Saturday, July 3, 2010

Mr Interesting

**This post is coming up after my friend said its worth blogging about. Drawer if i get tomatoes i am parcelling them all to you.**



Am now safe in the new city. No incidents of getting lost. except for a few misdirections and stuff. But yeah am well settled with my new job and all. But then i was still not happy. I was very home sick. Was still introspecting on whether it was worth coming all the way here for my career which was as it is in doldrums.

The new job was fabulous. Great team, awesome ambience and all that jazz. Everyone i met, spoke about how cool the place was. And what a sexed out place it is to be in. The kind of work culture and networking that happens made me feel like i was in some fairyland.


But i felt worse than a confused alice in wonderland. Then THIS happened. I was very home sick. Everyday returning to my place late from work was always depressing. Its another thing that i stayed in one end of the city. Just the thought of going off to sleep without hearing mom's nagging or dad's laughter or bro's snoring made me miserable. And everytime i took the company cab, i was either alone. Or i had people who were too busy with their blackberries.


And the kind of looks that i get from the transport manager whenever i mention the place where i stay made me feel worse. He always puts me in a cab alone. Cause no one stays my way. So basically i used to feel lost and alone on the trip back home. Nobody to converse with sometimes. Nobody at home either to ask how my day went. Cause by the time i reach, my cousin would be fast asleep.

So this fine day i was lucky to have someone come my way. We were both put in the same cab. He stayed somewhere close to my place. I could not see his face clearly cause it was dark and i was damn sleepy. The first question he asked 'How was your day?' and that started it all. The entire ride home we spoke. We spoke about work. And he gave me some valuable career advice. He spoke the real nitty gritty facts about the workplace. About what really works here. Unlike the people i met who just spoke about how cool the place is or how cool the parties are.


That thirty or twenty minute conversation i had, felt like i met a mentor. I was awed. I slept a peaceful sleep. It was the best conversation i had in a long time.




The next day i tried to recall. What the hell was his name? Racked my brains hard. Yes i know am very terrible with names and faces. I just could not recall. I tried all possible combinations and permutations of what i heard was his name.


On reaching work i pinged drawer. Told her about my cab ride. I tried to find him on the office web portal. I knew he worked in the same floor as mine.



I had to find him. I looked at every guy closely. Stared at them trying to recall. Was it him? I think people would have wondered whats wrong with me?


For once i was wondering if he even was real. Maybe if my life was any interesting (i know i keep quoting this everytime), he must have been some ghost who wanted to show me the reality.

So i was still searching on the office portal and the communicator and finally i looked up from my work screen and i see a guy walking past my desk and i almost jumped. Oh yes it was him. Immediately his name came to me. :)

That just made my day. I got busy afterwards and just could not speak to him. All though he sits just three rows away from me.

During lunch breaks and coffee breaks we crossed each other and just exchanged hi's. I thought i would catch him for coffee or if i walked by his desk but i just could not. And then it was almost the end of the day. I decided to leave early and just has i was leaving i saw him shaking hands with everyone. I guessed maybe he was just wishing everyone a happy extended weekend. Monday being the strike. I met him later in the basement and we were put in the same cab. Another interesting ride, i said to myself. Then he looks at me and says "today is my last day. I quit."

I was speechless i had nothing to say. I think i said something foolish that i could not remember. "All i could say was, dude you told me stuff last night that inspired me. Now you tell me this". And then he tells me. "forget about what ever i bitch about work. Dont let that scare you. Work is a bitch but Just work like you love it. Be proactive. I had trouble with my work life balance. You are lucky to have a nice team so make the best use of it."


And that was it. I will be back to boring cab rides alone. I thought i found a mentor but now he is no longer at my work place. Where ever you are mr interesting, you just found a fan.






P.S. I had tweeted about mr interesting so i thought he owed a blog too.

5 comments:

Vikram Bondal said...

Don't worry,You'll run into him someplace ;)

Phantom said...

@vik hmmm that may make some even more interesting post na

Satinder S. Panesar said...

Perhaps that's why they say - someone... something is always far .. You have to reach them. If you are not sure how, then let the existence take care of that. He will automatically guide/make way for you to reach there once time is right.

Till then, like he said - Enjoy your work, you gotta good team :)

Phantom said...

@satinder thats a nice way to put it. Thank you for stopping by

Unruly Rebel said...

nice post...hope u get a new mr interesting soon...till den happy blogging.. :)


namit
i blog at http://i-am-a-man-namit.blogspot.com/