Honey, I am going onsite-II

Project#6, Year 5:
“Hey Deepa and Vinay. Here, have some sweets” I entered the cubicle with utmost joy
“Wow. Pattabhi, it’s really happy to see your face glowing. When are you traveling mate?” Vinay asked me
“Traveling? Where am I going to travel? My engagement is fixed Buddies. That’s what the sweets are for” I said
“You’re getting engaged? We thought you’re going to travel” She asked me
“Me? Noways!! I don’t have a valid visa. I’ve never been on a plane before. I’ve tried my luck with lot of projects, but had to lose to some of the senior folks in the project and I’ve almost dropped off my desires. Let it come when it comes. I am happy being at offshore and my post marriage life is something I am craving for right now” I replied them firmly

Mind is the biggest cheater in the whole world. It gives its own excuse for things which went undone!!!

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Project#7, Year 5:
"Hey Archana, did you review the document which I had sent you yesterday? Do you have any feedback for our offshore team? No replies on the status mail which I had sent you either” I asked my Onsite counterpart
“Hey Pattabhi. Sorry yaar, I didn’t get enough time to go through the docs that you had sent me last night. I had lot of calls and meetings with the client. Uff, really had a tough day yesterday” She replied me with some sort of drowsy tone demanding sympathy
“Archana, sorry to tell you this, but few of the docs which our folks had sent you some 4-5 days back still awaits signoff. Can you please tell me a confirmed date when this can be done so that I can update our PM regarding this? He has been questioning me about the onsite and offshore sync-up. What should I tell him mate? You have been my good friend and a nice colleague since day 1 I joined this project. I don’t want to him that the documents are awaiting signoff from onsite. Please suggest me something buddy” I lost my temper and yelled at her almost
“Hmmm Pattabhi. I understand your situation, but all I could do at the moment is to find some time to spend with the docs that you guys had sent me inspite of the daily calls and meetings which I attend atleast 6 hrs minimum. Onsite is no Joke Pattabhi. You’ve got to step into one’s shoes to feel the pain” She said in an authoritative tone
“Alright. I will come up with some idea how to sort this out and update our PM so that no one gets hurt in the end. Hey, by the way I saw your pics in Orkut. It was really looking good. Nice pics” I told her sarcastically
“Hey thanks yaar. We took lot of pics last week when we went to Las Vegas. You know something, I’ve never been to a casino my entire life, but trust me man, it was awesome. I played Poker. I won a few dollars and lost some. Man, you’ve got to visit once. Am sure you will like it. It took me nearly 4 Hrs to sort out the pictures and upload in Orkut. Good that you reminded me, I will upload a few in Picasa and will send you the link soon Pattabhi” She giggled
“Yeah sure. That sounds really awesome. Send me the links. I am waiting to see those pics. Catch you later. Got loads of work to be completed. Bye” I ended the call

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Project#9, Year 6:
“And now Pattabhi, you are a PM. It’s nice to see you as a PM mate” My boss patted me on my shoulders happily
I thanked him.
“So how is Shubha and Rajeev” He asked me so caringly
“Yeah Shubha and Rajeev are fine. He is running and has picked up a couple of words to talk” I replied him

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A year later
It’s really nice to hear from your boss about the travel date. I got the good news from my Boss on a Monday morning. I decided not to call my wife to convey the happy news and instead I planned to head home early and share the wonderful moment with her. I felt pretty nervous as it was going to be the first time I would be travelling on a plane and I felt uncomfortable living away from my wife and kid. I reached the station and took the window seat. As the train started to move, I gazed at the moving sceneries and my memories traversed back to my engagement days

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Shubha was from a very orthodox family. Whereas, I was from an IT company dreaming to talk to my fiancé over mobile like everybody. It was bombed just because she dint have a mobile. On top of this, she wanted approval from her father for everything including the channel she was supposed to watch in TV. She passed out with flying colors and got admission for a reputed DOTE1 college which she had to drop for her grandmother's old school believes.
I met her for the first time after my engagement- On my wedding day. My father-in-law was extremely happy about the fact that I refused a single penny as dowry. Everyone applauded and praised me for being a broad minded citizen. But my father-in-law was in some other plans for me
I suggested my father-in-law about a honeymoon trip to Mauritius, which is where I was supposed to travel for my onsite assignment and later got cancelled
He replied me politely “Maapillae (Son-in-law), Mauritius was once a heaven to visit. It’s not the same anymore. My friend’s son was there and complained of very pathetic hotel service. It’s better to go to ooty. Atleast we would be there in case of any emergency”.
I asked him “Did you go to Mauritius on your honeymoon Maama (father-in-law)?”
He said “I was never given that option at all. We went to Srirangam to worship Ranganathar. That was the only trip with my wife my father-in-law had arranged and that too at my own expense. But don’t worry Maapillae, I will send you on my expense. You don’t have to spend any money. So be relaxed”
So my father-n-law booked us a 2nd sleeper to ooty as decided by him. I cursed him in front of Shubha throughout our journey.
Shubha tried to calm me down. Traveling on a second sleeper was not the reason for my anger, but missing a chance to travel on a flight even for my honeymoon hit me like a bullet

The train’s loud honk woke me up from the sleep and I headed towards the bike park