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It was almost 8 PM when Amit reached home. There was no energy left in him. He took his rucksack out of the cab and wore it over his shoulders. He slowly dragged himself to the first floor and rang the doorbell. He could hear Jeff barking with excitement as if he has been waiting for him all day.
Bagga, Amit’s domestic help, opened the door. He was trained by Amit’s mother to cook his home food and mange his household.
“How are you my boy,” said Amit bending down to pat Jeff. Jeff was circling Amit in a frenzy. His front paws would occasionally claw Amit’s trousers. When Amit pulled him away, Jeff would lick his hands. Bagga would disprove of so much of bonhomie with a lowly dog but this was the best part of the day for Amit. He enjoyed a pal who welcomed him like that, so full of energy and enthusiasm.
Amit felt he was regaining his lost strength. Jeff was wagging his tail furiously. He needed to go for a walk. He was now whining and urging Amit to take him out.
“Alright, alright, my boy. I will take you out soon but first let me change,” said Amit.
He then rushed to his room, undid his tie, and got into his comfortable white t-shirt and black shorts. It was getting a little chilly in the evening so he also wore a black sweater on top of his white t-shirt. He quickly washed his face, put Jeff on a leash and took him to a nearby park.
It was pitch dark, but Amit could see the yellow street lights trying so valiantly to illuminate the park. He could smell the freshly cut grass. The gentle breeze made a light whooshy noise when they touched the leaves of the trees around the park. The air didn’t feel very fresh and had a smoky smell. The air pollution levels were high again.
Yet he didn’t mind it. He loved being in the open. Being himself. Being free. For him, nature was the only real thing. Office, bosses and clients were simply an illusion. He was no longer a prisoner in a cubicle. He was no longer forced to interact with clients or listen to his boss’ sop tales. They were all human, he accepted. But they also drained his energy levels and affected his mood.
Nonetheless Amit felt bad for Smriti. She had obviously endured a lot of pain. He was happy for one reason, that he had done his good deed for the day. He had helped Smriti buy medicines for her ailing mother and saved her a few up-and-down trips to the market.
There were very few people in the park. Jeff was happily sniffing around, checking out which of his compatriots had visited the park before him and hoping that he would find something interesting, like a long juicy bone?
Amit saw a middle aged woman walking all by herself. Another woman was waving her hands and asking a bus to stop for her, which it did. Amit saw the lady climbing inside the bus and take a seat before the bus shut its automatic doors and started moving.
An orange colour Lamborghini zipped past at a high speed, its engine making a loud vrooming noise. Who were these rich kids flaunting their Lamborghini just like that? There was nothing wrong in owning a Lamborghini and driving it on the streets. But driving at such a high speed? Was that justified? A few years back a few rich lads had killed six or seven people sleeping on a pavement with their brand new BMW. Don’t people learn from their mistakes, Amit wondered.
He noticed two boys doing push-ups challenging each other and realised that he should exercise as well. He too needed some “me time”. Amit, however, didn’t want to exercise in the open, in front of everyone. So he dragged a reluctant Jeff back to his apartment, unleashed him and quickly laid a yoga mat on the floor.
Amit was a master of Pilates. For the next 30 minutes, he stretched himself, rolled like a ball and finally did a roll over, his favourite exercise. He next lay on his back, stretched his legs at a 90 degree angle and lifted them behind his head. He felt his abdominal muscles contracting while his mind relaxed. Such exercises pushed him to the limit and in doing so rejuvenated him. He ended the workout with a series of different kinds of push-ups.
Amit had barely survived the first day at his workplace. Tomorrow was going to be another day for him.
