How do I start on this ?
Do I do it in flashback or do i do it chronologically ? well it doesnt matter.
today, November 5, me and mom vacated the rented home and our abode in Vapi and transferred the household goods to Kolkata.
and with that, one chapter , a happy but equally painful chapter of my life ends.
It was on a rainy and balmy day in September 2002 that me and mom had come to this place.
Dad was already there, working there for over a month and living in company rented flat in Goutam apartments.
On first look, neither did mom, nor me nor Dad like this place a wee bit.
first, it rains like hell for 4 months, without a break. locals call it "second cherrapunji" though it might be an exaggeration, but nonetheless, its not better off either.
Plus, the surroundings were muddy, drainage water all around, chemical smell, and couple with that, a particular low phase in our lives, my academics and the insecurities of a private jobs, all were eating us inside.
I wanted to leave the next day. But then we saw and realised that there werent too many options either.
So, we just settled down, unwillingly for sure.
Circa 2003 and 2004 -
I was working in my breaktime from college in Pune for a company that sold post paid Idea Sim cards.
the schedule used to be like this -
from Monday to Saturday, it was a routine and a grinding job, convincing customers as to why Idea is the BEST post paid sim card in the world and more importantly why he should be taking it from me, so that I get my 150 rupees commission.
I used to start days in Pune, having a dosa or a vadapav, attend meetings in office and then set off selecting an area for each day.
Behind all the hype and hoopla of the hot meetings of the sales office was a cold calculating brain of the manager to collect revenue.
it was a tough period, challenging period, i shifted my residence 3 times in 5 months that i worked there, having no money and reluctant to take from parents, i used to stay at a friends place in lohegaon, then shifted to kothrud to another friends place, then for a few days again at an elderly acquaintance who had rent out his place for his labouers, and then finally in chinchwad. why did i change so often ? for the obvious reasons ....no money to pay.
After 3 months of hard toil, I had got my first cheque of 961 rupees. It meant nothing in terms of value, but it was invaluable at the same time. For it proved a few things - to myself and the world about that I could earn.
that kind of joy is seldom.
Anyways, the point of this diary is not that. the thing I wanted to share is that every evening , I used to take a second class ticket from Pune to Vapi by the Ahimsa express , 7 30 in the evening, reaching Vapi at 2 30 in the night, arrive to a warm welcome from mom and sometimes Dad, who used to just wake up seeing me, spend the entire Sunday at Vapi and then take the night train at 1000 AM to go to Pune , arrive in Pune at 5 AM, go and change and then back to the regular grind.
Due to some meetings,at times, I could nt take the Ahimsa express, in those cases, I used to take the next train to Dadar and take the first train of early morning to Vapi. whatever the duration, I HAD to go to meet my parents.
this is the thing I continued for the next 7 years. till Nov 2011, regularly. Sometimes, the body used to give up, i dozed standing on the doorsteps of the train, but I had to go. Anyhow. coz my parents waited for me there. Two simple, trusting, believing folk whose only hope was me. For them, I had to go.
Do I do it in flashback or do i do it chronologically ? well it doesnt matter.
today, November 5, me and mom vacated the rented home and our abode in Vapi and transferred the household goods to Kolkata.
and with that, one chapter , a happy but equally painful chapter of my life ends.
It was on a rainy and balmy day in September 2002 that me and mom had come to this place.
Dad was already there, working there for over a month and living in company rented flat in Goutam apartments.
On first look, neither did mom, nor me nor Dad like this place a wee bit.
first, it rains like hell for 4 months, without a break. locals call it "second cherrapunji" though it might be an exaggeration, but nonetheless, its not better off either.
Plus, the surroundings were muddy, drainage water all around, chemical smell, and couple with that, a particular low phase in our lives, my academics and the insecurities of a private jobs, all were eating us inside.
I wanted to leave the next day. But then we saw and realised that there werent too many options either.
So, we just settled down, unwillingly for sure.
Circa 2003 and 2004 -
I was working in my breaktime from college in Pune for a company that sold post paid Idea Sim cards.
the schedule used to be like this -
from Monday to Saturday, it was a routine and a grinding job, convincing customers as to why Idea is the BEST post paid sim card in the world and more importantly why he should be taking it from me, so that I get my 150 rupees commission.
I used to start days in Pune, having a dosa or a vadapav, attend meetings in office and then set off selecting an area for each day.
Behind all the hype and hoopla of the hot meetings of the sales office was a cold calculating brain of the manager to collect revenue.
it was a tough period, challenging period, i shifted my residence 3 times in 5 months that i worked there, having no money and reluctant to take from parents, i used to stay at a friends place in lohegaon, then shifted to kothrud to another friends place, then for a few days again at an elderly acquaintance who had rent out his place for his labouers, and then finally in chinchwad. why did i change so often ? for the obvious reasons ....no money to pay.
After 3 months of hard toil, I had got my first cheque of 961 rupees. It meant nothing in terms of value, but it was invaluable at the same time. For it proved a few things - to myself and the world about that I could earn.
that kind of joy is seldom.
Anyways, the point of this diary is not that. the thing I wanted to share is that every evening , I used to take a second class ticket from Pune to Vapi by the Ahimsa express , 7 30 in the evening, reaching Vapi at 2 30 in the night, arrive to a warm welcome from mom and sometimes Dad, who used to just wake up seeing me, spend the entire Sunday at Vapi and then take the night train at 1000 AM to go to Pune , arrive in Pune at 5 AM, go and change and then back to the regular grind.
Due to some meetings,at times, I could nt take the Ahimsa express, in those cases, I used to take the next train to Dadar and take the first train of early morning to Vapi. whatever the duration, I HAD to go to meet my parents.
this is the thing I continued for the next 7 years. till Nov 2011, regularly. Sometimes, the body used to give up, i dozed standing on the doorsteps of the train, but I had to go. Anyhow. coz my parents waited for me there. Two simple, trusting, believing folk whose only hope was me. For them, I had to go.
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