The moment of happiness had finally arrived, the tiny human had entered the home for the very first time. Shilpa just had her first baby, a boy that is and everyone in the family was ecstatic. Everyone surrounded the little lump of humanness which had now become a part of their family, their traditions and their perpetual bond of love.

Her husband, her parents and her in laws, all were on the ninth cloud. While the whole building in which Shilpa had just brought in the baby congratulated her for the cuteness she had just delivered, but there was this one woman with whom neither Shilpa nor her mother ever had a sane conversation. The lady in question was infamous for her loud trashy behaviour and so they didn't expect her to congratulate them or be happy about the fact. But very surprisingly the terrace floor aunty visited Shilpa's home along with her own daughter in law and congratulated her. She even mentioned the fact that the baby boy was one of the cutest and healthiest she came across till date.

It was the tiny human's first day in the new environment and his crying from the previous night had not stopped. He was crying like there was no end, everyone right from Shilpa to the next door neighbour had tried calming him down and stop his cries by distracting him, singing for him and even by making faces; none of it helped. After a lot of anxiety he was taken to the near by hospital where he was delivered only to realise that it was normal for babies to get uncomfortable in the new environment and that the crying will subside in a day.

A week passed and the yet to be named baby boy was all fine. While Shilpa was at the door taking a courier, the infamous lady appeared again and started asking Shilpa about the newborn's well being out of concern. While we all like to be asked "How are you? All well?", but we seldom like when someone says " Nothing is wrong with you na?" , there's a hell lot of difference in the emotional reaction each of these sentences evoke. Shilpa did not like the way she enquired about her boy and replied with a fake smile, "Ya aunty, all well".

Having a very vulnerable immune system, the boy started crying once again; not the usual crying but the endless one accompanied with fever. Once again he was taken to the doctors who this time confirmed him having a stomach infection which again was fairly common phenomenon. Shilpa did not like the fact that her boy had fallen ill after the infamous lady's enquiry.

It was two days later that the newborn was fit and fine again, back to being normal & curious. Shilpa was doing her usual routine work when her mother called her to the door and showed her something.
There were few dry chillies and a piece of haldi (turmeric) lying in front of their door. Both Shilpa & her mother felt a chill run down their spine, knowing the fact that these things were used in black magic, they started feeling restless. Shilpa's mother spoke at once,
"See what she is reduced to, this lady I will not leave her. If something happens to our boy I will kill her. This is what she is doing now" and started blaming the infamous lady.

While Shilpa and her mother where getting anxious about the presence of the chillies and the turmeric, a floor below them a mother was busy shouting at her 6 year old girl for playing with the dry red chillies & turmeric they had bought for making a masala mix. The girl was playing with the dry chillies and the turmeric and throwing them wherever she went, including Shilpa's floor.

At times, the simplest of things appear to be nightmarish thanks to our perspectives,the harmful & wicked ones are the most dangerous ones. 
BEWARE ! DON'T BE BLINDED BY YOUR ONE DIMENSIONAL PERSPECTIVES! 

Arriving late at your job is never a good idea, especially when you are the only responsible one around. I have many people who complain about their jobs, many of whom are my very own friends. But I have never quite understood their theory; I fail to understand why do they continue to do the job if they hate it so much? This is the very reason I am writing this down today and I hope someday someone will read this and understand that at the end of the day it’s never about what your job is about, it’s about how you perceive it and what you want to get out of it.

Well in that case I consider myself very lucky. I love my job, I love being around all these people. They rarely talk to me because I am unlike them; they are all experienced and have knowledge about everything including life more than myself. But the fact is, even if they don’t talk to me they make me feel calm because even if they don't talk to me much they always listen to me, that too without being judgemental.

As soon as I come here to work all my worries just vanish. I start to appreciate the fact that I have a voice of my own and a choice of my own.

Though I like working here, the pay is definitely not the reason which is making me stay. I can very well say that I am paid in peanuts, both financially and respectfully because not many think my job is worthy and that it is the most insane job anyone can do. In my defence I must say that my job is more fulfilling than majority of the people I have helped throughout my work period. My job is to respect and be respectable to people around me and lift their spirits high.

Unlike others who take up a job to just make a living and nothing else, I have taken up this job for a more important reason; helping strangers achieve things which are beyond this life.
The one and only thing I really hate about my job are the technicalities. I have not even cleared my high school and I now regret that because I have realized that education really helps one in understanding the technicalities. I have a duty to make sure no water goes in from anywhere and I confess that every time I recheck I find water inside. It must either be that I don't lock the door properly or something else which I cannot pin point, but I will have to figure it out as it's the one thing about being here that irritates me and makes me sad, knowing that I have not done my job properly.

I have a group, we all work together and we make sure we do the right thing every time. I don't even know the names of the people whom I help, everyday a new lot of people enter in search of peace and their search ends here, which has made me realize that there's no use of running after peace. The total of people whom I have helped in my long career of 7 years is around 9854 people, like I said I don't know their names but knowing that I was present in their personal need is so liberating.
Since today I have arrived late, I shall do the important tasks first which includes things like trimming the overgrown grass and cleaning debris if any. Once that's done I will make sure to meet at least two of the people around me and look at their name cards, it helps me keep myself grounded to know that this person will always thank me in his senses. Me and my team has a map of the whole place which helps us find out the vacancies available with us and to regularly check upon the places already filled up. Post that I like everyday will have my lunch in a room which is dedicated to me and my team. My work day is fairly predictable in ways and also unpredictable if you change your perspective.

It’s not like I don’t get frustrated with my routine; I do get frustrated at times because some people really become difficult to handle but then the prime rule of our job is as I mentioned earlier to respect and be respectable. My wife has always tried to pull me out of this job and tried her best to make me change my way of looking at my job and not be an embarrassment to her and the only thing I keep telling her is that my job is my life and I like what I do and nothing I love should be an embarrassment to her because I am not doing anything which is immoral or illegal.
And one more thing I have learnt from my job is that being together is the only thing in life which should matter, that even a small gesture like holding hands can eliminate many negative feelings in our hearts. I have seen so many people come in giving a cold shoulder to each other, but in the end they walk out with a feeling of togetherness because they realize in that moment while they hold hands they are all one; that in the end everyone feels the pain the same way and everyone needs to be understood.

I have booked a place for me and my wife here itself. Before we shift here, I want her to someday realize that what I do for a living is what I find peace in and that I have tried a million times and cried a million nights thinking and rethinking about changing my job but it just did not feel right. No other job on this planet can give me the satisfaction my job gives me. I am proud to say that I am a cemetery worker and I do the most dreaded and supposedly morbid job, but I love it and I find solace in knowing the fact that I help the deceased rest in peace.