most cliché methods to announce good news and I prayed it to be the same
“See the bad news is that you have been fired, you are no longer our T.L”
“What shit are you talking about man….?” I knew it its good news
“You S.O.B you have been promoted right so you had to be fired as a T.L”
I shouted in excitement.. My house echoed with my own shriek.
“Wo…wooo. Don’t shout so loudly, s.o.b come over here we all deserve a treat from our T.L after all it’s gonna be his last week as our T.L.”
“Sure thing bro, give me some time I will freshen up and then leave”
“Ok but leave early we all want to have chat with you”
Amol was one of the senior members of my team and one of my best friends. He had joined a good six months after me but we became great friends when we were working for the same team. From then I had moved on to become a T.L myself and I made sure that he was a part of my team. He took care of every thing in my absence and was probably going to take over the team.
I was moving all round my house in excitement. I wanted to inform some one about my achievement. I called my parents but no one answered the phone. I dialled my elder brother in the U.S. I knew he would answer as it was evening time out there.
“Yes Sameer tell me” he said in an accent.
“Brother I have become the manager out here.. Man I am excited”
“What’s your salary going to be like?” he cut me short
“Ummm…. some where around 50 grand per month.”
“Remember I gave you an offer last month to come down here at the U.S. I will make sure you get at least double that salary. The advantages…you work like a human being during day time and then you have a better scope to grow and then probably you might also get a wife”
“Samar listen to this…. I told ya I am happy working here in India. It’s the best place in the world. I still work like a human being; it’s a misconception you people have, the work conditions here are great and regarding my marriage, I am happy being single”
I realised Samar had already hung up, very much the way irate customers hang up when they do not get what they want. Well that’s how my life goes….
My elder brother Samar had settled in U.S a good four years back (after completing his M.B.A). He got promoted twice and has been earning a lot of money. My family is an affluent family around this place. My dad was an insurance office’s division manager. He had come from times who believe that there are only three kinds of jobs you can do at night, that of a prostitute, a watch man or a crook. It took me years to explain him that we are none of those. (He never changed his thinking though!!!!). I moved out of the house. Since then I have been living alone. It was difficult initially but with time I have learnt the nitty gritties of bachelorhood. Well the other major talking point of my life is my marriage. I am 29 years and that’s the cause of concern for my parents and brother also.
Good news, you got it right a love of the past; bad news, not interested in her any more. It was not one of those tragic love stories which ended so spectacularly that I could write a book on it which could sell for years to come a la Eric Segal, but not all stories are straight out of the books but mine had its own share of emotions
“ You are not getting the point” Tahseem said firmly
“Now what is that I don’t understand”
“Think about our life after marriage if you continue with this job”
“What could be wrong, you know something I find the picture very rosy”
“Shut up Sameer, its not funny….. think about it when I come finished up with my work, I would want to talk to you for some time telling all what happened at office and instead of that what would I get? You would be getting ready for your job we would not get time to have a dinner or lunch together” she turned towards me “ Sameer is this the rosy life you are talking about”
“Honey half the problems are something which can be solved by mutual understanding” I held her hand and whispered softly “ Don’t you love me jaan”
She slowly nodded her head “ Its about time I take a firm decision” She turned towards me with a very firm face “ Listen Sameer I want you to decide the job or me”
I was not surprised, I knew it was coming, but there was a part of my brain which said that it would not come and did not allow me to prepare for it
“Listen Tahseem, its not very easy”
“What’s not easy to decide?”
