Chapter 10: Corporate Atyachaar - It Started With a Friend Request

‘Hey Deep, come join us. I just read somewhere that sleeping during work hours is acceptable in Japan,’ shouted one of the employees seeing Deep entering the cafeteria.

‘Are you serious?’ Deep laughed, pulling out a chair.

‘Ya. It’s viewed as exhaustion from working hard, though some people fake it to look committed to their job. I wonder when Indian corporate houses will understand this.’

Everyone laughed while Deep’s eyes searched for Tamanna. She could not be seen anywhere.

It had been almost two weeks, but the post-party incident was still fresh in Deep’s mind. From that day, he pretended as if nothing happened. Even Tamanna didn’t remember what she had said or how she had behaved. Though everything seemed to be normal on the surface, the truth was that only Deep knew that things were not in place. He had to seal his lips for he wanted an appraisal. Within a couple of months, a ‘performance appraisal’ was to be held and he didn’t want to spoil his image in front of others. Thus, he simply ignored it.

‘Try to answer this question. Tell me three signs that show a person is working in the corporate world,’ one of them asked jokingly.

Deep thought for a moment and smiled.

‘Stressed, depressed, and still well dressed.’

Everyone looked at each other and burst out in laughter. It was hilarious. This time it was Deep’s turn.

‘Guys, can you tell me what is recession?’

‘When “water and wife” replace “wine and women”.’

Their humorous session continued for a bit. Just as they were about to disperse, Tamanna entered the cafeteria and told them to move towards the hall. She also told them that the selection of candidates for the Goa project conference would be done after the training session that was to be held in the hall.

‘Deep,’ Tamanna called after him as she spotted him.

Deep looked back at her with a raised eyebrow. Tamanna covered the gap separating them and started walking beside him.

‘I have recommended your name for the appraisal along with a couple of other names,’ she winked. She was much more comfortable with Deep after the party since she didn’t remember anything about the incident.

He simply nodded at her without any expression on his face. Situations like these embarrassed him every time but all he could do was kick his own ass. Once inside the hall, he took his seat alongside the entire team while Tamanna stood beside them. All the managers were made to stand for reasons unknown to them.

Tamanna kept glancing towards Deep at regular intervals. After some time, the trainer entered the room and, adjusting his collar mic, came and stood at the center of the stage. He greeted everyone and started with his speech. He was humorous, which was evident when he made a pretty girl stand up and said to her, ‘Let me Kiss.’

She was shocked to hear it. However, within a few seconds he laughed and said, ‘I mean ‘Let me Keep It Short and Simple. My name is Arun Bhattacharya.’

‘Can you tell me why I have made all the managers stand? Especially the women? Let me share with you one incident which occured in my office. The lady manager had to report to the head of the department. When she entered his cabin, he asked her, “Are you free tonight?” She immediately smiled and said yes. The next moment, that rascal gave her a hundred sheets to type out. Now you all might be thinking who the actual rascal was. Whoever it was, I don’t care… The lesson to learn from the example I just told you is the importance of ethics.’

As he continued talking, Tamanna glanced at Deep and smiled. The training continued for almost a couple of hours during which Mr Arun shared the product details and many more valuable experiences. He was about to end the session with a final note.

‘Before leaving, I would like to tell you about the circle of life. Many of you might be Engineers or MBA graduates but in your practical life, the sooner you understand the difference between your college and office life, the better it will be for you. The sooner you adapt to the changes, the faster you will excel in life. In college, we had different professors assigned for different subjects, but here we have only one task and only one manager. Your task is to improve your performance. In college, you bunked your lectures and spent money whereas here if you bunk, you lose money. In college, you were at least aware about your exam dates, but here can anyone tell clearly about the audit dates?’

Everyone laughed as he carried on with his speech. He paused for a moment to drink water and continued:

‘If you score less marks in an examination but still manage to clear it, you need not be answerable to anyone. But here if you score less, which means if your performance goes down, then you are answerable to all your higher authorities. Why? Because in college you paid the fees and here, you are getting paid for your work. The most important difference is that during your college days your girlfriend was proud about your clothes but now she would only feel proud if you are paid heavy salaries. Thus my dear, you better adapt yourself accordingly. You should always remember “To improve is to change but to be perfect is to change often”.’

The training session was over but Deep still hadn’t moved from his seat. He was continuously thinking about the motivational part of the training session and felt it was good only for training sessions. He felt so because whenever he tried to apply those concepts in real, he failed. Tamanna waited for the others to move out from the hall.

