This was some action month.
I
spent a week in Delhi which is a major miracle and a lot of IMT camaraderie.
It’s been an interesting month but for starters let me get the negative thing
off my back.
Defamation: On 10th
August I get a crank call from a mad man in Ahmedabad saying, “You are a
pervert and you have gone back to your defamation ways. I will put you in jail
for this.” I shouted him down, “Yes, I am a pervert in words while your client
was a pervert in behaviour.”
Now
this is old story, I have not an ounce of emotion in that garbage quagmire. My
life essentially has been a victim of four women and in my blogs of over 1000
posts this strand appears now and then. On pUsHpa I genuinely thought she had changed her
surname and in my posts it was only the maiden name. I did post a google talk
which I am not entirely certain whether it is libelous in character or not. But
someone’s photographs or mails are not exactly one’s private property; of
course I am sure these can be put up on a blog medium. I have no time or energy
to check that out with an expert lawyer’s view; but
once I do then I will do everything under the law to write my posts as I deem
fit. If anyone has a case for defamation, please bring it on.
Since
my focus these days is jobs and earnings, I removed couple of blog posts on the
advice of one of my UNICEF friends. Mr. X (let the name be anonymous) is one of
the UNICEF heads in the South and a very good friend and he advised, “Remove
this lot for it does no one any good. But if there is a case filed against you,
I will help you with lawyers or talk to her bosses in Gujarat.” One good thing
that came of this unsavoury was I looked at her profile and she looks my
aunty for a great insight: women age rapidly while
nature goes easier on men. That’s why in the older days WIVES were a
good 10 years younger. pw is a piece of shit and no amount of French perfumes
can douse the foul odour.
This did
leave a bad taste in the mouth for a couple of days before the strains of
living got my attention elsewhere. But rest assured this female has it coming
once I set my house in order and once I get a lawyer clearance.
Ex-PW
club: I posted this story in writersathya and the very next day an
assistant director of Bahubali wrote to me saying, “I would like to meet you in
Pondicherry.” This time I took his mobile number, spoke to him before taking a
trip on 12/8. Some lesson I learnt from the Dubai fraud.
As fortune would have it, again let me call him Mr. Y, smsed saying, “My
financier’s father just passed away and we are rushing for condolence. So
kindly postpone your trip. But let me assure that I am still interested in the
story.” I got this message midway
through my bus journey; I continued for a day out at Pondi for a break from
solitude and meditated in the Mother’s Ashram. And I came back home refreshed and exhausted.
Yesterday
I spoke to a Bollywood producer who happened to be my 1992 batch mate. She
said, “Not my scene but I will see if I can put you on to those in this genre.”
IMT
cares: After a dozen of my alumni read these posts and one 1992
classmate who wishes anonymity called on 31/7 saying, “Sathya, I have a spare
apartment in Delhi and you can use it for as long as six months. Chennai is a
graveyard market, come to Delhi and explore this market.” Such an appeal was
hard to ignore considering this friend has done spectacularly well on the
career front since our passing out in 1992.
I
booked a ticket in Air Vistara on 15/8 and it is the first time I am flying
after the Abu Dhabi fiasco in 2014. My
friend was extremely hospitable who trusted me with the keys to a swanky
apartment that comes with a swimming pool. This is affluence on a scale where a Aamir Khan or Salman Khan would reside.
I
was there for a week and realized one thing: there is no fun staying on
another’s hospitality however large-hearted and sincere well-wishers. I also
stumped on this insight: There are no jobs @ 49. No company in the face of
earth would hire for my resume. I can only get a job based on my talent which
must be experienced in freelance assignments.
Once this thing penetrated the skull, I booked my return journey much to
my host’s surprise.
I
met the Kalyani family at Lajpatnagar and made friends with Manisha and both
her brothers. Prashant’s daughter who was 6 months old during my last visit in
2008 is now old enough and smart enough to read my blog posts. I found that girl super smart. They gave me a
wonderful dinner and Santosh dropped me at the railway station for the third
time in as many visits – in 2006, he dropped me at the station, 2008 at the
airport when we were stuck in a traffic jam and I just made it when the counter
was closing and now in 2018. I value my relation with this family. I loved my
travel on Delhi metro and was zapped by the yellow line, magneta line and blue
line and all that. Truly an international city in terms of infrastructure; I
also found them friendly. Maybe it was my pronounced limp or grey hairs,
Delhities offered me a seat even in crowded trains much to my discomfiture. But
I loved the respect at least my age was fetching me.
On
the last day, 22nd Aug, Lalit of IMT 1992 batch called me from
Indonesia, “Sathya, one week is too short a stay. Try for couple of more weeks
before you return to base.” Then Neetu, another alumnus called, “Hey, Sathya so
nice catching up after 25 years. How about staying for Kochie’s 50th
birthday celebrations when the whole batch will congregate and it will be nice
to catch up.” I spoke to Anurag at Mumbai and he promised to help me in his
firm. I always find an intrinsic decency and nobility interacting with Anurag
and Darbari. Shabd wrote from Los Angeles, “Sathya, don’t lose heart for God
does not forsake anyone. Having faith and trust makes the journey easier,” for
a message I am not going to forget in a while.
Lakhina hosted
a lunch at the Galleria and he was friendly and concerned and what I can say
about Smita who heard all my life tales with sympathy: abusive parents,
apathetic siblings, whore for a date and how my life has been laid low from
factors beyond my control. I said, “All I heard from this pussy was her daily
menopause and hormonal changes for a year.” She said, “That woman got it wrong
for no woman can hope to find a more romantic and committed man like you. I
clearly see her mistake of committing in early and then backtracking. But
Sathya, don’t worry. Your best days are just round the corner.”
Seeing
such warmth from friends who have I not seen or interacted since 1992 felt
overwhelming. Certainly North India cares and I loved Delhi for such generosity
and friendliness. I gifted DARLING INDIA to Lakhina and Smita; I also read that
on the train in decades and I loved it. I normally don’t read what I write but
once in a blue moon they really fill the heart with abundance.
I
am more or less firm on selling the apartment unless JustDial or NIIT were to
click. I am a bit sceptical here. Mani Sir advised me from Doha, “Sathya, you
have a big terrace at Besant Nagar and why not do roof top gardening. It will
fill up time most admirably and you also stand to generate a good income. I
know of a person in Coimbatore and I will put you on him when I am back to
Chennai.”
August
was that kind of a month. I got a lot of affection from Iyer mama and Shyam in
Bangalore and so many people. I live a life of a recluse hermit but I love
these human connections. I also learnt that I am blessed with a lot of caring
friends who will haul me up even as I drown in the abyss of an ocean floor.
They are lots of good people in the world was the realization for a hard-boiled
cynic in me. This was verily a good month for some life-long memories and worth cherishing.
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