Yours, Scrish!

My outlook calendar-notification pop-ed up at 7 PM. “Time to go home” it read. Habitually, I turned my wrist and checked the time in my watch. I was drafting a mail to be sent to one of my clients. It will only take a few minutes to finish that, but I run the risk of forgetting the time in that few minutes and end up leaving office very late. So, I stood up from my comfy office chair and continued to finish the mail half bent forward from standing position. I clicked the send button and sensed a pain at my lower back. “Ouch! Now, why am I standing?” I wondered and sat down and continued to work.

“Not leaving Krish?” asked my colleague, Ady –fancy name, I know. Adaleeswaran was shortened to Ady for the ease of pronunciation for those who live on the other side of the world. That’s exactly how I, Krishnamoorthy, had turned Krish! Most of us Indians in the IT sector sport such fancy names inside Office for the very same reason.

Oh! What was I saying? Yes! Only when Ady asked me the time again, I checked the bottom right corner of my computer screen. It was already 8 PM. Then, I remembered the reason behind my typing the email in standing position and the consecutive back pain. This was not the first time I was sitting in office like this. Many a times, I had sit in office till I felt extremely hungry or till the time I got a call from my wife, Padma, who by now is used to my scattered brain and often calls me Scrish!

“Arrghhh” I groaned and locked my system. I removed the laptop from the deck and put it along with its accessories into the leather laptop bag. I, then, looked at the sheet pinned on my cubicle wall. It read –

“Laptop
Lap charger
Mobile
Wallet
Watch
Id card
Car keys”

I quickly checked and took all those in the list and hurried towards the lift lobby.

I reached the ground floor and paused. “Did I come in car today?” I tried to recollect. There were times when I had forgot my car and took the office bus back home, leaving the car at office. I remembered that car keys were not with me when I checked the check-list at my desk and confirmed myself that I had not come in car that day. I quickly walked towards the place where the office buses were lined up. The next trip would start at 8:30 PM.

I felt a groaning sound from my stomach. It will take another forty minutes to reach home. If, only had I started at 7, I would have reached home by then. I sighed and as I relaxed in the bus seat, I again checked whether I took everything from the office. “Ah! perfect” I thought satisfied, but, I had that feeling that I was missing something. Given my absentmindedness this has also become a usual feeling –the constant feeling that I had forgotten something. I tried to ignore that and closed my eyes.

“Sir! Krish Sir!” the driver called turning back. I had already informed the driver to remind me at my stop.

I got down from the bus carrying my bag and walked towards my apartments. As I reached my floor, I confirmed that it’s the second floor. Like the superstar in one of his famous Tamil movies, I already have the reputation of barging into the flat right below us in the first floor. I heard that these days the lady of that house keeps her doors locked always!

As I walked towards my flat, the famous feeling crept up again and I turned to the lift again. “Let me just go and see that my car is parked where it should be” I said myself and reached the basement. I walked to my parking lot and stood there froze. The car was not there! I hit my forehead pretty hard and cursed myself for not checking in the office basement. I went up again dreading Padhu’s lecture on how I am becoming worse every passing day.

I pressed the calling bell and waited. Padhu opened the door and stood there staring at me in shock. Then, she, too, hit her forehead hard.

“Argh! I know I have left the car again at office, but please don’t start again. Am famished already” I said tired.

“Aaaahhhh! For heaven’s sake, we have sold our car last week! Don’t you remember?” she asked extremely irritated.

Realization dawned on me and I exclaimed, “Indeed! We did! Didn’t we?” then, I asked, “then why are you worried Padhu?”

“You mad SCRISHHHH! You are supposed to catch the 7 PM flight to Mumbai to attend your neice’s wedding!”

-End-​