So many people come and go in our lives! only a few leave a mark behind! those people are not necessarily high profile business men,scientists,superstars, they need not be very intimate,work together or have many things in common!They can be as ordinary a person as chotu!
Lemme tell you who this Chotu is :
He was the assistant chef(I dont find a more appropriate designation) in our guest house at Hyderabad!Aged between 16-20 years,medium built.I wish I had a snap of him,what I can remember is his confused face and the green T-shirt which he used to wear most of the times.He would welcome me with a wide grin after I used to return from 8-10 days of b'lore visit!
I saw him for almost more than 3 months! his activities would be like this :
1.Assist in chopping vegetables etc(I doubt he did that, there were 2 others for this)
2.serve breakfast and dinner to everybody who come there.It would take 5-6 foot steps from kitchen to the dining table.
3.Serve tea
4.clean the table and dump utensils in the wash basin.(Another maid will come to clean that)
5.Visit all rooms with cleaners,change bed-spreads once in a week.(I'm sure he'd not change for months together in other rooms where people are not there wen they come for cleaning).
What he would get :
1.I am not sure abt how much he was paid.
2. 3 times meals a day
3.Comfortable place to live
4.Color TV - he could watch it rest of the time
One fine day, Chotu went missing along with another boy!The supervisor there said they have gone back to Orissa to celebrate some festival and would come back.
But there were lots of suspicion as they had took that months salary and all of a sudden went in the afternoon!
I really missed his presence for a long time! one day I was surprised to know how much everybody missed him too!!when we sat for dinner,began the discussion :
Everybody went on telling their unique experiences with him, how he used to react, how angry he used to get to serve extra roti!! how he used to look with corner of his eyes, how differently he used to behave with different guests!( Yes, he used to be nice to those who treat him with respect, others who used to order harshly used to get a stint of ignorance!),how he used to fight with supervisor!
days passed,week after week, and months rolled, Chotu never came back! he'll never again !
Sitting alone this sunday evening, I remember him! God knows why....I was then thinking about 2 points :
1.Why he would have fled : The first thing that come across is may be he was paid less! a little hike in his salary would have made him stay. Each one of us irrespective of our jobs feel that we are paid less and always expect a hike right :)
2.Was his life really comfortable : Sometimes I think, man! so easy and comfortable his job was.....no pressure, no tension, no competition, no deadlines! Once in a while I wish I had that kind of job :D with salary, food, accomodation, entertainment, what else u need....
But later, definitely I would not be happy and satisfied with that....
Now more thoughts come....
Did he feel disappointed to do this kind of job, where people a couple of years older to him used to come there, live with all comforts, earn a fortune!
Did he realize he didn't have a bright future with that job
Did he realize the importance of education
Did he want to explore something better for his life
If the answer is Yes, I am extremely happy for him.
So many youth, due to lack of awareness, poverty, and helplessness end up with mediocore jobs and can never go beyond it :(
Such a simple character, yet so many times has been the point of discussion between me and my husband!!
I dont think we'll ever again meet him,but again who knows!world is a small place....wherever he is, I wish hes doing something better and is more happier than he was here.
All the best Chotu!!
Every morning, guys dont you have a better job :X , again in the evening - whichever road I take....for the 10 mins I walk, I'll come across 4-5 ppl inhaling smoke.
