Colleagues and Contemporaries

Ramya left Chennai with a heavy heart, full of sweet memories and a strong inclination to stay back. She had enjoyed life for a whole year in Chennai. She had loved her job as a web content editor. In one year, she had grown accustomed to the wonderful people, the freedom, the fast life, the amazing food, the lovely beaches, the late-night parties, and just about everything there. And the very thought of giving up all that and returning to mundane family life upset her.

Her job as a Content Editor kept her very contented indeed. No pun intended. She enjoyed all the gossip about the Vice President flirting with one of the staff members and all the snide remarks about them being spotted at various lovers' parks and restaurants. She loved working with the small but efficient team of editors at Enhands Technologies.

In particular, she was very impressed with Praveen, a senior editor, who was a pleasure to be with. He had a jovial disposition and a pleasing demeanor. Always equipped with his never-ending stock of anecdotes, he managed to keep the whole team motivated and cheerful. Praveen and Ramya hit off very well and they would often chat casually about this and that. They were on similar wavelengths and always managed to find a common topic to discuss. And they would never run out of energy! They occasionally teamed up and conspired against the others and enjoyed conning their co-workers. Ramya was very fond of Praveen's wife Divya too.

She also grew very attached to Rita, her roommate and colleague, who was a unique blend of modernity and traditionalism. Her unpredictability amazed Ramya. She was vociferous one moment and hushed the next. She was dreadfully sensitive too. But she was great company. Her likes and dislikes were so much like her own that they hardly had any adjustment problems. Both of them were lavish with gifts to each other and every Sunday they took off on short trips around town, or went to the movies. Sometimes on the spur of the moment, they made shopping decisions or went to watch late night shows. Whenever they stayed home, they spent time singing songs or playing cards. Occasionally, they also had impromptu dancing sessions on the rooftop!

Then there was George. A strange guy, but fun to be with. His car was branded the "blue auto" of Enhands Tech., as he used to give all the lady staff a lift in the evenings. He would even pick them up in the mornings at times. He had a bizarre sense of humor and he stuck around a great deal with Rinkoo, the programmer. Most of the staff was curious if there was more to their 'friendship' than met the eye. But every time anyone asked either of them, they vehemently denied it.

Rinkoo was a nice girl. Ramya got along famously with her. They used to go for short walks around the office during the coffee break, discussing every odd thing under the sun. They laughed a lot together and enjoyed each other's company very much. Ramya got close to Rinkoo's sister and mother too. Their caring nature and loving touch made Ramya so attached to them that she hardly missed her own home.

Another person she grew attached to at Enhands was Dipika. Dipika once told Ramya about her tragic past, and how she had coped with it. Ramya she was awed by it and felt that Dipika was a strong woman. In spite of all the personal problems Dipika was facing, she always managed to remain cool and composed. Ramya admired her realistic nature and optimistic approach to things. A few visits to Dipika's house brought Ramya close to her brother Vishwa and her cousin Vinu. They were a happy-go-lucky gang and often went to play snooker whenever they got the opportunity. Or they would simply hang out at the Annanagar Park, munching on peanuts or mangoes.

One person she never got along with was Paul. He always argued with her over the silliest of issues. Most of the time she gave in, but at the end of the day, Paul would ring up and apologize. He was a real weirdo. But he was George's friend and since she wanted to get to the bottom of George's relationship with Rinkoo, Ramya continued to humor Paul and tried her best to stay in his good books so that she could talk him into revealing George's little 'secret'.

Then there were Afshana and Shirly, the 'dolls' of Enhands. Both were famous for the 'laptop' jobs they did for the management, and thus got away with anything they did. The team gossiped a lot about the 'dolls', and Ramya thought it was great fun. Of course, it was harmless bitching. And the pioneers in the character bashing gang were Praveen and George.

There were a lot of others too, and together they all made a great team. All of them were enthusiastic, hardworking and fiercely fun loving. Come Saturday and all of them used to take off on long drives in George's 'blue auto' to the beach or the bowling alley.

Their director, Mr. Bijendra, was a thorough professional during office hours. But on weekends, he would join the gang in their merry-making. His wife pampered everyone at Enhands with sweets and specialties every once in a while. Sometimes she over-indulged them so much that they would just stay over at their place, eating into their privacy. But the Bijendra family never complained. That sense of belonging, that feeling of oneness made them smug and shortsighted. None of them noticed the downtrend in the market. The economy was collapsing while they were enjoying, in blissful euphoria.

One fine morning, the VP announced that Enhands was winding up. Ramya felt shattered. She sensed her world crashing as she desperately looked for another job in Chennai, but to no avail. Meanwhile, her parents were pestering her to quit Chennai and shift to Bangalore. She was averse to the very idea. But then she was running out of money and her accommodation contract was about to expire. She did attend interviews in Bangalore as well, but was not too keen on them.

Incredibly, she landed a job at Bangalore a couple of weeks later. She found it hard to believe because she had been very arrogant at the interview and had not even given it a second thought once she returned to Chennai. With things going haywire on the financial front and all the pressure from her family, she didn't have much choice but to settle for a job that was not only going to fetch her less salary, but also one that was going to be extremely stressful and not to her liking.

Ramya was very apprehensive about the new job and the people she was going to work with. Though she was not new to Bangalore, the city appeared strange and unfamiliar. Her first day at work was rather uneventful. But from the very next day, she was loaded with work. She needed this job badly. It was not about the money, but more a matter of self-image, for she had always hated the feeling of being 'jobless'. And so, she worked hard. So hard that she hardly spent any time interacting with the other people in the company.

Two weeks later, she still felt like a stranger in the company. This was a huge setup, with over 200 people working together, unlike Enhands where they had been just a handful of people. She ate lunch with a strange-looking group of people who looked at her like she was from outer space. She was very ill at ease.

A few days later, she made friends with a few people in her department. They turned out to be nice people after all. Suddenly she realized that her mental block had prevented her from reaching out. Slowly, things began to settle down. She got to know more and more people each day. And what struck her as highly coincidental was the fact that she found someone or the other in this company whom she could associate with her colleagues at Enhands.

There was her immediate boss, Sadanand, who was just like Praveen in so many ways. Then there was Prasad, who was like George. Lata was like Rinkoo, and Sulekha reminded her of Dipika. Rashmi was so much like Rita.

Ramya didn't know if this character mapping was just in her mind. But it was certainly reassuring. Gradually, she got used to the new environment. The 'new' people were not so 'new' anymore. She started feeling at home, and she started enjoying the job too. Till date, she is.