Mr Saha inverted the packet over his right palm and a few salted peanuts rolled out and fell on the palm. Mr Saha ate them and he looked ahead with an expression of extreme disappointment and he didn’t know what exactly disappointed him the most.
Mr Saha was part of the IT department of a hospital. He had worked in several hospitals before in the same field, he felt the benefits were better on the medical side with this work profile. He had ended up in a job with better pay but unlike his previous job where he headed the department, here he was being headed by another and the work pressure was immense.
The hospital was still in a growth and development stage when Mr Saha had joined, but in few years’ time it had become a preferred hospital for many and it is needless to say that the workload had drastically increased for everyone especially for Mr Saha’s department which could do better with some additions in the staff but the hospital was insistent on its restricted budget.
Working late nights was becoming common. The burden of a good worker also lies in the fact that he/she is always needed and Mr Saha was a good worker. On the other hand, no one noticed the toll the work was taking on Mr Saha’s mind. Some men have this unnecessary need to have this strong appearance at home even when they are breaking apart inside.
One morning Mr Saha got up early before anyone else in the house and he decided to go through some old photos, of his childhood, marriages of relatives, his own marriage and then the special little album, one which wasn’t too uniformly arranged as other with some photos almost falling out. This small album contained the photos of Mr Saha’s college days, ‘the most amazing days of his life’ which he sometimes claimed when his wife was not around.
One of the photos was of him and his friend sitting in front of a tea shop.
‘The tea was amazing’ thought Mr Saha and he had this urge to have a cup of it. Mr Saha’s college was in a bordering state; it was a 3-hour drive.
When Mr Saha was driving to work at a red light, he suddenly had a change of heart for what he intended to do that day and he put the location of the tea shop and as soon as the light turned green, he was on his way there.
He figured he would be back home late evening and even if the night didn’t wait for him before arriving, his family won’t suspect a thing since he worked late most days. As for work, he decided to do the most irresponsible thing, not answer any calls and mails. He would think of something before going to work the next day.
Mr Saha enjoyed every bit of his drive, he played some songs which he listened to during his college days and singing and swaying and feeling the breeze on his way, Mr Saha reached where he wanted to, but did not find the presence he was looking for like he had imagined.
The tea shop was part of a house; the owner of the house had specifically made the shop to rent it out and it became a tea shop. But there was no shop there anymore, the house had been reconstructed and the shop was taken out of existence. A few passersby looked at Mr Saha confused as to why he was standing across the road from the house and staring at it. Some questioned his intention.
The shop wasn’t there, so Mr Saha walked back to his car, and took out a packet of peanuts that his daughter had left in the car and he walked back to where he was standing, eating the peanuts and enjoying the memories as they flashed in front of his eyes. He had spent so many emotion-filled moments here, whether it was tea before the exams he wasn’t sure he was prepared for or celebrating things like the country’s cricket team winning a crucial cricket match. Nothing will stay just because you want it to, I thought my phone was a precious gadget to me and no harm shall come to it but almost every week due to the courtesy of my dog, the phone falls down and some screen issues are visible now.
The packet had become empty of its content and Mr Saha decided to drive back after a few last seconds of glance. He had thought he would take a photo on his phone but there was nothing to be photographed anymore. Meanwhile an observing security guard walked to Mr Saha, enquiring if he could help Mr Saha in any manner.
“There used to be a tea shop here,” said Mr Saha
“It’s still there, just not here,” replied the security guard
“Here nearby?” asked Mr Saha
The security guard told Mr Saha the location where the tea shop had shifted three years ago. Mr Saha wondered if it would feel the same but nonetheless he decided to let himself feel like a college boy once more as he rushed to his car excited to have his favourite cup of tea.
Written by Anuran Chatterji
Driving to Memories
Early Morning Memories 