Mixed Feelings 2: Pre-Diwali Surprises

Oct 16. 2009:

It must have been around 10:00 or later in the morning when I tried to open my eyes, almost succeeding to open one a little more than the other. I looked for my cellphone & found it under my pillow. My sister had sent me an sms letting me know that dad's surgery went well & he was recovering well. 
Good! I thought. God must have been in a 'giving' mood this Diwali and if he has made this right he'll do the same for my other priorities -in the same order I had asked him to. I went to the balcony and the air seemed fresher and the day seemed brighter. I tried to inhale some of it and found I still have a cold. My body was hurting a bit more than the previous day & my temperature was also on the rise. I smiled. I looked up at the sky and said, "Thanks.... If you have increased my pain, it means that you've decreased the pain for dad & Elviz and also taken care of everything else as per 'our plan'..."

I went back inside, brushed my teeth, then put on some light clothes & went down to the restaurant on the ground floor of my building. I tried having breakfast but had a hard time swallowing as well as chewing due to the fever. I gulped down the coffee & left the food on the table. Ignoring the waiters and others who looked at 'weird eyed Joe' with a red nose & funny swagger, I went up to my room. The steps to the 3rd floor seemed never ending & as soon as I reached my room I crashed on my bed and went off to sleep.

I was woken up a while later by the sound of my phone ringing. I turned in my bed and looked for my phone on the table. It wasn't there. "Where the hell is it?", I thought. I tried hard to concentrate on the sound with whatever little sense that was working and figured it was coming from my pocket. I answered the call moments before it would've been disconnected.

"Hhh...lo?", I said. Wondering whatever happened to my voice.
"Hello?? ....Aakaash??", said a slightly aged female voice on the other end of the call.
I cleared my throat and said again. "Hello..."
"Is this Aakaash?", she enquired again.
"Yeah, Speaking... Who's this....?" I asked, while I analyzed the voice & ran it through my brain's database of female voices.
NO MATCH FOUND.
My feverish brain gave a quicker result than expected of it along with a helpful note to remove my confusion, if any. -This is a call from a Chennai no: dude... and you don't have any friends who fit into the age group of this particular voice -said the brain.
Before I could thank my brain for the timely tip, the female voice continued. 
"I'm calling from The National Folklore Support Centre..."
BLINK!
Without me prompting, my brain ran a scan through the database of people who were acquaintances or those I met or talked to recently.
BLINK!
The lady with kind eyes at the reception of the Folklore office smiled in a virtual image.
"Oh, hello ma'am... How're you?", I asked enthusiastically.
"I'm fine, thank you... how're you?"
"I'm... uh... pretty okie..." I replied half-heartedly.
"So... I've called you to let you know that you've got the job as Programme Officer at our office".
"Oh... Okay...."
There was no response for a bit from the other end.
"Thank you ma'am...." I added.
"Hmmm.... You're not excited, Aakaash?" She asked with genuine eagerness.
"Ah... well.... I'm sorry ma'am... I... Its just... I AM... I'm excited ma'am... but its like... my dad had been admitted in the hospital for a brain surgery yesterday and he went through the surgery today morning at 4:00 AM... and I've been crying all night... and also feverish & just woke up from sleep when you called... So.... But I'm really excited ma'am.
I don't know if she was convinced by that reply or if she thought she just ruined her day by calling a Mooney Loony boy. She transferred the call and I was soon connected to my new boss who 'officially' gave me the news that I was appointed as the new "Programme Officer" -Field Work, at NFSC, Nungambakkam-Chennai. 
I was seriously losing my ability to induce my vocal chords to produce some sort of sound at least remotely like talking. Somehow I managed to thank him for considering me worthy of the job and expressed my gratitude in the least possible way. The next thing on my mind as well as his was when would be the ideal date for me to join the new job. My heart skipped a beat. How on earth am I gonna tell him I needed to be with my dad now more than at the office. I somehow gathered enough guts & told him my dad's condition & that I needed to go home for at least a week or maybe until dad recovers. What had slipped my mind was the fact that it was Diwali & God a while ago was in a real 'giving' mood. So my boss spoke exactly the words I desperately needed to hear. He asked me to take my time & join on the first working day of November, which happened to be Monday, Nov 2nd.
Perfect! I thought. This just couldn't get any better.

I hung up on the call and gave out a loud screech. I went & stood in front of the mirror & said to myself. "Buddy.... You better get your act together now.... Life's gonna get absolutely hectic... and there wont be any time for anything else... So if you wanna have fun & play the fool... Do it NOW". 
Wooooooohooooooooooooo! I yelled, and then picked up the phone and called my best bud & bro Sujeeth Nair. As I dialed his no: & waited for him to pick up, I could hear Tamil drums being played in the background & crackers being burst somewhere in the close vicinity of my building. On any other day, I'd have passed it off as someone in the mood for some early celebration on the eve of Diwali. But, No. I chose to believe otherwise. It was the drum beat of my joy & celebration and crackers were being burst somewhere in the name of my personal victory. For a guy who was almost broke, had no cash to buy himself crackers or sweets or even receive sweets from anyone, and for someone who wasn't even planning to celebrate, this was more than he could ask for. The world being part of my li'l joy -I hadn't foreseen this one ever. 
I conveyed the good news first to Sujeeth & then my sister, who in turn passed on the news to friends & relatives. Everybody expressed their pride & excitement and I was sure dad was gonna be equally or doubly happy and maybe even recover faster now.
Next on my list of things to do -Go home ASAP!