A Fair Chance to Life...

I used to wonder about people who find their houses and properties devastated in a hurricane. About one hour ago everything is fine and life is normal. Then a Hurricane strikes. Doesn’t even give you time to think, to take some action, to save something…anything. People watch helplessly as their lives are being brought down to nothing and they are not even given an opportunity to save it.

I used to wonder, what would be the feeling to see a leveled land or a heap of nothing, in place of what you called a ‘Home’. A place where you ate, slept, loved, fought… your very existence.

Well! I didn’t wonder for very long. I figured it out sometime later when life did that to me.

But, this one is not about that. Its about… “what happens after that?"

There have been many roller-coasters I’ve been through, and some real unbearable phases in life, but still I can’t call God ‘unfair’. For every tough phase he sent someone who held me and saw me through. And this one person was indeed god-sent.

There are times, when at the back of your mind you know you are headed towards doom. You know you are gonna be hurt badly. But somehow you don’t see it objectively. It’s like ‘its gonna happen’ but when and how, is something you will not want to think about. I was living in a fool’s paradise waiting for the tide to come and sweep me away. My feet were stuck and I wasn’t doing anything to get out of the way. And he was the last person I would have expected to come and pull me away from there.

I was dragging a dead relationship on my back and he came along, he helped me start anew. And very frankly he didn’t have to, I wasn’t his responsibility. But I will never forget those endless discussions, those endless ‘gyaan-sessions’, and the amount of patience and effort he put to help me find myself back. This new found Deepa is indeed his child, if I may say so. :-)

One evening we were having a conversation over a cup of coffee. And Mr. Mickey was in full form giving away words of wisdom to his little one. And I like a good kid was listening.

“Utilize your time well. What do you keep doing in office for so long? You have to balance your personal and professional life. If you keep sitting in the office and staring in your machine, where will you find someone else?” “You have to find someone, and find someone yourself. You know what’s best for you.” I was nodding my head. Not that I wasn’t connecting, but I was wondering who would I find in this dry desert called Bangalore? But he wasn’t wrong either. He went on, “Alright, if you don’t find anyone there then come back. Don’t tell me there aren’t jobs in this side of the world. Come back to your own place and look out, even Mom and Dad can look for something. I want you to put a time-line to this and work on it. We should find you in Pune or Mumbai in next 2 months.” Mickey had said it and sealed it. And from next day onwards I was working on my mission.

Two months later, we are again sitting and having coffee, this time at my place in Mumbai. :-) “Alright, one hurdle is over. Now we look for someone. And I want you to give a fair chance to anyone you come across.” I can’t help smiling at him, when he comes up with these lines like putting a spoon of medicine in my mouth.

“By the way Mickey, how is Saloni?” I asked him half smiling. Our Mr. Mickey is not less than a killer himself. :-) And not to mention, he does have some sizeable fan following. Saloni is someone who works in his office. Nice girl. And our lady had something for him, but Mickey being Mickey finds it too unprofessional to date a colleague from his own team.

“Why, what happened suddenly? Where did you remember Saloni from? She is fine.”

“Ok! No I just thought I’ll ask.” I was trying hard to suppress my smile. Anyways I left it that.

For next two months every weekend we would discuss all the prospective grooms my mom would hunt. By the way, he is a hit with my mom. She can’t thank him enough to tame me into going through this distasteful process of arranged marriage set-ups. Finally, I did find someone.

Life had taken a 360 degrees turn. Six months ago I was standing all alone infront of my palace of dreams all lost in a heap of earth. And he helped me build the whole structure again. May not be like my old one; maybe not as grand; but it was beautiful, cosy and most importantly, liveable.

He came to see me off at the airport when I was leaving to meet my guy. And I gave him a warm hug, coz sometimes you can find words completely inadequate, infact inappropriate. I could see he was genuinely happy for me. But there was more.

Saloni was waiting for him with me. :-) “Hi Mickey. I chucked that job. I am no more your colleague or your ‘team-member’. Do I have any chance now?”

I said to him, “C’mon Mickey, we both know each other’s pasts. And you only taught me, that we have to give a fair chance to anyone who comes in our lives now…” I left for the security check as my flight was announced. From the security gate I couldn’t see much of both of them, but I hope he did give her a ‘fair chance’.