“Five minutes more sir!”

Again the receptionist replied same. I am here in the Wakons Lab for our proposal of collaboration, I am not representing any company here. The collaboration is with me only and my friend Yatin. I asked the same question six times and she replied same.

After waiting for another five minutes, I stood up and started moving toward receptionist. Then only Dr. Vijay came out from the lift. I turned my direction towards him.

“Sir, Vijay Sir!” I shouted when I left behind and he crossed the main gate.  But he did not listened or may be ignored. But I didn’t care, ignoring ignorance is my strength. I again called him. His driver opened the gate for him to enter into the shiny black Mercedes, but my voice stopped him this time.

“You again here!” His first reaction after seeing me.

“At least you remembered me sir.”

“Sorry, but by face only not by name.”

“Advik! Now you will remember.”  I raised my handed document up.

“Not again, you know it’s your third time.”  

“I know, but I made many new changes this time.”

He ignored me and went inside. But I am also very particular in such things. I moved further and knocked his window.

“Believe me, I will sort everything.”  I said.

“Look, I gave you chance last time. But what you did… Nothing!”

“It was just a blunder. I agree, but this time…”

He interrupted and asked one of the disturbing question to me, “Is it working?”

I didn’t said anything, he understood my silence.

“Listen, take this either as warning or advice. Leave this and find a good new job, even you can join us. I will support you, but not in this.”

He closed his window and left me alone. I know he has more experience than me. He is forty-six, exactly double that of mine. But somewhere I feel that it will work one day, what I need is just a favour of any of the scientist.

I live in Madhya Pradesh, India. From childhood only I used to live with my grandmother who left me when I was twenty one. Now when I recall all the things, I feel weird because I don’t have any memories due to one car accident happened at my early age of around four or five where I lost everything. How difficult it is to miss one who’s real memory didn’t exist and you remember them only by seeing them in pictures and videos. After my grandmother, I lived alone in the same house with the same unknown memories.

But after twenty-two I didn’t get much time to think about it, because me and my friend Yatin started working for an public organisation, Mano-Vasta who research and extract things from the ancient resources for the present medical and social development. I hardly went to any site, however Yatin used to go and he get extra bonuses for the same. One time I went with Yatin to some site, in Madhya Pradesh itself. There I just survived from a sharp rock which passed from my eyes few centimetres away.

I took a taxi from Wakon’s Lab for the home which is an hour away, remembering all my rejections in the last five months. I somehow passed that one hour.

DING-DONG!

She opened the door.

She judged another failure from my fake smile. She is my wife, Ramika. We live in a very nice place, a small bungalow one may say to it. It’s Yatin’s house, till now. Actually we both put our money on this house but the registered name is Yatin only. That was my head-suck decision to sign all the land to him, but that time was different. I was busy in my stuff, so busy that I didn’t thought to divide it in two halves officially.  But now I decided to do this, after my successful collaboration. I do trust blindly, my grandmother once said which holds true sometimes.

I entered the house and sat on the sofa, throw the papers on the table. She also sat beside me.

“This time also…” She want to say something, but she stopped there seeing me in low mood.

“He said I should change my profession. Really! I know what is right for me, I respect but that does not mean that he will say anything and I will just accept.”

“Yeah, relax.  They will accept it, maybe he was not in good mood… Okay, leave it…. Tea?” She asked in a very calm tone which I like.

I smiled and said, “Yes”.

Then only doorbell rang.

“Let me see, who is this..” I opened the door.

“HOLA!” Yatin was there, smiling like he got something very exciting. Well, he used to smile like this almost every time, that is one of the thing I like in him, he know how to overcome and face the situations.

“Hola!” His son also copied him.

“Hey..Come!” I said.

They sat on sofa and I too, Ramika went to bring tea for us.

“So, got that?” Yatin asked looking at the papers on the table. His tone was more of telling than asking to me and it is obvious because except me everyone accepted that it is worthless, they are just showing to me that they didn’t accepted it. But I also now have experience to read faces.

“No!” I replied.

“Now?” His another obvious question.

“Uhm, not decided yet.” 

“But I have decided.” He took his phone out, and showed me a screen.

“Woo!”

