Rachana checked her phone for the tenth time in the last five minutes. The signal strength showed that the phone had full coverage. “Stupid phone.. ” she muttered.
She had butterflies in her stomach. She did not remember feeling so jittery ever.. Rachana thanked Tanvi mentally, for reminding her of her love, her passion. Had it not been for Tanvi she would never have applied for the job interview.
The last couple of months had completely changed her life. It all started with the little strip tuning blue. She was overjoyed. They had been trying to conceive for the last few months and here it was!.. Lots of celebrations ensued. Both sets of parents could not hide their excitement at the arrival of the newest member of the family. And then at the baby’s naming ceremony, she met Tanvi.
This was the first time Rachana had seen her best friend since school. She reminisced about those times.. Tanvi liked to sing, and Rachana liked to paint. Rachana could share her feelings so easily with Tanvi. The freedom that painting gave her, the joy she experienced after.. somehow, Tanvi was the one who could understand her and identify with her. Tanvi was an artist too just like her. Her parents never understood why the girl loved painting so much. But then they didn’t stop her either since she did quite well in her school exams and that was enough for them.
And then it was time for her board exams and her parents made her stop all the “distractions” and focus on studies. She was sad and heartbroken.. but she was a good kid.. an obedient one.. She had never gone against her parents wishes, she assumed that they knew what they were saying, and it could only be for her own good, and so she put her energies into studying instead. She thought she would get back to painting after the exams.. but that never happened. After the tenth boards came twelfth boards…her parents decided she must go for engineering – afterall that was the “in” profession. She would earn a decent amount and could live independently. They were proud of their girl. During all this somewhere down the line her passion – painting – got locked somewhere.. and she completely forgot all about its existence until that day.
When she and Tanvi sat down for a chat after all the ceremonies were done with, she came to know that Tanvi was now a singer. She did live shows and part time RJing, only until her album came out, Tanvi assured her. Rachana could still see the passion in Tanvi’s eyes. She suddenly felt jealous. She was rendered speechless when Tanvi asked her what she was upto the last couple of years. She felt ashamed of telling her that she had betrayed her love. But she did nonetheless. She also gushed out how jealous she felt seeing that Tanvi had managed to live up and continue doing what her heart told her. Tanvi heard her out, calmed her down and explained to her, it was not too late. She could help her. It was through Tanvi’s contacts that Rachana found out about an opportunity to work with an advertising firm as a graphic designer.
Rachana’s family and friends were completely against her idea. They felt that the baby was the most important priority at this time.. How could she be so selfish and think only about herself. According to them, she could follow her passion later.. when the baby was old enough. But she had enough of listening to her parents.. not doing what she really wanted to do. This was it. She was going to apply for the position. She would manage the baby fine.. thankfully her husband understood her, and had promised to stand by her with whatever decision she took.
—————
The sound of the phone ringing interrupted her day dreaming..
“Hello is this Rachana?”
“Yes, speaking ”
“Hi Rachana. I am calling about the job interview you gave the last week for XYZ. I am very sorry to inform you that we cannot offer you the job at this moment. The lack of experience turned out to be a deal breaker.”
“Oh”
“However, our panel was pretty impressed with your interview and if you really want to join the company, we can offer you a Trainee position. You will be evaluated after 6 months and if you show promise, we can take it further.”
“Thank you for the offer. I need some time to think. I’ll let you know by the end of the day.”
She shut her eyes for a moment. She thought it would be a tough decision. Giving up a high paying IT job for a trainee position ? People would call her a fool. For others it would have been a no-brainer. But then she was not like them.
It was surprisingly easy for her. She opened her laptop and started typing out her resignation letter.
She looked fondly at her baby.. Both of them were starting a new life, and it was going to be one heck of a journey!
wonderful! loved the story…it surely is never too late to follow one’s passion.
Thanks Titaxy.. you are absolutely correct!
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š š š
woww š i liked it
Thanks Dido š
Nice one. Its so nice to go after one’s heart š
It is nice.. but I feel it is quite scary and needs a lot of courage to leave a cushy job and go chase the dream
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Heartfelt story that was! š
Thank you jee š
Wow! Lucky, brave her! š It is awesome to go after your dream! You need serious guts though! Loved the story! š
Yeah, it needs a lot of guts to give up the comfort zone to chase the dream!
Thanks you so much for liking it DI š
That is such a warm story full of hopes… š
Made me smile š
Thanks divs!
I met this woman on the train who had a 8 month old kid waiting for her at home.. and there she was – chasing her dream job. She was an artist herself and had just started a venture along with a couple of her friends!
I was mighty impressed.
WOW !!! Way to go Rachana !!! Am glad u followed ur heart, now !!!
Brilliant Piyu !!! Let the parents understand how important it is to follow the passion and what the heart tells you !!!
Thanks Uma š
I agree with you.. the unnecessary pressure to just do good in studies and forget all about your interests and natural talent cannot be good for kids.
Superb! š š
I like Rachana’s character so much now! š
Wow! Really… š
Thanks a lot Niveditha š
It is you guys appreciation that makes me write such stories š
Loved the warmth,optimism and so much positivity written in this beautiful story š š
Loved it!!
Thanks CB :), your compliments never fail to cheer me up š
I like Rachna š She is strong and sensitive both !
She is one brave person š
It takes real guts to follow your heart in such testing situations in life..Very nicely written..
Thanks maverickshree.. and yes it sure does!
Lovely story! She’s one brave woman!
Thanks Whinymom.
So true.
Beautiful story…could relate well to Rachana š
Very well written š
Thank you for the compliment Deeps and welcome here š
you’re tagged http://myexpositions.wordpress.com/2010/07/08/from-buzz-to-metag/
Thanks for the tag Nu š
I’ll take it up in some time.
I love positive endings.
Thanks IHM, me too š
way to go! such a lovely story with no dialog(just at the end) and just the thoughts.awesome š
Thank you deethi.. I am glad you liked my style š š
And welcome to the blog!
Wow..Last line says it all..touching..
Thank you DOTR š š
Nice story. Courage and hope are two recurrent themes. Is this pure imagination? I look at my own life and of those around me and try to fictionalize it. Imagination is so difficult.
Thanks Ajay, yes it is pure imagination!
I agree.. it is so difficult.. I actually met this woman on a local train who worked as a graphic designer.. and had a 8 month old baby waiting for her at home.. There I started to imagine what her story could possibly be.. this is what it led to!