The Transfer
“Hello Priyanka, Good morning. Happy Monday.” Rachana beamed at her friend from behind the large oak desk.
Priyanka waived at Rachana and walked behind the desk and slumped on the comfortable chair feeling tired after an hour-long journey in the crowded local train.
“Oh God, I don’t know how long I am going to do this. It was madness in the train today. It was so crowded that I couldn’t move a muscle.” Priyanka leaned back in the chair and used her dupatta to wipe the beads of sweat from her forehead.
The Air-conditioner was on, but the warm October still made her hot enough to sweat profusely.
“I know the feeling. You would feel with Diwali just about to start, there would some easing of the crowds on the trains, but hell no.” Rachana had just switched on her computer.
Priyanka stood up and with a gentle tug, she removed the butterfly shaped hair clip tying her long hair. She shook her lovely dark hair couple of times to set it loose cascading along her shoulders and back. Then she arched her back and ran her hands through her long hair feeling the slight curls and knots along the way. She could feel the softness of her lovely hair on her fingers feeling proud of her long strands.
After doing it few times, she finally gathered it and twisted it in a round bun and secured it on the nape of her neck with the hair clip. Then she sat down on the chair and pulled it in front of her computer.
“How was your weekend?” Rachana pulled her water bottle and found it empty.
“Oh, trust me when I say it was worse than usual.” Priyanka sighed morosely. Rachana could empathize with her friend even though at times she felt that Priyanka’s complaints seemed to flow like a never-ending river nowadays.
“Well, let’s go to cafeteria and tell me all about it over a cup of tea. I also need to fill my water bottle. “Rachana waggled her bottle.
“Well, I don’t want tea, but I could go for something cold. Let me just log in.” Priyanka bent down and started up her computer. They waited as it hummed to life and after couple of minutes, it presented Priyanka with the login screen.
She entered her username and password and logged in. She clicked an icon shaped like an I on her desktop.
“Let’s go. It will take few minutes for IRIS to start up anyway.” IRIS was the application that she sometimes had to use for customer support queries.
The company Priyanka and Rachana were working for, Diamond Pharmaceuticals was a large company exporting millions of Dollars’ worth of pharmaceuticals APIs all over the world.
Priyanka stood up and they both started walking towards the cafeteria. As they walked, their high heels clicked on the marble floor. Priyanka wore a red coloured red sleeveless salwar suit that hugged her body tightly.
As they walked, the man mopping the floor turned his head and glanced at Priyanka. He hastily moved his gaze away as Rachana caught him through the corner of her eyes.
Rachana looked at her friend and contrary to her nature, felt a slight pang of jealousy. Priyanka was 35 and mother of 1 son. She was a voluptuous and full woman. Her tight salwar suit accentuated lovely curves of her body. Rachana couldn’t help but feel how Priyanka’s full breasts, wide hips and curvy globules of her butt commanded attention almost every time they walked together.
Men involuntarily stared at Priyanka’s chest every time they were together, and she felt like they ignored her.
Rachana was beautiful in her own way. She was fair. She had a lovely oval face, long beautiful hair. But she somehow felt an inferiority complex when she noticed how Priyanka commanded attention of every man whenever they were together. Rachana was 32 and did not have a child yet. Maybe it was for this reason that her body was still skinny. In a way, she felt good that she had not gained any weight after marriage. But at the same time, she somehow felt that buxom, curvy women gained a lot more attention than skinny. When she was young, it didn’t matter. She gained attention from young men all the time but after marriage, it had changed.
And the worse part was that all this attention didn’t make Priyanka uncomfortable at all. Instead, she seemed to revel in it. Strange men staring at her breasts didn’t make her uncomfortable. In fact, at times she felt like Priyanka felt proud of her 36 C breasts and almost felt like she wanted to flaunt them.
They walked in silence for few moments and then turned right towards an open large hall that served as the cafeteria of the Diamond Pharma. There was almost no one there except one young boy behind the counter.
They sat on chairs across the table.
“So, what happened to your weekend?” Rachana opened the conversation again.
Priyanka shook her head ruefully.
"Rachana, I don't know what to do anymore. Avinash is still stuck in Dhule, and it's been a year now. This long-distance marriage is tearing us apart." Priyanka adjusted her dupatta over her ample chest and Rachana just smiled.
Rachana nodded sympathetically and touched her hand. She knew all about it.
Avinash, Priyanka’s husband worked in the revenue department of Maharashtra government. Life was going well till last year when he was suddenly transferred to Dhule. And this had thrown their life out of gear.
"I can't imagine how hard this must be for you, Priyanka. How is Aarav handling all of this?" Aarav was Priyanka’s 5-year-old son.
Rachana glanced at her sympathetically, her fingers pausing over the keyboard.
"I can't imagine how hard this must be for you, Priyanka. Your husband works so far away. How's little Aarav handling all of this?" Rachana genuinely felt sorry for Priyanka.
“Well, he misses his dad. Avinash comes and visits once every 15 days but it’s not the same. And to be honest, baby sitting is not suiting him. And I miss him too.” Priyanka smiled mischievously at Rachana.
“Yeah, that I can definitely understand.” Rachana winked at her.
“Let me get some water and tea. Do you want anything?” Rachana rose up to her feet.
“I could use some lemon juice.” Priyanka smiled wearily. Rachana nodded and strolled to the machine at the end of the cafeteria. First, she filler her bottle with water from the RO machine mounted at the wall.
Then she got two cups and punched the button from the machine, one for lemon mint juice and other for tea. The machine whirred to life as it filled both the cups almost to the brim. She looked at Priyanka wondering if she would come for her help, but Priyanka was leaning back slowly massaging her temples with her eyes closed.
