A house of your Own

“As you guys came to know our Australia office has been closed. It was not making any profit for last couple of years. And now the Market is down.” The Director was pouring his speech.

“Now we are overstaffed. The management decided to let you go, but we will surely provide you some benefits. Because you deserve it…….” The lecture went on and on…

That's it! I got a hint when I received the meeting Invite at 7 am today, unlike some of my colleagues. Probably, it was sent to only those who were in the layoff list. 

Yes! I lost my job. I could feel few warm drops of water in my eyes. But, I was not the only one, almost 50 colleagues of mine who worked on the Australian projects were also in the same boat. I consoled myself with the peanuts the organization was offering for the loss.  

So, I had to grab the last chance to pick the documents and items from my desk, send the bid-adieu e-mail, cry like a woman for few seconds in the rest-room and then proceeded towards home after completing the paperworks with HR. 

Coming to office parking area, I thought where to go now, what will I say to my wife, my daughter, my Mom and Dad. “Will I be able to hide this disaster from them?”  “What will I reply if they ask me tomorrow why I am not going to office?”, “How will I manage home expenses being the single earner?” All these questions were making me mad… I decided to go somewhere where I can be relaxed and coolly think about the solutions.

I remembered the quote “Courage is a vitamin best swallowed with whiskey.”

I went to a pub, took a nice corner and gulped down few pegs of whisky. I took out my mobile, and started browsing through apps. Suddenly the Housing app caught my eyes.

Yes, last year, I had downloaded Housing Apps and continuously explored where to invest in land. And I ended up buying land whose price is increasing day by day. Some rays of hope came to my eyes. I also bought my house in extremely competitive price amidst nature through this wonderful portal. I paid major portion of the loan amount for my house already.

Thanks to Housing (https://housing.com/lookup.) which picked me up from my wretched situation of mind and gave some confidence.

I calculated my property value. I live in my own house. My parents are growing vegetables in the front yard of my house. My child is going to a good school near to our society, my wify is extremely happy and busy with her gardening. So, why to think so much…..!!! I packed my bag, directly went home.

I parked my car. Saw lovely smiles at my parents’ faces looking at me as I went so early…..They were busy with the vegetables. My daughter came running…saying “Papa aa gaya! Papa aa gaya!” 

I could sniff an exquisite aroma of pudina, tomatoes, chillies, lemon blended with an earthly smell of mud while passing by the front-yard garden.

I just entered my house. My wify Geeta smiled at me from the kitchen. 

Few minutes after, I went to the backyard verandah to see the flowers Geeta was growing. She offered me a cup of tea,“ You came so early today! What happened?” 

“Just wanted to feel and breathe some optimism from my surroundings.” I replied. 

“Papa ! Papa! Look……these are the tomatoes we collected today from our garden.”  My lovely daughter came running to show me the fresh, natural tomatoes.

I just closed my eyes for few seconds with a mixed feeling. Melodious chirping of birds was increasing the sanguinity of the atmosphere gradually…