The race against time ....

It was for the trillionth time that I was trying to jot down something on a piece of paper and could not. It was almost midnight. Both Nitish and I were still in the office. He of course had work to do and I had some personal issues to deal with. Surprising and strange, for I was the one known to be a workaholic and insanely in love with the job.

‘What the hell is the matter with you man? Are you under the influence of an insomniac tranquilizer or what? I have never seen you as dull and dejected as you are right now? Excuse me for being so inquisitive, but is it something personal that is haunting you?’ one after the other, Nitish had questions lined up.

I could not resist but grinned. He could understand that I had been hit below the belt. He refrained.

‘You had your dinner? Haah, let me guess … you didn’t.’ he sounded like mom.

‘Let’s go and have some subs. That is the only option available during these wee hours of the day.’ He didn’t even cared to wait for my affirmation and pulled me out of the chair.

Still lost, I didn’t even realize while the order was placed already.

‘My treat man! ’ said Nitish. I grinned. ‘As a vegetarian, you do not have much choice here. Hard luck.’ This time it was a chance for both of us to share a smile.

As the gong over the antique timepiece struck 12:00, I got distracted and was again lost in thoughts. ‘Would you care to tell me what the matter is? ’

I sometimes wonder what purpose did this old timepiece served in a state of art cafeteria. American Express being one of the best places to work in the country, such a lavish facility, state of art infrastructure and then this rickety time piece in the cafeteria.

‘Man, I am asking something. Unless it bothers you to share, please tell me what is the matter?’ Nitish again interrupted me off my thoughts. I grinned.

‘Should I take your fake smiles to be a denial?’ I guess, he had decided to take me to the task unless I decide to open up.

‘It’s nothing Sir, just some family issues. ’ It was the first time that I had spoken.

‘Ok man, if it is too personal to share, its fine, otherwise you can share it with me.’ The selfless concerns over his face were clearly evident. ‘Look man, all I care about is to get my cheerful buddy back to work. Your attitude is contagious, like it used to spread workaholism its spreading dullness now. Stop being a girl.’

‘My mom is not keeping well. Some recent events have been troubling the family. I cannot concentrate on the work right now and I feel sorry for myself. My marriage was called off.’ I could not say anything any further without choking. Nitish got some water.

‘Ohh, sorry to hear that.’ He took a pause for a minute.

‘Man, I am not sure how you are dealing with it …. have some water first’. He stopped till the time I finished. ‘So, as I was suggesting, I am not sure if you are handling it the correct way. As far as I can see, it is utmost important right now for you to concentrate on the work, for it is far easier to lose focus on the job over the pity issues ….’ Pity issues, how the hell could he take these as pity issues? Even though I could not utter anything, he got my discomfort out of the frowning face. He smiled.

‘And when I am calling these pity issues, I mean it. Of course to take care of the health of your mother is important but to lose focus over the job because your marriage was called off is actually uncalled off. Rather, it is imperative for you to focus on the job at hand with a much greater intensity right now. It would not only help shift your focus off the grudges but also would avoid your losing a position of advantage that you have built across the team and the client. Man, like we always suggest, one should never take the office work back home. So not should one take the personal troubles back to work.’ It was time for him to take a sip now after a long speech.

‘Now, if you feel that I am being selfish thinking in terms of losing a good hardworking colleague, I am ok taking that blame. It is all worthed if it helps you. The choice is yours.’ His phone rang and I was relieved to have got some time before I had to disclose the ‘choice’ I would make.

Speaking of the time, I was again staring at the time piece. I could still not understand the need of the rickety antique to be put here in the lavish cafeteria. Then I saw some engravings just below the time piece. However, I could not read because of the distance. I guess it was something to do with the historical manuscript of the time piece. I stood up to reach for the manuscript. I wonder why I could not be inquisitive about the time piece previously. Possibly, with such a sprinting and tiring routine, I never noticed the peculiarity of the time piece ever. As I was striding towards the time piece, I could not realize that Nitish was done with his call.

‘Man!’ he called for me. ‘Wifey called, rather yelled. Its almost 2:00 AM, I guess we should leave now.’

Ohh yes, it is very late. The last thing that I noticed on the time piece was ‘time’.

The next morning, as I reached office, I rushed towards the time piece. The manuscript read:

‘Time = life; therefore, waste your time and waste of your life, or master your time and master your life. - Alan Lakein’