Every night I go to sleep thinking that I would dream of something really out-of-the-box and next day I would write an excellent piece of article for my office magazine. But as soon as I wake up, I forget all my dreams and eventually end up writing java code throughout the day. There was no exception today. My dreams vanished the moment I woke up. But what I could not foresee was that it was not going to be a day with mere java coding.
The previous night's party was really a blast. I got shot thrice by tequila and four bloody merry dropped in from nowhere. Last thing I remember was that I was teaching Fourier series to a lovely lady sitting beside me with a glass of wine. But the stink of the damp pillow tells me I am on my bed now. Bose must have brought me home last night. I found him sleeping on the other side in his usual crashed-my-face-on-the-pillow style. Suddenly Ojha's morning sloka turned my attention to him. Incredible guy! Wakes up at 5 o'clock, takes bath and starts his morning puja. I had forgotten when I last saw a sunrise.
The headache was killing me. I asked Ojha if he could make me a cup of tea. "Forget It," replied Ojha, "I have got to go to Yoga class now and, if I start preparing tea, I will be late by 2 minutes." Realizing that I wouldn't get a cup of tea, I forced myself to get up and prepared the tea on my own. Suddenly I realized that I am supposed to attend a meeting at 10 o'clock. I looked at my watch and it was already 9.45 am.I rushed to the shower but slipped off from the edge of Alaska; well, that's the name of our bathroom. I had a near death experience and got a lump on my head. After chilling out for two minutes in Alaska, I finally got ready. I grabbed a cold piece of bread and rushed downstairs. The neighborhood aunty immediately asked her daughter to go inside the room who usually stands at the balcony during that time. Every morning this lady makes me realize that I radiate some kind of evil energy. And then my arrogant and non-cooperative bike refused to start. Everyday I decide I would take it to the garage, but by the end of the day I forget it habitually. The more I kicked my bike, the more the neighboring lady looked at me in despair. My bike started the moment her daughter stepped out on the balcony. I feel that my bike is giving me a bad reputation.
I reached panjagutta and got stuck in a traffic jam. That's the usual scenario every morning during this time. After five minutes, I managed to cross one open manhole. Suddenly two self-proclaimed smart guys zoomed off on a Dukati ignoring the red signal. I asked the traffic police, who was busy chewing pan (bettle leaf) and unmindfully moving his left hand in the air, "What the hell is happening? Why don't you catch these people?" He replied with a big smile on his face "Bhul jao, Sir..Hyderabada mein aisaich hota" (Forget It, Sir...This is how Hyderabad goes).
After reaching office, I realized that I had forgotten my access card. Holy Cow!!! I followed one guy like his shadow and managed to get inside the main gate. In the next access check, his shadow passed through but I got stuck. So I had to wait till another person came to my rescue. Finally, when I reached the meeting room, it was already 10.35 am and I could see my boss in a real animated mood. "Welcome Mr. Das, we were just waiting for you to wrap up this meeting," said my boss with a sarcastic smile. I could see loads of anger and frustration seething behind that smile. I was waiting for the bubble to burst. I was not even ready with an excuse. So I began to create one as I looked at the presentation and said, "Sir, actually it was a huge ... mmm ...." "To hell with your excuses! You are a good for nothing! Forget IT! Go join some government organization. You can give your excuses there," the boss retorted. I realized the bubble had bursted out, and I consumed all the humiliation in front of my colleagues.
I was so down with the incident that I decided to surf the Internet casually and ended up browsing through
jeevansathi.com to look for a prospective soul mate. That helped me forget it and made me feel a little better. Then we were asked to join the birthday celebration of one of our colleagues near the pantry. So we all rushed there to grab our own piece of pastry. After that I exchanged a couple of emails with my PL about the work to be done that week. Then Sharma dropped in with the exciting news that a new restaurant had opened near Yashoda Hospital. We decided to check out that place and went out for lunch. It was a clean and cozy place with groups of girls adding to the beauty of the restaurant. Busy waiters in blue and white dress were running around with really good smelling food. We got a good place from where we could view all the girls sitting around. Sharma was already in business, trying to make an eye contact with one of those pretty girls. I told him, "Forget it ... Yahape dal nehi galne wala hai" (It won't work here). I was very hungry and so we decided to place the orders first. I ordered one chilly chicken and roti and Sharma ordered Kadhai chicken and roti. Then again Sharma was back to business and I got back to monitor his progress. After half an hour, we realized that everyone had got the food except us. When we asked the waiter, he replied ''Abhi ata saab" (It will be served in a minute). After 10 minutes, we repeated our question and he repeated his answer. Fed up with the delay, we called up the manager and he promised to get the food within 2 minutes. Finally we got the food in 5 minutes. Holy cow!!! Where was my chilly chicken!!! I asked the waiter about my dish and he replied smilingly, ignoring my looks and anger, "Sir, I forgot it ... in fact, I forgot to place the order". I could feel the acid boiling in my stomach, and I was in no mood to argue on that. So we decided to share the Kadhai chicken. When we finally came out of the restaurant, it was already 2.30 pm. I had to buy some medicine, so I asked Sharma to go to office as I might be a little late.
