A Birthday to remember....

A Birthday to remember…

Ajay got up hurriedly from his bed, knowing he was late for work. He rushed out of the house to the nearest restaurant, grabbed some breakfast and opened his mobile with the App “DeliverFast” to start off his day.

Ajay worked as a ‘delivery partner’ as the delivery boys were called by his company, a food delivery platform and was a ‘star’ performer in his company. Only the office mobile, which had the Company App “DeliverFast”, was allowed to be used during duty hours. Personal mobiles were strictly prohibited and had to be kept at home.

The App showed the list of deliveries to be made, list of restaurants / food joints from where food had to be picked up. The first pickup was from a well-known bakery, known for its birthday cakes and unique chocolates. He picked up a mid-sized birthday cake, and got the gift wrap done with the best wishes card with name of “Ms.Swetha”. The gift wrap and the card were special instructions which popped up on his mobile. The same had also been given to the bakery from the App. After checking the instructions, Ajay checked the App for the directions and sped towards the destination.

He rang the bell and a gentleman opened the door. “Sir, there is a birthday cake for Ms.Swetha. Can I meet and hand it over to her?”

“Don’t worry. You can give it to me. Swetha is my wife and I want the cake to be a surprise to her.”

Ajay understood the context and replied to the gentleman, “Sir, good. Convey our company’s wishes on her birthday. Thank you”. Ajay smiled at the gentleman and left.

It was the company’s policy that the delivery partner behaves very courteously with the customers and also wishes them with a smile on making the delivery.

On a normal day, Ajay used to complete about 12-15 deliveries across the city travelling more than 100 km on his bike. Delivery was a tough job, with different customers behaving differently depending on their moods. Ajay’s experience has always been mixed with few taking delivery with a smile or a thank you and few others yelling on why the delivery was late, completely forgetting the traffic conditions and any other related delays.

Ajay’s mindset had become immune to both the good and the bad comments…His work completely zapped his energy and the moment he reached home, his regular practice was to hit the sack and sleep.

On reaching home that day, he saw his personal mobile and surprisingly found more than 50 WhatsApp messages and more than 10 missed calls. He was puzzled about how he had become so popular among his friends. He had three missed calls from his mother itself. His mother lived alone in their native village and was engaged in a small farm and rearing her own cattle.

Before, he could call his mother to find out why she had called earlier; there was a bell at his door. It was past 10.30 p.m and Ajay wondered who it could be at this late hour.

He opened the door and saw another delivery boy from his company with a gift wrapped parcel.

“What is in it, bro?” asked Ajay with curiosity.

“Open it yourself bro” said the boy.

Ajay took the parcel, opened it and found a large well decorated cake with the message “Happy Birthday Ajay…”

“Wow” Ajay’s eyes twinkled and thanked the delivery boy.

Then Ajay remembered that it was his birthday…. He wondered how he had started the day by delivering a birthday cake to a customer, completely forgetting that it was also his birthday.

He now co-related the many missed calls and messages on his mobile.

He wondered how his job has taken away the small pleasures of celebrating one’s birthday. The cost of today’s fast paced life is - you try and satisfy every customer’s needs in your job but do not have the privilege of enjoying the same for your own.

-       Venkatesh

(Storyline credit : Mrs.Anusuya Suresh, Professor and Blogger)