It is just another day at office

After my every day breakfast of corn flakes and cold milk from the fridge, I tied the lace of my old leather shoes, which I have recently repaired from a mochi.  I searched for my cycle keys. Oh! It is not there anymore. You miss the things when it goes away from you, it may be people and can be things also. I greeted the little girl in the lift that also goes to school every day at the same time I go. Do not know why she gets afraid of me. On the way I see people waiting for the bus and auto rickshaw to go to their office, I feel proud to myself. Atleast I am very lucky to come to office in 5 min of walking. At the morning 7.30 to 9.30 Mumbai feels like, it is running away from home just to return in the evening again. The autowalas will be rambling on the road as if they own that road hanging some poor office goers on the way to their stations. I drink a glass of ‘Amla’ juice every day from a UP old man, who speaks only Bhojpuri. That keeps my stomach cool.

I entered the gate no 3. The canteen vehicle is serving the snacks to the security men. Fork lift carrying the garbage bin. The yesterday’s red tractors waiting for their serial to be dispatched. I always feel the red tractor as a lively thing. Two eyes, 4 legs, striped nose... It is like a tireless horse always ready for work. So the red tractors in queue to go the field to achieve what they are meant for.

Tractors, the integral part of my life

The PDI testing driver is riding the tractor like a La Ferrari, braking and skidding. The machines inside the plant roaring. I moved on. The morning warmth of the rising sun goes away in the shed of the big office building. I punched in with my id card and marked my presence for the day.

5^th floor

I opened the security door with my id card and entered. The old office boy is still cleaning our cubicles. I would greet him every day saying ‘Hi Mamaji, Kaise ho’ He would reply ‘Han Han’. Another office boy is keeping the ‘Economic times’ in the cabins of the bosses. Another one is keeping the flowers on their tables. I guess the fragrance of the expensive and exotic flowers must be giving them some strategic direction for their work. I set up my laptop and table. Opened the diary and wrote the plan for the day, which I am never going to do. I switched on the windows and checked my outlook for the mails for the morning. And seeing nothing important I went for the coffee. Enjoying the sip of the tea in front of the big mirror found that my shirt is not pressed. Whatever... Nobody watches me here. I damn care for the dressing! I went back to my cubicle just to busy for nothing.

It is been 2 long months, I have been sitting in the office. It is a long two months because I never sat in the office continuously for such a long period of time. Doing the excel sheet and the power point presentation jams my mind now. May be the company has given me a bad habit of travelling like a Bohemian traveller. Never sit at one place. Something sounded like a storm coming. Yes! It is the blower of the office air conditioner which I hate the most. It fills a continuous noise to ear that you only realise the noise when it stops. Also I hate the cooling breeze, it shivers my body and gives me goose bump every time. Your skin just feels like burning when you come out of it to the sun. I always wanted the climate as it is. Open office among the trees, open fresh air, birds chirping... It would be a dream office for me somewhere in Himalayas.  

Small boy digging potatoes in 

I started thinking my good old days before two months.  A nostalgic smile comes to my face automatically when I remember my past journeys. Sitting on a gigantic vibratory machine called combine harvester to harvest the wheat in Punjab, doing the off road biking in the mid of the night inside the Kosi river just to see  how the sand mining is happening, eating spicy Andhra chicken sitting on the rice field, watching a man fishing his own pond near Godavari, Andhrapradesh, writing my travel journal in a lonely bus stand while waiting for my last bus in the night Polachi, Tamilnadu, eating some fresh boiled potatoes directly dug out from the farm and watching the Indian air force jet practicing near Adampur Airforce station, cycling and falling down from the bike on a bumpy road ... It was just shear good life.

The world is so big. And I always have different stories to tell to the people. Many places I go, many people I meet, and different food I eat... that makes my life worthwhile.  I am my best companion when I travel alone. It keeps me the same man who I was before still teaches me to be self reliant, independent and ability to take things as they come. It makes you confident. When I meet people from different part of the country, they make me humble with their amazing stories. I have a great opportunity to meet the farmers of the different part of India. I laugh with new people, share a cup of tea with them make friendship, when they remember once up on time in my life it gives a Joy of past experience and the whole thing flash in to your mind once again at that very moment. It is a real nice feeling.

Just take some time out of your work and take a wild deep at a water tank in a farm of Punjab. The heat of summer just cools down by the earth’s water. It reminds me of my childhood when I was playing water games in the village river for unlimited no of hours and my father would come searching for me to check if I am still playing or drowned, then he will take me to home with him.

  

The greatest benefit of travelling alone was that I found out my strength and weaknesses. I come to know what I am capable of and what I am not capable of. I come to know about my limits. Once I wished to go for a cycling trip to Mahabaleswar, a place 300 km away from Mumbai. But I got tired in just about 125 km away before Lonavala.  And I came back from there loading my cycle in a truck after spending the night at a cheap hotel. I realised that day, enjoying does not always mean adventure. You enjoy more when you are safe and healthy.

Travelling makes me spiritual. My belief in god strengthens when I travel more and more. Seeing people’s devotion towards the god in the spiritual places, my life’s faith towards god increases. It opens my mind.

“Khul sa gaya hai ye man, bhul sa gaya har bandhan, Jiban ab lagta hai paaban mujhko”

So finally it brings a big smile in my face when I look back to past life I have spent. Many places to go, thousand people to meet. Hopefully god will grace me with his blessings to move on in the life way ahead.

 Chandan