This chapter is a continuation of the previous work Anbarey: 3.
Disclaimer: This is a work of FICTION.
As always, there's a note at the end of this chapter. I have a small question section and a rant/ story section in the notes. I'd appreciate any inputs for my questions in the notes.
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Anbarey: 4
Sivaangi walked back home after a long day in the lab amidst the chilly drizzle on a Friday evening, thankful for the weekend. She had expected May to be hot but Cambridge had surprised her. She thought this was better than the snow that had welcomed her when she moved to Massachusetts in early April. Even the locals had mentioned it was unusual to get snowfalls in April.
Taking off her shoes and the MIT (Massachusetts Inst. of Technology) sweatshirt she wore, she slumped on the bed in her studio apartment just outside the campus. Postdoctoral associates weren't paid that well, not even in world renowned institutions, not even when they worked for Nobel laureates.
She had a mild headache but was too tired or rather disinterested to go make coffee or cook for herself. She mindlessly changed the channels on the TV trying to find something that interested her.
Dialing her daughter, Priya's number for the second time that day she began panicking. She knew Priya wasn't in the hostel, she was supposed to have started to Bodi earlier that day. She should be in the bus, but her daughter who would religiously update her usually wasn't responding to her call. She didn't want to call Indu or anyone in Bodi and panic them yet. The past week had already been a bit ominous and today with Priya not answering the phone, it only made Sivaangi feel guilty and terrible. She shouldn't have come here in the first place. Why couldn't she have just stayed back in India?
A month after that dreaded evening at the beach in January, Sivaangi had a couple of offers for Post Doctoral positions from various programs. She had usually kept Priya in the loop when she received offers. But when she had received an offer from MIT's physics program in Cambridge, she had swept it under the rug. She didn't even want to share the news with Priya. She had instantly decided to not take the position. She had been sure she didn't want to leave Priya alone and relocate herself out of the country. It would be reckless parenting, she had thought to herself. Priya had already been urging her to take the offer from CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) in Switzerland, "Switzerland suththi paakalaam, nalla chocolate saapdalaam, not to mention all that cheese", her daughter had argued. Priya was that excited for CERN, if only her daughter knew she had an offer to work for Dr. Wolfgang Ketterle in MIT.
"Not that I want to lose you, but why won't you accept Ketterle's offer? I didn't think there'd come a day when I'd see Sivaangi make stupid decisions. I at least understand you turning down CERN, it's not your area of interest, too generic", her mentor Vikram had asked her when she shared the news.
"I have a child sir", she had countered.
"Who's in college!", her mentor had reminded her.
"Right. I can't just waltz off across oceans. She'll be alone here".
Her mentor had nodded in understanding , "why even apply in the first place?".
"I don't know. May be to prove to myself that I was good enough?"
"That's the most stupidest sentence I have ever heard come out of your mouth. But it's your decision. I am of course happy you are staying with us. Wait for a week before you send the denial letter. Make sure to let them know it's for personal reasons".
