Page 126 - Musings 2021

other departments had already left, and this poor soul was left behind to envy their lives.
Only he and the manager were there. Anand was furious. His mind was made up. He felt like
a servant who had sold himself for sixty thousand odd rupees. At this point, he thought he
would rather make a living by begging outside the temple than slog around in this damn
building.

He took a sheet and wrote, “This is my resignation letter. If you guys think you have owned
me for sixty thousand rupees, you are wrong. I think it would be far more honorable for me
and my family to die of starvation than a slave for this petty sixty thousand rupees on which
you have bought me for years and years. I also don’t think you have any plans of giving me a
pay rise. In any case, I do not care anymore about this company. If I and my family die of
starvation, may our ghosts come and haunt you all your life. Anyways, I have my priorities
sorted out.” After finishing writing the strongly-worded letter, he put the letter in an
envelope, sealed the opening and went to the manager. He got up from his chair and went to
the manager’s cabin. The manager took the envelope and put it on his table.

“Anand,” said the manager. “I’m sure you will be extremely happy to listen to something.
Our higher authorities discussed the possibility of giving some of the people in this firm a
pay rise, and I’ve recommended your name for an increment of ten-twenty percent of your
salary. As of now, nothing has been verified yet, so don’t go around disclosing this news.”
Anand promptly took back the envelope from the table and put it back into his back pocket.

“What was there in that envelope?”

“I had applied for a short personal leave, sir, but I guess I might have to …”

“You cannot get any leave at least for a month.”

“Yes, sir. I do realize that. That is why now I want to withdraw my application for leave, sir.”

“Great. Have you checked all the documents assigned to you?”

“I’ll make sure to complete the job within an hour, boss.” It was ten o’clock when he reached
home. Aadhya had fallen asleep. Her mother said, “You see, she hasn’t even changed her
clothes, in the hope of you coming back and taking her out anytime. She didn’t even have her
dinner properly, saying she would only have the momos at the Chinese restaurant near the
cinema hall.”

A feeling of guilt stung Anand when he saw his daughter sleeping with her pink frock put on,
hair neatly combed, and ready to be taken out. The thought of taking her to the night show
appeared in his mind. He shook her gently and called, “Aadhya, Aadhya.” Aadhya, irritated
at being disturbed, kicked back at her father. Mother whispered, “Don’t wake her,” and hence
Anand had to give in.

Anand watched the child for a moment from a distance, feeling he had again let down his
daughter. “I don't know if it is going to be possible for me to take her out at all, I feel sorry,
you know they are proposing to increase my salary …”, he said to his wife, with a tone under
which lay a sense of despair and forcefulness.

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