I closed my laptop lid with a thud. I looked outside
and smiled with satisfaction as cold wind blew ravishing my poker face and dazzling
the tree outside our building mildly.
I was done booking the ticket to Goa. I was going
home. “I am going home” whispered my mind. It’s been 2 months and the wait had
been longer and harder than I thought.
I crashed on my bed. Again, with a thud. The
excitement was too riveting to be kept engulfed inside. I had a wide grin on my
face, the kind of grin which I used to have while meeting that special friend
back in Goa a year ago. Now, there was no ‘that’ special friend, instead there
are very special people, my family.
I twisted a little on my bed and watched the same
tree which was dazzling in the wind, now it was drizzling and the tree was
dancing to the tunes of wind and rain. My grin transformed into a squeaky
laughter.
I looked on top at the ceiling and my mind kept
wondering.
Last two three months have been a roller coaster
ride for me, from getting a job in India’s number one anti-virus company and in
the profile which I wanted to the largest publication house in India liking the
synopsis and sample chapters of an epistolary novel I had written and reviewing
my full manuscript, it has been a fairytale ride, just waiting for them to give
me a final reply and that will be a cherry on a cake. I smiled again, this time
it was more of an optimistic assuredly smile, rather than the excited one which
I had earlier.
It all started in May 1st week. The day I
met that girl at an interview, I started believing in love at first sight, it
gave me a fresh breath. The kind of love which makes you say to your friend
“hey, you see that girl over there, I’m going to marry her someday”, *more on
that later*, an interview in which I didn’t get selected, but there were better
things waiting for me. In the second week of May, my dream company came
calling.
As I was preparing for the 1st round of interview,
I got another sweet surprise. The publication house which had asked for the synopsis
of my book and sample chapters, liked those, and asked for the full manuscript.
I wasn’t expecting them to like it. I wasn’t optimistic at all. But now since
they are reviewing the full manuscript, I can’t stop dreaming about my ultimate
dream everyday keeping my fingers crossed.
And then in the same week, I got selected. All my
previous internet security knowledge and hacking expertise of old helped, it’s
like all stars aligned to put me into the place which I wanted and since past
three months I am living a dream. I had set two goals for the year 2014, and by
midway I have achieved one and I am darn close to achieving another.
It all happened too soon, and now when I look back,
I realize, during this whole process, this journey, the friends who truly
supported me and stood by me throughout was my family. ofcourse, there were
countless others, flatmates, college friends, Uncle and aunt here in Pune. Etc.
But without the support of my parents I wouldn’t
have been able to do anything. I remember the first person I used to call when
I was at low –my mother. The first person I used to call after every interview
process- my dad. When I got an email asking me to send me the full manuscript
for final editorial evaluation, the first person I told– my sister.
I had been a naughty and expensive child, I have
been an impossible child, however in these first few steps towards the success,
their persistence and belief in me was what kept me stronger and kept me going.
And now I don’t want to stop, I have set further goals for me. In next two
years, I want to travel a lot, I have been to north, west and south India, next
year I want to go East and Andaman Nicobar island. I want to keep writing,
channelize the ideas which have camouflaged in my brain. And hopefully I see
myself still working in this wonderful company for many more years to come.
My life has changed for good. Pune has been a lucky
place for me. I learned to shrug off my introvert image. I learnt to take responsibilities,
to be on my own and the art of interaction with the outside world. Other than
that I also learned other small things, like washing cloths and most
importantly to cook food, good food at that.
I have got an awesome group of friends in office,
the work environment is amazing, even though we have to work 9 hours a day, I
still feel good and happy working there. For a guy who never used to have 60
percent attendance in any of his college semester, for not having missed a
single day at office in past 3 months is a greater achievement then it seems to
be. We have picnics, games, team lunch and dinners, the seniors/juniors
everyone is so supportive. At quick heal we are one big happy family and long
may that continue. :)
On top of that, I have perfect flat mates with whom
I get along so well. We watched world cup together, watch movies together,
interact a lot and sleep late at night, party often. We do what every other guy
in their early twenties would do. And most importantly have found a near-perfect
sea food place where even if the freshness of fish isn’t consistent, it still
good to visit every Sunday for a traditional Goan fish curry rice.
There are many pros of being on your own, you can
sleep whenever you want, wherever you want, get up at whatever time you want,
and there will be no one to shout at you even if you skip your meal or
breakfast, and there is no one to urge you to go to sleep early.
Things which you possibly couldn’t and wouldn’t do
at home like Riding 10 kms in the rain just to have a kulfi in the middle of
the night, Not having to worry about returning late in night when you out
partying with friends, not having to worry about whether there are girls in
your group when you say you have house party. Your lies go undiscovered.
Not only that, in Goa there are people judging you
everywhere you go everything you do, like for example, you are out with this
girl and there is always this fear that some relative of yours might spot you,
there is always that thing at the back of your mind, here in Pune, I can roam
with any friends, girls included and not having to worry whether friends or
family member spots you and make a conclusion out of it.
Then, ofcourse, you can bargain with any
rickshawallah, shop keepers, vendors, bike repairing guys without giving a
second thought, in Goa it was always an awkward situation, here it’s not awkward
at all. You can try out all the dishes you want, you can go days without
washing utensils (ok, that didn’t happen with me, but just saying) ;)
However, with every pros there are cons, and there
are plenty here, there is no one to serve you breakfast and tea early morning
when you wake up from bed, you have to either make it or go out and have it,
the cloths which you throw on your bed and they lay there for eternity, it
seems fun initially, but then you yourself find it disgusting and more so, you
yourself have to pick it up and trash it in cupboard, cause your mom is 350
miles away.
And the biggest disadvantage of being in Pune is
that there is no sea here, hence there is no good place to hang out as compared
to Goa and most importantly there is no sea-food , even if you get sea food at
some places , its transported from
Mumbai/goa or karwar, which is not as fresh as I am used to in Goa, and that
also at a very expensive rate. Then there is another food problem, here people
use oil a lot when they cook, then ofcourse, no use of coconut, plain curries.
That sucks.
You get used to eating poha’s everyday, for a guy
who used to hate eating poha when he was small, it’s a tough ask.
Your granny’s and grandpa’s and uncle and aunt calls
you over weekend and you realize how much you miss them and how much they miss
you, you realize how tough it is being away from your family for such a long
time.
Over the months I used to think that the things I
miss about Goa, my home, was pretty symbolic in nature, for example- sea food,
Uddo beach, kamurlim riverside place. Etc.
However, today on this friendship day, as I booked
the ticket of 14th August, and begin with the 10 days wait, I have
come to realize that it’s not as symbolic or materialistic, it’s about my true friends
back home, friends who have been with me ever since I was born, it’s about my
family.
Till then, I am going to hang in there, like a
Brinjal or something, waiting to be plucked and transported back to Goa for 4
days and back (I now know the value of 4 days in Goa, that’s like whooping 96
hours).
So, consider it this way, some random thoughts with
a profound touch crossed trivial part of this brinjal’s heart and it decided to
put it here.
This friendship day, I would like to dedicate to you
- my mom, dad, sister and my whole family back home. You have truly been my
best friends who have always stood by me.
At the end, I would like to say just one thing which
I picked from someone’s random Facebook status update and which clearly defines
this onion peel like excitement which I am having and exactly what I am
feeling.
It goes something like this - “Life takes you
places, love takes you home” :)
