Chapter 2 - Taking stock
Srini, walked over to his house. It was in a suburb bordering the city's business district. It was a small one and enough for his needs as he lived alone. There was an extra bedroom and study that often doubled as a bedroom when his daughter visited him. When more friends or family came to stay, they adopted the traditional Indian approach of all available rooms being converted into bedrooms for the night - women and children given the preferential bedrooms, men sleeping on couches or mats laid out on the floor.
Srini went over to the computer in a corner of his room, across from his bed. He pulled up a set of accounts online that gave a picture of what he owned as assets or wealth. He was reasonably well off. He had expected to live about 20-25 more years, barring anything unforeseen. He could have supported himself in his usual thrifty lifestyle with his savings and aged pension if it came to that and would still have a little left over to spare and leave behind for his children and grandchildren. Now all his previous plans and expectations were rendered moot. He sat and thought deeply for a while. He was used to deliberating and thinking for long before making most decisions. Now he suddenly felt the pressure of time. He wanted to make decisions quicker. Even minutes and seconds seemed precious and borrowed from other things he would rather be doing.
"Calm down! Be reasonable! You cannot hurry through everything in the rest of the time left," he told himself.
There had always been a small dormant idea in his mind that his soul was beyond time and this lifetime in this current body of his. It might have been from the philosophical roots of his culture. He had not given it much thought. Now suddenly, it assumed a giant, dominant proportion and seemed to have mind of its own. It now took over his mind with a speed and irresistible power that surprised him. He did not know what would come after this lifetime and did not care to dwell on it. He just felt that it would be something new, different and truly unknown. He developed a small curiosity to wait and experience for himself when the time came.
Srini called his business accountant, Dan, who was also a good friend he had known for more than a couple decades. Dan had a good legal mind and background in law as well. He worked for a firm that provided legal and financial accounting services to many big firms in the city. They also worked with some of their old clients who had been with them since their early days as a 'small' company that was growing. Srini was one such old, valued client. He was not too old himself, in his early 50s, but had worked with this company since his early days of starting his own business.
"Hi Srini! How are you, mate? What's up?" asked Dan as he answered the call.
"Good day, Dan! I need to meet and talk to you soon. What's the earliest time you can find for me?" asked Srini without making it sound too urgent or giving anything away yet. He would, of course, have to tell Dan everything.
"Well, I am busy, fully booked all day today," replied Dan looking at his schedule in front of him, "Looks like the same tomorrow..."
A thought raced through Dan's mind. It was unusual for Srini to call and request a meeting suddenly like this. All his accounts were in order and all papers were filed and nothing due anytime soon. He did not want to ask prying questions, but sensed that Srini might have something important in his mind.
"Srini, I am fully booked almost until the end of the week. However, can we discuss it over dinner or a meal, afterhours? I am alone at home since the kids and my wife are visiting her parents. Would you like to join me tonight, my place? Bring along your hot Chilli-wine if you still have some."
"That's a plan, Dan. See you at 7 this evening?" replied Srini smiling. The hot Chilli-wine was a prank wine that was a hit with some. It was a party favourite with many of his friends.
Shortly, he had two calls. His son and daughter were calling to inquire about the results of his meeting with Dr. Fa. He replied in a nonchalant tone that, "They are still going to run a few more tests before figuring out what may or may not be."
He made it sound like he was not too worried yet and that they too should not. It worked. They got back to their busy lives.
Srini's son, Rohan, was married to a lovely girl and they had two tiny tots. He had a busy work schedule and was working his way up in his career The daughter, Anita, had just started to work after completing her university studies. She was getting a lot of attention from many young men and was apparently interested in one of them. Srini never asked prying questions, but both his children usually shared anything important with him. He knew his daughter wanted to make sure it was something serious before letting him know 'properly'. Normally, she would talk about her friends and even those that she liked or those that liked her, without giving too much away, but certainly not hiding anything. Srini valued that type of relationship with his children very much. His close friends knew that he considered that one of his 'achievements' or treasures in his life.
Srini went about the rest of the day going over his life and taking stock - what he had, what he still wanted and how to go about things in the rest of the time left. He did not take his usual afternoon nap. He made his lunch and then went for a stroll down the street. He took his usual route. He waved to the usual people he usually waved to. They waved back. It seemed a very ordinary, typical day. He came back home from the walk and finished some of the work for his business that he usually did. He had a couple of deadlines to meet. He thought about them and laughed at the term 'deadlines'. He thought it funny and good that one might have many 'deadlines' in life, but only one when it came to death.
Copyright (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2015
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