Meeting World’s Biggest Procrastinator

Friday, 15th Jan’2010- He left his office early to be with his daughter in his wife’s absence; she had gone to her office to attend her weekly conference calls. After spending close to an hour with his daughter, he decides to leave for his wife’s office with his daughter sitting on the backseat with her attendant. As they approached Iffco Chowk, his car refused to move an inch; apparently it had run out of petrol……..He picks up his phone to call his waiting wife at the office; tells her about the incident. She is not at all surprised as she knows that he had been in similar situations on many previous occasions. However, what perturbed her most this time was the presence of her ‘little-one’ inside the car. Before she could say anything further, his phone battery conked off; apparently he had not re-charged his phone- Good Lord saved him from his wife’s fury…………His immediate concern is to pass on his location co-ordinates to his wife. He is not at all worried as he knows that his phone can still work for few seconds on reserve power- has been in similar situation in the past, you know! So, he switches on his phone and quickly passes on his location co-ordinates to his wife telling her to reach there with her colleague…….

His daughter, who was earlier sleeping in her attendant’s lap is awake and is busy watching her dad negotiate through that mini-crisis. She had already seen her father’s first attempt to refuel his car gone bust……Her father informed her mom only after that first failed attempt. What happened then was no less bizarre- as soon as his car stopped, he looked for empty 1 liter bottle; always keep one handy in his car. Petrol pump was right across the road; so he instructed her daughter’s attendant to lock the car from inside until he is back with petrol. At the petrol pump, he came face to face with another situation, no first by his standards- he was not carrying any cash and they don’t swipe debit card for a transaction as low as 50 rupees. He somehow manages 30 rupees from all those hidden pockets of his wallet and tells him to give him petrol worth that amount. He was confident that even that 700 ml petrol will be enough for him to cross that road. But, his car had different plans; engine didn’t start at all- what can you expect in extreme cold conditions! It was then he had turned to his phone to inform his wife in the manner already explained.

Wait is on- daughter is enjoying the scene of people zipping past them in their cars while her papa’s eyes are searching for her mom in the darkness across the road……Soon she emerged out of fog walking towards the car, eyes are bit furious but resigned to the fact that few people cannot change and her husband is one of them………”Why do you allow yourself to land in these situations” - is all she could ask! Daughter is on her mom’s lap narrating her the incident while her father is busy looking for money in her purse…....he knows that he still has a job to do- to run towards the petrol pump……..Two trips to the petrol station and car engine is back to life, again! Who could that man be? Well he is none other than my papa- World’s biggest procrastinator!