Just another day

My typical day starts at 5:45 with the polyphonic alarm from my wife's new mobile. This is followed by the traditional bed-tea - a bengali die-hard habit - and a long, long chat till it's suddenly 6:30 am. Do-or-die rush time! 7:00 sharp, I leave for site. That's 40 kms by road in the common staff van and then crossing a river by boat. This is followed by a 10 minute brisk walk across the project site to my office. By then, it's 8:00 am, profusely sweating, and the tension has just begun!

The hectic day has its quota of sun, rain, slipping schedules and flared tempers. All this is part and parcel of life in construction sites. What is different here is the 90% humidity! It saps your energy in no time. The cool confines of the air conditioned office are too tempting to resist by the time it is 10:30 am. Thanking God for giving pending paperwork, the office boy for the black tea, and the computer wizards of the world for e-mail, I am in a blissful state for the next hour or so, till site round #2 is overdue. Lunch at 1 pm invariably coincides with bosses queries. The angry growls from the bowels do not get pacified before the next half hour. The afternoons are relatively slow and pick pace only by 4:00. Time flies by till it gets dark at around 7:00 and I return for an evening snack in my cool, cozy office. While the office-boy searches for space to keep the plate on my paper-strewn desk, I go through the rest of the days e-mails. This is followed by a bit of browsing/surfing on stolen time, followed by more paperwork.

At 9:30 pm, we are finally ready to return. Energy finished. Work unfinished. Legs of lead. On heavy, steel toed safety shoes. The return walk takes close to twice the time of the brisk morning walk. The boat, perfectly punctual in the mornings, never seems to be available in the late evenings. The van trip is mercifully comfortable with the air-conditioning at full blast and eyes tight shut. Occasionally woken by blaring horns, we finally hit home at close to 11:00 pm.

If the kid has fallen asleep, it's recap time for both of us, sharing the days events, big or small as we both unwind after the tiring day. If Kitu is still awake, it's play time and previously untapped wells of energy sprout from within me as we chat, joke, jostle and finally dine. Bedtime is post midnight.

That's a typical day these days. And it's a six and a half day week. You might wonder that with such a tiring schedule and dreary life, what it is that drives me on, makes me look forward to the next morning!

It's the special cup of tea she prepares - the shokaler cha - and the ever-so-brief early morning chat - the golpo - that makes my day and makes me look forward to more, and more!