It was an interesting night, the wine, the company & a long winding road of memories. I met someone who works for an advertising agency and from there on, doors were opened to the flash back fort. Reminiscing the days of being ‘young blood’ I realized, the enthusiasm for life was general, but the time spent ‘learning the ropes’ in any advertising agency in India was unexplainably more grueling then the young Shoe- Fi- Mafee’s here, who drive their Porches’ to work, order from Saj Express and clock out at 6 pm sharp!
But I’m grateful for the shallow company that night, it made me want to immortalize every memory I built working as a management trainee, thinking, today will be the last….
Warning: any resemblance to a person living is purely co-incidental. If you started off in an advertising agency and (after many many many years) still continue to work in one then, you probably should be dead by now!
Like every other 6:30 in the morning today felt no different. Life outside whizzed into the dawn, while I struggled to balance on a feet and a half. My body still ached from the taxi drive home three nights before. Shower and a marathon to the railway station (I could easily prepare for a tempo run, as the mile record gets better each day).
My breath was still catching up with me as I glimpsed at the distorting faces onboard the train, which was fast disappearing into void. Today, yet again the railway punctuality caught me by surprise! Time seemed motionless. Finally, after waiting for eternity the next train arrived a whole 4 more minutes later.
As I braved 40 other women through a 4 feet narrow cabin entrance on a 3 sec stopover, a familiar *rriiippp* momentarily fazed me. A safety pin now secured into my kurta, I found myself slowly, slipping into comfortable slumber, sometimes with only enough room to balance on one leg, a stranger’s umbrella prodding into my stomach, the strong smell of coconut oil from gypsy wayward strands and the familiar stench of fresh fish on its way to the morning market. The chaotic whispers, the group Bhajans, the antakhsri’s, the chuk chuk of the train, in concert they all lullaby me.
As the train pulls into the station, a bright new day & fresh new challenges await, starting with trying to conjure up profound reasons for being a half hour late. As the outlook page unfolds, I excitedly stare into the 14 inch like a mother, anticipating her first born to walk. Just then I’m distracted by sounds of pointed footsteps. Hoping, like the train this morning, it too will whiz pass.
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