The right call.

Off late, many of my colleagues and friends had asked as to whether anything was bothering me. They found me to be off colour, lacking in chutzpah, often listless and withdrawn – in general, not at my exuberant best. And life was going on as usual with a lot of unusual happenings of late, especially that of Lekha’s ailment.

There’s also a general feeling amongst people(and that includes many close relations too) that yours truly being at Delhi and consequently, close to the powers that be, anything and everything is achievable. And so requests of all sorts are received and the need to deliver becomes the endgame! To cite just one of the numerous incredible requests –“ can you ensure that this youngster clears the entrance to the institution even though he’s a bit down(?) in the merit list?” In other words, they don’t mind me being corrupt and buck correct practices, just this one time, for the sake of their child!

So, I am generally a bit trepid when my telephone rings. Calls that come in late at night or a trifle early in the morning have an ominous ring and I’m deeply superstitious that such calls, more often than not, bring in unpalatable news and therefore, I simply dread them. There are those non stop talkers who do not even check as to whether you’re in a position to continue with the conversation and blabber away while there’s a very interesting variety who call in with the opening question as to who you are – and when the call is on your cell phone, you can understand as to how irritating it can be!! And less said the better about wrong calls or those of the marketing variety.

However, this afternoon I got a call that was least expected and the caller was contacting me after what seemed to be a long, long time. Many saw and commented on the spring in my walk, a song in my heart and a twinkle in my eyes that suddenly seemed to have come about after the call was over.

Yes, it was a call from a soul mate that brought about the turn around.