Juveniled!

Juvenile intentions are not always right!
Image Courtesy: DarknessBehindBeauty

Last night was a long night. After returning home from my recently adopted sleep-study-eat-work routine, I had a talk with my roomy Jimmy. He kept saying that he had everything, and yet nothing at hand. I asked him to elaborate on the issue. So he told me his story. He was born and brought up in the unruly town of Kottayam in Kerala, India.

Kottayam is known for the trio L’s: Liquor, Latex and Literacy. Well the ironic fact was that he had all three instilled with him, all obtained from his bloodline. The curiosity to become a DYSP like his uncle, and own a large bungalow with a few Police securities had made him eager to enter the Police service.

However, his ever persistent dad had adopted a weak-quality by which he wanted his son to become an engineer. This was often shared within his home over a bottle of liquor. His dad would go to his clubs and get advice from his drunken friends, and later promote the fact that he wanted Jimmy to become an engineer. Jimmy, being the not so intelligent fellow, blindly followed his dad, and decided to join a college in Bangalore, rather than chase his own dreams.

Now Bangalore is the town where you can be what you want to be. It’s like the Las Vegas of India, well maybe after Mumbai. This incompetent son joined a college in Bangalore and started life as an engineering student with ample freedom at hand, and lots of cash in pocket. For once you know when you are a young adult – freedom is a killer if let loose! And so it was in young Jimmy’s case. Friends and choices reflect a lot about your life, and here Jimmy was ruining his! Birthday parties, late night movies, cutting classes for better entertainment, and all the other crap you can imagine was part of Jimmy’s daily routine. However, he managed to clear the first year with flying colours. Second year at the college meant that it was time to rag the juniors. Gangs, fights, parties and pranks, had gained Jimmy a huge attendance shortage. But since money was at hand, he paid off the fines and entered the examination hall. Stroke of bad luck filled Jimmy life. He did not clear four of his main papers and was left with a year-break. The worst part was, he could not attend the exams again until next year, unlike some other universities that function in other states of India. Education had ruined him, and Jimmy waited a year for things to settle down. This didn’t stop his parties or pranks. The next year, he sat for his second year classes that he missed, with the same juniors he ragged!

Again luck was not in his favour. Inspite of attending extra tuitions, Jimmy could not muster mathematics into his head. Engineering is incomplete without mathematics, but Jimmy felt its pain! The annual examinations that year left him with more un-cleared papers, of which the majority were related to complex Engineering Mathematics. He would lose another year. Jimmy was torn apart.  He felt from within him that Engineering was not part of his life. So he decided to quit after much thinking. This troubled his parents, especially his dad.

He went home to state the issue, and make his parents understand that he was not born to become an engineer. In retaliation, his dad kicked him out of his own house, and stated that he did not have a son. This broke Jimmy’s heart. The following were uneventful incidents that Jimmy related to me, with tears running down his cheeks. His dad had charged at him with a knife and had warned him never to return again even if for his funeral.

With the cash he had for paying off his semester fee, Jimmy decided to join another college in Kochi, Kerala, where he would learn catering and hotel management. This field of choice did him good, and he cleared all his papers well. His dad never spoke to him after that incident, and his mom would send him some cash from her savings to run his expenses. He also did a lot of part-time jobs to make both ends meet. His cousins and sisters would keep calling him and they would be in touch often. Being the only son amidst a daughter and a surrogate daughter, he was attached to his parents. He could not sleep without listening to his mom, and did not mind calling her everyday even if it was to hear her scold him. He wanted to talk to his dad, but the man never gave up his ego. Jimmy says that his dad was misguided by his friends at the club. But how can a father be so unkind? At the beginning of the year 2012, Jimmy returned home to meet his folks. He could not resist meeting his Mom after being the prodigal son for 18 months. Again, he was kicked out by a rude father in cinema style.

In retaliation, he went to Chennai, and joined a reputed hotel as a trainee. He struggled there for 6 months with limited cash and resources from his mom. Now, he’s back in Kochi and works as a sales executive for a dentistry. He hopes to join another hotel soon, and keeps awaiting interviews. He told his mom that he would earn his living alone and asked her not to send him anymore cash. Even while switching jobs and living life on his own, still within this multi-qualified and experienced young man, is a heart that weeps! Atleast I’ve seen it!