How Samy became Swami

How 'SAM'y became Swami Direction of life for an IT engineer has changed erroneously today. The thought of sitting at a road side hotel made Samy sick. Samy worked for a big IT giant… Delivered best solutions and was proudly paid high salary… Samy was not a very much experienced resource and neither was he a fresher… He was just 3 yrs old in IT…. That made Samy sicker… Swaminathan was recruited when he was fresh out of college. His life before had not been very pretty. He has had his breakfast in the same road side hotel when he had been in college… he has dressed himself with discount garments and he has struggled to recharge his mobile from the limited pocket money… Life had bloomed for Swaminathan when he was recruited by the big IT giant… There seemed to be colours everywhere… The hotels that he could only marvel when in college were reality now… He could buy clothes from LP and Peter England and Van Heusen… He could wear branded jeans… carry D&G bags and wear Nike shoes… He lived in an apartment with his friends… ate at McDonald's and KFC. He visited Gym and toned himself up. Swaminathan became Samy. He even won a girl friend, his own colleague. Oh yes, life was, in reality, more colourful for Samy. Samy was planning for a dream car this spring and the news broke. It was a blow up for many and to Samy it was like tasting death. The fall out was absolutely unexpected. Samy had lived a happy life, and the pleasure had blinded his eyes from saving money. The first thing that Samy could think about after the news broke was how he was going to pay his mortgage for his old big bike 9 (almost a lakh)… He could not tolerate the thought of looking for a job, now at this time. He wondered how long he could stick with his friends without paying rent. Samy could not digest the thought of being a debtor. He has sold his gold chain his dad had given him as a birthday present, gave up his bike and has bid goodbye to his girlfriend. He went into the very old Tasmac, did not understand how he had drunk this before getting into job, but still emptied the glass into him and now he is at this roadside hotel, the place which he felt where he belongs to from the beginning. Samy had numerous thoughts running into his head. He had visited his friend in the morning for a job and was humiliated by the work that was offered. Samy could not think about being a sales agent. He felt he did not deserve it. He had been in executive chairs, drinking rich coffee and was treated like a king. But that was about 2 years ago. It made him tremble to even think about the duration he had been idle without job after his last one. With thoughts so sombre he left the hotel and walked to his home. He was a loner now. He lived in a dreary little place with no friendly neighbours. He preferred this better as he could cry out loud at nights and no one would think he is a coward. Samy's mornings were always dull and lazy. He lay awake in his mat, engrossed in different thoughts on how he is going to manage that day. Dad had offered money to Samy, but he had refused guilty of the thought that never once had he given money to his parents when he was well-off. He tried to earn money for a day somehow and managed by skipping breakfast or lunch or sometimes both. That afternoon, Samy left to see one of the job offers he had read about in papers, not a very big firm but at least one that could serve his everyday food. He was made to wait and when we went into the interview hall to his surprise met an old classmate, a person whom Samy had never thought of as a friend. Samy's interview was done and he later met his friend in the firm's café. Samy was a brave man. He did not complain about his current lifestyle, neither was he ashamed of his empty purse and crumpled clothes. It was a short chat and time for Samy to leave for his place, the place he belonged to. Two days later, Samy received a letter from the firm he had visited and believe it or not, Samy had his real break after two long years of waiting. He was recruited by the firm. He called his classmate to inform and thank him on this offer. They met at a small restaurant. His classmate, whom Samy now considered a friend, was happy for the offer and later told a simple incident that made Samy feel grateful through out his life. When Samy was Swaminathan in college, his friend and himself have been at a placement cell. Both he and his friend had cleared the interview for the same firm that he has now been recruited. But the firm could recruit only one among Swaminathan and his friend. The choice was left to them by the panel. To him, this was a very small firm where his thirst could not be quenched and his hunger could not be fed… Swaminathan declined the offer and the job was offered to his friend. Samy had not cared to even look at his friend's face or accept his thanks, but he had walked out his head high and his chest firm. The remembrance of this incident made him look small, but now he was gratified for the one who was sitting opposite to him. Samy is now no more. He is more Swaminathan and is called Swami. He lives in a neatly furnished place, a small one but compact for him and his wife. He drives an ordinary bike, and visits his parents every month and makes good effort in saving money. He is more content now, more ordinary. Every Friday, no one would ever know where Swami has gone. The secret is only with his Wife that Swami is at the same roadside hotel every Friday night; the place which he feels he belongs to.