The day the man in me was born

I just desperately wanted to leave home. I was so tired of the constant bickering of my parents  (which continue to this day .. ) that I would have willingly gone to Shirngnapur if Singapore would not have happened. Infact one of my mom friends called her and congratulated her that she would be doing the Ashtavinayak often from now on.

It was a chance coincidence. I was at one of the numerous interviews that used to happen those days. Dr. Manmohan Singh (the then FM) had opened the Indian economy a few years ago in 1991 and all the Sonys & the Panasonics of the world were making an entry into India. In the process of doing so, they were also looking for ready-made people like me (I was working for Onida  - Consumer Electronics - for about 2 years in sales & knew a lot of distributors and retailers). As expected, the call from Sony came and I dutifully attended as I attended quite a few earlier. Those days there were only 3 frontline consumer electronics companies viz. Onida, BPL & Videocon. It was no surprise therefore, that all the sales guys who attended these interviews got job offers immediately from these companies and the likes of Aiwa, Akai etc. You really had to be really bad not to get an offer. It was just the matter of how much more they would pay you than what you are getting in your present job. As was expected I got the offer from Sony with a significant pay hike but exactly the same role to what I was doing currently. I was not interested. In the meantime, an offer for working for a distributor for Sony in Singapore came through.  Knowing little, I readily agreed. The only issue was that I did not have a passport as I was never in love with the foreign allure. Who made passports at those times? Applied and passport also came in like 15 days which was akin to winning a lottery in those days ! My mom had used her quota of limbu mirchi and all that comes along with it just so that don't go but I told her that I will go to Aurangabad instead which was my alternative with Godrej. 

The only idea I had about Far East was some society uncle getting shorts from Malaysia. I used to pay a fortune for that. Remind me to get even with him later. And even that uncle who got me Coke cans as gifts when he used to come on a vacation from the US and I saved them as pencil holders. Bloody cheapooss

Everything happened so quick and fast. While my bosses at Onida tried their best to retain me thinking that I am joining the competition, little did they know of my real reasons. Farewell parties were a daily occurrence and though I was not a celebrated drinker back then, I had my fair share of the golden ale. A trip to the "town " was such a highlight back then that I was accompanied with 5 other friends who were lured by a walk on Fashion Street and a movie at Eros. I remember taking a whole bundle of cash neatly wrapped in a newspaper tied in a plastic bag for added effect and a leather pouch for extra security. As if any of that was going to make any difference in the over crowded Mumbai local trains ! Couple of minutes at Thomas Cook left me muddled as well as belittled. Having no idea of foreign currency until then, I was shocked to find myself holding 2 notes and one TC... all worth S $ 100 against the big fat bundle I had in INR which I taken with such fanfare. Now I could just fold the notes and securely place them in my jeans pocket. The leather pouch became an appendage for the rest of the day.

Finally the day dawned and I remember it like yesterday 6th March 1996. Back then, having cars was a luxury that hardly anyone could afford. Yet, 4 cars and 17 people later I was at the international airport. Not to mention 3 of my suitcases which included everything from a toothpick to a toothpaste. I was not going to buy anything for the next 6 months. The airport wore a deserted look at 10:40 am in the morning. Though I had taken only 1 domestic flight prior to this, I knew that something was amiss. Assuming that I was way too early I made my way in after all the customary good byes and touching of feet etc. a good 30 mins later. Not a single soul inside the airport. Later I saw a few fellow passengers loitering around and some polite exchanges later I came to know that they are on the same flight as me. Some were distinguished gentlemen wearing a suit so I deducted that they have done this routine before. They made a huge commotion and lot of arguments ensued. A calm looking Air India official politely told us that out 2.30 pm flight had taken off at 11 am !! They had tried to contact us but apparently we were not reachable. We as a family had by then made it to having a landline (managing to get a landline was a big thing back then but more of that some other time) and it was besieged with calls wishing me for my new journey ahead. So possibly the airlines could not get through is what I assumed. Lots of noise and verbal duels later, all of us were given tickets for the same flight for the next day. Almost 2 hours later I stepped out of the airport and understandably my entire seeing off jamboree had left. 3 suitcases and no Indian currency and yet I made a reluctant journey back home. 

 

The jaw dropping welcome at home will remain etched in my memory forever. The call to my MNC employers that I missed my flight and arrive 24 hours later will continue to be one of the most embarrassing points of my life. While no explanations were sought for being 24 hours late 20 years ago, today a 09:00:01 arrival in office needs an explanation. Such are the vagaries of life !