The Joys of Freelancing

Many people ask me how to become a successful freelancer and how and why I became one. Most often I had to repeat the same story with some variations every time. So, I thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to write a small note on "Joys of Freelancing". Later, it struck me that it is an ideal opportunity to experiment with Fiction.

This is my first attempt at writing fiction. Let me know what you think.

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Chapter One

In the summer of 1999, we moved from California to India. The reasons for relocation seemed quite obvious - at least and strangely - only to us. My wife Padma and I work in the technology industry – we were in the land of opportunities for more than three years by that time, and both of us fared reasonably well. That was the time of the dotcom era – everyone was really mad - bordering on the insane. The whole of Silicon Valley was buzzing with activity. We used to work sixteen hours every day, at least six days and almost seven days a week. The family life was non-existent at the least, every one would talk about stock options, career jumps, number of patents filed, products that they developed, hundred percent salary hikes, the newest swanky cars that they bought etcetera, etcetera. The only break from this routine is when some friends call you for lunch and they would invariably throw in their wedding video for free, and gently insist that you watch it.

In short, we were a bunch of boring people. We were ashamed to look at ourselves in the mirror each day morning – we looked like zombies. Once in a while life gets boring and that can be managed, but the worst thing to happen to a human being is when he becomes a boring person. There is no story to tell – imagine what a nightmare you have come to become if the only thing that you can show your friends is your wedding video!!

But the Wedding Videos had a concealed message for us. The people in India seemed interesting, happy, boisterous, cunning, good looking and even charming. I wanted to be in the video – not watching it. I wanted a part of that action. So, one fine day, just like that I snapped my fingers and decided that it is time to go back home.

I had to communicate and then convince my wife. It is easy for captain Picard to say their mission is to “boldly go where no one has gone before”, but how do you tell your wife that you are about to “do boldly what no one had done before”? I knew instinctively that it was not going to be easy. She has an inherent mistrust when it comes to my radical ideas that disturb the already well established family rhythm. She can touch my ideas like a spoon dipped in honey. She will then take it out, drip it off the honey patiently, throw it into the dish washer and set the washing temperature to one hundred degrees Celsius. So, if one reason is sufficient to convince my friends, I need a million reasons to convince her and plus one more.

I thought about it carefully for a couple of hours, rehearsed it many times in my mind. Padma was busy in the kitchen. I slowly got up from the sofa in the living room, went to the kitchen walking like the ET. I cleared my throat a couple of times. “I have been thinking about this for quite some time now. I am now convinced. We are going home” I said as sweetly and as resolutely as I can.

She didn’t pay any attention. I repeated again. She seemed to consider it and I saw a flicker of pleasant thoughts shine in her eyes – I was hopeful. “I also want to go home, but it is impossible to get a vacation now” was her first response. Then I had to break the bad news. “No, not for vacation!! I mean we are going back for ever, for good, permanently, never to come back again”. She dismissed me with a simple “Okaeey. We will think about it. What is the hurry?”

For the next couple of months, we had many arguments, discussions, different points of view, and counter points of view. Padma’s logic is very simple and straight forward. Her point is we made such an enormous effort in coming to US, we were there just for about three years, just settling down to that life style, we just bought a car, both of us had very good jobs – both from a work content, and salary perspective, and we just started to see some real savings. She never wanted to settle in the US, but she wanted some more time. On my part, I had no logic at all – only a very deep, inner need to get out of that mad place, and an instinct that it is the right thing to do. May be she was right – but, I didn’t want to find out. More and more reasons only strengthened my determination. For once, I was the instinctive wife and she was the logical husband. Finally she relented and even convinced of it herself.

To be continued ... though I don't know when I will get around to write the second chapter.