The Chasm

Mrinal stretched her hand out of the comforter and reached out to her phone that was lying on the side table. After a moment of struggle to find the phone in the pitch dark room, she found it, grabbed it to look at the time. It was still 6:50 in the morning, 10 minutes more for the alarm! She had a small party with her office colleagues and reached home around midnight. Gone were the days when the parties used to go on till early in the morning. She was quite excited for the big day and ended up having a fitful sleep due to the excitement. She couldn't even wait for the alarm, and the excitement made her win in a race with the alarm. Still feeling groggy from the previous day's wine and the lack of proper sleep, she dragged herself from the bed. It was a chilly early November morning, while she wanted to sleep for a little while longer, she was not able to. It was a big day, she didn't want to be late and wanted to savor each moment of the day!

 

She quickly glanced at her mobile and realized that the battery was running precariously low. She cannot afford to have the battery drained that day, of all days. She hurriedly plugged the charger into the phone and went into the bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled with a self-admiration and patting her back, 'still looking good, Mrinal.' For a moment, she had a pang of guilt that she was missing the gym, but what the heck, not all days are as unique, and decided to give the gym visit a pass. She ended up taking longer than usual while brushing and in the warm shower. The warm-shower helped to remove some of the grogginess from the lack of sleep and the cold November early morning and also added to the pepped up mood she was in. She took her time to dry her hair with the blower and came out into the bedroom. She quickly changed over to a pair of pajamas and a grey T-shirt, and at the same time, she heard her doorbell ring.

 

Sumati, her domestic help, was at the door, carrying the newspaper and the milk packet. She smiled and said, "good morning Didi," and walked into the kitchen. Mrinal looked at the clock; it was 7:30 and had some time before she had to get ready to go to the office. She had a couple of important meetings to attend that day. She sat on her couch, took up the newspaper, and started glancing through the days' events.

 

Seeing no plates on the sink, Sumati hollered, "Didi, you had dinner outside yesterday also?" Mrinal mumbled, "hmmm, office party." Shaking her head with slight disapproval, Sumati cut open the milk packet, poured it into a vessel, and placed it on the stove to boil it. "Didi, what do I make for breakfast?" she hollered again. Mrinal mumbled, "you make with whatever is there." Sumati smiled and said, "ok, I'll make Poha!"

 

The paper had the usual stuff, all the politicians abusing each other, local news about some murder, molestation, and some full-page article about a yesteryear actress' cute son! Apparently, he learned to use the potty, and it is flashed as a piece of national news! Sumati came in to keep the Poha and Chai on the dining table. She quipped, "Didi, why wasting time in the newspaper, they print the same thing daily and just change the date!" Mrinal looked at her and smiled. 

 

Sumati asked, "did Dhruv baba call? When is he coming from America?" Mrinal ignored the question and continued, "How is your son studying? All well with your in-laws?" Sumati has been supporting her for many years and has been through Mrinal's personal and professional evolution. Mrinal was reminiscing about this and realized that she never really acknowledged the support she has been receiving for so many years. She looked at Sumati and said, "Thank you, Sumati"! Sumati looked at her shyly and said, "Chai is getting cold" and went into the kitchen. Mrinal smiled and said, "don't make anything for lunch, I'll have it in the office." She finished up the Poha and washed it down with the Chai, and went inside to get ready.

 

She went to her bedroom, changed to a pair of blue jeans and a purple top! She never fussed about her wardrobe, and from a younger age, she was quite indifferent when it came to style. Perhaps that's one of the reasons she grew up with lesser friends despite passing out from an all-girls school. She somehow never enjoyed discussions circling shopping, Bollywood, and the latest trends in fashion. She grew up as a nerd, but she always carried herself well. She applied the eyeliner and wore her favorite shade of lipstick to go with her skin complexion. Dabbed a few drops of her favorite Dior perfume and looked at herself one last time in the mirror! She couldn't see well, and that's when she realized she forgot to wear her contact lenses. She never could figure out during the younger days whether the glasses caused the nerdiness or the other way around.

 

She removed her phone from the charger and glanced at the screen to check messages. She could see a lot of notifications, wishing her on her birthday! Quickly opened the messages app to check for a text from Dhruv, no, not there! She kept the phone in her bag, wore her favorite pair of shoes, and got into her car to go to her office!

 

Mrinal parked her car in the space reserved for senior leaders, and took her bag, and got into the elevator that was waiting. She had a very different feeling, unable to explain the exact nature - A mixture of excitement, anxiety, and a bit of 'butterflies in the stomach'! She pressed the button for her floor in the elevator and looked around her to see a few other colleagues. They smiled at her respectfully, and she smiled back with a slight nod. She was part of the senior leadership team in the large organization. She had grown through the ranks, and pretty much everyone knew her! She got out of the elevator on her floor, flashed her access card, and walked towards her cabin. She was surprised to see the balloons and streamers in the bays. There was a banner with "Happy Birthday" on it! As soon as she entered, the entire team in a chorus wished her for her birthday! 

