I am sitting on an airplane right now. Travelling to Bangalore city, India. For my first job.
Flying at a height of
about almost 3500 metres above sea level random thoughts overcrowd my mind. Out
of them I pick up one little thought on which I intend to elaborate.
The thought is named
"Sleeping at the Airport".
It all started with a
call from Mr Vignesh, Associate HR, Quintiles on the day before Poila Baishak
(The Bengali New Year). Vignesh had thought that my CV was eligible to attend a
walk in interview for a position in his company. Hence the call at 5 pm that
evening, asking me to attend the interview the very next day. Attending the
interview for me meant travelling all the way to Bangalore from Kolkata. On
first thoughts I dismissed the idea and told him that since I was based in
Kolkata it was almost impossible for me to reach the interview venue next
morning by 9.30 am. In my mind I guessed his reply would be "Ok thank
you". Atleast that is what I am used to getting from HRs in Kolkata. But
much to my surprise Vignesh said "You can come the day after too, in that
case". A totally positive attitude from his end quickly ignited the
positive side in me. I instantly replied "I shall be there. Kindly mail me
the venue location".
The telephonic
conversation done, mail received. Now it was time for the phase of convincing
my parents. This seemed to be tough at first, but went smoother than expected.
My father returned quite late that night after his dose of radiotherapy. I was
very apprehensive of how he would react to the notion. When I told
him all about it he just nodded his head with a smile and did not say a word.
Next morning before leaving for office these were his words "The decision
is entirely yours. And if it is 'Yes' I am ready to pay for the expenses".
Encouragement was all that I needed at that point of time. And with that amount
of encouragement from dad I proceeded to book my tickets for Bangalore
immediately.
They say obstacles
present themselves at their best when you least want them to. I was asked to
reach the interview venue by 9.30 am on the 15th of April. This meant I had to
reach Kempegowda International Airport by 8.00am atleast as the venue was an
hour ride away from the airport. Yatra.com provided two possible options for me
to choose from. One, board a flight on 7 am on the 15th(which implied, I would
reach the venue by 10.30am, at the earliest) or board another at 10pm on the
14th of April(which meant I would arrive at the airport 1am in the morning of
15th and which further meant I had to spend the night at the airport and leave
for the venue in the morning). In short I had to SLEEEEEEPPPP AT THE
AIRPORTTTTT..!!!
I have always been
the adventurous kind, so by default I opted for the later. I booked the ticket
for the same. This time taking the decision before informing anyone about the
timing. By now I tended to believe that I was gradually becoming an expert in
handling obstacles. This was proved further when I managed to convince my
family(read mother and grandmother specifically) for the idea.
That night I reached
Bangalore Airport at 1 am sharp. I just had my laptop bag with me as baggage. Somewhere at the back of my mind someone said ‘If not anyone, you shall have your laptop as company for the night’. I spotted a lone empty chair and quickly made it my ‘ME ZONE’ for the next few hours that were to follow. The first thing I could think of was opening my brand new laptop from DELL (so very treasured, it being a gift from my lovely father) and connecting it to the airport’s Wi-Fi. However it being 1am in the night I was unable to find any Wi-Fi help desk and inevitably had to rely on my low speed dongle (read joblessness side effects and ofcourse to take the control of which I had landed in Bangalore in the first place :P). Sleep having taken a holiday for the night I decided on downloading a few study materials for my interview and going through them. Just five minutes into my mission and my attention was broken by a polite mature voice.
 |
| My 'ME ZONE' |
A young married lady spoke to me “Are you waiting to catch a flight
later?”
She had worn an Abaya in combination with her hijab. Only her eyes were
visible from behind her hijab. Just by looking at her eyes one could tell how
beautiful she was.
I replied “I got to wait here until morning”. There was a glitter of
hope in her eyes as she spoke again “It’s the same for me”. I could feel her
sense of relief as I felt it too.
 |
| The lady in her Abaya |
I resumed reading my materials. This time concentrating forty minutes at
a stretch. It was almost 2.30 am by now. Right opposite to the chair I occupied,
sat a group of four from Kolkata. By their body language one could say how
uncomfortable they felt by spending just 1.5 hours of the night at the airport
chairs. There was an aged person in the group with a fractured leg who
complained frantically. They finally appeared to book a Meru cab and moved out
of the airport. On my left was a mother-son duo sitting and chatting away on a
variety of topics. They instantly reminded me of the whole night conversations
I have with my mother. I was missing her now.
Sleep seemed to have taken a holiday for the night. I decided on getting
up from my 'ME ZONE' and taking a walk. At three in the morning here I was
walking alone in a different city amongst strangers. The arrival area of the
airport was beautifully decorated with framed works of foreign artists and also
advertising displays. In between baggage conveyor belts were colourfully
adorned plants that added extra beauty to the arrival area. The airport was
being cleaned twice an hour even at that hour of the night. The only loophole I
found at the airport was that it did not have any restroom facility in case
passengers wanted to rest for sometime inside the airport itself to catch
flights later.
 |
| Pictures I had randomly taken |
 |
| I loved this clock so much that whenever I set my eyes on it I couldn't look away. |
Two days later when I was checking my Gmail inbox sitting on my warm
cosy bed in Kolkata, there was a mail with the subject line " Congratulations
Tina. Offer from Quintiles".
The taste of success and happiness after sacrifice is definitely the
sweetest. And as they say " When you truly want something from heart, you
always get it"
Here I was with the offer letter of my FIRST JOB.
