Honey, I am going onsite-V

My Apartment
The next day I woke up early on a cold morning. There was no Shubha to wake me with a filter coffee; No Rajeev to give me a warm hug; No Suprabatham; No smell of the Incent stick. Our flat looked cozy, but everything else seemed so empty and vague with no room for affection or lively relationship. I gazed at the snow covered roads, buildings and the vehicles parked outside through the window. Every country has its own beauty which can be thoroughly enjoyed only if it is your own. Everything else is completely alien. A black colored car appeared out of nowhere and stopped right in front of our apartment. Sanjay got down from the car with the same girl he befriended on day 1. I was perplexed on her minimal clothing and how she was able to beat the cold weather. They got intimate in the public which was yet again a shock to me. He handled her with so much ease and perfection as if he was born French. He had been the same flirt at offshore. I had to conclude my days with him at work place would end up being terrific

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A few months later
I started missing my family day by day. Though days passed by so fast, I was longing to meet them. I applied for a month’s leave to meet my family but was rejected from the higher management as the project was running so critical and Sanjay was sent back to offshore for his extraordinary performance in various fields others than work. I got a baby girl who was 3 months old and Shubha told me that she looked so beautiful. Shubha mailed me her picture and her recorded voice too. Mythili was even more beautiful than her mom. She giggled and uttered some meaningless words which brought real meaning for all my struggle in this super power nation. Onsite was no more a dream for me. It had already turned out to be the worst nightmares of all. My wife, son and my daughter were the only good times I had in my life through emails and webcam. On weekends I avoided going out with my colleagues and stayed in my apartment talking with my family.

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Anna Terminus, Meenambakkam, A year later
The smell of the first air after such a long gap was really amazing. It was polluted as usual. It smelled pretty bad than before. But I still loved it. After all, it was the air that I’d been breathing over years and years to come by. Shubha felt so happy when she saw my face at the arrival gate. She was all in her tears and immediately did a sprint and rushed to me, holding Mythili on to her waist and Rajeev in the other hand. She took my hand and pressed it so hard and continued the tears to fall from her eyes. Rajeev raised both his hands and said “Daddy… Daddy….Lift me” I lifted him and kissed him all over his face. The moment which I had been longing for was finally in front of me asking for more. Mythili was puzzled and frightened and was holding Shubha tightly when she saw a strange new face. I stretched out both my hands to her to take her from Shubha, but to my surprise her holding became even more tighter and started crying. Shubha was telling her “Hey Mythili…Look at me…See your father has come. Give him a kiss. Come on, Chamathu la di (Good Girl)” . But Mythili was unmoved. She turned around and buried her face on Shubha’s shoulders. My father came to help me get along with my daughter; my mom did some tricks; My Father-in-law, Mother-in-law, almost everyone tried their part, but Mythili was never moved. We stood there for a while and my father-in-law spoke for the first time after 2 long years “Maapillae… Let’s go home. She will get used to you pretty soon. Don’t worry. Everything will be fine. Trust me” I stood there with a heavy heart and flooded eyes.

Onsite isn’t everything. You get a posh life with a fatty cheque; But the emptiness that it leaves behind, nothing can fill it up

“It is absolutely my fault to stay away from the family for such a long time. My very own daughter couldn’t recognize her father. I had lost my precious moments with my family. Money can’t get me back those stolen moments from me. Is onsite a real boon or a Royal Curse? Should be a curse!!! Definitely not a boon for me” I thought

I composed myself and Shubha gave me a pat on my shoulders that everything will come back to normal in a few days or worst case in a few weeks’ time. We collected all my belongings and started walking out of the station. Suddenly something caught my attention outside the exit gate. A big red colored vinyl hoarding of Smirnoff Vodka ad with a picture of the Green Apple Vodka bottle was kept and the captions written on it seemed to make a lot of sense to me

LIFE IS CALLING. WHERE ARE YOU?

I smiled deep inside and walked towards the car park along with my family

*********THE END*********