before it rains......

After a long wait the rain gods have at last showered their mercy on us… giving relief from a pretty long and extremely hot summer. During the summer, in the burning sun whenever I saw the trees still standing green I wondered how they are able to survive without water. Then the answer was here, when at last the rains came I realized that it was 'THE HOPE', a belief that it will rain even this year which helps these trees survive!!! And the rains too will never break that trust. Or else why should it come during this season every year? It is a bilateral relationship!!!

Even in my life I had to face the similar kind of situations as many of us. It is very difficult to have a home you can call  your own in a city like Mumbai. During my school days and  early college days we always had the company quarters, and  hence we, as a family  never  had any problem regarding residence, even though we had to shift to many places, and change many schools, residence was never an issue. The last place where we stayed in a company quarter was at the MIHAR APTS.  Kandivali (w) and this  was the best of all other places  we’ve ever stayed in… it was a 2 BHK posh luxury apartment, fully furnished and this is the place where I enjoyed rains the most…

Our flat was on the 7th floor and the window sliding was almost of 7ft in height. The flat as I told you was fully furnished and it was awesome... Whenever it rained the rain water used to flow through the huge glass window and it was an amazing view. I used to stand and watch rains for hours and admire its beauty and I felt as if the whole universe is having a huge party, with its rhythmic music and joy… it was truly amazing and I still cherish the memory of those days…

Then everything was over. My dad had to resign due to some reason and we had to leave that house. We shifted to a very shabby place. A chawl which was at its worst and quelling neighborhood… our financial conditions worsened and I had to search for a job at least to meet my personal expenses. The room rent was quite high even though the quality of the house was not that good. The rent agreement was of 11 months and we had to search for a new house every year. It was all chaotic to find an estate agent and pay him, pay the advance (around 50K!) And book the house by giving token money before someone else books the same house!!! That was the time when we realized the significance of having our own house in a city like this.

My dad was jobless for a while and I started working at Indus Markfin, at Washington Plaza, Goregaon (w), For Rs.3000/month. I was a tele-caller and I hated this job. We used to sell ICICI LOMBARD products and field workers used to go and get our orders signed. My TL was a very sweet girl named Viji and she knew that I hated this job. So, she used to allow me to go and collect orders that I got so that I can directly go home after that!!!

One day I got an order form a customer who stayed at MIHAR APTS and, I was really happy and eager to go to this place and collect the order. I told my TL that this is the same place where I used to stay. She allowed me to go and collect the order. I came home and changed my dress and took my cycle and headed towards my old Apts.

“oye oye… kidhar ghuse ja rahe ho????” asked me stopping my cycle with his lathi.

“arre yaar main idhar hi rehta tha” I answered with a smile…

He looked at me and from head to toe and started laughing, turning to his colleague he said

“yeh dekho… yeh saab yahaan ke rehne wale they…”

“woh sab chodo... kidhar jana hai tumko?” he again asked me.

“mujhe order collect karna hai C3 se” I again answered.

“chal entry karke ja” he ordered.

I felt bad. I was hurt. I don’t know why…. May be I was too young to understand what was happening. And while entering the complex I heard him say

“saala... hai to courier wala… humko chuna lagane ko dekhta hai”

I was in tears… moreover I was treated in the same manner even by the client.

This experience is something which made me realize that nothing is permanent. We as family had to go through extremely bad and pathetic conditions even after that… the one thing that kept us together and helped us to survive all this was HOPE… a hope that it will rain someday and everything will be alright….