#2 Ah! There it comes

Ah! There it comes

"Ah! There it comes" exulted Mathur, standing in the small front balcony of his house, watching the tempo-truck coming his way. He had been there for a long time now, awaiting the moment and the object that had finally arrived. It braked below their building making a loud irritating screeching sound which large vehicles make when they brake. Mathur had always hated that sound. I mean, not always but since the age of six.

Imagine the young, six year old Mr. Mathur who was crazy about sleeping. When he was a kid, he loved to sleep. And as much as he loved sleep, he hated school. School was a curse his parents had cast on him. Another major reason for this hatred was the his father was a teacher in the same school. As shy as, he never felt comfortable in school. He never talked much in school. His only work there was to study and nothing else and that is exactly what he did. Study. Every morning he woke up with extreme difficulty, not no enthusiasm but the fear of his father's howl which soared high to extremely pitches and intensities if Mathur(the son obviously) was not up and ready at his scheduled time. His father was a strict man. He always pitied his students. So every morning, he work up with utmost difficulty and got ready. Silently cibbing, his calmness was regained only once he sat in his bus for now he had another chance to sleep. Every single day he went to school, he slept in his bus. Though miraculously he had left this habit behind now, he was unable to open his eyes once he sat in his school bus. He did the thing he loved the most in his bus. He loved the bus for that. But as soon as they reached school the bus breaked hard making this screeching sound and metamorphosing him from the composed sleeping-kid to the most uncomfortable school kid. He hated his bus for stopping and more than that he hated this sound that was an indication of the arrival of the place he disdained. He was sure that the school bus drivers were purposely made to break hard on reaching the school. Infact, he was certain they put some screeching oil into their bus wheels to make this sound sound more horrible and terrifying than it can possibly be.

The tempo made the same vexing sound but this time it was different. This time he waited for it to stop. Life is always the same, the essential difference is how we see it and how much we welcome it. One person got out from the vehicle and entered the building. Now was the time to break the news. He went inside to his wife who was working in the kitchen. She was not doing something very important but it is a tradition that if you are seeking for the wife, she will always be found in the kitchen(Applies only if you're married).
"Dear, I have to tell you something" said Mathur in a low tone with a frown.
"What? Is there some problem?" Mrs Mathur knew something was wrong.
"Well... I think I should've told this to you much earlier but now I think there's no escaping it."
"What are you trying to say??" Mrs. Mathur said anxiously.
"See.. I'll try to say it in simple words" he said, keeping the frowning face intact.
"Will you stop doing this and tell me what the matter is !" she queried.
"Listen.. I mean.. I ... I... I have been promoted" said Mathur in a soft apologetic voice achieving all the surprise he wanted to.
"What!!!!!?" Her eyes gleamed and she jumped up with joy.
"Wow!!!!!!!"
"Okay. There's one more thing I'd like to tell you"
"What!?"
"We have a new sofa-set."
"Wow!!!!" she screamed, all excited.
"And it has arrived. The people are standing downstairs."
"Oh my god!!!"
She rushed to the balcony to take a took and saw this huge tempo carrying something huge covered with sheets and plastic. She had wanted a new set for a long time now.

It was all set. The old set had been dumped into the tempo and sent while the new one sparkled in their tiny house.
"It is beautiful. Really! Your choice is too good. Oh.. But how much did it cost ?"
Mathur knew that was coming his way. He at first had thought of not telling her the correct price but now his conscience didn't allow him to do that.
"Ten" he said hesitatingly.
"Ten what ? Ten thousand ????" alarmed Mrs. Mathur.
"Yes" he said sheepishly.
"Ohhhhh!! How many times! How many times have I told you to not spend so much. Extravagance cannot be our style of living. We're poor people. How do you think we can affoard such costly stuff ?"
"But I just had a promotion. My salary has increased. And at this auspicious occasion I had to get something for the house"
"That is right.. But ten thousand is too much. Too much."
She was extremely disappointed but now nothing could be done. She was happy about the sofa but the disappointment of its cost was huge enough to curb the jubilation. She grew quiet and spoke very less for a long time.

(Not finished yet)

#1 Congratulations

“Congratulations Mathur! You owe us a dinner now” said Mathur’s colleagues.

“Oh thank you. Sure” felicitously said Mathur.

Mr. Mathur got the news that he had been promoted to assistant manager and no one could have been more delighted by this news than his wife, who was known as Mrs. Mathur. Mathur had always been an honest, hard-working person surrounded by sly sycophants in his work. But hard-work pays. All the determination he had put into his work and his company had finally paid up. Though he was now, more enthusiastic and prepared to work more and harder. But now was the time to rejoice.

“She will go mad when I tell her this” thought Mathur as he was sitting in the bus, gazing and smiling at the mundane activities going on in the streets. Everyone looked happy. Everybody smiled. Was his joy potently overflowing outside or was it always like this and he never noticed. The thought struck his mind, but Mathur was too busy to care. He just enjoyed as the wind splashed his face and he sat more comfortably, closing his eyes, relaxing for he had a long way to go. The horns on the road were music with the voice of the engines in synchronous harmony making everything sound so grand, so pleasing.

“She wanted a new sofa-set” pondered Mathur. Suddenly he bore and idea and got off the bus before his usual stop.

“How much does that sofa-set cost? “ He said pointing at a beautifully embroidered sofa.
“This one, Sir? It is priced at Rs.10,000”
“Hmmm…“ Hummed Mathur rubbing his chin. He rubbed it whenever he thought. Many times had he thought of changing this habit but had always found himself rubbing his chin even while thinking this. Since childhood, he had only two permanent companions. Determination and the chin-rubbing habit. The former was inherited by Mathur from his father. A great man of even greater principles and with principles so great, his father was now a principal at a local school. But how Mathur had got the chin-rubbing habit is another interesting story in itself.

