Of Balloons and Caffeine...And Idleness at Work

Friday
11:30 am
Tower 9A
Cyber City
Gurgaon


Here I am, sitting in the office with a fork in my left hand poised to attack the wonderfully delicious looking maggi which rests in a plate on my desk. My right hand, now tired of typing numbers continuously since an eternity is lazily howering over alphabets, keen to put my thoughts into words. Right over my head hangs a bunch of white and red balloons, attached to some glittering strings of decorative curtains extending all across the office. They were put in place to surprise our boss, whose birthday was celebrated with much gaity last evening after work. The chocolate trufle cake from Barista and the informal atmosphere the celebrations created left with me fond memories from my first week at work.

Yes, it has now been a week since I have been coming to work. Work is a big word. I have not exactly been working. I have been toiling hard, alright. Have been tiring myself. But whatever definition of work be applied- I am not working for sure. I have been honing up my typing skills. I have been trying to get ease with numbers. I have been lending an eager ear to office gossip, which truly lives upto its reputation of being an ultimate entertainer in what would otherwise be a drab office feel. I have been meeting people, lots of them- batch-mates, seniors, watchmen, cooks, etc- and learning, or simply fooling around. I have been clandestinely peeping into my favorite web content from office- my actions surreptitious for we, officially, are not supposed to be doing so. I like it here. It is warm and comfortable and friendly. I can sit idle and think. I can gulp down unrestricted amounts of free caffeine. And I like the work. I really do. Skepticism inducing thoughts about my future do often manifest, but the excitement of doing what I am doing comfortably washes that away.

Reclining back on my chair, as I lazily stare at the ceiling, my eyes gleam with the reflection of red and silver bunting adorning the entire ceiling. I cannot help getting dreamy, especially after someone texted me that it is raining in Delhi. I miss being out. I do not totally abhor being locked away in the corporate ambiance on the eleventh floor of a majestic tower in the heart of Gurgaon's Cyber City, but I would have liked to be out. I would have liked to be sitting in the Central Park if its not wet, or beside the huge picture window in the Janpath McDonald's, and reading the umpteenth number of time the weather beaten copy of Wuthering Heights. Or, I would have been writing a story, about a girl, lost among the alleys of love and longing. Or would have simply been gazing at the pearl dotted window, glistening with trickling down raindrops, with my hands cupped around a cup of Cappuccino, its aroma filling me with fondness. One thought leads to the other, and against a backdrop of cacophonous sounds emanating from the idle chatter of my colleagues, I again start pondering over the forbidden question of how right or wrong my decision of taking up this profession was. I would have definitely been happier at a few other places, had things happened the way I planned. But that is the beauty which life presents. Plans do not always become reality; except for those of us who are resolute enough to tilt even the heavens in their favour. We often have to make the most of what comes our way. I think that is what I am trying to do at present. And I think I am doing well. 


Balloons and Caffeine. That sums up my first week at work.