Life on cloud 9 — A parallel universe
The first part of the story is here if you haven’t read it yet
https://medium.com/@vikramchan/life-on-track-a-parallel-universe-9aaaad4a14de
Bharath didn’t sleep that night! This was his first time , which made him both happy and nervous at the same time. He hadn’t spoken to anyone about this. He came from the small town of Balehonnur where he studied at a government school. His parents had ambitions for their son to study and work in a big city. The farming life had not been easy on the family, despite which the parents wouldn’t want to shift out of it. They were happy with the little produce they got for themselves, eating fresh food and leading an active lifestyle.
The longest trips he had done so far were the bus journeys from his hometown to Bengaluru and back.His overjoyed parents had rushed from his hometown a week ago as soon as they heard the news. They had packed chakallis, obattu, and a lot of other goodies he liked. They were eager to meet him and spend time talking about all the things happening in the village. They were curious to learn about what was in store for Bharath at his new destination. The last time Bharath spoke to them with such joy was when he came back from the Scouts and Guides trip from school. The whole week was spent making food including some instant mixes like majjige huli, puliyogare, saarin pudi .. to help him during the trip. These were carefully wrapped, labeled, and packed by his mom while his dad was busy going to the market several times to bring ingredients. Every of those market visits also meant a by-two kaapi at the darshini close to the market , When there was no work left to do, he went to the bank to update his passbook for the umpteenth time and meet some old friends.
That morning after a hot shower Bharat downed six hot fluffy idlis with some chutney that his mom made . His mom was advising him on being careful , not to stray away while he was busy sipping on that straang filter kaapi and dreaming away. His phone rang,” Saaar waiting outside. Ok will be there in 10 “ . The company car was here to pick him up . He got blessings from his parents and bowed to the makeshift gods at home . As he stepped out his mom hugged him once and said ‘hushaaru’ and teared up. “Don’t worry Mom, I am a grown-up man now “ he replied in English. He was already thinking about the burgers, fries, and coke he would enjoy along with a white Christmas…There was a nip in the air on that cold winter morning in Bengaluru.The city witnessed some of the coldest temperatures of the decade this December as if preparing him for the European winters. As he sat in the taxi during that long journey all thoughts of how he got there started playing in his mind.This bought with it the required warmth within.
After his engineering, Bharath joined a startup and learnt the latest tech stuff at a really fast pace! He was the whiz kid at the workplace and was the go-to man for everyone. The startup had bagged a large order in Europe and he was one of the 3 people chosen to accomplish the task. He was disturbed by the driver, “Saar we have reached “. Gathered his coat,luggage and went to the entry gates . At the check-in they gave him the boarding passes both for the domestic and international legs with a lot of instructions.”Sir, this is your boarding pass from here to Delhi , gate number so and so after security , this is for your onward flight, bags have been checked in through to your destination sir .blah blah blah… “.He was struggling to keep pace. As he started to walk away from the counter “Excuse me sir , your forgot to pick your lounge access voucher. the lounge is after security to your right “. He mumbled a thank you very much. After security, he proceeded to the lounge and found himself a chair that was close to the food counters. All this was so new to him, he had to ask someone how much he had to pay for that hot soup he “needed”.He picked some bread and as he was pouring the soup into his bowl, Splash !, the bowl overturned and the soup spilt all over the gentlemen next to him. He apologised “Sir sorry, I am really so sorry “, with his head down and slowly lifted his neck to make eye contact.As he saw the figure in front of him a zillion thoughts passed through his mind. He never imagined such a moment in his life! ……….
