I discovered this in the drafts folder, half-written. It belongs to a wintry day in December.
I shouldn't be writing it down, because writing about anything gives it prominence, and if I give it prominence, I'll see more of it thanks to law of attraction (which works). But how else am I supposed to take it lightly? If I don't write it down on my blog, I'll keep thinking about it and stress over it and waste some more of my extremely limited, very precious time. Coming to the point, my day today was such that I can safely (and sadly) call it a day with the worst luck possible. (All right! I'm exaggerating, but sometimes you have little patience and then it gets tested in the most severe way!)
 |
| On some unlucky days... |
In my current workplace (which has the worst rules, being a six-day work week in the first place), we are allowed to come late to work on three days a month ONLY, after which you start having your late days counted as leaves, and once you exhaust the limit of leaves (which is a paltry two days a month), you start having your pay cut for the day. (The one who made such rules will die.) I didn't think much of it before because I always reached well before the late time for the first two months. And then, as a commenter on one of my previous posts helpfully observed, came winters, when it became a bit too hard to get out of the warm bed in the chilly weather and be in office on time. Now, the 'late' mark is applicable even if you are a mere few seconds later than the deadline (which is so sadistic anyway!). In December, I reached late thrice just in the first week. It's not just the matter of getting up, but the entire thing of having to don so many clothes, dealing with your lethargic reflexes, rushing to the station and running on the platform to reach the 'right' train on time. It's maddening! And then there's the whole mad crowd of people in the metro, which is an entire issue altogether. To cut a long story short, I had to, in fact have to, be on time this entire month or else just work for the company for free (which they don't deserve, because they're already eating my head off for a bargain that suits only them).
I haven't even begun on the day. Ugh! I woke up fairly on time, did everything on time, but somehow, because it is just so cold, I got 5 minutes late and set off at an alarming 8.20 (my absolute latest before this was 8.16). Scoot catches a cold in winters and needs half a minute's warming up before it can start, so I put it in position while it warmed up, and then set off speedily. Having crossed two blocks, I realized I hadn't picked up my phone. Cursing everything I saw, I turned around and zoomed back, got the phone and started again, having actually lost hope for being on time today. Still, I'm a hard nut to crack, so I held on to shreds of hope, and found a place for Scoot under the tree where the roosting birds who use Scoot for their droppings, live.
The metro was packed, but after half an hour, I found a seat (yay!). It was still five minutes till deadline, so I walked and half-walked-half-ran with as much speed possible (because you haven't seen the crowd at that station, either in number or in type). The usual auto-ricksha driver waved to catch my attention (and such are his marketing skills that I'm now accustomed to look for him) and I gratefully sat in the auto. There was an armada of autos and buses on the road, but thankfully the driver seemed to be in as much a hurry as I was, or perhaps my sense of urgency was so tangible that he sensed it, so we got a clear road pretty much within a few seconds. There was some delay because the roads were bumpy, and I ended up punching in my finger 45 seconds after the deadline. There! Perhaps my labour of the day wouldn't even fetch me my dues (and I worked so hard today. Sucks).
The day finally ended. I take a lift from one of my
co-workers, who came ten minutes late. When we finally moved, there was such a
traffic jam as we never saw before. It was HUGE. That was when I actually
imagined and saw the level of insanity in traffic and population explosion. The
actual explosion for me came when my lift-giver said that since traffic wasn't
moving an inch, she'd have to take an alternative route, and she actually
convinced me that I could get to the station faster if I walked. I got down
amidst traffic and started walking on the so-called pedestrian path (which was
so high that you’d have to scramble on top of it instead of just step on it,
like it should be!). As I stumbled along, because the path was not only high
and broken but also uneven, cars, two-and-three wheelers, trucks (and cows) started
moving because the traffic jam kind of broke. Talk about timing!
I’d ideally have wanted to take the opposite road, which was
where my preferred metro station entrance was, but with such mad traffic (and
mad people) it’d only have been inviting death, and I don’t fancy a death at
their hands. As a result, glaring lights from thousands of vehicles met my
eyes, making me stumble even more, especially as it had got dark by then and I
had just realized, for the first time, that there was a large space on my
right, dense with trees and bushes and whatever else. My breath came in sharp gasps and my heavy bag felt even heavier on my back. It was all I could do to
hurry and not get kidnapped (because of course, these are common, everyday
things in our fantastic country). I’m not even mentioning the horrid smells
that met me each time I breathed just enough to avoid passing out.
After what seemed like years, but were perhaps ten or
fifteen minutes in reality, I reached the station and ran upstairs, not looking
at anybody and promising to leave this job asap! (Still hasn’t happened. Anyone
reading this knows of a workplace that is situated in a decent-enough area?
PLEASE tell me)
I don’t recall what happened after that. The train would
definitely have been extremely full, I wouldn’t have got a seat (even when the
train starts from that station), and I would have narrated the details of the
day with much screaming and cursing at home (as a matter of fact, I do remember this).
By the time I would have written half of this post, I’d have been tired and
left it to complete later, never getting around to do it until today, when it
seems irrelevant but is better than boring work at boring work! (It’s not
always boring. Today is just one of those Fridays I feel angry that I have to
come the next day too.)
If luck was measured in days, it was the worst luck day! :X
And this world is a madhouse.
Kbye.
PS—Not really bye, because I have to update! I’ve been busy
with something… a secret project, say…and it’ll keep me occupied like anything
till at least the next three weeks. After that, I might have some time to
write and post the thoughts of my befuddled mind, but I’ll only let you in on
the secret when the time is right. Wait for it!
PPS—Post December, I’ve entirely stopped bothering with
keeping time to each minute in the morning. Even if I’m 5 minutes late, I’m
still coolly devouring my current read (The Lord of The Rings right now),
because so much of anxiety is just not worth it! Those who complain can go to
hell.
