One of the wise guys of my time recently told me, "You cannot force yourself, to pen down your thoughts. Instead, there will be thoughts that will force you to pen them down, before the heat of the moment is lost...". Mysteriously, today I feel the same curious energy that invigorates my new found infatuation with bloging and forces me to document this idea of youth, intensity and camaraderie. Being stupid and candid to The Readers, this plot does not have some sort of glamor or feminine quotient, in case you are getting any ideas. Still, it does represent the in dispensable value of passion and restlessness to living.
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It's a hurried Friday evening at the office of a big, services company in a buzzing Southern city. Swami is living the hell part of a software engineer's life cycle. He is new to a team of developers and working day and nights on a stupid computer program to format huge piles of seemingly dumb numbers. Proud of being a developer and part of a prestigious and arduous team for his client, this energetic lad has fast become the ideal team member for his aging manager. He has been allotted a corner cubicle in the huge Offshore Development Center, as if even the Gods don't wish to distract. Office people seldom get a chance to talk to this shy and relative recluse of sorts but they have started to identify him as a corner stone they would always find at the office. Leaving office at 6 is a luxury that Swami seriously wants to avail, at least as a change and today, is the chance. The company has arranged its annual function to honor its valued people at the 'Taj'.
Team leads and the Managers are (generally), the first ones to leave on such occasions. These are the policy makers, directors of the energies and above all, they are the experts on Microsoft Excel sheet program. With these qualifications, their responsibilities finish by 6:00 pm and the team members or the spot boys of software industry carry on the burdensome flame of glory, success and whatever the Indian IT industry stands for. Swami, is one such spot boy.
But the world is quite asymmetric and, there are certain spot boys(peers) who have a different approach to the words like hard work. They weigh smart work or the word, delegation more than the stupidity and innocence of hard work and responsibility. These are definitely the budding leaders ! (Well, even I am not very clear if I overstated that, but let it be so, as of now...)
Swami is working diligently on the testing of his code and despite repeated attempts, the client has rejected the output every time since the last one week. He wishes to put things in shape desperately and wants to fix up a few crucial bugs before leaving for the day. At 6 o' clock one of the client manager sends a mail detailing a new set of parameters on which the code has failed this time. Its a heart break ! He knows that his code doesn't work but as all sincere developers, he is confident in the power of technology and is sure that he will master it before the product launch. The problem is, the client doesn't buy it so easily !
The mail has blown away the courage to make any last ditch efforts for the day. Swami logs off and goes to the desks of a few friends who are left at the office. Ria, a sweet North Indian girl working in the adjacent team is still winding up. Swami steps into her cubicle, inclines against the wall and greets her affectionately, powered with an infinite joyous energy that flows only in the males across all species. Ria replies with a smile and quickly gets down to work. As she hurriedly explains over her final errands for the day, Swami enjoys the moment of seeing her, without her notice. Now, the females also have their strengths, in the sense they know 'when to make a correct move'. Ria looks up suddenly only to startle Swami out of his dreamy fantasies. And as he struggles back with his senses, she is looking mischievously into his eyes and subtly asks for a favor. The company transport has left for the hotel long back and she needs to go to the party. Well, the gentleman engineer is ready to offer her a ride to the hotel on his new bike. The day seems to be ending well all of a sudden and a beaming Swami starts off with Ria towards the lift.
Any civilized man has had to and will have to manipulate and meander through the mean world of our so-called civilized 'society' to reach his dreams. This 'society', is largely comprised of groups of homo sapiens who suffer from the stupid evil suspicion and irk that some one, some where is having a good time. But the irony is, that everyone contributes to such groups and suffers from one such group at the same time. Well, Neeraj and Rohit are awaiting the lift. Neeraj, is a rich local guy working with Swami and they both share an uneasy rivalry over a slew of interests ranging from onsite placement to girls in the office. They are an example of two perilously similar characters who find themselves helplessly competing for resources time and again. Neeraj has often shown interest in Ria and that irks Swami but today, its his chance to score points over his rival as he walks the corridors with the sweetest girl of the office. But sometimes, all that starts bright may not end well. As they come out of the building, Ria cries out,”Oh my God!! Its raaiiining ”, a typical girlish sensitive cosmetic noise. Swami is like “what the f**k!!” and as he makes this face of a stupid asshole in utter disgust and surprise, the rival gentleman engineer steps in to help the lady offering her a ride in his new car. Ria gives him an amazing instant cooked loving look and sets off as Neeraj offers her space in his umbrella to reach his car. “Bitch” utters Swami as turns to Rohit and says,”that Bastard could have offered me a lift as well, right ??” Swami and Rohit set off for the hotel on their bikes.
Sometimes, there are subtle facts that help describe and define characters. Swami never wears a rain coat. He does not want to look like an 'uncle ji' riding his bike wrapped in a plastic coat with a lunch box tied to the handle swinging like a pendulum. Hence, he prefers to get wet or wait. Accordingly, he makes it to The Taj in a soaked pair of jean and t-shirt. Dress code and all the etiquettes are meant for those who lead a superficial life but not for the young mavericks who enjoy and learn from their experiences.
Its already late and the award ceremony has ended. Engineers are now moving towards the food with the drinks in their hands. Most of the seniors seated themselves on the elegant chairs laid at the hotel lawn and are dining with all the corporate etiquettes whereas the young blood is trying to have a good time dancing. Swami finds a fellow and sits at one side of the bar along with the others. The excitement of being with Ria has died out by now. She is dancing with some one else but not Neeraj and is having a good time. The whole idea of being alone, overwhelmed with the responsibility of a huge project without the much needed support, the laxity that he sees in his leaders, the challenge to get ahead of his treacherous peers who know the smart ways out of any impasse, the disgust of slogging on weekends to catch up with deadlines, fills his mind with a noise. This noise faints his worldly vision and burdens his senses into a dreamy world where he is finding ways to break out. Its been more than 8 months at this city and he struggles for a social life and friends. He wishes to reach out someone special or common what so ever, just to talk.
The habit of drinking finds easy roots in such characters but Swami just realized that he left his wallet at his cubicle. “ Want a beer ? ” comes the voice of a savior. This is Raj, another of the sort of Swami in this IT jamboree. He works in the adjacent team and is equally pissed off with the system but has learnt to soak his soul in drink and smoke in a gaiety to avoid the world getting on his nerves. Swami and Raj have always respected each other's diligence and share the emotion what the world would say, naiveté. Today, they found a common platform, the bar, to celebrate this camaraderie. Kingfisher, the Indian king of good times proves effective enough for both to talk and puts a sense of ease on Swami's soul and mind.
Two bottles down, Swami gets confident enough to go to the floor and try to shake a leg with Ria. But as he reaches the center of the stage where the center of everyone's attraction is moving her slender figure, he feels the limelight and feels weak at his knees all of a sudden. The whole confidence that the great Mr. Mallaya brewed at United Breweries gives way to the humbleness of the character. He returns to the bar and passes on an innocent smile to Raj who comprehends the case and both of them burst into a laughter. Raj offers a fag either mischievously or, he understands that he is standing with a real partner. Swami's beer soaked frustrated soul cannot resist the temptation and grabs one. Raj lights the cigarette and as Swami coughs out the first smoke, he claims, “You shouldn't have taken it if you didn't try previously...” Both pass on a smile in a tacit understanding of the new found brotherhood, turn their chairs facing the crowd with couple of Kingfisher bottles on the table and share the cigarette counter as Swami says, ”Isn't she beautiful? ”. “Indeed ”, comes the reply...
The day has indeed ended well...
