Whispering Shadow

It is just another morning. I wake up. I have my routine egg, fruit and cereal breakfast with no sense of urgency or eagerness. I get the first call from my boss while getting ready for work, asking for a piece of data that he should be knowing but probably didn't need to know till his boss asked him. Unlike my initial days in the role, I tell him I will give it to him once I reach office. In the middle of the call, I remember there was an urgent closure that I had been chasing him for for the past few days. I remind him again. He tells me he will discuss it face to face in office. He says he will be there by 10.15AM. As usual, I reach office by 10.00AM. I switch on my computer. While it boots, I update my white board with the tasks I need to finish today, three-fifths of them requiring closure from my boss. I finish checking the plethora of mails that come from two dozen people, deleting probably 30% of them which are inconsequential to my work, flagging the important ones that...

...where recipes were sacrosanct - an onion could not replace a cucumber in a sandwich ...where dessert was served as starters and soup after the main course ...where a veg cheese sandwich was served in place of a veg cheese toast sandwich because that is what the order said and the customer may have forgotten what he ordered ...where drinking water took just 2 hours to reach the room after having called room service ...where the bathroom was so advanced that even the drainage water was filtered by hair accumulated in the mesh and sachets of shampoo and soap were kept torn open for the guest's convenience ...where the full tariff was charged for an AC room with no electricity for half the day ...where for a bill of Rs.107 and a payment of Rs.120, the change given is Rs.3 ...where the evenings entertainment was a great show by mosquitoes ...where there was no running warm water in any tap ...which happened to be the most expensive and renowned hotel in the town ...from where I check...

Wake up. Go to office. Check e-mails. Work.  Eat. Check e-mails. Work. Eat again sometimes. Work more. Return home.  Check e-mails (personal). Sleep.  And this happens six days a week from 7AM to 11PM. Not that there is too much of work, there is too little of everything else. 

It has been one of those phases – I have been doing everything I should but I haven’t been getting anywhere. And its timing could not have been more wrong. Not that I am not happy with whatever I am doing, but I don’t see how it is taking me towards my larger objective. I am practically drifting (yeah, this year’s first ‘drift’ post is here) But luckily drifting has had its benefits. I have been putting in a lot of quality time at work, which has allowed me to gel better with my team.   It is only because of them that despite being the most hectic, the last few weeks have also been some of most enjoyable ones I have had at work. I have learnt but I can’t see the difference just yet. The mention of the word ‘team’ reminds me how much I want to write about mine on the blog. In fact it has so happened that whenever I have wanted to blog, I have had no time, and whenever I have time, I have had no inclination. Since I have both this Saturday evening, I think I will get over with it onc...

KK and he sat in diagonally opposite chairs in a cubicle,both within my audible range. At first I felt he was talking to himself. When I tried to make sense of his words, I realised he was giving instructions. But to whom? The computer monitor? It took me a while to realise he was talking to . The moment he asked a question, KK stood up and walked to his desk, diligently like a subordinate would. KK stood there looking at him, answering him, taking his orders like a timid rabbit. On the other hand, he acted as if nothing had changed. He continued working on his system while he gave instructions. Not once did he give KK a nod of approval or even establish eye contact. As soon as he was done, KK returned to his seat and resumed working.  Sometime after the above incident happened, another colleague of mine approached my super boss. He explained his predicament and requested my super boss to grant him a leave of a week. After 5 minutes, all he heard from him was "Drop me a mail....

Funny how kids play house-house and teacher-teacher but never play office-office. May be they just know that it is not fun. May be humans are born with an instinctive antipathy towards structured work. Last week was my first at office and it was not as bad as I thought it could be. I want to pen down the first impressions I had of work (actually training) so far for my own record. If I only keep this to myself, I might just create distorted versions with time. So here goes. What excited me about work? The smoothness with which the organisation functions. (I hate the college administration) The professionalism which is put in every task here. (It is a level apart) Coffee/Tea/Hot Chocolate on the house. (It spoils you) Conducive work environment. (Wow! It's cool, quiet and colourful.) Salary (For the first time, my hard earned money, no matter how much it is) Security (Seems super cool. No non-sense here) People (A whole new bunch to interact with and learn from) Learning (Loads, tou...