Is that you ?

In a good old college, with fun and frolic you enjoyed your days. Loved to study. Had way too many friends. Planned for get outs and trips. Went on and on for window shopping. Tried piles of clothes. Had food from top class restaurants to hawkers on the road. Darkened the hostel room to have movie with pizza. Joined beds together for sleepover nights. Piled books on the table to keep laptop on it and watch back to back favourite movies whole night. Watched several seasons of soaps. Wished for these days to go on. With a twinkle in eyes to unleash the world, these were the blessed happy days presented by the parents.

The college days were coming to an end. The placement cell was actively functioning for inviting companies to organize campus interviews. Grappled with books and worked on to crack aptitude tests. Grilled in mock interviews. Faculties fed you with happenings and non-happenings. An eerie heart thumping air made everyone to push themselves a notch higher to get somewhere. Somewhere, where your name makes the alma mater resonate with pride.  It was part luck and smart work that opened the doors for a career in marketing in a renowned IT firm.

It was all so cool to get in a large lobby. ID cards were given, photos taken and a new desk was assigned. The team members across the geographies were introduced on the video conference. You were no body in front of those big buddies. They showed you where you could be. With a gleam and gushing blood in veins, you ran to reach, to reign wherever they were.

From jovial carefree person, the world transformed you to be a workaholic. Days and nights passed in creating marketing campaigns with deadliest deadlines ever. The job was demanding. The IT concern was churning Go to Market strategies in no time. You poured all your creative juices with best of appearance to justify each campaign. The more you worked, the more assignments were parked in your kitty. With an attitude of never give up and never say nay, you moved on. To step up and become an accomplished marketing manager wasn't so easy.

While working, most of the days, you did skip food. Didn’t have time to go to the cafeteria to have a proper meal. The friends became colleagues. Everyone had a marathon to finish.

Staying alone in a rented flat with a never ending task had made you to seal yourself within. Somehow it helped in learning cooking to keep the tummy filled on time. Always a foodie, waited for the weekends to binge on the choicest delicacy in different restaurants. Made few friends out of the colleagues to hang out sometimes. On some occasions, when you were late or couldn’t go out as planned, they understood.

You were engrossed to notice your age as others. It worried your well-wishers who were alike. They started to urge you to see someone to get along. Tired of your nonchalance, family and friends tried to find suitable companion for you. Leaving the choice to the, you kept focussing on work.

There they selected a guy for you. He was elder, more mature and worked in a mammoth organization. Had better life experiences. You were still hesitant to take this big step. He asked you umpteen times to take some time off for dating. For that, all he could get was few moments after your office work to the flat. So fondly he waited outside your office every day, just to spend that precious time with you before departing to his way home.

Gradually, you became friends and you were the only ones who talked with each other all the time. He came to the flat before office hours to have something that you prepared. This new you, little late for office, didn’t go unnoticed. But, everyone seemed pleasantly surprised at this.

After few months, you agreed for the marriage, thinking that it’d be great to be with someone who loves you so much. Again, you started to loosen the string and opened up. A part of you sang once more. Got up all dressed up, pampered yourself to look the best. Went for shopping together. Invited everyone for the marriage. Got happily married to live together forever.

Once married, in addition to the office work, you had household chores to do. You yearned for the family time. More than that, there was nothing like me time. It consumed so much of you that you started having headaches frequently. The new house had its own laws. As you were put with in-laws, the first thing that you had to do after coming from office was cooking dinner. Everything seemed like a scheme. Only when you stretched on the bed after washing dishes, the so called husband came near you for a small talk for his very own good or need. The praises and gratitude which was bestowed by just being you had vanished. To have a glimpse of that, you burnt all you had. All the love has perspired in thin air.

Wiping off the tears, living two lives, you tried to cut open the seal a little. You made your pockets of joys with friends at office. Talking to an old buddy was a new norm. Everyone else’s life seemed slightly better. The grass is greener the other side. Still, it was blissful to smile in other’s happiness. Here, you began gathering yourself, praying that one day you’ll be the same again. A hope, for your dismay, remained unrealized.

Work at office remained challenging as ever. Prompting you to quit at every milestone achieved, fearing the more will be served on plate. For records, the office hours were fixed. Off the record, we all know that it never does. Sometimes, like earlier times, you've arrived so fashionable late at the office gate. Alas! The very same life partner barks at you for being irresponsible and wasting time. Making him to wait at the gate for so long. With silence, while going back home in his car, teary eyed, you kept wondering - Is that you?