As every other month, that month also I had to send a monthly report of my professional activities to the top management on the last working day of the month. It was almost eight in the night when I left my office that day. Around 8:30 in the night, I received a call from Namratha. I pulled over my motorcycle and attended the call.
‘I want to talk to you.’ – She said, calmly.
‘I am riding. I shall call you back in five minutes.’ – I said.
‘Okay.’ – She said in a cold voice and hung up.
My heart started dancing, as that was the first call I received in the last four months from her. I rode my motorcycle so fast to reach a convenient place to have a peaceful talk with her. In less than five minutes, I could see a small beautiful park on the roadside. I parked my motorcycle on the roadside and ran to the park. The park was almost empty as it was already dark and I sat on a wooden bench. I felt so cold and shivering when I called her.
‘Yes, darling. I am so happy that you called me and wanted to talk after a long time.’ – I said to her over the phone.
‘Even I want to make this day happier.’ – She said, at a low pace.
‘I haven’t reached home yet. If you want to talk for too long, I shall call you once I reach home.’ – I exclaimed.
‘Arjun, listen to me.’
‘I am listening. Tell me.’
‘I need a break-up with you.’ – She said, with a louder breath.
‘Is that something sold at a retail outlet to get you one whenever you need it?’ – I said and laughed.
‘Don’t laugh. I really mean it.’
My laugh stopped immediately and said – ‘I didn’t understand.’
‘You don’t have to understand much. I just need a break-up. I don’t wish to be your girlfriend anymore.’ – Her voice was so harsh when she said that.
‘Have you gone insane?’ – I asked and started walking along the park aimlessly.
‘You don’t have to bother about my sanity or insanity. Just leave me alone in my life.’
‘Namratha, what are you talking about? I can’t live without you. I will just die if you are leaving me.’ – I said in a trembling voice.
‘Then just go and die.’ – She shouted and hung up the phone.
The night was already so dark and I felt the darkness infiltrating into my eyes. I called her again a couple of times, but it said – ‘The number you are trying to call is currently switched off.’ I immediately called Anushka and explained everything to her.
‘That’s your personal affair. Why should I bother to bring both of you together? I know you only as her boyfriend and you don’t hold that title anymore. So, please don’t call me again.’ – Anushka said and disconnected the call.
Tears rolled over my cheek and I had no clue of what was happening. I called Nimitha and Jancy too, but they didn’t even pick up the call.
‘I don’t know what’s going on. Why are you behaving like this? I need to talk to Namratha. Please help.’ – I typed and sent the same text to Anushka, Nimitha and Jancy. They received my messages the very next second and I received the delivery reports too, but none of them cared to respond.
I started my motorcycle and went home. I felt that I was losing control over my ride, but I managed to reach my home safely.
‘What happened? Why are you crying?’ – Asked my mom on seeing me like that.
‘Nothing.’ – I said crying and hugged her so tight.
I went to bed without saying another word. My family might have thought that I was having some tough times professionally as they had no clue that Namratha would ask for a break-up with me.
●
The next day was September 1, Sunday. I tried calling Namratha, Anushka, Nimitha and Jancy more than a million times, I feel. Namratha’s phone was switched off and busy tones were the only sound that I could hear when I called others.
‘They might have blocked my number on their phones. Otherwise, how could their phone be busy for a long time like this?’ – Thinking this, I tried to call Anushka from my official phone number after an hour and she picked up my call.
‘Anushka, I need to talk. Please don’t do this to me. I need her back. Please help me. Please.’ – I said at a fast pace when she picked up the call.
‘I told you not to call me again. If you ever try to call or text any of us, we will be reporting it to the police.’ – Her reply was so hard for me to digest.
‘You bitch. What have you thought of yourself? Are the police going to kill me on a shootout if I try to call you? I need to talk to her now.’ – I shouted.
‘Get lost.’ – She said and disconnected the call.
I checked Facebook profiles of Anushka, Nimitha and Jancy and found that all of them had blocked me. I even thought of making a fake profile and contacting them and later moved that idea to trash, as I was sure that it could do no help other than spoiling my prestige. I was clueless of the next steps that should be taken to get in touch with her.
●
‘I need to go on leave for a week.’ – I said to the Human Resources Manager, over the phone.
‘Did you inform the top management about that?’ – She asked.
‘Not yet. I am not in a good mood to talk to them. I hope you can help me.’
‘When are you rejoining?’
‘Today is Sunday. Mark my leaves from tomorrow and I will be rejoining on next Monday.’ – I said.
After thinking for some time, she said – ‘Okay. Enjoy your leave days. I shall manage it.’
●
I switched my official phone off and sat down in my room with a scribble pad and a pen. Marketing professionals like me always do planning on paper and then implement them in life. I wrote down my points on the scribble pad.