“Come on you know what I mean, its not easy for me to leave this job after so many years I know I would not adjust anywhere else and the time I have spent in the company is my investment, how can I leave everything just like that”
For me it was not easy to leave the job just like that. But it was not difficult for her and she did just that, she left me just like that. Its strange, I have been living in this world for so long but there are so many things which I still have to learn for example how to do things just like that, how to not accept people for what they are, What’s stranger is that I have so many good examples in my family and some friends who are masters in these fields and I never learnt a single thing from them. One of the strange things about bachelorhood is that you never get what you want, when you want it. I always spend half of my time at home looking for my keys, then my jacket (I have been blessed with at least six jackets... I will not deny the fact that there could be more but I just lost track of them) and the list goes on. After a vigorous and frustrating search, I must add, I found all the stuff I wanted and left for office. I have a Maruti Zen. I had brought that car when it was considered to be a prize catch of its times, Today it is anything but that. It seemed to have a mind of its own and it took me an hour of pleading to start the car (Guess that’s what my life is about). As I accelerated the car towards the main gate I found the gate locked. I honked loudly, the watchman slowly walked outside his cabin slowly rubbing his eyes. It took him a little while to realize what he had to do but finally he did sort himself up and went towards his cabin again to get the keys. It was strange (as everything with me is); it reminded me of something not very long ago… I was ringing the door bell to my house. It took a while for my mom to open the door.
“why the hell do you do this shift?...isn’t there any other job in town that you can do other than this”
It was one of the things which I used to hear everyday… I had always wished that some one would ask me how was your day at work...may be some one from the house could just sit besides me and listen to the kind of work I do but all I hear is this
“Did you submit your resignation?”
“No dad not yet”
“How many times do I have to remind you that …huh listen do you want to make a career or not or you want to continue with this rotten job of yours”
“Dad! this job is giving me my bread and butter and to a lot more people. Don’t call this rotten” “Listen you want bread and butter I will give you that as long as you want but stop doing this job”
“Dad what’s wrong with you?”
“I wanted to ask you the same thing…what’s wrong with YOU don’t you want to lead a normal life don’t you want to be respected by the society and live life like a normal human being”
“I am living an absolutely normal life make no mistake about it and what did I do that the society will not respect me for”
“You are a kid son! you know when I talk to some of my friends at the park I feel ashamed to tell that my son works at a call centre, every ones son or daughter is well placed and is earning in lakhs every month and look at my son earning a measly 20 thousand that too after sacrificing all the sleep and health of his”
“What do those earning lakhs have to do with my job…? I don’t know what you are trying to say that but let me make this clear to you today I will not resign”
I could see my mother crying standing behind the door and could see the disappointment and anger in my dad’s eyes. That was the last time I rang the doorbell of my house… I moved out of the house since then. The watchman managed to open the main gate after looking through the bunch of keys. I could see him mumbling while I drove the car outside the society gates. Despite me having arguments with my dad I still loved him a lot. The only reason I moved out of the house was that he never understood me. He wanted me to do what my elder brother did. I am sure I would have introduced him to you. He is that “schol” kind of a person…. He was once challenged by his professor to complete some shit question paper he had set and my bro completed that and since then he has been getting all kinds of scholarships one can think of. My parents expected me to do everything like him and I guess that’s the problem, I was not him. My cell phone rang again. Speak of the devil and the devil is here. Yes it’s my legendary brother Samar. “I think you are over with your patriotic bullshit” he asked
“If you think that you will call only after my patriotism is over then don’t try to call me again, and for god sake don’t call it bullshit”
“Cool down bro and think practically, you can have a much better life out here, dude a manager out there will not earn even a shit percentage of what he earns here” “Alright let me think practically. You want me to come to a different country after leaving my job here because; Yes! Uncle Sam would be waiting for me arms wide open. That’s practical enough. You want me to come to the country where people think India is a country of snake charmers! That’s practical. You want me to come to the country where they think we people are taking away their jobs and look at me in hatred that’s practical enough and yes if you want me to think a little more practically then I really don’t want to come in a country where people would resist talking to me only because I am not white.”
“You have these things every where. Don’t you say that he is a south Indian , he’s a north Indian and things like that, dude that’s everywhere and what is it that India is giving you today that you don’t want to leave” This brought a smile to my lips, it was strange that my brother asked me this question. I knew it was his green card which was asking me this “Answer me Sameer what is it that India is giving you today?”
