" God! Whatever it is please be with me!" She prayed as she waited for the result.
Two lines appeared making her teary.
She touched her stomach and spoke.
" Hey, lil peanut. I know you can't hear me but mumma and papa will love you lots!" She said...
It was a cold Monday morning everyone was rushing towards their work. In between the fast-moving people there stood a clueless soul in the middle of everyone not knowing where she should go. A fair Indian lady, she looked very Indian with her simple Kurti and bindi on her forehead.
With lots of hesitation, she tried calling another woman, she looked Indian too looking at the woman a relief washed over her.
" Excuse me, I am new here..." She was interrupted by the lady.
" So, what? Should I welcome you with a bouquet?"
She was taken aback by the lady's reply, she didn't even wait for her to finish. In the blink of a second, the lady disappeared.
A BAD START!
The nervousness multiplied. She was an introvert and was afraid of new people and here she is, in a totally new country.
" How am I going to survive this environment?" she mumbled to herself. She hated herself for being like that.
Weak! Stupid! Dumb! She scolded herself.
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" Hey, you looked like you need some help" A young handsome lad in his formals with his sleeves rolled up came towards her. The small smile he had on his face made her believe that he would help her.
"Umm, yeah! " She said scared.
" Nothing to be scared of, you ought to face challenges when you want to achieve things. You have to come out of your comfort zone. I guess you already did by coming here." He said smiling.
She was confused, how did he know all this?
" I am sorry, I was watching you from there for the last 15 minutes. Don't think of me as a creep." He pointed towards a bench.
" Umm. I..." She stuttered.
" Shit, I am sorry. I am Alan Davies. I know you might feel awkward, but that's me. So, what help do you need?" He asked with a grin.
" I am Yaazhini from India. I am searching for the Medical microbiology department. Can you please tell me the way? " She requested Alan without any fear as she could feel his friendliness.
" Yalini... I will lead you the way?" he said.
" Thank you so much!" She smiled for the first time in the say.
They started walking towards the destination.
"Yalini, you gonna do your master's here?" He asked.
" Umm, yes! And if you don't mind..." She hesitated.
" Yes, don't hesitate to ask. I won't get offended by anything you ask." He laughed.
" Umm, it's not YaLini but YaZhini " she said.
He looked amused.
" Didn't I call you the same?"
" Nope! You have to roll your tongue, Yaa, zhi, ni" She taught him
He tried several times but ended up pounding wrongly.
" You know what? Just leave it, call me however you get it." she sighed.
" I am sorry, I cannot pronounce it, " He said sadly.
" That's fine, I am habituated to it now. Most of the people can't do it..." She sighed.
" Tell me how should I call you? " He asked.
" Umm, Yali or Yalu maybe that's how my friends and family call me. As you couldn't pronounce Zhi, just go with li..." she smiled.
They reached a building, which had " DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND MEDICINE" written in block letters.
As they entered inside, they were greeted with 'Good morning, sir', 'Good morning Dr. Alan', 'Good morning Dr. Davis'.
Yazhini's eyes widened.
" You are a doctor?" She asked surprised.
" Yes!" He grinned.
" As in, a physician? or a Phd holder?" She asked.
" I am doing my residency after my MD in Oncology!" He said smiling at her.
" Wow, that's great!" She gasped.
" You are doing research degree right who is your superviser and what is your area of research?" He asked.
" Um, mine is under Dr. Bhatia. Cancer microbiome, I guess we would have some things in common." She grinned.
" Oh my god!! Not a thing in common, but we are under same person. Dr. Bhatia is my teacher and we are in the same project." He exclaimed.
" That's unbelievable!" She shrieked.
" I know right! And here we are, this is your department. Just go and register your entry and then we will go meet Dr. Bhatia." He said and asked her to go and complete the formalities in the department office.
" Dr. Bhatia, has dayshift today and I finished my night shift, that's why I was here to take somethings from the lab and I met you here." He said to Yazhini who came out after registering herself.
Then they walked nearly a kilometer and reached the university hospital and used the lift to go the 12th floor.
Alan knocked on Dr. Bhatia's door.
" Come in..."
" Alan, weren't you supposed to go home? Who is this pretty lady? And you look excited!" Dr. Bhatia asked looking at the girl standing behind him.
" Doc, she is Yaalini. Your new student..."
" Yazhini from India?" Dr. Bhatia asked surprised.
" Yes, sir!" Yazhini answered.
" Welcome to the University of Willow!" He smiled at her.
" Thank you sir!"
" Did he call you by the correct pronunciation?" Alan asked confused.
" Yes, I did Alan. You are forgetting that my roots are Indian and my mom is from the same place she hails from, that's why I remembered her!" Dr. Bhatia smiled at her.
Yazhini and Dr. Bhatia aka Sakthivel Bhatia a mixture of south and north Indian started talking in their mother tongues.
" Umm, it would be nice if you guys speak in English" Alan shrugged annoyed.
" I am sorry" Both said in unison.
Later, they had their breakfast together and exchanged their phone numbers,
Yazhini didn't expect her working environment to be so cool.
