The day dawned finally for the pure blood’s travel to the faraway city. He was excited as well as apprehensive. Having stayed put in one place for about a couple of years had made him quite cozy and comfortable. All the way to the airport he had mixed feelings – should he be going? What is the use? Could he not have explored more in this city itself? The risk of venturing into unknown territory was preying heavily on his mind. The otherwise long journey from his home to the airport ended rather quickly at this unearthly hour. However, he had no time left to brood since there was a sizeable queue for entering the airport premises! And his flight was due in an hour’s time!
His mind mechanically told him to jump the queue and that’s exactly what he did, much to the shock and utter disbelief of those waiting for their turn. Back then, there was not much strictness on getting to the airline counter for a boarding pass. In his hurry the pure blood had missed getting his suitcase scanned though the x-ray machine. So huffing and puffing, he went back and loaded his luggage through the scanning machine. He did manage to get a boarding pass, with a sigh of relief, but as he turned around, it seemed his worries were not over yet. The lone queue for the security check was long and winding and seemed bigger than the one outside. He quickly joined it, dripping with perspiration. He nervously kept turning his wrist to check each second ticking. This time the Spicejet staff bailed him out. Loud shouts for passengers for the flight to the faraway city came as music to his ears and he promptly dashed off to the airline staff. VIP treatment was showered on him as he was personally led though the security check, escorted on to the bus and gingerly helped on the airstair to board the waiting aircraft. Eventually he boarded the flight with only a few minutes to spare.
This close shave had diverted his mind from the larger purpose of all this frenzy and running around. He felt hungry as well. After settling down and once the flight was airborne, he took out his notepad and chalked out a detailed itinerary for the coming 2 weeks of his stay. Even with little in hand, he listed other options that had been bearing on his mind for some time now. He also jotted down a list of known connections – friends, batch mates, acquaintances etc. in the faraway city. Clarity of thoughts helps, he smiled to himself. By the time his flight was touching down, he felt geared up for the challenge.
The pure blood’s best buddy from school was working in the faraway city and stayed in an apartment. He was overjoyed to learn that the pure blood was contemplating a shift to the faraway city. Since it was a Saturday, he had come to pick up the pure blood from the airport. They chatted merrily about their school days, laughing on funny anecdotes and reliving memories of their best years. They were meeting after 3 years and no amount of phone calls or chatting through the internet could take away the pure pleasure of speaking face to face.
Over the weekend, apart from going to a few landmarks in the city, the pure blood called up all his known people for advice and way forward. Some of them were not lawyers, yet they tried to reach out to their contacts rather efficiently. By Sunday night, he had got some sure shot contacts. Some were phone numbers and others email addresses of partners or senior associates. After dinner, he sent out applications and requests for meetings for the duration of this stay. For those law firms for whom he did not get a contact, he decided to drop in personally. He had a map of the faraway city at his disposal and marked out places close to his scheduled interview locations. He expected to be free after about 2 hours of the interview time, giving him plenty of scope to check out these places. He had enquired the availability of reliable public transport from his friend.
Before going to bed late that night, he felt a lot better about the whole visit. His first interview was scheduled next day in the morning and he didn’t want to be late, so he set up the alarm in his mobile phone and closed his eyes.
Before going to bed late that night, he felt a lot better about the whole visit. His first interview was scheduled next day in the morning and he didn’t want to be late, so he set up the alarm in his mobile phone and closed his eyes.
