If Truth Be Told: A Monk's Memoir by Om Swami

really like to learn more. Can I work here for forty hours a week or longer? I don’t have my own computer at home as yet.'
'That’s fine,' Greg said. 'We’ll give you the office keys and you can leave late if you like.'
    I had to work harder, learn quicker and earn more because this was the only way I would ever be able to fulfil the dream I had of studying at university one day. I knew it was a wild dream for it was beyond my range of affordability. My current worry was my college fee because the next instalment—$5,000—would be due in seven months, and I had no clue how I was going to save that sum. I was already working as hard as I reasonably could.
    My day usually started at 5 a.m. so that I could take a bath before everyone else. This was to avoid disturbing them later as there was only one bathroom in Arun’s house. Once I was ready, I would have a cup of tea with two slices of bread and pack my lunch. This generally consisted of food I had saved up from the night before, or another four slices of bread with jam.
    I used to leave home around 6 a.m. and walk 2 km to the station. It was a hilly area and would take me exactly eighteen minutes of brisk walking to reach the train station. Occasionally, Anju gave me a lift to the station when she left early or I left late. It was a forty-five-minute ride to the city and a fifteen-minute walk before I reached the TTA office. I started work at 7:30 a.m. and coded till just after 5 p.m.
    From work, it was a twenty-minute train ride to my college, where I would study till 9 p.m. By the time I got back home, it would be nearly 11 p.m. After entering the house quietly since everyone was asleep at that time, I would freshen up and change. Sometimes, I wanted to step into the shower but eschewed it as the sound could wake everyone up. There were times when I even avoided using the toilet at night because flushing was noisy.
    Anju would keep dinner for me. I usually heated the plate of food in the microwave; at other times, I ate the food cold because turning on the microwave could be a loud affair at night. Anju and Arun had hectic schedules and little kids, and I didn’t want to disturb them. I wasn't going to repay their kindness with inconsideration. Once in a while, Anju and Arun would be watching ‘Law and Order’ on TV when I got back, and Anju would serve me a hot dinner.
    By the time I was finished with dinner, it would be nearly midnight. I would prepare the sofa bed and then study for two hours, after which I would sleep. Sometimes, Arun would walk into the room while I was studying and, in the loving tones of an elder brother, ask me to get some sleep. There was no doubt that the couple loved me deeply. They didn’t charge any rent from me or have me pay for groceries or utilities. I was always a part of their weekend outings and they never intruded into my personal space. Arun always encouraged me and Anju always supported me.
     
     

     
    I had been staying at Arun and Anju’s for nearly five months. I was earning now and it was time to look for accommodation of my own. Shared accommodation was my only choice as I didn't make enough to afford an independent place. In the first week of December, I saw an advertisement in the local newspaper. It was from someone who lived near my college and was looking for a flatmate. He turned out to be an Australian man of Croatian descent. When I called him up, he introduced himself as Anthony. Then he said, ‘It will be $100 per week plus utilities on actual.’ I took the offer in a jiffy.
    Life was easier now that I was living a couple of blocks away from my college. Saving nearly two hours of commuting time every day, work was only a twenty-minute train ride away. It gave me more time to study, read and, sometimes, to rest and dream. With a room to myself, I also resumed my meditation.
    Anthony and I didn’t communicate much. Employed in the construction industry, he’d leave early in the morning and be back by