It was almost past lunch time. Aditya Sharma had agreed to go out with his colleagues for lunch. But he just couldn’t get free from work.
His colleagues were right, he was becoming (or already had become) a workaholic. Unable to wait further, they just left without him.
It felt ironic that he worked hard to get success. But now having tasted success, to keep it going, he was working even harder. He didn’t seem to have time for any kind of recreation. Even a simple catchup for lunch was becoming impossible.
Aditya glanced at the grand goldplated nameplate on his table CA Aditya Sharma.
The nameplate hidden behind heaps of files, was almost getting crushed under its weight.
He felt like it was quite a symbolic representation of his suffocation too in real!
He banged the table in aggression. His nameplate fell on the floor. He immediately picked it up. Brushing off the dust on the nameplate, he became silent again. He remembered the day his final CA results were announced. He was a new joinee and he remembered checking the results online in the very same office.
The phone hadn’t stopped ringing that morning and he was busy thanking his well wishers. He had first called up his mother to share with her his happiness.
“Maa, I passed. CA Aditya speaking MAA, CA Aditya!” Tears of joy welled up in his eyes.
He still remembered how his mother had reacted, jumped in joy and how they had celebrated his well deserved success.
Aditya now wondered what had happened from that happy state to the present day?! Was he not happy now? He had worked diligently for all this success, hadn’t he?!
His thoughts got interrupted.
Aditya’s boss barged in his room,
“Good afternoon Aditya! Good I found you here. Rightaway look at this file, double check the figures and share it with Prakash, ASAP!”
Sincere and an introvert to the core, Aditya quietly completed his work. A little after
tea time, he shut work and called it a day.
He booked a cab.
The destination showed..
Shivaji Park, Dadar
As soon as he alighted the cab, the mild sunlight stroked his face, it felt so good. The click of the bat and the ball, the cheer of the players at the Shivaji Park ground was music to his ears.
Pure nostalgia.
Nothing else could give him the same feeling.
Those were the days when he was at the ground putting hours of practice.
Aditya was the happiest here at the grounds.
He was not great at academics but was the best at cricket. His parents never understood his craze for cricket, his passion but his teachers had a lot of hope from him that one day he would get selected to play for India.
But destiny played a cruel game on him.
Aditya’s father passed away in an accident and with that Aditya’s childhood ended abruptly.
Having lost the sole breadwinner of the family, Aditya and his mother had to face a lot of struggles. Overnight the cricketer in Aditya died and focus shifted entirely on studies and sharing chores at home.
From that day of being a free minded teenager, a cricket enthusiast to this day of holding a responsible post in a reputed company, a man in his mid thirties, Aditya had come a long way.
Although he was lost in thoughts, his focus was on the ongoing match between the children when a ball came his way. He swerved in that direction, caught it and threw back the ball in style.
“Uncle kya mast catch liya, ekdum Suryakumar waala style!” the player praised him.
Aditya smiled and was walking away when one man came up to him and said,
“Sir! I have seen you here many times. Looks like you love cricket, am I right?”
Aditya quietly nodded his head and started to leave. He always avoided talking about his love for cricket. He had mixed feelings about it.
He started to leave for home. As soon as he got into the cab, he switched on his mobile and came face to face with reality. Loads of messages and work instructions. The pending work and the daily grind began to haunt him.
Reality hit hard but success doesn’t come easy. Sacrifices are part and parcel of life. He consoled himself that all was well.
He was thankful to God for everything as he had seen struggles and hardships very early in his life.
But for his own little happiness, deep within, he kept his first love albeit silent, but alive in his own way.
