GREASE AND GRIME

Shikhar was working since morning relentlessly. He was an ombudsman in the Garage. 

He was a tea boy, an amateur mechanic ,errand boy, a right hand, a Man Friday' to the owner of the Garage .

On this particular day he was working but his mind was pre-occupied with something else.

He was not his usual self. Something was making him excited ,nervous and irritable. May be he was tired, exhausted and famished.

Just then the owner called him and said Shikhar, your work has been too slow today. You have to still complete two vehicles work. The owners may be here any moment, and it is already getting late. Finish your job and then go. And ........ that was the last straw for him that day. His face went red with anger and shame and his tone was biting and rough. He spread out his grease stained ,strained hands, and thrust them at his boss and said, I've not had a moment's rest today and you complain my work is not over. I've lived here ever since I was a kid . You made me do child labour. I can get you behind the bars today. But since I earned this reputation of being a good Mechanic, Man Friday and a good Being, I did my best till now. Now I think it's high time I made out on my own and stand on my own feet.

Shikhar felt,cheated and thwarted inspite of doing his duties diligently. He left with a determined bent of mind, to succeed and never to return here 

       Seven years later, exactly on this day he was recalling this incident He looked at his hands, now well groomed and muscular and kissed them ardently. I owe my today's status  to my Grease and Grime and suit and nuts and bolts.   He recalled Getting those smears cleaned was a tough job0. And the hands were always smelling of rubber and oil/ petrol /diesel. He forgot how he looked. His hands went numb and swollen, always smeared with dust, grime, grease ,black paint and other things found in garages. Somewhere he was working mechanically and detachedly. The attitude of the boss was annoying. and he finally cracked up.

Then on he was a man possessed with a passion for work, earning and living a decent life and that too on his own.

From Shikhar he turned to Mr Shikhar. Owned a Garage now, had helpers and earned handsomely.

Today he calls the shots and still preserved his soiled, greased ,blackened clothes as a reminder to be grounded ever in life ,come what may

In life, sometimes very silly moments and foolish acts  compel an individual to turn into a successful being or a total wreck all together. Shikhar was fortunate to start on his own successfully ...