‘Bullshit! All this is crap. What the fuck does he mean by “adapt yourself”’. Is it practically possible? That bloody slut whom he asked to stand sleeps almost every day with her manager. She is being paid for all the leaves and she has no other responsibilities apart from sucking his dick. Those scoundrels even make out in office premises. I mean, how cheap is that! And this Arun talks about ethics and adaptability! We work like dogs and still get no returns unless there are a few who lose everything for success. Is success more important than happiness? Cut the crap! Until the time we realize what success is and what is happiness, it’s too late. Get up in the morning and catch the bus to reach the office and if you miss that bus then you lose your one-day salary. Now was I driving the bus? And if these people are so obsessed with the timings then why don’t they provide pick and drop transport facilities to their employees? When you come home in the evening with your brains fucked up because of the work pressure and are just on the verge of taking a breather, you get a call from your manager asking you why you didn’t raise the ticket for completing the project and submitting the work report. So was I fucking your wife the entire day in office? What was I doing on that bloody seventeen-inch computer screen? Do you even allow us to access Facebook so that I can chat with some hot chicks? No. But who will understand our problem? Moreover, the bumper prize comes ahead of this. If you are excellent in all the aspects of your work, then you are given a branded laptop with the latest configuration. You fly on cloud nine for all the appreciation you have got and try to watch some movie in the night on the same bloody laptop. Then your mobile beeps and you are ordered to come online to resolve an issue which has been suddenly raised by the authorities. Then you feel like throwing the laptop from the top floor of your building and even if you do that, you won’t be satisfied. Because your BlackBerry service is still active. Therefore, in one line why don’t these people just say, “You are our sex toy. We will use you as our vibrator until we derive pleasure in earning profits from you. Once we learn that you are of no use and you are not giving us the pleasure we need, we will kick you or throw you in a dustbin as we throw a condom in dustbin after sex.” Moreover, all our time and energy of last few years is wasted exactly as the sperms are wasted in the condom. But ya, your virginity is lost. You are no longer a first timer. Why? Because they hand over an experience certificate saying, you are officially fucked and now you are experienced on paper. You take that and move to someone else and history once again repeats itself…’

The entire team was shocked. Their jaws had dropped down after listening to such a long speech from Deep. They just stared at him with their eyes wide open.

‘He deserves to be applauded. Clap everyone,’ a few employees shouted in chorus.

Deep scratched his head thinking about what he had just said. He was not even drunk. It was his frustration which he had controlled inside the hall when Mr Arun was sharing his valuable philosophies with him.

‘I wish Tamanna was here. She would have enjoyed the speech so much. Can you repeat it once more please? At least we can record it,’ his teammates teased him.

Tamanna joined them after some time to make the official announcement of the Goa conference.

‘Ok guys, now it’s time to announce the names for the Goa conference to be held in January. Managers of two teams are going to Goa for the official conference along with one employee from their team. Therefore, the authorities have shortlisted the names as per your performance. From our team, Deep will join me for the conference and from Mr Verma’s team, Kajal will join us. Is that clear?’ asked Tamanna.

Listening to his own name didn’t surprise Deep. He had expected it right since he encountered Tamanna before the training session.

He was confused about the trip and changed the topic, saying, ‘Isn’t this Kajal the same girl who was with Verma?’ Deep asked and everyone replied ‘yes’ in chorus.

‘She would have really made a lot of effort last night.’ The gossipmongers had begun and Deep preferred to leave the discussion before things got out of control.

Tamanna was a bit surprised as Deep had left all of a sudden without even discussing about the conference with her. She tried calling him but his cell was switched off. But that didn’t trouble her since she knew Deep had to join her for the Goa conference. Missing on such an opportunity was like kicking one’s luck. She was delighted to have got an opportunity to stay with Deep in Goa and didn’t mind even if it was for official reasons. She had already started imagining being on Goa beaches with Deep during their free time together.

Inside her cabin, she started writing her thoughts on her Galaxy Tab.

I can’t help but think that somewhere inside of you, I exist. Somewhere between liking me, loving me, and everything in the middle, you get scared. The tingling feeling terrifies you and you don’t know in which direction to go. Call me crazy, but I think I mean something to you even though you hide your real feelings. Call me weird, but I don’t think you can run away from these feelings forever. I think you are eventually going to accept the fact that I make your world go round.

Was this her obsession or her love? She just wanted Deep to reciprocate her feelings in some form. Maybe a kiss or a hug or something more than that would heal her pain during bad times. Was it love or lust? She hardly knew and she hardly cared.

Deep on the other hand was confused about the whole situation. He had obviously made up his mind, but he did not know how to stop Tamanna from crossing her limits.

He called up his friend with whom he had discussed about Tamanna earlier.

‘You know, the situation is something like I need to cross a river with water snakes in it. Now I can take a chance by swimming to the other side, as there are hopes that I will survive. However, what if I am told not to get wet? That’s impossible. You know everything including the party incident. I’m confused. Please tell me what I should do.’

‘Don’t panic. If you need to cross a river without getting wet, use a boat. Simple! Why do you think so much? Just don’t entertain anyone beyond what is expected of you. A bit here and there is okay. Just remember to concentrate on your work and your future wife. These are your priorities. Let me give you an example. You know when you’re desperate to have sex…when your girlfriend texts you asking you if you want to have sex with her tonight, and you just type YES, and when you are supposed to send it; suddenly a thief snatches your cell and runs away. Instead of shouting for help, you shout “SEND MAAR!! SEND MAAR!” What I mean is forget the mobile, concentrate on your goal, your work. Chill!’

Deep remained silent for a moment and then both of them had a hearty laugh over the example. Deep disconnected the phone and took a deep breath. He was all set to Go Goa in January!