Current Scenario:
(i) Namratha broke up with me and her phone is switched off.
(ii) Anushka, Nimitha and Jancy are no more helping me and contacting them again can attract more problems for everyone.
Questions and answers to tackle:
(i) Is that a good decision to go to her college and try meeting her? – No. If she refuses to meet me, it would be a huge problem. Moreover, the security guards won’t let me in if I have nothing to do inside the campus.
(ii) Should I find other students from her college on Facebook and ask them about her? – No. That will spoil her “good girl image” in her college, which I don’t want to happen.
(iii) Should my parents be sent to her home officially to talk about this? – Not now. If she says she doesn’t want to be in this relationship, everything will be upside down.
The Chennai Saga 4 - Plan A
FRIDAY: THE SAME WEEK
‘I have a 360-degree advertisement and promotional strategy to present in front of you. This strategy if implemented, can attract more students to your educational institution. As of now, mostly students from Tamil Nadu and Kerala are studying here, but the aim of this new approach is to attract more students from other parts of the country. This is exclusively strategized for you so that you can transform this college into an educational hub for the whole nation.’ – I said, finishing my strategy presentation to the representatives of Namratha’s college.
The seminar hall was a very beautifully crafted one with a huge LED screen and other equipment. All the college representatives were seated around an oval shaped table; I was standing at one of the sharp ends of that table and the Chairman of the college was sitting at the other sharp end, opposite to me. The presentation started at 10:30AM and it took me almost an hour to complete it. When I finished, all of them appreciated me and I was so sure about making a deal, even though I was on leave from my office. With my professional title, I could get a chance to enter Namratha’s college in an easy way and build a healthy relationship with the college management. I had to wait for almost a week to get an appointment for the presentation and I could handle it well to cope with my professional and personal needs.
‘What’
s the next thing to do?’ – The chairman asked me.
‘If you are interested, I can arrange a meeting with our top management in a week’s time. After that, you can sign a Memorandum of Understanding with our company so that we can serve you with the whole strategy.’ – I said.
‘My secretary will give you a call regarding that. Actually, I asked you about the next thing you are going to do in Chennai.’
‘I didn’t have my breakfast yet. I’ll have it from the college cafeteria and leave.’ – I said.
‘If you are free, we can have lunch together.’ – Said, the chairman.
‘Thank you, sir. But, not now. I have some urgent works to finish.’
‘Okay. Do call me when you visit Chennai next time.’ – He said and gave me his business card.
‘Sure, Sir. Thank you.’ – I said, accepting his business card.
●
A large four-storied building with “Architecture Block” written on it stood in front of me. It was a large and a beautiful campus, which made me take almost thirty minutes to find out that block. I started exploring the building for Namratha’s classroom. After exploring almost all the classrooms, I found her classroom with “III DC – B.Arch” written on its door. I could see some students in the class, but I couldn’t find any familiar faces as my view from outside was limited. I started waiting outside to see Namratha when she comes out of her classroom.
By 12:30PM, a long bell rang and all the students came out of the class for lunch break. Ishita, Swati and Anne were some known faces to me through some old photographs of Namratha, but I didn’t make a try to talk to them, as they didn’t know me. I couldn’t see Namratha, Nimitha or Jancy coming out of the class. I was sure that it was their classroom, but I couldn’t find them anywhere near the class.
‘Excuse me.’ – I said to a student of their class.
He turned towards me and I asked – ‘Namratha, Nimitha and Jancy are students of this class. Right?’
‘Yes. What happened?’
‘Nothing much. I just came to see them.’ – I said.
‘They are not attending classes for the last one week.’ – He said.
After a short pause, he asked – ‘Who are you? Why do you want to know about them?’
I didn’t bother to answer him. I just turned around and walked away.
‘What happened to them? Why are they not attending classes for the last one week? Is there any serious problem?’ – I asked to myself while walking away and I left Chennai the same day itself.
That was my Plan A, but it didn’t work out and I had a Plan B to give a try. As per our marketing principles, we always believed that if Plan A doesn’t work, Plan B would definitely work.
The Church Adventure - Plan B
NEXT WEEK: SUNDAY
The next week started with me standing in front of the church where Namratha and her family used to go and that was my “Plan B” to find her. Namratha had told me that she used to visit the church on Sundays whenever she was in Trivandrum. One day or another, her holidays will include a Sunday in Trivandrum and I would be able to find her in front of her church; I believed.
It was not that difficult for me to find out her church, like what happened in Chennai when I went there for the first time. She had once told me about the place where her church is located and there was only one church in the five-kilometre radius from there. I reached her church at 7AM and waited there till 9AM. The prayer got over by 8:30AM and everyone left the church in the next thirty minutes, but I couldn’t find Namratha or her family. I was so sure that it was their church because Namratha had shown me her photos taken in front of that church before.
