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!