“You know something Samar, my country is asking me the same thing today... What have you done for me? And today my head goes down. Samar you don’t even deserve to ask that question” He hung up again! Probably Samar had cursed me when he hung up because the car has shut down again. The first thing I would do now is trying to get a car soon. I went through the cell phone to check whom I could call to get help. The contact list always tells you a story, one of the contact’s in my list reminds of me of something The discotheque was bustling with people and well that’s not my kind of party. Amol dragged me to the floor a couple of times, but my stint there did not last long for two reasons one I am a bad dancer and two I am a bad dancer. I was looking around for my place. There was a small sofa where I could place my lazy ass and spend some time for my Johnny walker. From here I could get a full view of the dance floor. It’s a pleasure watching people dancing and also people trying to dance but eyes where searching for some one special and well did not take long. There was a beautiful girl just standing among a group of guys. Well it seems the guys did not turn out the way she expected them to be and well she managed to drag herself away from them. She slowly found her way to the lounge and (look at my luck!!!) she sat just next to me. It takes quite some courage to speak up to a girl I guess “dint enjoy the dance huh” She was surprised “sorry?”
“I mean you did not seem to enjoy the dance…..or maybe the people”
“I guess so” “So what do you do?”
“I actually do a lot of things and it would be easier for me to tell you what I don’t do?”
“Go ahead Miss talented’
“I don’t talk to strangers” Those words still ring in my head as those where some of the first words I shared with Tahseem. Well we went on to see each other some time later, when we met at a family get together and you know what had happened later.
Before I could dial any number the car started (You guys forgot today is my lucky day!!!!). My phone rang again
"Where the hell are you?", asked Amol
"You know my car right..."
"yeah...hey listen Pramod sir wants to talk to you"
"yeah sure"
"Hey congrats Sameer...great to hear that even you have got promoted...remember once, I told you stay patient ...things will come to you"
"Yes sir .. I do remember that, that’s one advice which I am never going to forget"
"Hey Sameer I have to get back to work … I will talk to you as soon as you reach here alright?”
“Sure”
A glass could be half full for one person and at the same time the glass could be half empty. That is how one can feel when he talks to two different people. A while ago I was talking to my brother Samar and now a few words by Pramod Sir…they just changed the whole mood.
Oh I forgot to tell you Pramod sir is one of the executives who take calls on the floor. He is much older than all of us. He is one of those people who I look up to if I was in any kind of doubt. I still remember when I was new he used to sit on the workstation next to mine and help me out whenever he could. He was the person behind my first appreciation call
“Hey dude listen I don’t know if you are even talking in English alright..are you an Indian by any chance?……”
“Yes sir I am an Indian but sir this is no reason why I would not be able to help you sir…”
“oh yeah…but listen dude you aren’t helping me”
“Sir, just give me one chance… see sir you said that you had made the pay..” Pramod sir stopped me there “Listen Sameer that guy has paid money and now when you say that he hasn’t he would get angry try and think from his perspective”
“sir but he is talking about me being an Indian..”
“listen you solve his problem today, talk to him in an understanding manner and I can promise you next time he calls he would like to talk to an Indian”
I went back to the call
“sorry to keep you waiting sir”
“Hope you have solved my problem”
“Sir, as of what I understand... you had made the payment”
“Well I did… you are repeating this since I called … is that all you know in English?”
