Vicious City of Valiant Dreams : 2 — Karan
Back at the main door of the building, where Adwiti worked, ‘Oberoi infotonics’ spelled in huge block letters on top of it with red LEDs, stood a tall, young man with very attractive features. He was lost in his own thoughts as he stared at the traffic jam right in front of the building. He was new in the city so he wasn’t used to it; the weather or the traffic. Perhaps that is why he didn’t have any umbrella or a ride to get home for that matter. He had planned to walk home. He was just waiting for the traffic to clear a little bit. The rain had stopped almost an hour ago but streets were full of puddles of water and with all those vehicles passing by, walking didn’t seem like a smart idea. So he waited.
Just two months back he was in Bangalore, where he spent his evening partying in pubs and bars. He had squandered most of his college life boozing and smoking weed. He had a post graduation in Business Administrations from an expensive college in Bangalore, a college whose name he probably didn’t even remember. He wondered how life can be so mercurial — within a matter of weeks he had lost all his privileges. All his vanity, his hedonism and his vague sense of self-developed worldview had been swept away. It wasn’t just the privileges that he had lost, he lost so much more that he didn’t dare thinking about it. No, he didn’t dare let those thoughts creep into his mind. Instead he filled his stubborn head with anger and resentment. Towards the world that done him wrong. Towards the world that has taken everything from him. But it was futile, it was worthless because he had no power to do anything about it. He was a nobody. Fortunately, his father still had some good friends in power who got him this job in the company, despite his poor grades and no working experience.
A cold breeze passed by him knocking him out of his reverie. He tightened his jacket around his chest as he looked at some other employees walking out of the door. He recognized some of them. It had been only a week working in the company and he had no interactions with anyone except his boss and one other member of his team. He nodded in a ‘Hello’ as one of the familiar faces looked at him who worked in a big cabin right in front of his cubicle. The man gave a gentle welcoming smile and walked towards him. He was quick for his age and fit too. His face had a dark complexion with a natural friendly look.
“Hey, you are the new guy. What’s your name?” the man responded in a thick husky voice.
“Hello Sir, it’s Karan,” he replied politely.
“Nobody addresses anyone like that here! call me Amit…Amit Mehra,” the man extended his hand as he said that. His colleagues had moved ahead. “Are you waiting for someone?”
“No,” Karan said, the embarrassment for not having a ride was clear in his eyes. “I was just waiting for the traffic to clear up a bit.” He shook Amit’s hand. That grip somehow made him feel at ease. He didn’t see any sign of judgment in Amit’s eyes.
Amit read his face instantly. “Why don’t you wait with me? There is a decent bar right across the road, we will have a couple of drinks.”
Just the sound, ‘drinks’, overwhelmed Karan’s mind with so many memories. He missed his old lifestyle. Actually, ‘Missed’ wouldn’t be the appropriate word to describe the feeling that Karan was enduring at the moment. He was an addict. Now whatever they say, Karan knew this fact first hand, you can quit something like booz but you will never get over it.
“No, I don’t drink,” said Karan strongly, more in an attempt to convince himself than the person in front of him. “But thank you.”
“Are you sure? It’s Friday night, everybody drinks on Friday night,” Amit obviously didn’t believe him. A young, attractive kid fresh out of college and he doesn’t drink, especially on Friday night? yeah right!
“Yeah. Please go ahead.” Karan smiled at his mental conflict. He knew it’s a battle, he will have to fight every minute of every day, all his life. He just hoped he wins most of them… or at least the ones which matter. He had almost lost it right now.
“Okay, see you on Monday…, Karan…?” Amit waited for him to complete his name..
“It’s Just Karan,” replied Karan.
“Alright!” smiled Amit, “Well, Good night.”
“See you, sir…, Amit. Good night.” He took a deep breath of relief as Amit walked away. It was funny to him how his whole body was aching to just walk after him to that bar, ‘just have a single drink, what harm could it do.’ But he had won the battle. For now. The fact that he had almost no money in his pocket was a big help. There were many battles ahead of him.
Waiting at the front door of the building became much harder for Karan once he acquired the knowledge that there was a bar right across the road. He took a deep breath in through his nose and slowly let it out through his mouth, just like his counselor had told him. “It will pass, just like any other moment,” he repeated his counselor’s words in his breath, even though he didn’t fully believe it. He decided to walk home before he gave in to his temptation.
Karan continued the breathing exercise while he walked. His home wasn’t far from there. He walked on the footpath, skipping the puddles here and there while his mind revised on the task he had. It would have been so much easier had he paid any attention to or at least stepped in some of his classes his father was so conveniently paying for. He didn’t have a proper plan for it and he had no one to guide him through. He wished he had prepared himself a little better in college but he did pick up a few things in his two years of hedonism. He knew that the first requirement to do his job is the knowledge, the information. So he may not have a complete plan of work but he knew where to plant his first step, which was a lot more than he had expected of himself.
Karan reached the building where his apartment was. Calling it an apartment was a shame; it was the cheapest thing he could find nearest to his company. A small room followed by an even smaller bathroom and that’s it. He twisted the door knob and just like every other time, he was surprised that the door didn’t break. He threw his shoes in the corner. He noticed they were muddy, fortunately, he had another pair just for situations like this.
After a cold shower, which was the only option available to him in his bathroom, he changed into something comfortable and finally sat on the side of his bed. Insomnia was the only observable side effect of detoxing from the liquor and Karan decided to put it in good use. He opened his laptop, the only expensive thing he had left from his college, connected it to his phone wi-fi and logged in to his company’s personal account. ‘Now, let’s get to the work!’
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