Sarah was waiting in the reception hall of Crazy cuts Advertising Agency. She was a bit nervous. There were 3 more people to be interviewed before her. She just stepped aside to have a glass of water. Was feeling little comfortable after drinking it. She was called in for the interview after 15 minutes.
She entered the room and 3 people were seated in the interview panel.
She greeted them and took the chair.
One of them started off with the standard question,
"Yes Sarah, could you tell us something about yourself ? "
I am Sarah and i have completed my B.A in Arts & Music from the Govt College chennai..
she continued about her interest in painting and also handed them a portfolio of her work..It was circulated amoung the panel and they look impressed seeing her work.
Anything else do you want to tell about you Sarah ? well something about your schooling,about your parents, sister or brother, where do u live..anything else ..asked one of them.
She paused for a minute and continued..
I was not lucky enough to have more people in my life , I don't know who my parents are.., I was brought up by a mission, i studied in the Mission school and i was offered a scholarship for my degree in the college.
She was silent after this...
The other person in the panel began..well lets talk something about the work ..so why did you choose to work in a Advertising agency ?
There was a brightness in her face, i have a passion for drawing and working in an Ad agency would help me quench my passion and also I can make my living...and that is the reason i chose this profession.
There were few more general questions to her."Sarah could you please wait outside for sometime, we would let you know the interview feedback in couple of minutes .", the elder one in the panel said.
she came out and sat in the reception hall. Though she was feeling positive about the interview, she had to wait for the results.
And after 10mins as expected, she was selected for the post of Design Assistant and she could join from the next day.
she thanked them and left the building. Happily she took her bus to the hostel.
Vivekananda Mission Hostel - the place she saw all her happiness and sorrow, everyone there had a different story for themselves. But under a single roof they learnt to be happy for whatever they have been blessed with.
Sarah went to her friend brindha's room told her all stories from morning till now , listened to her stories. They both attended the evening prayer in the prayer hall and then ate dinner, went for a small walk within the hostel ground. Sarah was exited about her new job , she felt so great that she is going to start a life on her own, she is not anymore sponsored by someone for her food, clothes or education. She had good sleep that night.
Next day morning she woke up fresh and started getting ready to office. she took out one of her favorite Blue color salwar from her cupboard, she always felt happy wearing that.
She reached office sharp by 9AM , she was asked to sign few papers to finish her joining formalities. Then she was introduced to Ms Megha to meet rest of her team.
Megha was friendly, she asked Sarah about her and took her to their cubicle. She introduced her to the rest of the team. It was a team of 5 people.
Apart from Megha , there was Ranjan, Kishore ..they were all Design engineers and Mr Nandhan was Design Manager who manages the team. All seemed to be quite friendly.
"And Sarah..the other person in our team is Ravindher and he sits in the adjacent cubicle"..Megha told and was walking towards that cabin.
Ravindher was eyeing his laptop and was reading something.
“Ravi” ..Megha called
he din move his eyes from the monitor
“RAVI” ...megha was bit louder this time..
ya megha..ravi responded looking into the monitor.
I just came to introduce sarah, she has joined our team today.
hmm..OK.
megha sighed and left the place, without knowing what else to do sarah followed her.
“Ravi is always a bit strange, just dont mind about it..” said Megha
Nandhan and Kishore were talking as where to allot a seat for sarah, Nandhan was planning to give sarah a seat next to Ravindher as there was a free place after Mani their previous design analyst left.
Kishore mocked at Nandhan, "I guess Mani left the job because he was alloted a seat next to our dear stone Ravi."
"Hey come on man , dont scare sarah now"..Nandhan said , "sarah dont worry, u take the seat in that cabin , if u have any issues come and let me know i will swap your seat with kishore."
All started laughing. Kishore ran to his seat as if someone is going to snatch it.
Sarah went to that cabin, she was given a new laptop and documents which briefed about the company , policies and about her work.
Ravi did not turn once to her side. First time she felt very lonely even in the company of an other person. He was busy into the system.she slightly peeped into his system. He was reading a famous weekly magazine on the net.
Oops is this what he is busy at ?
sarah nodded her head and turned to her computer.
Few minutes later, she could sense someone staring at her. she looked up.
Ravi had turned his chair to her side and was looking at her. His laptop was closed now .
He din bother to take his eyes from her even after she looked up.
She tried to smile and was about to say hi..he stood up from his chair and went out.
One week was over , since sarah had joined. she started getting along with the team. she joined them for lunch and coffee breaks.
Meetings were held alternate days to discuss on the ongoing projects and the expected ones.
Ravi was missing in most of the meetings or he would enter when the meeting was about to end.No one in the team bothered about him nor do he bothered about others.
Sarah and Megha had come to coffee shop. Each picked up a cup of coffee and sat in the table.
Megha started..so sarah how do u like the team and work.
hey..i haven t started any work yet...yes i like the team...but i really feel bored sitting inside that cabin, Ravi has not yet spoken one word until now to me.
Yeah , i know, Ravi is always like this he never talks, never bothers about anything. He has his own way of doing things. But believe me he is a very nice person than many others here. He never talks behind anyone, a very genuine person.
They walked back to their place after coffee. As usual Ravi was reading something in his laptop. sarah turned back to see him again. "He never talks behind anyone" , megha's voice echoed over her mind.
he never talks in front only , where in the world is he going to talk behind. sarah smiled to herself and sat in her place and started reading about their new upcoming project. Nandhan has told her that she would be working on it with someone.
"I do talk to people " , she heard a strong and sharp voice. Surprised she turned to see who it was.
Ravi was sitting on his table facing her. He lifted his eyebrows a bit and gave a smile at her.
"Well..No..i was "...sarah stammered for words..
Ravi got down from his table and walked out.
Did i think out loudly, sarah wondered. Why did he tell like this ?
Next day , she did not see ravi in his place, her eyes turned around for every 10mins to see if he is in.
suddenly , she sensed..why am i looking for him ?
she tried to concentrate on her work. Would he be ill ? where does he stay ? does he has a family ?
Oh God , why am i curious ? is it because i dont know anything about him ? or for what ?
the day went on for her with full of ? ????????? in her mind.
Ravi came in after lunch.
He did not talk anything as usual.
Why cant I start a conversation? If he is not talking should i also be like him ? sarah thought.
what can i ask him ? something about him or about work.? which might he prefer to answer ?
when sarah was framing question in her mind.
Sarah, would you like to join me for a coffee ? Ravi asked.
she was surprised and she just nodded her head.
she followed him to the coffee shop, they picked their coffee and sat in a table. He was so seriously drinking the coffee as if it was the most important work in his life. He did not utter a word until his last sip of the coffee.
So, you liked your seat ? Finally he spoke. she just smiled back.
You might have heard from others in the team , that seat is a punishment seat. He laughed out loud. you know something , no one dares to sit there. He was silent for some more time , he was watching outside the window. It was slightly raining outside.
His mobile beeped for a reminder. He checked it and told Ok come lets leave, its time for meeting. While walking back, sarah thought so he keeps reminders for the meeting but never attends it. what a person is he ?
Meeting was on the new project. It was going to be for a new client and on a much bigger budget for the first time. Nandhan briefed about the project. They have to design an Ad for a popular car.
( To be continued ...)