 

At that moment, she really felt that all the efforts and time spent on working hard, long nights, and meticulous connect sessions with people are all worth it. She was overwhelmed, looking at the warm and colorful welcome. Despite the late team dinner last night, the team seemed to have come over early in the morning to set this up. She really felt moved! She stood in the aisle and thanked the entire team and gleefully walked into her cabin. She took out her phone to check if Dhruv had messaged, not yet!

 

She logged in, checked her mails, and went about her routines. Her CEO called her to wish her for her birthday. Not that he wished her for her birthday every year, but today was indeed a special one! She thanked him and replied to each one who wished her on Email. After a couple of hours into meetings and discussions, she suddenly felt a slight headache. She remembered the lack of sleep the previous night. She got up to go to the pantry to fetch a mug of black coffee without sugar! She looked at her mobile and replied to some of her friends' and colleagues' birthday wishes.

 

 A notification popped on the screen, a birthday message from Sashank, someone who has never missed a single year since they have known each other. This brought a smile on her face, she responded to the message. It has been a while since she caught up with him and made a mental note to call him and make a plan one of these days. Years ago, Mrinal, while working on joint projects, became friends with him, and they mutually developed a great respect and admiration for each other. It later transformed into a crush, and eventually, they became quite close to each other. At a point in time, they wanted to take this relationship to the next level, but their situations deterred it. It was quite an emotional, massive moment, but they chose to move ahead! And so, they moved on with their respective paths, cherishing the mutually precious short-lived-love! He has never missed to wish her on her birthday since the year they met, though she has often been forgetful and ended up missing his calls at times. She resolved to remember to return missed calls, henceforth, now that she will have the bandwidth. She opened her personal cloud to just look at some of the old pics with him and the team. The pictures brought out old memories and the feelings associated with it. Despite the changes in priorities over the years, they have stored the mutual affection in a corner of their heart. Earlier, if someone would have said that time would split them wide apart, she never would have agreed! Anyway, those were old memories, preciously cherished for life. She heaved a heavy breath and walked back towards her cabin.

 

She had a couple of more meetings and spent some time with the person in her team who was next in line with her. At around 2:30 in the afternoon, she felt slightly hungry and wanted to have lunch. But that queasy feeling, a concoction of excitement and anxiety returned, and she decided to have another cup of coffee instead! She glanced at her phone to check for messages from Dhruv again, but still, none!

 

At around 4 PM, her business head and various other unit heads walked up to her cabin with a large bouquet of flowers. She was overwhelmed to look at the seniors who have come to wish her and was feeling moved, the second time on the same day! They held her hand and beckoned her towards the cafeteria, which was on the floor above theirs. She could see people from the entire floor following them and was wondering what was happening. While she knew they usually celebrate birthdays with a cake, the crowd and warm gestures were entirely new!

 

When she entered the cafeteria, she was amazed at the decorations and crowd. The place was filled with people from all departments. There was a huge banner that wished her for the great day! She was really feeling overwhelmed by all the preparations and realized it was indeed a big day, probably it hadn't sunk in properly yet. There was a large cake, her favorite red velvet, which she cut amidst artificial snowflakes and glitters flying from the confetti. This moment may never come in life!

 

The business manager started addressing the crowd and praised her achievements and wished her well. When it was her turn to address the team, she started by thanking them all for the wonderful gesture and ended her speech short without boring them with corporate sermons. Towards the end, she felt her eyes misty. Not too sure if the team's love or old memories with Sashank or the fact that she was missing Dhruv caused the teary eyes! She just looked away and wiped the droplet of tears from the corner of the eyes! 

 

After about over an hour, after sharing niceties with the entire team and having her favorite red velvet cake, she retreated to her cabin. She needed some time alone before the day ended.

 

Mrinal sat all alone in her cabin, looking out through the window, the same view that she has seen for the past so many years. She took a moment to compose herself when she got a call on her extension. It was the IT support guy; he was checking, "ma'am, when can I come for the laptop?" She asked him to come after half an hour and realized it was indeed time. Once again she glanced at the phone, still no message from Dhruv. She dropped a note to Sashank to check if he was in town and free to catch up! She really didn't want to be home all alone, especially on an important day!

 

Realizing that the time has indeed come, she opened her laptop. She started typing a mail to the entire organization with a subject, "Good-Bye." She started typing, "After glorious 35 years in the company…

 

At the same time, her mobile screen flashed, notifying a new message!