“I am sorry sir” I took a deep breath I started looking into my monitor trying to see what I could get to help this person while he kept abusing me of me being an Indian. Pramod wrote a note and asked me to read it
“Mr jones I see that you have been making your payments regularly, and again I am pretty sure you would have the payment this time around”
“but you say your god damned computer doesn’t show the payment”
I realised I have to calm him down “ yes sir, my computer doesn’t show that but that doesn’t mean that you haven’t made the payment, what has happened is probably the payment did not show up on our system due to some technical reason I am sure……”
Mr Jones was calm, I explained him that these are technical things which happen and I took the necessary action, albeit Pramod sirs help. He was happy at the end of it
“Son, I am sorry I kept shouting at you I never gave you a chance to talk but I am happy that you have solved my problem. I have learnt that Indians are very very polite and you never back answered. I am glad that I was able to talk to one of you special people and would like talk to a manager and tell him how good you were…and yes son I hope he would be an Indian too”
I was happy to hear that, Pramod was right and yes Mr. Jones still calls and I have observed that he even asks our colleagues in U.S to transfer to India because he was fond of us.
I still have the call recorded in my workstation and I listen to it whenever I could. It was a great feeling when people think that we have made a difference to their lives.
I had reached the office। I went ahead and parked the car( before it would shut down again). You know guys it feels different today.“Hello sir” the watchman said“How are you sir jee”“Good…. Its always a pleasure to see you here”I smiled and went ahead towards the floor. As soon as I entered the floor, I saw Amol“Hey Sameer” he shouted. I raised my hand and asked him not to make any noise. He came and hugged me
“Congrats buddy … all of us were waiting for you”
“Hey thanks, Amol get back to work. I will talk to you later”He sat down reluctantly. There were quite a few handshakes but nothing much. I thought there will be people who would congratulating me but probably things still haven’t changed.
“hey Sameer”
“pramod sir!!”
“Sameer you seem lost”
“nothing sir…its just”
“Hey listen, I want to talk to you”
“Sir, do you have a break?”
“I guess Manager sahab you can give me a break”
He smiledWe went to the terrace. That’s the place where most of us go to because of the fresh air there.“ So Sameer what’s wrong? Today you have been promoted and you don’t seem to be happy at all”
“No sir I am happy”
“My hair isn’t black, it’s white. I guess that’s enough proof for you that I can understand a few things better than others… come on you can tell me”
“You know sir, I have worked hard. In fact…very hard. There have been a lot of sacrifices from my end, but today I don’t have anyone to celebrate. Its seems like my life is an absolute zero.”
“Think again Sameer. Today you are at a position where a lot of people just dream of”
“But what’s the use. I don’t have anyone with me. My parents, Family, Love… today I don’t have any one standing besides me today. I am at a position which a lot of people see in their nightmares”
“Listen in life there are a few things you get without working for them and some things you get after working very very hard. I know about your parents. See they are angry with you. You have to talk to them, apologize. Sometimes it’s not necessary that you have to be wrong, but by not doing what you are supposed to, you would do wrong, I would say you are still doing wrong. Talk to them Sameer, they are your parents.”I nodded my head. What Pramod Sir has said was absolutely correct.“And son, love … marriage these things happen only when they are destined to. Don’t be impatient. One element cannot make life. It has to be so many things. Be proud that you have achieved a lot in your career. Take a break now and get back to your personal life. Work as hard as you have worked here. You will be successful” There was a glint in his eyes.
“I hope I haven’t put you to sleep with my lectures. Anyways I have to get back to work” As he got up to leave the rest of my team mates hurried in through the terrace door. They hade a cake in hand“congrats Sameer” Shouted everyone in unison.I must say I was surprised. Pooja pushed forward“We have got something for you” She gave me a packet which was gift wrapped. I opened the packet. It was a photograph of the whole team. It was framed and there was every ones signature on the frame. Then they handed me another packet. It was a card which said all the best. Amol had given me an album which had all my photographs from the time I had joined the company. I was gifted something after so long!!!. What was more touching was the emotion attached with it.Probably I had been wrong all the while. I am not a loser. I am not a zero. There are people who respect me. It’s just that I am lacking in a few things in life. I promise I will work on it. Everything will fall in place.All of a sudden everything went quiet. I was far away from the crowd and the noise. I could see the sun slowly rising above the horizon.
You know guys …॥it’s my lucky day.