It has been raining incessantly in Delhi for the past few days. The drains are clogged, the roads are jammed and the clothes are wet. We have no idea of dealing with rains on a continuous basis. And our infrastructure is more geared to lack of water (from the Gods above) and etiquettes rather than the abundance of it.
Have a meeting scheduled today with the ‘Airport Authority of India’. And a proposal needs to be sent. ‘Proposals’. There is always a high and a low associated with proposals. ‘High because it means a ‘possibility of work’. And ‘low’ because it is just a ‘possibility’ and it means ‘homework,’ research’,’ formatting’, ‘pricing’. So it might just be a long day today.
We were supposed to go to my brothers’ house yesterday around lunch time. It had been ‘officially’ declared that ‘we’ the ‘unofficially ousted’ had been ‘officially invited’. It is a bit complicated. However, I was ‘called’ by the bank. The TOD has not been cleared as yet and I had to present my case before the RO (Regional Office) officials who were visiting the bank for an audit. So I had to rush there and I could come back only by evening. I made a feeble efffort to explain to the bankers how difficult it was to retain good people, how we were not aligned to do work in the government departments (and that is where most of the GIS work exists). Of course, these explanations were unnecessary and the bottomline was ’clear the TOD’ and ‘regularize the account’ asap, else the account would be declared NPA. Red alert.
Appu took a small nap till then as she had been awake the entire night. So we managed to reach my brothers’ house only be evening. It was as expected, albeit a shade better than earlier times. I was told how mother had disapproved of the fact that I had been invited, how I should have been there in the afternoon when everyone was there, how I should have fought for my rights before taking a mutual divorce ( so that they did not have to experience even the slightest pang of guilt) coupled with some unwelcome comments on Appu. Anyway, I tied the Rakhi, got some shopping vouchers as a gift (they are supposed to change my life for at least a delta amount of time, that is what shopping can achieve at most), had dinner and came back. Their house is like a five star hotel complete with heavy ornate furniture, decorations and chandeliers. To spend an hour or two is fine there but anything longer than that would feel claustrophobic. Appu said very philosphically that the only part of the house where she felt some ‘realness’ or ‘freedom’ was the toilet. Awesome. I guess my brother and his wife did their best. And we have to be happy with that.
Back to the TOD,bills,salaries,looking for work, proposals. The office lease is over. So that is another sword hanging above our heads.
‘Look to this day, for it is the day of days’.
