Platinum Days of Love

All these platinum day of love ads that come in magazines remind me of Sita; of her ring of love. She was colleague. Sita somehow did not seem to fit into the corporate office and the crowd that surrounded her. She came to office dressed in silk sarees and jewellery that reflected her ancient royal family. However, her sweet nature did not have even a small trace of either corporate stiffness or royal arrogance. She was sweet and friendly, often finding time to chat with everyone on the floor. She knew almost everyone in the office, their families and even their pets! At times, the more sophisticated ones around us made fun of her friendly nature.

She was quite friendly with me. One day she came to my cubicle for a casual chat. We were discussing that one topic of perennial interest to Malayali women - gold jewellery. She had a wonderful collection and always gave us tips on buying jewellery. For some reason, I noticed the chain that she was wearing and casually remarked that it did not resemble the traditional 'thali' or mangalsuthr. Then she told me, "I don't consider that important anymore and I don't wear one. I have reached a stage in life where I have to stop doing things to please people. I do not consider marriage the most important thing in my life right now. I have realised the futility of such symbolic stuff. After an early marriage and bringing up children and all that, I've had my share playing the home maker. Now, my career, my independence, and the work that I do are all as important to me as my family."

And then she showed me something wonderful. A ring - a heart set in gold. "Look at this. I made this ring few years back. I melted down two separate rings - one gifted by my grandmother and other by my mother. I melted those down and made this one. I wear this all the time, in memory of the two most remarkable women who have made me what I am today. Wearing this gives me strength. As a woman, this means a lot to me. They have helped me grow. They have helped me to think, to dream, and to be independent. Wearing this means a lot to me."

To say I was moved by her words would be an understatement. I thought it was beautiful. It is a wonderful thing, this sense of a whole line of women, who have borne you, fed you, brought you up, and empowered you. 

Happy Ano Sir?

"Happy alle sir?" (You are happy. rt?)
That was the first question Shan used to asked us every morning. It was a rhetoric, not expecting a serious answer. we used to take that in a light vein and answer "yes sir". There was a genuine friendship amognst us and we had time and space to share our joys and sorrows with eachother.

That was quiet sometime back and today we all have moved into distant places and bigger offices where nobody asks (or even cares) if you are happy. Here we meet daily, greet eachother, discuss stuff related to work, and go back home.One fine morning, we were shocked to hear the announcement from the management that one of our managers passed away due to 'health issues'. Much later, we learnt that this man, with a 4 year daughter, who is very much attached to him, has taken his own life. He had a great job, a 6 digit salary, own house in bangalaore, a new car - everything matrial that one can wish for. Why then did he do this? None of us had any clue. Just the other day he had talked with us, took a smoking break with some others and was his usual cheerful self. What was it that plagued him so much to drive him to such a drastic step? we will never know!


We, who spend hours in discussions and meetings called project reviews, team meeting and many other such stuff, do not know a thing about the folks sitting around the same table. Why does it happen? Why is it that we do not have the time or need to know about others, understand the people who work with us? What happened to the good old days when people really cared?

When the management realised something's wrong, they decided to conduct a stress management program. They gor the trainer whose biodata reads "She is a Master/Teacher of Reiki, Pranic Healing, Magnified Healing, Acupressure, Aroma therapy, Yoga, Meditation, Hypnosis, Melchizedek Method of hologram healing, Feng Shui, Tai chi and NLP. Using all the above sciences she has healed over 1,000 people." These are the people who get paid (real huge amounts) to listen to the worries and problems of other people and then give some kind of advice. Something our grandmas and auties used to do all the time, without getting(or expecting to get) paid ofcourse.

I don't know about others, but for me, all I need to manage stress is someone to ask me the good old question, "happy alle sir?". And, would actually wait for an answer.

All in a Day's Work

location: my workstation
Time 10 a.m.

Hp: good morning ma'm
Me: Good morning. Why are u late?
HP: Ma'm my mom's not well. She is admitted in a hospital.
Me: oh really? What happened? How's she now?
Hp: She had a fall. She had an operation yesterday. her leg is bandaged. Now she will have to be in the hospital for a month or so.
Me: Is it? Then who is at the hospital?
Hp: I'll have to go. There is nobody else.
Me: That's fine. You can leave. Do you want some cash or anything?
Hp: No thanks. I guess I can manage.
Me: ok then. take care.

Location: Boss' cabin
Time: 10.30 a.m.

Me: Good morning sir
Boss: Good morning
Me: Sir did you know about Hp's Mom?
Boss: Yes I did. That was so unfortunate. What would be the effect of all this?
Me: He will have to remain in the hospital. I have already told him he can leave.
Boss: What I meant was how would this affect our projects?
Me: I can't ask him to work in this this kind of a situation.
Boss: May be he can take the laptop to the hospital and work from there.
Me: !!!!