The Silver Lining

"Groggy…" Is that a word? That is how I felt two mornings back when my phone rang, and all I could hear was Darth Vader's "Imperial March" on my head as the number showed, "Ayan calling." Ayan, my friend, mentor, and colleague, is so perfect to the T that once he didn't even spare a hospital nurse from his scolding; he organized some files for her that she was about to misplace. I won't get into the details of what took him to the hospital, but stress was definitely a factor in his stomach ailments.  So, this was hot porridge even before I could move towards the coffee maker. Why? I had forgotten about his assignment for a website design. Anyway, I picked up the call, but there was no scolding. He asked me, "What's up with the website, Piyush?" I replied, "Sorry I couldn't work on it yet. I will start on it today. As if facing the shores of Normandy from Saving Pvt Ryan, I, with an anxious face, braced for raining "What the hell, Piyush!?" but the split screen reality was "Chalega, it's ok,  start on it today…I hope you understood the concept." Did Ayan go to the hills and become a monk? What made him so cool? The next few words were amazing, "Would you like to meet up today once at Clay Pot?".  Clay Pot was our off-beat vegan canteen near Banjara Hills, a place for the posh, a valley for the nerds, a drone shot for this place should have the intro of 50 Cent's "In Da Club" as background score.   

It was cloudy.  I kept staring at the spoon with which Ayan stirred his coffee. He was a very to-the-point person.  He never liked meeting at cafes or chatting and had a little fascination for coffee and short walks.  "You were not in touch with me for a long time; I had messaged you about the updates to the website," I said.  "Hm I know…" he said staring at the coffee. We both seemed to be staring at the coffee cup and the spoon as if watching a story unravel itself.  He looked up and sighed, "I haven't been well, rough mornings, rough weather".  Then, one by one, he told me how he had suffered from a stomach ailment again and water issues in his locality, which added to it. It was like a curse on his health. He wanted to break free.  He couldn't. Here he was, drinking coffee with me. He loved coffee. The doctor had prescribed a regular diet. But his health wasn't the point.  To share his moment of agony, I told him how the government had waived off penalties and interest rates for taxation. Yet, I had to pay a huge amount of paper money or money via NEFT (yes, you read that right) to the municipality and get a No Outstanding Certificate within a deadline. This was because of a massive communication gap between me and my late father and unforeseen circumstances three years back.  If it wasn't for Ayan, I would be in dire straits because he had helped me with a loan once.  "Bro, listen, if you are not learning, you could not sustain yourself; you saved your house and family because you earned money for quite some time and were part of a compassionate network of mentors. It is time for you to also think about yourself and learn new management skills, sustain yourself."  There was a seriousness in his voice, and I felt like noting down what he said, but it would seem ridiculous. I reached out for the napkin and a pen but stopped myself. "What are you doing?" he said. "Nothing" I replied, "I'm thinking" and settled myself calmly on the chair.  "But there is a bigger aspect to all this" he continued, "service to community and society for sustaining the land". Now this was epic. He was going. Philosopher meets Iron Man on me, I couldn't stop myself and asked him - "What do you mean?".  He continued, "Google UN's SDG Goals, choose any. Personally, I would prefer the environment, but it's your call; see if you can pitch me something interesting; I'll speak to investors and make it a part of our website and our own vision."  My latte had arrived. The waiter also added some cookies. I wish they had one of the UN's SDG goals inside them. I felt like cracking one open. 

It had started raining outside. "So you're dating anyone?" he asked.  "No man, I cancelled a disastrous wedding" He didn't seem interested and just smiled like a veteran in the field of relationships.  Ayan looked like a detective from a noir film with his raincoat on as we moved towards his car parked outside Clay Pot. "Want to go to the comic book store?" he asked.  Of course, he wasn't my father or brother or date or Santa Claus, but there seemed to be a change in him. Generally, I take these things with a pinch of salt, like getting a treat before slaughter, but this was an offer I could not refuse and I finally hopped in his car beside him. "There is one more thing I want to tell you," he said, "I want you to learn some leadership skills, so I am putting you under the mentorship of this new guy called Vivek. Work with him for some months. He has solid experience. See what you can learn.  In the Creator Economy, we can be ignorant or curious and learn.  The more you learn and research, the better it is for the world and yourself. I am not giving you any gyan, nor am I telling you that your work is sub-standard. I just want you to be better." His eyes were fixed on the road, and he was driving like a pro. I said, "My exams and classes are on…so I couldn't" He interrupted, "Bro I know, I'm not telling you anything about the website, I want you to score great marks and it is difficult to handle all this alone, plus you need to relax as well. I am giving you a mentor to handle your projects. Handling a diploma, internship, graduation exams and family issues is difficult. I am like a brother to you; there's a reason I wanted to meet you and tell you this, I don't do this with all; for one year, we could not meet anyone due to the pandemic. How's college, by the way?" 

We had reached the comic book store. It was time to get my hands on the new Avengers issue and be inspired with leadership and mentorship stories in all action-adventure styles. "Come, let's go, I'm buying," Ayan said.