I parked my bike in front of Yashoda Hospital and went to the medical shop. I came back in five minutes only to discover that my bike was missing. I got the shock of my life. Even if the bike was arrogant and non-cooperative like girlfriends, it was my first love. I just could not think of losing it. When I asked a couple of guys standing there, they informed me, "Saab, policewala uthake le gaya. Ye No Parking zone hai" (The policeman has taken it away. It's No Parking zone). A chill went down my spine, but I felt a bit relieved that it was not stolen. I could see the traffic vehicle carrying my bike at a distance. I rushed to that spot and managed to locate the inspector. "Kya chahiye?" asked the inspector in a really disgusted mood. "Sir, it's my bike," I mumbled and pointed to my bike. "Forget it. Now it's ours," replied the inspector. I was almost crying," Sir, I had no idea it was No Parking zone." "You want me to give you ideas about No Parking zone," replied the Inspector, "Anyway, show me your driving license and registration card."
Something flashed in my mind, and I remembered losing my purse two months back, which had both my driving license and registration card. I had completely forgotten it. When I told him the story, it did not seem very appealing to him nor did he sympathize with me. Then he told me the list of cases he was planning to file against me. Suddenly I remembered one of my friends getting into such a situation and how he came out of it with just a ten-rupee note. I decided to try out that. I gave him 20 bucks and told him, "Sir, please have some refreshment and let me go this time." He seemed to be very irritated with my gesture and retorted, "What do you think the police do? People like you have corrupted this system. I'll put you behind the bar for bribing a police officer." Before I could understand anything, he grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and dragged me into the van. I was shocked and speechless. The constable felt sympathetic towards me and told the inspector, "Jane do sir, bachha hai" (Let him go. He's ignorant). "Forget It. I'll make sure people like him are behind the bars", replied the inspector. In next half an hour I was in police station, sitting anxiously on the bench, waiting for the senior inspector to arrive and decide my fate. I called up at my office number and informed that I wouldn't be able to come to the office due to some unavoidable circumstances. I was getting really impatient and asked the constable where the senior inspector was. The constable told me he had gone out for some encounter with gangsters. Realizing that my stay there could be a longer one, I decided to spend a quality time with the hooligans and thieves surrounding me. I managed to make friends with a couple of them. I got some really interesting and new information from them about the city. The senior inspector reached the police station at around 11 pm. He seemed to be quite a guy - tall, dark, and really big. His Veerappan-like mustache made him even more fearsome. But after talking to him, I realized that he was very warm. He realized my situation and told me I could go but I should get my driving license done as soon as possible and I should never bribe any policemen. He also told me that I could collect my bike the next morning. I thanked him and left for home.
I was walking like a zombie and when I finally reached home it was midnight. I did not have the energy to change, and I crashed on the bed. The damp smell of my pillow made me realize that I was at home. I felt a little better. I briefed Bose and Ojha, during their dinner, about my achievements today and that was quite an entertainment for those guys. Bose said, "Yaar...Forget ... Eat ...That will help you." But I was dead tired and my body refused to sleep because the day long humiliation and frustration were hard to be digested by my body and soul. I lay awake on my bed thinking virtually nothing. I finally realized it was too hard a day. I should better 'Forget It.'
The day began and ended with the two words 'forget it'---from the morning tea to my thoughts in my bed. The day was, undoubtedly, one of the several days of my life that I'll forget over a period of time. But the striking thing that I learnt from the entire day's events was that how, by overlooking things and saying 'Forget It', we push ourselves forward in life, disengaging ourselves from what is gone and getting ready for what is to come.
