TANYA SINGH
Age: 33
A week back, I unceremoniously ended my trip to my home
country – India .
I was born and raised in Pune till the age of 22. My father is the CEO of a
leading bank in Australia .
He and my mom had been living in Brisbane
since I was 10. I was raised by my grandparents in Pune. Finance was in my
blood. I finished studying my Chartered Accountancy at 22 and then moved to Brisbane where I did my
MBA, Finance. Campus placement got me here, a lot of dedication saw me rise
amongst the ranks. It’s very exhausting and very satisfying.
After coming to Brisbane for
the first time, I never went back to India – in 10 years, until last
week. My vacation was readily sanctioned. I hadn’t taken one in 7 years. I had
a bit of a tough time explaining to my parents and my husband, Vinay why I
wanted to go to Pune for vacation but I convinced them that I had friends back
there who I wanted to meet. A bit of a lie to be honest. I had had friends in
Pune. I also did stay in touch with them for a couple of years after I moved to
Brisbane – over the Internet and sometimes the phone. But soon I lost touch. But
Vinay didn’t ask too many questions. He just knows when not to ask them. And mom
and dad believed me - eventually. I made my flight and hotel reservations and
took a Cathay Pacific flight from Brisbane
to Mumbai on 19th July. Another short flight from Mumbai and I was
in Pune. I reached the flight entrance and my heart skipped a beat when I
caught the first glimpse of my city – after 10 years. I got down the staircase
and looked around before getting onto the bus. Nothing really seemed familiar,
at least from the runway. I was feeling different – the memories came flooding
back to me. I took a taxi to the Sun-N-Sand. It was late and I was exhausted.
Didn’t really take much of an effort to fall asleep.
When I woke up the next day, it was 10 am . Hadn’t had the luxury of waking up so
late in many years. Felt good to have no agenda for the day – no meetings, no
flights to catch, no presentations. Nothing. Had a quick shower, nice breakfast
and sat down on the bed. The curtains were open, the warm sunlight flooded my
room. I felt a certain kind of blankness. Hadn’t informed anyone that I was
coming. It was a different feeling. Detached, indifferent ….I don’t know what
it was.
I love to read. My study is the favorite room of my house.
And O Henry is one of my favorite authors. I’m bringing him into the picture
because it’s relevant to why I was in Pune. There’s a short story by O Henry
called ‘After Twenty Years’. It is about two childhood friends who grew up like
brothers in New York .
When they were about to embark on their careers, one of them stayed back in New York and the other
moved to the West. But they made an agreement. The agreement was that after
exactly 20 years, on the same date and time, they would meet at the same place
– no matter where they were or what situation they were in. Twenty years is a
long time and eventually they lost contact. One became a criminal, the other
became a cop. And though 20 years is long enough to forget, it so happened that
they both remembered the appointment and turned up at the agreed place. Only,
the criminal couldn’t see the cop’s face since it was dark but the cop
recognized him. Not having the heart to arrest his best friend, he gets a
colleague to do the job for him. Friendship vs. duty. Tough.
Here’s how this is relevant to me.
(to be continued...)
Copyright © Priyanka Dave
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