Fun, Frolic and Fish! Yes! The trip to Goa was all that and a little but important more. On way back we decide to take a night halt at Chiplun. My room has an A/C, a TV, a huge double bed to be shared between me and my sister and my mind that has just received news from a friend: I have done miserably in one of my Law School entrances. I am not as much thinking about the result as much I am of my future. Knowing that HSC results are going to be a complete disaster I am more of wondering what is it that I am heading to?
Answers don’t come easily. In fact I have just learned some time back when I met my father’s long lost friend Nandakumar Patil that there are no answers at all. Nandakumar Patil used to be a hot looking material 29 years ago women including my mom used to be crazy after. Never did he care about his studies as much he did about acting in various plays. Dad's account later confirmed that he won the best actor state level award for 3 years consecutively. What is interesting is now he is neither an actor nor does he account or audit being a commerce graduate. He works in the State Transport Services as the controller of traffic. Now he sees whether the drivers follow the planned schedule and whether the broken vehicles are looked after properly. Interesting isn’t it?
More interesting is the fact that he’s married a doctor wife, a girl who’s more educated, more independent and more able than himself. In course of conversation when a question arose how did she say yes to someone as weird as Nandakumar she said she didn’t really care what her life partner was up to. She was confident that it was she who mattered if she wanted a good life and that no other person really mattered for a persons good life.
Then when the layers of past memories were being undone by this crowd of 4 who happened to be long lost friends for the last 29 years, they started remembering their other friends they are no more in contact with. Some 18-time failure, chain smoker had married the most beautiful girl, a girl who could have anyone she wanted. An 18-time failure that too at commerce undergraduate level? He was not good looking or wealthy. An 18 time failure cannot be smart! What was it that she saw in him? But then, their wedding did happen. It is a truth, a fact that no one disputes.
Then as members of ABVP in their time my mom also knows Nandakumar uncle’s wife, the doctor. She asks her about some other friend who used to be a miserable failure at everything then. Studies, co-curricular or extra curricular, he was of no use. Today he’s a multi millioner doctor at Kolhapur with three three-storied hospitals. An evidence that academics has nothing to do with real life successes.
And as these thoughts are scooting through I fall asleep to wake up 2 hours later at a doorbell. It’s my dad calling me for tea to his room. There is a person sitting there on the chair in front of him in his room. His name: Mr. Relekar.
Mr. Relekar is B.Com, LL.B, CA from University of Pune. B.Com from BMCC and LL.B from Symbiosis. He teaches in the college at Chiplun and takes commerce classes for students. As the trend goes he asks me about what my plans for future are. Which stream have I done my +2 in? I answer Law and Commerce respectively not knowing the above data. Had I known all that before I would probably have answered the second question as Science or Arts. And then begins my 1hr long interview. What is debit? What is credit? What is suspense account? What is the entry for this? What is the entry for that?
I cant answer even 2 questions to his complete satisfaction. He tells me “beta you need to read all your books form 11th standard again” in my mind I say “you are right sir except the last word. I dnt need to read them “again”, I only need to read them”
And then he tells me how privileged I am as compared to people from Chiplun. A person from Chiplun lacks big ambitions says he. They don’t want a car, they feel its fine to walk even 15 kms.
May be he is right. I just don’t have a big ambition to drive me. May be I just don’t need that A/C and TV room with a huge Bed? I can sleep on the floor just as sound. May be I am happy with a bicycle…who knows? But if everything continues the way its going where do I think I will end up? Will I get the only girl I love more than anything ever with only a bicycle and no bed to sleep?
Again…there are no answers…