It was an appointment confirmation mail of Dr. Bhaduri. I am trying it for more than six month and now I finally got it.

“You know I waited for more than an hour for this in his office. Be ready dude, he will definitely listen to you and will agree also.”

“Thanks a lot Yatin. This…” I was almost crying that time like a small child who got his favourite toy.

“What’s the timing?” Ramika asked, putting the cups on the table.

“Tomorrow morning, no time is mentioned here. Uhh, he don’t believe in time, he believe in lights, you know.”

“Yeah, that’s why I want to meet him.” I said still in jolly.

After the dinner I took two bottles and went to upstairs for the fresh air. Me and Yatin do this occasionally or one may say that to celebrate something. This time it is celebration, I know only appointment is fixed, but this is the ninety percent we have done. Because I know I will influence Dr. Bhaduri. Well he has eight doctorate degree mainly in theoretical physics and ancient manuscripts. He was once our professor in college who taught us to read two ancient language of Egypt for one year, after that he left or retired by choice would be better to say in this case.

“Will you take all your stuff there tomorrow?” Yatin asked opened the cap… FIZZZ.

“Obviously not, I will tell him the mechanism. He will understand it.”

“Okay so I will tell the manager that tomorrow we will not be there in the office.”

“Yeah, maybe be for two days.”

“Two days?” He gave me one of the bottle.

“Yeah, may be three. Who know?! We don’t what he will say.”

“Okay, I am ready. No worry…. Cheers!”

Next day, I waked up early  at five – one hour than my usual. I arranged all my document and prepared for all the counter question one can make or till now faced.  Yatin also become ready till 9.  We reached there at ten.

It was a normal residential house, but isolated from others, including a garage, maybe for his experiment work because his ford is parked outside.

“This is office?” I asked.

“Yes.” Yatin replied casually, “come with me.”

I followed him, the main gate was open. He knocked the door and opened it. There was an girl, his daughter actually sitting there.

“Morning?” She asked.

I was so conscious that time that I didn’t understood her tone and in return replied, “Good morning!”

Yatin panked me from backside and whispered in my ears, “she was asking, not wishing.”

“Yes, morning appointment.”  Yatin replied.

“Uh, yes.” I said after him.

She looked at me so badly, actually what she was doing would come under staring to someone. Her head down and eyes up, looking at me. I looked at her sometime and then tried to ignore her, in which I am expert.

After five minutes she said, “You may go now.”

We entered  a corridor aside of that girl’s chair. There was one door, we knocked it. The house was old one, can be judged by looking at the floor and wall design.

“Come in!” Someone allowed us from inside.

There was a big room inside, like a hall. Everywhere, there was curious things, from telescope to astrological books, from manuscripts sample to ancient craft, all these things in one room. He was sitting at one corner, right side of the entrance with his table and some books on it.

He signalled us to sit down on the chairs in front of him. He was around in his mid-sixties, black and white hairs and wrinkles on his face tell this to everyone.

“So, tell me… on which research paper you need my signature?” He is straight forward.

“Actually sir….”

Before I complete mine, he interrupted me, “but I will first read all the queries, like the problem statement and yes the time you devoted all this things I will check first! Money is secondary.”

“Sir, we are not here for your signature.” I also became straight forward now. Already I am nervous and his sharp voice tend me more.

He stopped for a while, looked at me, then Yatin, then the documents that I put on table. Took his spectacle, placed it over his nose and stretch his back on the chair.

“So… what else?” He asked, looking at me to answer.

“Sir actually I am working on one project and…. Uhh, you know I completed it and from my side it is perfect but ….. it is not working.”

“Okay, understood. But what is your project?”

“Sir, actually….” I hold up for a while and then started, “sir it is a system that uhh, changing out body … actually changing the particle in the reverse order… or means uh, in fast also you can do…..”

I took more than two minute to say this and in between Yatin said a bit loud in voice,  “Uh, Time Machine!”

“What?” Dr. Bhaduri’s first reaction.

“Yes sir, you can… I mean in simple language you can say that.” After saying it Yatin turned to me along with Dr. Bhaduri.

“Uhh, Yes you can say that…. . I mean, The Time Machine……. ”