Nov 1 - First Salary

D-Day had finally arrived … First Stop – The TBI ATM at the corner of the street (I hope you still remember that we “had-no-other-choice-but-to-choose-TBI” for our salary account). I had already begun to build castles in the air. I was already thinking – “what will I do with that “extra” lump of cash? Maybe I should buy that Nike shoe I always wanted. Or maybe I should get mom a Saree and dad a Shirt. Naaa … Mom already has more than enough saree’s and dad has way too many shirts! Maybe I should just get myself those shoes. After all – I deserved a little pampering!”

(Selfish me eh!!!)

Still … Deeply immersed in thought, I arrive at the TBI ATM box only to find another 5 people standing in front of me. Basically, I am a very impatient person. And the sight of such a huvge queue would’ve ordinarily made me come back later. But today was different wasn’t it. It was salary day. The most anticipated day of the week. And there was no chance in hell I was too about to let a 5 person queue make me head back. So, still dreaming, I wait patiently in queue. A grueling 5 mins later, I get my turn. Yahoooooo … Finally, I get to lay hands on my first salary.

I punch in the pin code (I ain’t telling you what that is), and hit the button that says retrieve balance. I am eagerly hoping to see the message “Your Balance is – Rs. 14,500/-“, but the stupid machine displays the message – “Your Balance is – Rs. 8,841/-.

What was the old saying??? Ah … yes … “Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched!” Well, I got a taste of that right there!

All upset, thinking there must’ve been some sort of mistake, I punched the buttons that would give me the details of the last 5 transactions, and there it was, right in front of me

Last 5 transactions:

31/10/05 – Salary – Rs. 8858/-

My dream world had come down in a jiffy. It felt like someone had hit me on the head with a sledgehammer. Obviously, I was in a mixed state of emotions – Confused, anger, despair, upset. You name it – and I was probably experiencing that!

Anyways … I realized that standing there in the ATM cube and cursing the machine was not going to help me in the least. Maybe, my pay-slip would give me the details of where the remaining 5600 odd rupees had disappeared. (And besides that – the other people outside the ATM had begun to bang on the doors by now!)

The dream Nike shoes I wanted to buy remained what it was – A dream! With a heavy heart and a completely let down feeling, I started my bike and headed over to work.