When Chandrakant Parulekar turned fifty-three, his boss of ten years laid him off.
The boss said the store wasn’t doing well and needed to cut costs. Chandrakant regretted tolerating this profligate boss for so long. He liked the father more. The late father had been the original smart businessman. Chandrakant had learnt everything from him. This flamboyant joker had been making a mess of the business. But a job was a job, and so, Chandrakant had continued under the son. Losing the job of so many years was painful. His eyes welled up.
There was no denying that he loved the grocery shop where he had spent three routine decades. His everyday routine of thirty years gave comfort to his soul. He liked spending time in the store. He loved talking to customers and negotiating with suppliers. He spent hours ensuring the inventory was right. Every few weeks, he reprimanded the small bunch of employees to do their job. Sometimes, when everything was fine, he used to have a bite from the store himself.
His current boss never noticed his discipline and loyalty. The boy was fifteen years his junior. He was born with a silver spoon that his late father had created after painstaking effort.
It was all over that day for Chandrakant – on his birthday. He didn’t like the way it ended. Anger for his boss simmered within him. Rage for the treatment meted out smouldered inside him.
Chandrakant went home all sombre. He heated his dinner in a listless manner for the umpteenth time. He munched into his chapati and sipped his whisky. He wasn’t used to this. He didn’t like that his tomorrow was now empty.
He tried to reconcile to it. He had an investment account that he hadn’t paid much attention to. But he knew it had grown exponentially over the years, especially since his wife died five years back.
He wondered what next?
Travel the world? Naah. He didn’t like traveling alone.
Start a business? Naah. That was too much work to do at this age.
Spend time at the temple? Naah. A couple of hours in the morning were enough for that.
Retire in peace and do nothing? Naah. He didn’t like twiddling his fingers.
That’s when a thought struck him. He liked the possibility. He laughed aloud.
Tomorrow morning, he would go to his boss and buy out the store.
***