Life in a Girly Cubicle

      As I sit now in my empty cubicle with a cup of cardamom tea, I remember the last one year in office. I can still hear the voices, "Oh! Ganguly is out on a single digit figure once again." What a wonderful year it has been for me. It gave me two of my best friends.

      The year started with me coming to the cubicle. I was a bit apprehensive and it seemed that everyone was senior to me. Soon, people around seemed friendly as I ventured into the corporate world. Swathi was very helpful in making me understand the project and getting on with it. I still remember that day when Prashanth came to us and introduced Chandni to us. Soon, we all were friends. We had a great time throughout the year. Sometimes, I missed being with guys but other times, I felt good when other guys would give me "lucky guy" glances. In fact, letting out a small secret, many-a-times I was asked to exchange my seat with others.

      Swathi was a real tomboy. A fan of Dravid, the only girl whom I know who did go-carting and followed cricket so intently. The cubicle erupted on match days when Tendulkar hit a six, or someone (you know who) got out on a duck. Chandni was though, not much interested was drawn usually drawn into the event by us.

      Chandni on the other had was as calm and cool as her name suggests, until you spell her name wrongly :). She was the latest entrant to the cubicle, thus Swathi and me liked to pamper her on various topics ranging from "How to do a BCC" to "How to save taxes". In all, you can describe Chandni as a good person.

      We had an unsaid rule in our cubicle. If someone brought sweets, that person would save at least one each for the other two people. Another queer thing was that initially, we were in the same project but later in the year, as we went to various different projects, we covered the whole bunch of PLM competencies, namely; Ematrix (all), Teamcenter (Swathi), Enovia (Rahul) and Windchill (Chandni). This prompted me to name our cubicle as SRC (source to the PLM group).

      The year went on smoothly with trips, parties, movies and all sorts of stuff. Sometimes though, I got annoyed with with girltalk like discussions on tv serials etc. On such occasions, I did what an average Indian guy would have done. Put on the earphones and pretend that he did not exist. Other times, I joined in the discussion and changed the topic (you know, I am very good at changing topics:)).

The year ended quite abruptly with both of them moving out of the cubicle within 10 days. And although I hate changes, as one of them said, "Change is the essence of life". If someday, I happen to write my autobiography, these two friends (or you may say girlfriends on a lighter note) of mine would go in as my two angels; two individuals who changed a lot in me. With them, I came to learn a lot about the feminine-psyche. How they think and how they approach any situation. If you are reading this blog, I wish you both best of luck in all your future endeavors.

And as my NEW cubicle-mate sneezes WITHOUT saying "Excuse me", I would like to end this blog of mine, as usual, with a few lines.

"Hum, rahe ya na rahe kal
pal, yaad aayenge yeh pal"

The Lilis on my way to office

Everyday, when I come to office, I take the footpath from the gate to the main building. On this footpath, lies at equal intervals, bunches of lilis. They are usually of two colors; white and violet. Somedays, they are fully blossomed, on other days, they look as if they have not been watered for days. But, I feel that the way I see the lilis on the footpath signifies my mood at that point of time. Let me give you some examples.

I will list down my description of the lilis on some days.

• I can see only the flowers, the bright ones, full of colors. Looks like God himself painted them. In the morning sun, they seem to glow. I cannot even see the footpath, all I see are just the petals of the flowers. I cannot find a single one which is withered. The road looks "flowery"!!!
  
  
• I can only see the thorns. Just the thorns. There are flowers as well, but not many. It seems as if the caretaker has picked up the flowers and did not care to trim the shrubs. It seems all brown with the dry twigs and mud which have covered them probably due to over-watering it. In other words, the path is "muddy"!!!
  
  
• I can see only the leaves. Just the leaves, neither the flowers nor the branches. If you see anything else, try reducing the focal length of your eye and you will see nothing but greenery. The path is green and flowers are about to bloom.
  
  
• Now, arguably the best one. Today, the path is full of flowers. White ones, violet ones. They seem in good shape. But some of them seem to be withering away. They look nice. But on the back of my mind, I have the thought that a few days later, they will wither away. Nothing will remain but twigs and some soiled leaves. "It is very difficult to hold time, isn't it"!!!
  

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
- William Wordsworth