Distant Horizon- A Short Story

Electric….Newspaper……..Gas Cylinder…….Grocery store……..Milk……….Mehir kept shuffling the bills, threw them back on table and tried to concentrate on the serial running on TV. Renuka was late from office and Shridhar just got off on her. She first tried to calm him down, letting him know how a meeting scheduled at the far end of the day outstretched. But since he would have none of her reasons, she stormed out of the room shouting, “I run this house. I don’t sit idle in home like you all day”. Mehir’s mind was least interested in the story of Renuka and Shridhar running on TV. He switched off the TV and again pulled the bills back, calculated the total amount and took out money from Mehek’s purse.

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‘Mehir, Wake up….Its already 8:00…We would be late’ shouted Mehek. He rose from bed, cleaned himself and ran towards car. They were late, he tried to pace up the car and Mehek kept on counting how he had turned lazy these days, how he was always lost in his own thought etc. etc. He first dropped their daughter to school, then Mehek to her office and returned back home, back to the bed. He checked his mails, read newspaper, brought groceries and picked daughter from school while returning in the afternoon. Mehek returned in the evening and kept checking with Mehir if he had received any important mail, if he got any call and did he work on the plan. Frustrated he left the room and sat for hours in the reading room. There was the novel which he had purchased months ago but didn’t get time to read. It was the story of a young couple, both working, pushing their life through the labyrinth of expectations and aspirations. Misunderstandings and cracks in the relationship which had cropped in with time. Bored..he put the novel back on the shelf.

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Same routine kept repeating for days. He would wake up with no job to do, look into household chores and end up having small alterations with Mehek. Frustrated he started spending most of the time out side home…….chatting with locals and involving himself in society work which eventually landed him with a NGO working for the upliftment of the area.

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“Everything happens for a good. Had I got defeated or attempted suicide after I lost my job in the recession that happened 15 years ago. I would not have been addressing you from this podium. It was a though phase……..rather a very tough phase. I too felt defeated and frustrated and trying to run away from the difficulties back home, I landed up among you. Today I understand the importance of patience, confidence and hard work. Every black cloud has a silver lining. So I would urge you all to have the nerve of steel. Road that lie ahead for you is wonderful and promising, but it will have moments of uncertainty and self doubt. Those who can steer those moments will only reach the dreams we all have. I wish you all the luck as you pass through the of rolls this great institution” said Mehir, Honourable Prime Minister of India, in his convocation address to the students of IITM, one of the premier institutes of India.

Barack Obama- Dreams from my father, Book Reviewed

Just concluded reading ‘Barack Obama- Dreams from my father’. It is a good and inspiring read. I would admit this book has made a profound impact on me. I have always been a dreamy person, always dreaming about acquiring higher responsibilities, doing something for society, making others life a little better and doing my own little bit for the society etc. etc. Dreams are easy to make but when it comes to implementation everything looks difficult. I am in an age where it is ‘now or never’, either I will do it or don’t. At this juncture I read this book which made my difficulties look minuscule; Barack’s challenges were far greater than ours. If he can do it, why can’t we?
Barack Obama’s narration of his college days, his confusion about his roots and his visit to native place in Kenya is extraordinary. Overall it is a good book but I am afraid for those who have little interest in him or his ascent may not like it. It is a non fictional, autobiographical sort of book, priced around Rs. 400 in India.
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Started reading “Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish by Rashmi Bansal” on recommendation of Balraj, one of my closest friends. It is the inspiring stories of 25 IIMA entrepreneurs who chose to tread their own path. Balraj himself being a budding entrepreneur in Chandigarh, has recommended this book to me. Let’s see…how I feel about it…………I will keep you updated.