Rachana shrugged and first walked back to the table and put her bottle and lemon juice down on the table. Then she walked back and got her tea.
“Oh, I am sorry Rachana. I should have come to help you. I was just preoccupied with my thoughts.” Priyanka felt embarrassed.
“Oh, don’t worry about it. You have a lot on your mind.” Rachana waived her hand nonchalantly and sat down opposite Priyanka.
"I am sure Avinash is doing everything he can to get that transfer. It must be tough on him too.” Priyanka nodded pensively. She knew Avinash was trying very hard to get transferred back to Mumbai, but it was not that easy.
"He's been working tirelessly, but the bureaucratic red tape is just so frustrating. I don't know how much longer we can go on like this." Priyanka felt tired and frustrated.
Rachana held her hand and squeezed it warmly. Priyanka picked up her cup of lemon juice and sipped it.
They drank their drinks silently as Priyanka continued to muse over the problem that had been bugging her for some time now. Rachana didn’t bother her but at the back of the mind, she had something she wanted to tell her.
After few moments of silence, Rachana coughed and then touched Priyanka’s hand again.
"Priyanka, I've been thinking about something. I am part of this Facebook group. I know a prominent member named Javed Khan in that group. He is a minister in Maharashtra government, but I don’t know which department. He is quite influential and as far as Avinash’s transfer is concerned, I think he can help. He has been known to help people with various issues. Maybe you should try posting your problem there. He might have some insights or connections that could help get Avinash transferred to Mumbai." Priyanka looked up as her curiosity piqued by Rachana's suggestion. Her eyes still carried a hint of worry, but she was willing to explore any avenue that might lead to the transfer for her husband.
"Rachana, that sounds like a long shot, but it's worth a try. I will do anything to bring Avinash back to Mumbai. I don’t have much hope but at this moment, I am so desperate that I will clutch at the last straws." Rachana smiled at her.
“Let me send you the link to that group. Someone needs to allow you to join but it generally happens quickly.” Rachana opened her Facebook app and searched for the group. After opening it, she copied the link of the group and then pasted it in WhatsApp and sent it to Priyanka.
“There you are. Just click on the link I sent and hit the join button. Someone will accept you in the group.” Rachana finished the tea from her cup and got up. Priyanka did the same.
“Thank you, Rachana. I will try this.” Priyanka and Rachana walked back to their desk at the reception in silence.
Priyanka glanced at the clock and noticed that it was almost 10. The office had started to fill in now and people were coming in.
Pretty soon, Priyanka's fingers typed away at her computer, but her thoughts were with the Facebook group and the possibility of finding a solution to the problem that had separated her from her husband for far too long.
The passed quickly as they were slammed with work but by the lunch time, Priyanka found few minutes to click on the link Rachana had sent to her and sent the request to join the group. She received a notification that her request will be approved or denied in some time.
They were slammed with calls and support work and Priyanka didn’t get a chance to even look at her phone. They even finished their lunch quickly.
Priyanka checked her phone after lunch but her request to join the group was not accepted yet. Rachana watched her friend as she slumped back in the chair.
“Don’t worry. Someone will approve your request by the evening. The admin of this group is the PA of Javed Khan. His name is Sharma. Generally, he doesn’t get time to check this till night. So, hopefully your request will be approved by night.” Priyanka nodded and then got back to work.
By the time the day was over, Priyanka felt tired. She waved goodbye to Rachana at about 5 and went back home. She first picked Aarav up from the baby sitting and then unlocked the door to their one BHK flat in Kurla.
The sight of his cheerful face brought a smile to her lips, despite her exhaustion. Just as she was about to change, she heard a beep on her phone. She picked it up from the table.
It was a notification from Facebook. Her request to join the Facebook group Rachana had provided was approved. She sighed and placed it back on the table. She was too tired to send any message now. She decided to send it after some time.
She had bought some food for herself before picking up Arav from day care. She switched the TV on so Aarav could watch it and then went in the bathroom to freshen up.
She finished dinner quickly and fed Aarav. By the time night had settled in, Priyanka was lying in bed, the soft glow of her phone casting a warm hue on her face. As she softly caressed Aarav, her thoughts wandered to the Facebook group.
She sat up in bed and wondered what she should do next. After thinking about posting a message in the group, she finally decided against it. She didn’t know the protocol. Instead, she sent a message to Rachana.
"Hi Rachana, I have been added to the group. But not sure what should I do next."
Her reply came back as soon as Priyanka had sent the message.
“Post a message in the group. But don't address Sharma or Mr. Javed Khan directly. Just describe your problem and ask for help in general. Keep it polite and to the point." Rachana’s message read.
She sent a thanks to Rachana and put the phone down. The thought for few moments and then finally decided to scroll through the earlier messages in the Facebook group.
She opened the Facebook app and scrolled to the group. She began scrolling through the messages and posts, reading about the shared by the group members.
The messages were just about asking some help.
- My daughter’s scholarship is pending.
- Our building’s water supply is facing problem.
- I need some legal advice regarding a property dispute.
- My business is not going well. Can someone help me?
- I am a single mother and need help with my child's education expenses. Is there any way I can get financial support for their school fees?"
As Priyanka read through these messages, she also noticed something. For each message, Sharma had replied.
Now she had an idea of what to post. She quickly typed in her message.
“Hello, my husband is posted in Dhule, and I am in Mumbai. Can someone help me to get him transferred back to Mumbai? We have been trying for 1 year, but it is not working out yet.” It was simple, concise.
She posted it in the group and put her phone down. She closed her eyes and drifted to sleep without thinking about anything else. She was too tired to even blink her eyes.
