You will find this article very odd or amusing depending on you, but then I wish to write this as a small token of respect for another writer, who has reminded me and along with me a few hundred others, that there is something very important in life that we as individuals have taken for granted.
I am Adithya and I work for a Billion Dollar American Company as a senior consultant. I rise when the rest of India starts sleeping, so that my work hours can synchronize with my counterparts in the parent office in the U.S. I spend 16 hours a day so that I can, with the help of my team bring out my employer company’s newest product into a global market and make this a money spinner, so that my company can make more money and I can get a part of this profit as payment. I spend my life struggling in the competitive corporate environment (following Darwin’s Principle of Survival Of The Fittest) aiming for next pay rise, a promotion to my current boss’ seat, for the new ipod in the market or that multi function pda cum cellular phone, so that I can furnish my apartment with that new tapestry and get that new Sony audio system in my car. The list goes on and so does the mad struggle.
I have time to party over the weekend and I have time to hop over to my friends place when I go to a different city on official work. I need that monthly hair cut at my choice saloon and a fortnightly stress relieving massage. I have to eat dinner / lunch at that boutique restaurant at least twice a week and need one hour a day reading news papers, watching news and browsing the internet, so that I stay current with the latest market trends.
In all this jumbled mess, I call a life, I have realized it is not a life but an excuse for a life. This life revolves around I, me and myself and it is only once a week that I spend a moment calling my mother to find out about her health and if she needs more money. I forget that she needs me to sit beside her and hold her hand even if it is for a moment and is only once in a week and that this gesture means a lot to her. I don’t realize that, when I visit her and she makes my favorite lunch / dinner, she is actually tired because she is aging and when I ask her to walk back to the kitchen for a bottle of water, her feet are actually aching. When she feels weak or lonely, she needs me beside her to give her a smile and reassure her that I am there for her. So what if I can afford a nice apartment for her and can have my younger cousin who is in college stay with her, along with a 24 hour servant, because I recently moved to a different city on a temporary basis for my professional growth. She does not need that. She needs me, her only son to spend 5 (FIVE) minutes of my time to sit with her and listen to her talk, even if it is disinteresting for me.
I don’t realize that she does not cook lavish meals because cooking is her passion, but she does that because she loves to see me enjoy that meal. She does not understand that jeans are not meant to be ironed and they are supposed to be faded, she only wants me to look smart and handsome in the outside world. When I stay with her, she makes it a point to hand polish my leather shoes, so that they look so sparkling that a man can see his reflection in them, just so that I look good wearing them. She makes sure that I don’t run out of that fancy after shave, so that I smell good when I walk into a discussion room. There are so many things that I can continue listing and you my reader will realize is true.
I write this article because after three years of this life, it has taken another person’s article to teach me a lesson. But I feel proud that I have learnt this lesson. I feel a joy, that no motorcycle ride in the world can bring, no pay rise can compensate. I have reached a decision to make some changes in life. I might not be able to return to my home town immediately, but I will pick up the phone and speak to my mother at least once a day and make sure she talks and I listen. Please do not think that I am over reacting here, but you have to be in my place to understand this emotion that prompts me to write these words.
*To The Writer With The Pen Name MagicalSummer :
Dear Madam,
I apologize, that I have taken the liberty of copying your article to an email to my friends and colleagues. But even you cannot understand the importance of this moment for me. I have sent a transcript of your article to a few people whom I know and this has traveled some way and I have received responses for the same.
I wish to take this opportunity, on behalf of a 117 people whom I know and 237 others I don’t know, but people who have read and replied thanking me for my mail. On behalf of cyber geeks like me who work in Dell, Microsoft, Satyam, Infosys, Symantec, CA and other multinationals, I take this opportunity, for the reason that your article has made us realize something important, just to say a humble and simple
THANK YOU
You have no idea whatsoever, for what your writing has reminded us and what it has made me as a person realize.
May God Bless You And With Greatest Regards,
Adithya.*
For My Reader Who Wonder What This Is All About, Please Read The Review Titled :
Ribbons, bows and wrapping paper. - by MagicalSummer. It is located under :
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