Restlessness Galore!

'Priya, you are late. '

'Coming da. Two more minutes. There will always be enough time. We would still be 3 hours in advance.'

'But we never know how the traffic will be.'

'Relax, don't get worked up. We'll be in time. I am going to board the flight. If there is anyone who needs to get tensed, it should be me'

'Amma, Priya and me will leave now. I will be back by 2, 2.30. I have the keys, so you need not stay awake for me.'

'Hey, Can you wait for few minutes. We are expecting Mr. Rajamani. I want you and Priya to meet him. Just chat up with him for 5 minutes, your dad will be back anytime now. Then you can leave.'

' Ma, this is not fair.'

'It will not take more than 5 minutes. There goes the bell. It must be him. Go get the door'.

I walk to the door, visibly irritated. I was sure I was going to meet a gentleman who would be in his late 50s or early 60s. Someone who had retired recently and had moved back to Madras. He would have retired from a pretty decent position in the industry, would speak more of english than Tamil. He would ask me where I was working, do some polite conversation about the
future of the industry I was working in and then the future of India. The conversation would then invariably veer towards the horrible infrastructure and how the government is doing nothing. I surprised myself when I realised, how my mind ran through these thoughts in quick succession. Was I getting conditioned by the many polite conversations I was making at work?

Shutting my mind, I opened the door.

In front of me stood a gentleman, in early 60s. I welcomed him and was about to introduce myself when he said, ' I know who you are'. I looked at him and blinked.

As he sat, my mom walked in. She looked at me and said ' Mr. Rajamani retired as the CEO of a UK based firm. He was one the first to setup an IT company in UK in 80's and outsource work to India, long before even the word outsourcing was coined'. I could see my stereotype becoming reality in front of my eyes. Mr. Rajamani had already passed two of the items in the test. He was in early 60's and had retired from a good position in the industry.

'He also used to head the centre for promotion of Indian knowledge in London. He is a Ph.D in Samskrit and can read horoscopes'. Ahh! That must be the connection. Someone's horoscope must be waiting to be read. Some alliance to be matched. I however was now genuinely interested in a conversation with this gentleman as I had been trying to study Samskrit for years now, but had never got around to doing it.

'I will go and make some tea and be back soon.' She looked at Mr. Rajamani and he said, 'No Sugar for me please'. 'So Mr. Rajamani, I am extremely interested in learning Samskrit, as a proper course. Would you be able to help me out?'.

'You are a very lucky person'.

'Sorry?'

'You are a lucky person'.

I gave him a blank stare. It was only the stare that was blank. My mind was racing through plethora of emotions and thoughts. Did he know about my blog? Has he read my horoscope? Can he read my mind? Should I be thinking all these thoughts now? May be he can read my thoughts and know exactly what I am thinking. I should stop thinking.

'Its in your eyes. I can see the sparkle in your eyes. You are a bright person with a good heart.' So he was not talking about my blog. Or anything else. He was just commenting on my eyes. On my eyes? Huh? What does he mean by sparkle. It must be something good. And why am I thinking so much? Why is my mind restless today? What am I supposed to say now?

' It is said in the Gita', he started.

Chanchalam hi Mahabaho, Mano durnigraham Chalam Abhyasen tu Kounteya, Vairagyen cha Grihyate'

(O Arjuna, the mind is fickle and it is very difficult to control it.
Practice and dispassion are the keys to control your mind')

'It means..' He started.

'I know what it means. Why are you telling me all this now?'

'I just sensed that you are someone who is willing to listen, and won't think of me as a old man who would start a lecture at the drop of a hat.'

I eased up. For the first time, I broke into a genuine smile. My mom walked in with the tea and some biscuits.

'You are not joining me for tea?' he asked. Priya walked in simultaneously.

'This is my wife, Priya. Actually we are on the way out. She is going to US to meet her parents who are settled there. I am leaving to the airport to drop her now. Hence I won't be able to join you for tea. But we should meet soon. I would look forward to that.'

' Sure, I would look forward to that too.' He got up, walked towards me and whispered in my ears, ' Not too many people have sparkle in their eyes. You are lucky. Ensure that it stays there. Through both good and not-so-good times'.

I smiled at him and managed to mutter few words of gratitude on the complement. Both Priya and me bent, touched his feet, bade farewell and briskly walked towards the car.

I was silent as I drove to the airport. Priya gave me a poke and said, ' You sad because I am leaving you and going? Sorry.'

'Hmm.. well.. yeah... Do you realise that this is going to be the longest period that we are going to be away from each other after our wedding.

'Yeah I know, time is not going to move fast. It is going to be not-so-good-time for a while.'

We were slightly late and we scrambled towards the gate with me behind the trolley wheels now. At the gate, she turned around gave me a tight hug. Our eyes were moist.

'Priya, do you rememeber that Mr. Rajamani whispered something into my ears just before we left? He told me that there is a certain sparkle in my eyes and that I should ensure that the sparkle stays through the good and not-so-good times. so when you mentioned that the next month would be not-so-good time, I was thinking of what he told me. I'll miss you.'

'Me too. Its late da. I have to go now. Sorry.' She turned and walked away. She paused before she entered the airport, turned around and waved and was gone'.

I drove back silently. Got into my bed. The exhaustion of the day caught up with me before my thoughts could and I was asleep soon.

----

I was early to office the next day. Two meetings and one conference call later, I returned to my seat. There was a courier for me.

I tore open the envelope. The title on the first page of the document read DIVORCE NOTICE.