Fatima's headache or woes were related to her husband Farhan. Mind you he was a good man. Yet, he was too straight forward for this world. If he does not like something or feels an injustice has been done he would interfere. Ever since their marriage, Fatima has been telling him "Let us 'mind our own business' and not get into unnecessary conflicts. But for Farhan, it was a case of "Old habits die hard". He just could not help being what he was in the inside. Pretensions repelled him even when practiced by close relatives or friends.
Once they were travelling and stopped at a town, Katni in the state of Madhya Pradesh for breakfast. At the hotel, the owner abused and hit a twelve year old boy employed by him for not cleaning the tables properly . When the tirade continued for over 10 minutes, Farhan intervened and asked the owner whether he knew that child labour was punishable under law and that he could be put behind bars? It did not matter to Farhan that he was an 'outsider' and was getting into an altercation with the 'locals'. All that mattered to him was standing by what he thought was "appropriate" and on the side of "Justice".
It was under these circumstances that Fatima was happy to learn that her husband, an engineer had got an offer to work in a new private company engaged in mining operations in the Eastern part of the country. The company's township had a wide range of amenities including housing, schooling, healthcare, education, recreation, and shopping facilities. She thought that in such a close knit environment, her husband would have opportunities for less conflicts. Moreover, it was likely that he would be more preoccupied with his work sans distractions.
It seemed that Fatima's prediction and expectations had proved to be true. They had three years of relatively peaceful life in the township. The children were going to a good school run by the company. There was also an I Max theatre in the township that screened the latest Hindi movies on par with the release date in any metro city. Farhan and Fatima being movie buffs rarely missed the movies that were screened on Saturdays of every week. The show commenced at 9 PM and went on to up to 11.30 PM.
Once they were travelling and stopped at a town, Katni in the state of Madhya Pradesh for breakfast. At the hotel, the owner abused and hit a twelve year old boy employed by him for not cleaning the tables properly . When the tirade continued for over 10 minutes, Farhan intervened and asked the owner whether he knew that child labour was punishable under law and that he could be put behind bars? It did not matter to Farhan that he was an 'outsider' and was getting into an altercation with the 'locals'. All that mattered to him was standing by what he thought was "appropriate" and on the side of "Justice".
It was under these circumstances that Fatima was happy to learn that her husband, an engineer had got an offer to work in a new private company engaged in mining operations in the Eastern part of the country. The company's township had a wide range of amenities including housing, schooling, healthcare, education, recreation, and shopping facilities. She thought that in such a close knit environment, her husband would have opportunities for less conflicts. Moreover, it was likely that he would be more preoccupied with his work sans distractions.
It seemed that Fatima's prediction and expectations had proved to be true. They had three years of relatively peaceful life in the township. The children were going to a good school run by the company. There was also an I Max theatre in the township that screened the latest Hindi movies on par with the release date in any metro city. Farhan and Fatima being movie buffs rarely missed the movies that were screened on Saturdays of every week. The show commenced at 9 PM and went on to up to 11.30 PM.
Then, one Saturday this happened . The theatre received a call informing that the the Director and CEO of the project was coming down with family to watch the movie. The Director turned up at 10.30 PM and the telecast of the movie was resumed from the beginning. This meant that the movie would now be over only at 1 AM. The audience, though unhappy, resigned to their fate and was watching the movie. But Farhan being the man he was, raised his voice. He wanted to know why for the indiscipline of one person and his family, so many people had to be put to inconvenience. This action of Farhan had ruffled powerful egos.
Everyone returned to their residences after the movie. At 2 PM there was a knock on Fatima's front door. It was the security guard who had brought a document that appeared to be some sort of a letter. On opening it, the couple were shocked to find that it was a termination letter addressed to Farhan with a direction to vacate the company's accommodation first thing in the morning. In far flung areas such as the township, feudalistic diktats like these tend to happen and they are able to get away with it too! The CEO of the project was in the good books of the company owner & chairman at Delhi who considered him family as the former's father, a priest performed family poojas for years at their residence. Farhan knew, any appeal on the decision would be futile.
A drowsy and bleary eyed Fatima packed hurriedly , cursing under her breath the impulsive behaviour of her husband. Their life had abruptly turned topsy turvy. Everything, including the schooling of the children would now have to be reworked from the scratch. The only ray of hope was that perhaps being an experienced professional, Farhan would secure another job without much of a delay.
NB: This post is a part of challenge #BlogchatterA2Z
Loved the story. This is something I so relate to where I've been at the bitter end of things due to my nature of calling a spade a spade. But like Fatima, I'm sure all will be well.
ReplyDeleteThank you for engaging with the story. Happy you related to it.
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