Flashback

Have you ever been in love with a ghost! It might sound unreal but for someone like me who
has been a ‘living dead’ for the past few years, its quiet obvious. I have been in love twice,
once with a living ghost and later with a half ghost. I am not eager to bore you by explaining
the different types of ghosts. In fact, I would like to touch your soul and make it smile,
through the story of my life.

I never believed in true love and always felt it’s too arduous even to notice. Yet that one
day, when I first saw her, I realized that love is something which you never really have to
chase. It was the moment when I, for the first time smiled for no reason and cried at the
thought of losing someone so precious.

Let me introduce myself. I am Abhay Rathod, an enthusiastic Management Graduate who

failed to make an effective impression during the college placement programme. I have
always wanted to study Management while my parents wanted an engineer son and when I
failed to secure a job in a prestigious organization like the rest of my friends, they started to
criticize me. Lack of parents’ support and the feeling of being so insignificant made me to
look for jobs not eligible for me. Even then I was so ill-fated that despite my effort, either I
failed in the interview or never received a call.

I remember it was a rainy Friday when I received a call. It was the Admin Department of CK
Hospital. “Is this Mr. Rathod?” asked the HR Manager. I replied. “Mr. Rathod we have
shortlisted you for the post of Assistant HR Manager at the CK Hospital Admin Department
and you are informed to attend the interview for the same on the coming Monday “. I was
shocked. It was the first time when I had received a call from a company I didn’t apply. After
pausing for a couple of minutes I confirmed my schedule.

Suddenly I became very determined to get the job and prove myself worthy to my family. I
began to study harder than I used to in my college days. The weekends felt very like heavy
barriers which I had to overcome to reach my destination. Even my parents took notice to
my struggle and comforted me.

Finally it was Monday; the day I was so eagerly waiting for. I reached my venue before time
and told the receptionist about the interview. She asked me to wait in the hall adjacent to
the OPD along with the other candidates. It was a sunny morning and the OPD timing had
just begun. I made my way through the crowd of patients and reached the hall. Upon
entering the hall, I found around twenty candidates already waiting. I found a corner seat at
the end of the second last row and began to wonder my chances amongst the candidates
called for the interview.

“Where did you do your Masters from?” asked the boy right beside me. “Institute of
Management Science” I replied. “Are you a fresher?” he asked. I hesitated and then said
yes. “I have two years of experience in field of administration and so do most of the guys
here. I think they will prefer experienced candidates” he claimed with a big smile on his
face. I realized I had a similar situation to the patients in the OPD whom I could see from my
seat anxiously waiting for the doctor’s discharge assurance so they could return home
peacefully.

Our wait was over when suddenly the HR Manager, a lady in white salwar, entered the room
and asked us to sign the attendance sheet that she carried. She looked very exhaustive and
seemed too impatient with the interview process as if it was like an extra burden on her. I
glanced upon the sheet while signing to see that almost all the candidates were
experienced. I gave away the sheet along with all the hopes of getting selected and waited
for my name to be called.

An hour had passed since the verification of the documents and only three candidates had
completed their interviews. I was the third last out of twenty and I realized it could take the
entire day for my turn to come.

All of a sudden my eyes fell on a guy sitting two rows ahead of mine. He was wearing a blue
shirt and had dark brown curly hair, which reminded me of a college friend. I was about to
push it aside for any one could have similar hair style but when I saw a tattoo of skull at the
back of the right ear I was confirmed about him. I got up to meet him.

“Derek?” I called him. He quickly turned back and responded with a wide smile on his face.
“Abhay. Good to see you after such a long time. What brings you here?” he asked me with
great enthusiasm. I told him that I was there for the interview too. Derek has been working
in a pharmaceutical company as an HR Assistant for the last 2 years and now he is eager to
make improvements in similar fields. We were busy sharing our old memories when we
heard a siren of an ambulance followed by a loud rushing of the attendants and a few
doctors.

I went back to my seat to learn what has happened. A couple of attendants hurried towards
the emergency gate with a stretcher. For the moment all the candidates and other people
waited anxiously just to understand the situation. Finally, the stretcher was inside the
Emergency ward and everyone stared at it. Generally I avoid looking at patients out of fear
but things were different that day.

I don’t know why I felt so curious and walked inside the emergency hall to see the patient. I
could hear my own heart beating rapidly as I neared the patient. I heard an attendant saying
a man that it was a fatal car accident and the victim was returning home from the Airport.
He continued describing the accident and I kept on listening while approaching the victim’s
stretcher. The driver of the mangled car was declared dead on arrival and the passenger was
fighting to survive.

The moment I saw the patient, my swift heartbeat came to a halt abruptly. I felt so empty
yet so complete. It was as if I need no air to breath and no desire to feed. The victim, a girl in
her mid twenties, had suffered terribly. She had severe bruises on her face and she was
bleeding. Its obvious that anyone in my place would feel sorry for her but I couldn’t do so. In
fact I had such a different feeling that I could never explain.

I was so anxious to know her condition that I waited outside the examination room where
she was alone, lying so peacefully on the bed. I hoped for any movement from her but there
was none except for the slight breathing with the help of the apparatus provide. My heart
was now beating at same the rate as hers and I was feeling breathless. I had an unexpected
pleasant smile on my face for no reason and tears rolling down my cheeks. In fact, I was
delighted to see her yet regretted to have met her this way.