‘Namratha didn’t attend the college for the last one week as per the information that I got from her classmate. Now, she or her family is not attending the prayer at their church. Why?’ – I asked myself.
Days, weeks or months didn’t mean anything to me, I just wanted to find Namratha and I decided to wait for her in front of her church until I find her. Even if it is to take a million years to find her, I was ready to wait for her.
●
NEXT DAY: MONDAY
‘Where the hell were you for the whole week?’ – Shouted the CEO of my company at me when I re-joined the next day as I promised to the HR Manager.
I was standing in front of the CEO of my company in his cabin and I was running out of words to explain.
‘Sir, I fell ill. Moreover, I went to Chennai to meet a client even though I was not feeling well.’ – I said with pride on my face.
‘What are you going to do with new clients if you can’t manage the clients that you currently have?’ – He asked.
‘What do you mean, sir?’
‘Your official phone was switched off. All your clients were calling you for further follow-up and support requests. They figured out our office number from your business card and called us here. We had to send another person for that purpose.’ – He explained.
‘Sir, I’m so sorry to hear that. But, I have informed the HR Manager that I’ll be on leave for a whole week.’
‘That’s not what we are talking about. This is the first time we are facing something like this. What would you prefer? Termination or a disciplinary action?’ – He asked.
‘A resignation, sir.’ – I said, calmly.
‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Are you ready to serve the notice period?’
‘As you don’t give enough value to the efforts that I have put for the company’s growth, why should I serve the notice period?’
‘Not serving the notice period means, no experience certificate issued.’
‘I don’t mind sir. I believe I have the talent and that’s why I am here. Experience matters, not the experience certificate. It won’t be too hard for me to find another job.’ – I said and walked out of his cabin. I went directly to my cabin and e-mailed my resignation letter right away. I packed all my belongings in that office and walked out with a large box of papers, charts, calculators, pens, diaries, etc.
●
Namratha broke-up with me on August 31st and I wasted one whole week searching for her. My last month’s salary was credited in my bank account. As I have lost my job, I lost my opportunity to go to Namratha’s college again too.
‘I can live comfortably for one month with that money, and I can get a more worthy job in that one month.’ – I anticipated.
●
Waiting for Namratha in front of her church was the first thing that I used to do to start every week with, but I couldn’t find her or any of her family members at their church. Days passed, weeks and months too; my wait for her returned no positive results. The money in my bank account was getting lower, my total energy was lost and I couldn’t even concentrate on things even when they were of high priority. I was not getting hired by any company as I was not performing well in the interviews and I fell into a state of deep mental depression. I really wanted to perform well in interviews, but my state of mind was not allowing me to. I left every interview venue with the feeling that I have lost everything in my life and it was all due to the relationship in which I trusted a lot.
I had a list of things, which I actually lost, only because of this relationship. First, I had to resign my dream job and it led me to lose the fame, fan following and the value which I had built up in the social circles. Then I lost my second job and the huge salary, which it used to pay. My money had diminished in the back account and my mental state was getting worse day by day. I withdrew myself from social circles and friends, as I had no confidence left to face them. Most of my friends knew about my relationship with Namratha and it made the situation really tough to face my friends and other people in my social circle. Slowly, my bedroom became my whole world. I didn’t bother to shave regularly, iron my dresses properly and use social networking websites. In fact, I had fallen into a pit of darkness and depression. I was twenty-five years old and I had lost everythi
ng that I had achieved before. The only thing I used to do those days without fail was to wait outside Namratha’s church on every Sunday; whether it was rain or shine, I continued doing it.
●
Three months passed just like that. One usual day, I received a call from an unknown number while I was checking job opportunities on several job listing websites. I stopped what I was doing and attended the call.
‘Hello. Is this Arjun?’ – A female voice asked.
‘Yes, ma’am.’ – I said, expecting it to be a call from one of the companies to which I had sent my resume.
‘Arjun, this is Anushka.’ – She said, calmly.
My heart almost stopped to realize that it was Namratha’s best friend Anushka. I couldn’t say anything and I was shocked to hear her talking to me again.
‘How are you?’ – She asked.
‘At least, you have made up your mind to ask me how I feel. Yeah, I’m fine. Perfectly fine.’ – I said and tears burst out my eyes.
‘I thought you have moved on after all the past incidents and please forgive me for whatever happened.’
‘Why are you saying these things now?’
‘I was instructed not to tell you anything and you know that she was my best friend. I couldn’t bitch about her.’ – She explained.
‘How about now?’
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