A mere coincidence

Today, on the way to office, a stranger looked at me indifferently at the traffic signal. Draped in a gray suit, he looked handsome. He suddenly came close and asked me the directions to reach my office with curiosity. Though I am committed to reach office soon as possible as the office time is approaching fast, I slipped to give him a lift or ask him why he wanted to visit my office; instead I left him on the busy road after giving him the directions to reach office.

Most of the times, in the office or out, I feel like I am on display, an object of pity, fascination or disenchantment. Initially I did feel its awkwardness but when time progressed it gave me an impression that it is a common thing in a city like Mumbai.

I reached office before time as usual adding one more feather to my cap of sincerity and dedication. I put my bag on the table and straight away went to the cloakroom to get ready. I washed my face with utmost care as always. I have been doing this since so many years. I looked at the mirror and spotted a small pimple on my right cheek. Someone asked from within “How long you will polish your face like this dear friend?” I combed my hair several times using so many methods to bring about a look which can hide my soon to be arrived baldness. (Every day after taking bath I mourn the death of each and every hair, which falls like autumn leaves).

I didn’t sleep well yesterday, thinking about today’s presentation. I put on my computer to check the presentation once again before joining for the meeting. I ordered for a tea and concentrated on the presentation. While running through the slides viz. The present scenario, the plan of action to resist the competition and the innovative plan and strategy to capture the market share etc. sipping the tea, I thought how many times I have rewritten this to satisfy the clients. All these are part of the game like putting old wine in a new bottle with an appealing label.

When the time arrived, I rushed to the conference room carrying the laptop. I distanced myself from the bosses deliberately as usual to ease the pressure. The delegation arrived with fanfare. While shaking hands with each other surprisingly I noticed that the person whom I met at the traffic signal today morning was one of the members of the delegation. I thought what a coincidence. The presentations started. When my turn came I presented my version with more focus on growth. The clients got overwhelmed and agreed to sign the deal.

During lunch the person whom I met at the traffic signal came to me and shook my hands. He told, “I am impressed the way you presented the things”. I thanked him for the appreciation.

After lunch I went to my seat and sat for sometime in a meditating mood. Suddenly my phone rang. I picked up the phone; my boss was on the line. “Could you come to my cabin?” he asked. I went to his cabin with anxiety. “Please be comfortable!” he told while pointing me the chair. I got surprised; this is the first time he said like that. When I sat comfortably I couldn’t resist glancing at his white board, which has the figures on it, that I put during our discussion to finalize the strategy. Suddenly he asked in a loud voice “From where you got the figures?” “We only discussed and finalized yesterday” I responded quickly. He said in a disappointing voice “Yes we were discussed, but who asked you to put it in the presentation.” I wanted to say that there was little time left for polishing the presentation but I kept mum knowing that he is in a bad mood. “I want a more realistic plan of action to achieve the figures by tomorrow” He said with command. I strolled back to my seat with a little disappointment thinking that boss is always right.

I sat for a while little relaxed rewinding the entire episode. Even though I had little to do with my mood today, the only conclusion I can draw is very soon my boss may dump me in some other redundant function thinking that my histrionics may disturb his dream of comfort. Suddenly my direct line rang. I picked up the phone thinking that it must be my boss once again. “Good afternoon Mr Vijay” the voice seemed familiar. “Good afternoon” I responded. “Could you recognize me?” the voice asked. I tried to recollect the voice but failed. “Just recollect the person whom you met in the traffic signal today morning” the voice asked with a soft laughter. “Yes sir, I remember” I replied astonishingly. “Have you ever thought for a change?” he enquired with curiosity. “Not yet” I replied half-heartedly. “When you think of a change, just let me know. We can possibly work out the things in a better way”. “Thanks” I said with a relief.

The figures, the bad mood of my boss and the lucrative offer that I got over phone all moved me one by one. I questioned myself, “Is there a need for a self realization at this juncture?”

I logged onto my computer to check the presentation once again. The screen showed “Your password will expire in two days, would you like to change it?” Each time, I see this I click “No” thinking that it is a nuisance but this time I clicked “Yes” as I was under the influence of a positive thinking.

There are times when we think this is the way things ought to be, without taking into account the feelings of others. When things don’t go our way, we end up feeling depressed. I know I can tackle temporary setbacks, which won’t have a permanent bearing on my mindset or life. There should be a mechanism to see things in a better way to impress upon the boss or else get ready for a change, It’s a matter of choosing between things to buy a share of peace.