This is one of the common experiences of any software professional who is employed in a city or state other than his/her native.I dedicate this to all software professionals who are away from their family and friends for their livelihood.I hope you all will find this article interesting!!!
Those are the days which are still evergreen in my mind.Chennai being my native,Bengaluru was the city of my employment.Oh!Five days of hectic work.I would be eagerly waiting for the dawn of friday.A timer would be running in my mind and the countdown for 2.30 PM will start right from friday morning.You may wonder why i am so much particular about 2.30 PM.Friends,there is a reason behind it.It is the departure time of "Brindavan Express".Brindavan Express is one of my favourite trains as it took me to chennai on every weekend.I always have a special memory for Brindavan Express that carried me along with my dreams towards chennai every friday afternoon.
When the clock struck 2.15 PM i used to shut down my workstation,lock my draw and cupboards,try to find a new way or route so that i could not be caught by the watchful eyes of my boss that is my project manager.Really scared of the last minute work updates, weekly reports and work assignments which will spoil our weekend mood my ultimate aim would be to catch an auto to flee to cantonment station.
"Bhaiyya","Anna" whatever comes to my mind i'll call the auto driver.No matter how much money the auto driver would demand from me for the short distance, my target was to reach the cantonment railway station on time.I would not then realise that this bhaiyya was going to demand a huge amount from me on noticing a lifeless thing that kept hanging around my neck-my id card-.I remember those days in chennai when my mom used to nag me to wear a small gold pendant which she thought would good look for me.But i will simply ignore those motherly wishes.But the irony was that i had to live with the ID card as long as i worked as an IT professional in bengaluru.
The prudent auto driver would easily scan my perplexed mind and exploit the situation by demanding double the fair.On those occasions,there would be no bargaining, no denial from my side.Every moment from the time i left the office and till the time i reached the station would be like a thriller movie.Crossing all odds,i would atlast reach the station.
Having reached the station,anxious moments would await me there as the train was slowly coming towards me. I had to struggle admist the crowds already assembled at the station with their bags and baggages.To my surprise i would find myself floating in to the compartment without any strain on my part.Thanks to the surging crowd. Finally there was a sign of relief when i succeeded in getting a window seat.I usually would not carry any big bags while travelling.No lunch box, no watter bottles, and no worries too. Because the ocassion was a happy home-coming to me.
As if I had secured a safe position in life, I enjoyed my window seat journey after making myself comfortable and enjoying the cool breze with the hand rested on the window pane.The noises of the crowd in the compartment slowly died down.I settled down to read the novel that i had with me.While going through the book, I felt a pinch of hunger,because the lunch I had by 11.30 AM that day had already vanished away and my stomach was eagerly waiting for the snacks of the irctc caterers.My choice was the yummy tomato soup which used to be sold at Rs.4/cup.The quality of the soup was so so.
Reading novel, watching childrens' cry,having a chat with co-passengers,having a nap I spent the rest of the time of the journey.when i reached the nearest station, called up my mother "Mama, can you prepare Idli and onion sambar tonite and prepare appam and coconut milk on saturday morning? I was least bothered about the wierd look of the co-passenger.
Altast when i reached chennai, the chennai tamil gave me a warm welcome.