Mr Dabir looked at his old analogue wristwatch. He still had some time; he sipped at the tea in a disposable cup in his hand. He had sugar, hence there was no sugar in anything he consumed at home. This cup of tea with more than required amount of sweetness was closest to what he felt he could safely have, although his wife would love to defer.
The empty cup in the dustbin, the rushing speed of walk, moving through the crowd of people, Mr Dabir moved on and kept walking till he stopped in front of the soft furnishing factory that made pillows, cushions, mattresses etc.
The workers were standing out, and there were a lot of them. They weren’t particularly doing anything and were simply talking amongst each other. Mr Dabir spotted Vikram. Mr Dabir contacted Vikram whenever he was in need of something from the factory.
“What brings you here Mr Dabir,” asked Vikram smiling
“I came her to ask if I could get a bolster pillow on my way back, but it seems that something else is going on here,” said Mr Dabir
“We are not satisfied by the raise in pay. You know how prices have risen, it’s becoming difficult for many of us,” said Vikram
Mr Dabir remembered something about his wife asking to talk about a raise. Mr Dabir had done well in his life; his wife also had a good job as well. This present job was near home, something of a last stint at professional life which was almost at retirement age.
The work was a lot though at the human resource department of this company. This wasn’t a very big company, but it was always short staffed, and apparently always struggling to make profit especially during the time of raise. Mrs Dabir felt whatever it may be, a last stint, but her husband deserved more for the amount of hard work he was putting in.
“How about you come back day after tomorrow, things should settle down a little by then,” said Vikram
“I’ll do that,” said Mr Dabir, then he looked towards Vikram and said, “you be careful, if you need any help give me a call.”
Earlier Mr Dabir was in no mood to ask for a raise, he knew it was near impossible and he wasn’t quite liking the ideas of the shortening of his last working days. But the heat of the moment he had back there, stayed with him and Mr Dabir went in determined.
In the evening Mr Dabir sat on his sofa watching television, leaning against the new bolster pillow. While his wife sat beside him.
“This pillow is so comfortable. I don’t know how Vikram managed to take out time and deliver it,” said Mr Dabir with a smile
“I asked him to get another one,” said Mrs Dabir and after a pause, “there is a lot that can be done online nowadays.”
Mr Dabir smiled, “I will see later, there is no hurry. I think I will enjoy this time off.”
Written by Anuran Chatterji
Early Morning Memories 