So how was first day at work? There were usual apprehensions
and skepticisms. As I might have mentioned here, this after all has been my
first place of work – and at that time ambition ruled supreme. The restrictions
imposed by an university environment was not for a so called “dynamic young
lady” like me…(if I have already mentioned the story somewhere, let me take
this opportunity to repeat – I was described in this way by a very senior HR
manager during the final round of interview with the first MNC I worked for –
the interviewer, incidentally hailed from this same university). In no time was
I flying higher – as I always boast, I got 10 times my initial salary in the
first six years of work. And then what? Back to square one? Dynamic is
replaced by other D words like downtrodden, depressed and demotivated? What
happened girl, you might jeer at me and ask…
But still it is work – precious work which I did not have in
the last 6 months. Albeit it is a never seen before kind of dusty, untidy lab
where housekeeping comprises a bai lady cleaning the floor with a bucket of
water and a piece of cloth. But then it is comfortable otherwise sans my familiar
problem of the AC being too cold. Albeit it had prehistoric CRT monitors at
most of the desks, but they were branded IBM machines (who cares if the OS they
are using is Windows 2000 – it is just a step back from XP, and… well Windows 7
and 8 are but old wine in a new bottle). I got a permission to bring my laptop
from tomorrow, so ideally this should not be a big issue. If I can connect
through WiFi with their LAN and access the shared folders, my work is done.
What if in the entire day all you get to see is 5-10 faces (some of them known from beforehand, and it was a big relief to find them still friendly) – it is being more
social than staying holed up inside your room with your dad, mom and grandma as
the only company. You get to board a bus or auto rickshaw every day – you get
to meet people…and ya, you get to battle natural calamities, like today we had
the first nor'wester of the season, just moments after I boarded the bus. As
soon as I got down, the wind pounced on me and drenched me as if it were Holi
and some naughty guy was after me to drown me in colors. Ah, rain, perhaps my
most favorite thing on earth. How I have learnt over the years to do without
almost everything that is dear to me. I still remember my sheer ecstasy as the
bus would speed through down pouring rain over the newly built Electronic City
Flyover in Bangalore. I remember the whimsical raining when I was in Singapore –
how it used to instantly bring down the heat – and I’d watch it intently from
my window.
Work is not much – how much work can migration of a website
involve? I got a fair hang of it in the first day itself. It is gonna be
routine work – and I really didn’t have any mind to discuss the money. All I
was happy about was that my best friends’ forecast was not entirely false. But
as much as he said, চাকরি তো তোকে করতেই হবে...he also did say, তুই চাকরি ধরবি আর ছাড়বি - so you see, I really can't trust the longevity of this job. Though they did say, this might go on till the next two months, well, I have stopped being hopeful these days.
One more thing I was wondering is - I am back here after a decade - if this is a cycle repeating, will any other cycle repeat as well? Which ones? The good ones or the bad ones?
Discipline and whim goes side by side in me. First I wouldn't sleep because I haven't brushed my teeth and cleansed my face. And once these were done much lethargically, I wanted to write about my first day's experience. Now I am almost dropping dead from sleep over my laptop, so good night :)
PS - Extremely sad that Candy Crush reset to level 1 - I had reached level 57 if I remember correctly. But anyways, I am back at 26 or 27 once again - what if my eyes are aching and watering all the time. Last time I checked, I was still having 6/6 vision, so not to worry :)
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