The Misfit

Week 1 : Laziness
And so my 2nd spell of unemployment began with a car stuffed with all my wordly belongings and a mind swirling in a whirlpool of self-doubt and defeat(?) in a slow drive away from san diego to LA, the city that destiny made my second home...I didnt have a place to stay but Babuettan and Binduchechi, the first good samaritans I knew as man gave me abode once more and with their three kiddos sachin, sidhu and sethu for company I laughed all my worries away. As usual I struggled to start off the blocks early and decided to laze around a few days under the sun.

Week 2: Down and Out
The deadly american flu that I kept giving the slip for more than a year finally caught up with me and what a pasting I took. My symptoms alternated between high fever, cold, chill and finally a deep, persistent cough that made my stomach muscles cry for rest. To add to my worries I got sidhu also sick and with mine showing no signs of subsiding and without any medical insurance no store wud give me antibiotics.

Week 3: Convalescense & More Trials...
My fever eased out but the cough kept getting worse. Jisha had enuf by then of staying as a paying guest at her kelavi thalla's house and had walked out after another tiff with the crone. Mummy was coming in 2 weeks and we still had no apartment. All the leads we had fizzled out. More than the job search this had become important as we had to find a place close to ucla from where jisha cud get buses to school. Despite her untiring efforts, Jisha was demoralized by the poor grades she had got. For an assole like me who studied only on exam eves and got away with it, all I knew to do was encourage. Truely the nadir of my existence. From this point there could only be resurgence...or there better be bcoz I wuz at the verge of snapping.

Week 4: Turn-Around
The parable of the Good Samaritan repeats. In the form of an American lawyer who Jisha met at church and who fortunately had taken an instant liking for her. She pulled strings and got us a beatiful apartment between Beverly Hills and Culver City on a monthly lease and a much reduced rent.Apart from our clothes and a few utensils we had nothing needed for a house. The next few days were spent intensively shopping and we managed sleeping bags, toiletries and other kitchen stuff. The first day we had no gas and electricity. We ate under candle light. Despite being so closely knit siblings the 3 years of moving away from home had left a gap btw us both...even after jisha had come to the US I felt the distance. That night I knew things would be the way they were of old. And with mummy coming in a few days we couldnt hide our jubilation.

Week 5: Interviews, Interviews and Interviews....
Mummy arrived and with her came cajoling, yelling, spoonfeeding, scolding, relentless cooking, goodies from India anda whole baggage of happiness and bliss....I could feel my kismet turning for the better...just the act of us praying together at night gave me strength(another matter that I fumbled with my prayers for the first coupla days after the last few years of disuse). I applied with renewed vigor and as a result I was scrambling from one end of town to the other barely making it in time for interviews. By the weekend I was exhausted but hopeful. We bought badly needed chairs and other stuff meanwhile. Still a lot more needed but we are getting there.

Week 6: D-Week??
The monday began badly with news of 2 rejections but the 3 ones I wuz positive about hadnt called. One of the companies called me for another interview while the other 2 had to make a final decision. As each day went by I was at my wits end. A strange sense of dejection was creeping in. I hadnt applied afresh for more than a week. And after exactly 6 weeks...jisha remarked that wuz the same time period of my previous spell ...I got my job on friday. A legal services firm in Encino, 10 miles from LA.

Friday was really special. I pooled up most of my mallu friends here(9 of us) and we went for Udayananu Thaaram and were treated to a sincere and controlled performance from Mohanlal after a long, long time. Before the movie, pappanabhan my Loyola classmate had given us a royal farewell treat on his leaving the US for India for his IAS exams at Tankra Bistro which in my opinion serves the best indo-chinese food in the world or atleast this part of the world.Today was my first day at work. I dont keep high hopes anymore but there's a lot my family looks to me to do...so I will try and chuck my reckless attitude out and be serious in life for a change. This was pretty long...but next time thorns get flung in my path...i'd like to come back here and say...they keep hurting me lesser each time!