Day: Durga Ashtami, the eighth day of the Navratras.
Place:Mumbai, India
Anjali was sitting by the window-side, feeling quite low. Holding a piece of paper in either hands, she gazed at the clouds in the sky with longing eyes.
Anjali was eldest amongst Mr Kapoor's three daughters. Life was never what she imagined for herself. As a kid, Anjali was always soft spoken , meek and shy girl. Being eldest, she was always under constant supervision of Mr and Mrs Kapoor. She had to be perfect example for her younger siblings and though she was most pampered one but life was extremely disciplined for her. She lived life by the rules that were laid out for her.Her decisions were taken by her family. Though she never hated that but she lived life by the checklist.
Checklist: Since childhood, Anjali learnt the art of disciplining herself by writing a checklist everytime. And this checklist was list of items, she had to complete - a todo list.
1) Clear Cupboard
2) Finish homework
3) Produce a new jingle on piano
...
Piano: Anjali loved to play piano. Her piano teacher forecasted that she would become a great musician one day. But her educationist family looked at it as a hobby rather than a serious profession. And so at age of 14, shutting aside all her hobbies, she had to take to serious studies due to approaching board exams. Anjali knew she wouldnt excel in studies. A slight dyslexic by birth, studies wasnt her area of interest. But her checklist consisted of an item : get into engineeering college.
Engineering College: While Anjali was preparing for entrance exams, Mr. Kapoor took very ill. With fragile financial conditions, engg college was a distant dream now. With relatives flocking their household enquiring about Mr Kapoor's health, Anjali had to burn midnight oil in order to find time to study. As luck would have it,Anjali got into one of the govt aided engineering college having minimal fees. It was here in her engineering days, Anjali realised her love for event management during her college fests.
College Fests:College fests opened new doors for Anjali. Her interactions with different kinds of people made her add another item in her checklist: Public Speaking. Being shy and timid, this wasnt an easy thing for her. After getting mocked once for freezing on stage, Anjali vowed to get out of her fear. It was in such college fests, Anjali realised her love for planning and organising events. So she added another item in her checklist: Event Management.
Event Management: After engineering, Anjali started working for an engineering firm. She still had her unchecked items in checklist at back of her mind. Her firm would organise various employee welfare events and she volunteered for one of those events.
The Event: Anjali was given task of managing stage performances. She had to coordinate between comparers and performers. The daily rehearsals had made her memorise the entire sequence. On the event day, unfortunately one of the comparers took ill. As a last minute replacement, Anjali was asked to compare as she knew the entire sequence. On the stage, Anjali looked at the massive odd 1000 people crowd, she got numb, just when someone from behind nudged her and Anjali spoke her lines. The regular rehearsals had made her memorise the lines so well, that her voice was confident though her mind was entirely blank.The event went well. And the next day, Anjali got a mail in her office mail box from Entertainment Inc.
Entertainment Inc.: Entertainment Inc, one the largest event management agencies of the country was co-organising the event. The VP of Entertainment Inc., happened to attended the event the previous day. He was quite impressed with Anjali's performance and asked her to meet him at their office over a cup of coffee, at 2pm on saturday.
2pm, Saturday: Anjali reached Entertainment Inc.'s office. The meeting turned quite a surprise for her as she was offered a post of Asst. to Event Director. Anjali could not believe her eyes. Her stupid checklist item about which she wasnt that serious, was coming true!! Anjali reached home ecstatic.
Home: The environment at home was quite opposite to what Anjali had witnessed at Entertainment Inc. Mr. Kapoor got the news that he would soon be jobless, as the company he worked for, unexpectedly planned to shut its operations following huge losses as result of global crisis. Now, Anjali was only earning member at her home. This also meant the entire household financial responsibilty was on her shoulders now on. The Asst Event Director job at Entertainment Inc wasnt as paying as her current one though it was something she always wanted to do.Stunned by the sudden turn of events, Anjali sat by the window side wondering.
Window Side: Anjali is stunned by the tumultous turn of events. A week ago, she took up the event thingy as a side task in her job, She ticked off Public speaking from her checklist. She even got offer for a dream work she stupidly wrote in her checklist. She tries to assimilate things. Why did her fate show her the path that she dint had to follow? On one side lies her duty, on other side her own dreams in the form of her checklist. Her mind is clouded with questions for which she seeks answers. She chances at the photo of Maa Durga on her wall.
Maa Durga: Maa Durga is diety prayed by Hindus during Navratras. The Real Iron Lady, seated on a tiger, Maa Durga also called Astha Durga has eight hands. The fearless Goddess is a fighter with a sword in one hand and simultaneously a messenger of peace with shankh (conch) in another hand. Maa is a true example of multi tasker and a balancer. Anjali looks at the pic and sees Maa Durga smiling at her.Anjali gets her answer.
Answer: Anjali calls up Entertainment Inc and declines the full time offer with them. But for her own experince she volunteers to assist them on their events on weekends for free. Anjali rememebers Maa Durga and adds to her checklist, few more items- manage home, job and assignment with Entertainment Inc,. She then lets out a smile, This too shall pass..
Jai Mata Di!
