Chapter 1- The Introduction
It was 17th of April 2017, just another pleasant Bangalore morning. Usually mid of April is the hottest time of the year in this part of the world. But this was not the case just fifteen years from now. Back then Bangalore used to have a charm of its very own. There was a reason why it had a nick name of being the “Garden City” of India. Lush green fields and parks were a just a customary sight for the very fortunate Bangaloreans.
Bangalore used to wake up to the sweet chirping sounds, made by Sparrows, Parrots, Pigeons and Kingfishers to name a few. To sit on the balcony and sip away a cup of tea was one of the most satisfying activity of the day. Just the scenic view of the surroundings was good enough to uplift one’s mood, no matter what the circumstances one must be in.
One can easily get the glimpse of a plethora of trees on both sides of the road. And all these trees were home to a vide variety of birds and animals. Such was the charm of Bangalore of the past.
As the alarm goes off, Andrew almost falls off his bed as his sweet dream about the charm of old Bangalore shatters abruptly. Andrew is 25 years old today and has all these sweet memories of his childhood, when they used to play in the fields and chase the flying kites. As Andrew gets up from his bed and with his drowsy eyes peeps out of the window, from his tiny smondo,and all he can find today is a jungle made up of steel and concrete. Such a depressing view, Andrew mutters to himself and goes into the bathroom to take bath.
From inside the bathroom Andrew screams, “mother! why is there no water in the tap? I am getting late to office!!”. Andrews mother Jane comes running from the kitchen, where she was hurriedly trying to prepare breakfast for Andrew. Jane replies in a stressed voice, “water tank will come late today, you have to manage with how much ever water is left in the bucket”.
Andrew foul-mouths in a low voice and tries to manage with the available resources. This day has began on such a wrong note, I hope it gets better from here, Andrew thinks while he tries to put on his lucky white shirt. This was the very shirt which got him through the job interview, the job which he does not value any more; but two years ago when he was desperately looking out for work after finishing college, getting this job used to be his dearest dream.
Nothing can go wrong as I am wearing my lucky shirt, says Andrew to himself. Today there is a client meeting and I have a presentation before them. If everything falls in place then I can be the next Team Lead with a 40% bump in the salary. I will even be in a position to negotiate with my manager to arrange for a business trip for me to the client location which is Denver, Colorado. I have achieved all my goals and objectives this last year and I deserve a promotion. With a toast in this hand, on the dinning table, and these thoughts on his mind, Andrew glances through the news paper to pick the highlights of the day. One news that catches his eyes, read; “Bangalore brace for the impact of drought this year”.
Andrew shouts out loud; “Oh my god, why is government not taking any measures to tackle this situation, while they can. Why do they have to always sit on it till the end and then surrender to it by saying, its too late and we couldn't have done anything to salvage the situation.”.
Mean while Jane comes out of the kitchen and says, “Andrew baby I need ten thousand rupees (circa $150). I need to give an advance to Maggie our maid. Her son ‘Peter’ needs to fill his form for Engineering Entrance Exam and today is the last day. The total cost of the form is around fifteen thousand (circa $230) and the forms are available only at the ‘State Bank of India- Majestic branch’, which is next to your office only. Peter has to be there before 12 PM today, else he will loose this opportunity. He will have to wait for another year to get a chance like this. I know the kid very well, he is a very bright student and deserves a shot. See Andrew, Maggie has been working for us for 9 years now and I feel its my moral responsibility to support her in these tough times.”
Alright mother, yells Andrew, I am not interested in this melodramatic story. You want ten grands, here are your ten grands. Give it to your maid or throw it out of the stupid window, I don't care!!
Here I am running from pillar to post to earn, just enough to be able to pay my house mortgage and utilities bills and my mother wants to become “Mother Teressa”, whispers Andrew to himself.
With an agitated and irritated mind Andrew picks his bike keys, his helmet and runs downstairs to the basement, where his bike is parked. As he rides his bike and sees this wrist watch, he gets incinerated from within to learn that he is already late. The time is 9.30 AM and now he has to be in office by 10.30 AM, no matter what, because thats the time when the clients are going to be in the office and Andrew has a presentation to make. Under usual Monday traffic conditions, it takes Andrew about 45 mins to get to office. But this was a Monday following the long weekend of ‘Good Friday’, the traffic could be a little heavier than usual. Mostly all those people who would have headed out of the city for a long weekend getaway, would all come back into the city. After taking into account all these factors, Andrew came to a conclusion that it is going to be neck to neck. “Today it will take me at least one hour for me to reach”- thinks Andrew, as he rides his bike on the busy roads of Bangalore.
He would have travelled about 5 KMs from his house before he sees, to his horror, a ocean of vehicles in front of him. There were only vehicles which Andrew could see, up to the farthest extent of his vision and may be beyond.
“Goddess gracias me!! ”- cries Andrew. “This is not happening to me. No it just cant. Why are you playing with my feeling- All mighty. I have to get to office by 10.30AM, if I don't get there on time, I will loose the opportunity of getting a promotion. Worse yet, my company might end up loosing a multi million dollars project.”
Just as Andrew starts to feel sympathetic towards his current situation, memory of Peter strikes to his head. “Peter is also in a similar situation and my mother was trying to help him out, and how did behave? I am feeling terrible right now for my behavior.”
With all these thoughts in his head Andrew takes his phone out to check how bad the traffic is on ‘Google Maps’. To his utter shock, the estimated time, shown of ‘Google Maps’, to office was 3 hours and 35 mins. There was a bumper to bumper traffic jam for 7 KMs.
Andrew says to himself- “This is my punishment for my disgusting behavior, since morning.”
Moral- One mustn't take everything for granted. There is always someone who is in worse condition that your's. Always be considerate for others and try to help as many people as possible.
--------------------End of Chapter 1------------------------
Please read Chapter 2 here:
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