After twenty minutes of convincing her that I was not the ironing boy she still refused to let me in till finally cousin Baiju appeared on the scene and sorted out everything.

The evening passed uneventfully till around eight, just when I was about to go back home, Kanjany ammamma had a heart attack while watching Indian Idol.

We rushed her to West Fort Hospital in Trichur. She was wheeled into ICU. I was at the hospital till this morning trying to help. She passed away quietly in her sleep around five and I was back home by seven, exhausted and feeling very very ill from the milky tea they serve at the hospital canteen.

Which is when Mom gave me the letter that had come yesterday. She hadn’t opened it and it was clearly from Dufresne. The logo was on the corner. It was addressed to Robin Were Geese. I laughed and pointed it out to Mom.

I was ecstatic but controlled my emotions as we are all supposed to be in mourning. Mom has unplugged the TV from the mains. For two weeks we are supposed to be quiet, restrained and solemn.

When I opened the envelope and read the one-page letter inside I screamed like a madman and ran out of the living room, out into the compound, around the house and back in through the kitchen. My mom hid in the storeroom till I was done.

Apparently Dufresne Partners has decided, ‘with deep regret’, to withdraw their offer to me as I have not responded to the initial offer letter by the stipulated last date. They ‘assume’ I am no longer interested in the offer ‘to work as a part of the Dufresne family’ and were very ‘upset that I had not informed them of my intention to not join’.

I immediately got on the phone with the Dufresne Partners head office in Gurgaon and demanded to speak to the head of HR. But apparently everyone in admin and HR, including Vice-President Srikumaran Nair, is out on an emergency ‘cost-cutting’ off-site at the Oberoi resort in Shimla. They will only be back day after tomorrow.

7 p.m.

The situation is most dire. I have been getting giddy spells all day. Dad told me not to worry. He said Srikumaran Nair sounded like a Malayali name. And ‘all Malayalis stick out for each other, son. So don’t worry too much.’

I hope so. I hope it’s all a misunderstanding.

10.55 p.m.

Cannot sleep. Have I lost the job? No I haven’t. I am being paranoid.

11.26 p.m.

Will I be the only guy on campus not to have a job after graduating?

I can’t sleep.

FUCK.

10 April 2006

8 a.m.

Off to church. Kanjany ammamma’s funeral. Will be busy all day. Trying not to think about Dufresne. Will pray.

11 April 2006

11.13 a.m.

Oh God. I laughed so much! It was hilarious. A real comedy of errors!

Srikumaran Nair and I must have chuckled about it for a full fifteen minutes before his line got cut and he subsequently declined all my calls. No doubt he got called into some sort of important meeting.