Soumya

She tossed and turned in her bed, unable to get even a wink of sleep. Insomnia had got the better of her despite all the rigorous meditations and sleep therapies she went through. The antique mantel clock on her bedside table showed three twenty in the morning. Suddenly the mobile phone rang slicing the silence of the night. As she sat up startled and picked it up from the bedside table, the screen glowed in the dark - "unknown number."

Her mind fought with her intention to take the call, and her intuition saying it may not be the right thing to do. Her insomniac infatuation for inviting incoherent responses finally made her answer the call. “Hello.” “Hello, this is Soumya from Lone-Lay Finance and I am calling you to ask if you are interested in a pre-approved loan offered by our bank. Are you interested, madam?” “Are you serious? Calling me 3 am in the morning to offer me a loan?” “You must be confused, madam. It is 3 pm afternoon. Is this a good time to talk?”

She was confused and looked at her mantel clock. It did read 3:20, but it didn’t suggest whether it was late night. Her heavy curtains were all pulled, and she could not see outside to understand the time of day it really was. “Are you sure it is afternoon? How can you say so?” “Madam, I am in the middle of my work hours and I can guarantee you this is afternoon. Would you like to proceed with the offer?” “OK. I am interested. Tell me how much you are offering?” “Madam, it depends. Could you please share your last three salary slips and bank statement for last three months so that I can offer the amount to you?” “Bank statement, yes, but sorry, I cannot share any salary slip, because I have not been employed for some while now and could really do with the loan!” “You are not employed, and you are asking for loan? How can I offer you an amount then? How do you plan to repay your loan amount?” “Firstly, there is no amount you have offered, and secondly, why would I tell you how I plan to repay, as long as you get repaid?” “I am sorry madam, but I cannot offer you a loan. I thank you for your time. Please have a good day.” Soumya said that and hung up. His job role was very demanding, and he was used to hearing curses and bad behaviour, but this was something new. And it did not lead to a sale anyway. He still had a long day and a large target to pursue. So, he continued with his phone calls. She, on the other hand, was standing by now, shocked and confused. 3:20 pm? How could it be? She slightly moved the curtain and saw the bright hot Sun, offering life and business to the world she belonged to. She sighed and pulled the curtain back to how it was, sat down on her settee and started thinking. Her insomnia and lack of work had confused her thoroughly and had confused her concept and understanding of time. She knew not what was happening around her and bothered not to as well. Her food came by clockwork, but she didn’t bother whether it was breakfast, lunch, tea, and dinner, or the other way around, when she ate her food. This man had brought some relativity back to her life she could now know what was with respect to what else. But why did he not offer the loan that she thought she needed? She owned a palatial house and could sell it for a lot of money, but she needed some cash in hand or in her account to do it. She thought she should call him and tell him in detail. But in the mean time the evening tea arrived, and she had it. She scolded her nurse that she was not kept informed what time of the day it was. The nurse apologised and said she didn’t like disappointing her because she didn’t like being talked to. She was only doing her job and would be happy to help. “Help me by getting out and don’t be back tonight!”, she said. She kept staring at the wall and kept thinking about the past that she could not remember, that caused her to be like this. Where were her parents? What happened to her job? What job was it? Was she good at it? Why does she not go around the house and take care of the furniture and upholstery by herself? Should her house not be clean? How many maids used to be there and how many are there now? Who pays the nurse? She kept looking for answers that she couldn’t find, but one thing was certain for her; she needed money, and she wanted to call Soumya to see if he could arrange for some. So, she picked up her phone and dialled the number she had last received the call from. “Hello! This is Soumya. How can I help you?” “Soumya, its me, remember, we spoke at 3:20 pm today? You had offered me a loan first, and then said I was not eligible for it? Well you see, I own a big house, and I was wondering if you could offer me some loan based on that?” “Madam, I definitely remember you now. But I am sorry, I belong to the personal loan department, but what you are looking for is something else that I cannot help you with. But I could try tomorrow morning. Please excuse me, but it is very late in the night, and I need to wake up early so I can start working. Could you please leave the call?” “Late at night? What time is it?” “Madam, its almost 10 pm!” She wondered why she did not get her food yet though she realised she wasn’t hungry. Then she remembered she had asked the nurse to not come again. “Oh! I am sorry to keep you engaged. What time is your office tomorrow morning? I could help you by waking you up, because I don’t sleep.” “Madam, I have not heard of people who do not sleep. I need to wake up at 6 in the morning, and I have an alarm. Not that I always manage to respond to it on time, because I am more used to incoming and outgoing ringtones. But I do not need your help madam. Good night.” She heard him disconnect her call. She needed the money and the man had told her he could help her tomorrow morning. But what if he missed his alarm? Soumya was too important for her at this point in time, so she set the alarm in her clock. Then she put it on the table, thought about the important work she had in the morning, to wake Soumya up. She must take rest so that she is awake on time to do this! She must get some sleep, some rest!. She turned off the lights and went to bed. She slept after a long time. And it was not due to meditations and therapies. It was because she had found a reason to work, and hence a reason to rest. Soumya had planted a seed in her mind, that she should feel important herself, if she thought others to be so. In her dreams she remembered that her parents were there in her big house, waiting for her to return cured of her disease, which had put her in a home rather than a hospital. She didn’t need to call Soumya at all, because her parents had a lot of money. But Soumya would need her to call him, because otherwise he may miss the alarm and miss his job. She didn’t want him to miss out on a happy life. And she dreamed to be a part of his happiness. She slept like a baby, but woke up with the alarm, to begin a new day.