Imagine the young Mr. Mathur who was crazy about Rakesh Krishna, the premier contemporary batsman. He had once got a chance to meet him in person which he had taken great pains but with determination and luck, finally succeeding in arranging a two-minute meeting.

“Autograph Sir!” said Mathur and Rakesh smiled and signed it for the jolly kid.
“Sir may I ask you one question?”
“Sure.. Go Ahead”
“What is the secret of your superb play?”
“Haha” Rakesh gave a horselaugh and placed his hand on his chin rubbing it and thinking of an answer.
Mathur never remembered the answer he gave, but in order to emulate his ideal, he thought it would be a good deal to think while rubbing the chin and to rub the chin while thinking. He had realized his foolishness at a later age, when Rakesh had been discarded from the cricket team due to drug abuse, but now it was too late. The chin called for the rubbing every time the brain disc rotated in his head.

Mathur ordered the beautiful sofa. He gave his house address and was told that the sofa-set would reach there the next evening.

As Mathur entered his house, the smart Mrs. Mathur detected some peculiarity in him.
“You look so glad. What happened today?”
“Oh… Nothing! Nothing special. The same old office.” Said Mathur shrugging his shoulders trying to not spoil the surprise he had kept for his wife.
“She’ll see the sofa and then I’ll tell her about the promotion. That’ll be a sight!” jubilated Mathur in his mind. The night passed usually. Insects creaked, lizards crawled, watchmen whistled and cars passed. The only thing a bit unusual was the Mathur could not sleep. It was another old habit. Thinking about his new cabin, new salary and all other newnesses that were going to be introduced to him, cost him his night sleep but Mathur was not regretful. Up early and ready even earlier the energetic Mathur showed no signs of fatigue or lack of sleep whatsoever. Infact, he was so eager to reach his office, he left about 30 minutes before his usual time. He reached the bus stop walking as slow as an ant but even then he had all the time of the world left before office started. So he sat on the bus-stop, dreaming, fancying his new life. Mathur was a calm and composed personality, mostly. But this sudden surge of happiness had disturbed his routine. Mathur loved routine. He had worked hard and dreamt everyday and every night of what lay ahead of him. And finally, he had got it. He dreamt of his poor childhood when his father was just a local school teacher and how his father had always hoped that his son would one day rise up for the father-son shared a great quality namely determination. His father worked honestly and hard enough but got not what he deserved. Atleast he thought so. He was greatly insecure about his only child's future and was always a great help to Mathur in every endevour of his but he was unsatisfied with his life. Well, who is satisfied anyway ?

Mathur thought of so many things, so deep, that he lost track of his physical presence. With open eyes fixed on the wall on the otherside of the road, Mathur was dreamy enough to not realize 30 minutes fly past like an arrow. The interesting bit was, that as soon as he snapped out of his slumber, he saw his usual bus going afar. Yes, he had missed it.
"I'm going to be late now!" said Mathur alarmed. The next bus would arrive after 30 minutes and Mathur could certainly not affoard to wait that long. He thought of taking an autorickshaw until he remembered his wife's words
"You earn this money by working very hard. Don't ever waste it extravagently! If I don't tell you this, who will ?"
Mathur was confused. He had a bus pass which entitled him to travel free in the busses and getting an autorickshaw was going to cost him Rs.50.50 rupees was not a small thing for him and his family. But this was not the first time he had got in this situation where his wife's words conflicted with his gut and it won't be too surprising to know that mostly her words were victorious. Though his wife was correct for he must not spend extravagently but now it was more of a need than a luxury. But then a brilliant idea struck Mathur.
"Why don't I get an autorichshaw to follow the bus and catch it. It couldn't have gone much far.This way it'll cost me much less."
So Mathur quickly spotted an autorickshaw but with no driver, he looked around but there was no one to be found. He was getting late, for the current situation, the phrase "Time is money!" suited nothing less than the best. Rubbing his chin he thought of what to do when suddenly he heard something like a trumpet behind his back. The irritating sound was created by Pandey's two wheeler, the savior.
"Hey Mathur? Are you going to the office ?" asked Pandey.
"No! I usually go and see Bangladesh Vs Sri Lanka cricket matches at 9 AM in the morning wearing formals with a briefcase in my hand... Don't you know? " said Mathur sarcastically. andey gave a measly laugh and Mathur sat behind him and they buzzed off.

Mathur reached late by 20 minutes as he was kept busy in helping the 'saviour' change his punctured tyre on the way. The new assistant manager moved with a sense of pride as he walked through the office corridor wishing everybody around with a complacent smile and headed towards his new cabin.
"I've been waiting for you Mr.Mathur" said Mr.Khurana, the company head.
"I'm extremely sorry sir. First I missed my...."
"Okay. Let it be now." Interrupted Khurana.
"I want you to listen to me very carefully. You have been promoted to the Assistant Manager. Its a hard job. You've been working hard but now you must train yourself to make it harder. Do I make myself clear ?"
"Yes Sir. Absolutely"

Khurana was a dominating personality. In harsh terms he explained Mathur his new work and disappeared for a meeting. Mathur was now alone, sitting on his chair, in his room, in front of his table. He was more than delighted. He dreamt of how he would work hard and innovate new schemes to grow company sales. He facnied how he would be respected, how he would be richer, how he would get all the comforts he had dreamed of. Afterall, what else does one dream of ? Office went as normally as ever. Files, calls, accounts and more files and more calls and more accounts. But as soon as it struck evening, Mr.Anurag Mathur was aready to go home. To get what he had ordered and to see his wife's astonished face.