“Oh
So Beautiful Me”
The office canteen is
actually a food court kind of set up in a reputed and very big business center
which hosts more than 20 different multi-national companies. The top floor is
common for all companies and a variety of food shops selling all types of cuisines
lined up the periphery of the floor. Close to 1000 tables and its accompanied
chairs in colors, mostly deep pink and grey, are spread densely inside the
periphery in a symmetric fashion. The floor stand-alone employs more than 300
people working in food shops, facilities or maintenance, across 3 different
shifts of 8 hours covering all 24 hours. The office crowd which fills the floor is
extremely diverse in social, educational, economical, ethnical, professional,
regional senses.
Late afternoon on that
Monday, the top floor as usual was filled with quick-snack short-break people
from all most all offices in the building. Vinod and Suresh settled at their
“High Nest” of office canteen, watching the crowd.
Few moments ago, both of
them were in tough meeting with their client which went on for 4 hours, much
beyond the scheduled time. Suresh even loosened his tie and unbuttoned the top
most button of his shirt as soon as they were out of meeting room, as though
just survived out of a boxing ring.
“Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm” Vinod
let out an extra-long contempt out of his jammed brain. Suresh nodded his head
resonating to Vinod’s contempt and said nothing – just kept looking at the
crowd, though not thinking about them. Vinod said, “what do they want yaar?
What they asked last month and what they want now – I mean how can it be so
different?” Suresh nodded again, still looking at the crowd, but said nothing. Vinod
unmindful of lack of response was contemplating in his mind about the meeting
they just had.
Couple of unnoticed
minutes passed by and slowly Suresh said, “Vinod, look at that girl ...” His voice did not carry his regular
enthusiasm. Vinod looked at her top down, spent an extra moment near waist
trying to read the letters on her red and white identity card, and forced out a
smile as he thought Suresh was trying to dilute the mood, “Yeah, what about
her?” Suresh questioned back, “What do you think of her?” Vinod looked at her
again, she looked tall, close to 5’ 8” perhaps, long straight hair, nice
figure, fitted neatly in to trim white shirt, first button left loose, over a
knee length grey formal skirt. Though he could not make out the words on the badge,
the red and white colors of it hinted that she probably worked for a leading
bank. Vinod put out his opinion, “She looks very formal, trim, sexy, and
working for bank in 1st floor.”
Suresh nodded in agreement
and said, “You know what’s selling her Vinod – her CV or her looks?” Vinod
could not understand the context of these questions as this definitely is not
the way his best friend talks when he looks at a girl as pretty as this. He
made an attempt and looked at the girl again keenly and nodded his head – could
not get the words for this unknown context.
Suresh continued, “it’s
not what you know, it’s how you present it; this is what sells in corporate”
Vinod looked blankly in to Suresh’s face. Age
old theory, often ‘conveniently’ forgotten. Suresh continued, “what do you
think went wrong in today’s meeting Vinod? There is definitely nothing wrong
with content. It’s just that this client manager expected it to be more glam –
nothing else.” He continued, a bit emotionally, “How you talk? How you dress?
How you eat? How you behave? How you shit? All this is more important than what
you know.”
Vinod laughed at Suresh’s
outburst. Suresh too laughed easily at his own words. Vinod looked at the girl
with red and white badge. She appeared explaining something to person next to
her passionately. Vinod found her passion rather unusual. Usually when someone
explains something passionately – there will be some animated expressions with
body movements synchronizing those expressions along with some loud voice – may
be these come as a natural reflex for underlying passion. Vinod watched her
intently and thought perhaps she is struggling too much to control her natural
reflexes by some acquired “corporate” behaviors.
Suresh wondered for a
moment on what Vinod was watching in her so keenly, “Come out of her buddy?” he
said with a wink. Vinod smiled back. Suresh went on, “This so called corporate
behavior - I think few people take it so seriously that for them – technical
knowledge is secondary or even not existent. If you know how to present, you
can survive. In fact not just survive – get anything you want in big
companies.”
“You saw all that in this
girl? I thought you were just looking at her tight shirt” Vinod mocked
casually, keeping his earlier observations about the girl to himself.
“Actually, yes! Though, we see them every day – never
actually realized” Suresh said.
Vinod glanced at her again
and thoughtfully, “If what you said is true, I wonder what she might be
thinking? It must be hard for her to control natural personality and be
somebody else in office”
“Hmm”, Suresh too looked
at her with long thought in mind “if you need to do something which is not
yourself, and yet look comfortable to everyone, each day – what would it mean?”
A few silent minutes
passed between both in contemplation.
“That’s it, I know” Suresh
declared, throwing up his hands in air and bending them behind his head. “Oh, so
beautiful me!!”
“What??” Vinod asked
clueless.
“That’s what they think
man. This thought gives them so much solace, so that they can every day be what
they are not” Suresh said as he felt little excited. A faint impression started
generating in his mind which with each passing moment was getting clearer and
clearer.
Vinod tried to understand,
but somehow he was nowhere near and said sincerely, “enlighten me!!”
“Hmm .. Let me give you
some demonstration. Call Rex and ask him to join us for tea” Suresh said with a
twinkle.
“Get lost! Am not calling
that idiot here”
“Calm down. It’s only for
purpose of some social experimentation my dear Vinod. Please bear some
inconvenience for sake of higher learning” Suresh said with an assuring gesture.
Suresh picked up Vinod’s
mobile with a little fight and called Rex, the moment call got connected he
tossed mobile back to Vinod and, “Say Hi” with very low voice and high
animation.
Vinod gave Suresh a killer
look, and spoke back in to mobile very gently, “Hi Rex, where are you?
“…….”
“Oh Ok, me and Suresh are
in canteen, want to join us?”
“……..”
“No occasion buddy, just
like that. You know how the meeting went, so just a little break”
“……..”
“Ok, come. We are waiting”
having concluded the call, Vinod pushed his mobile on to table, and let out a
subtle f word.
“Did you just call him
buddy?” Suresh mocked with a wink.
Vinod was surprised too,
“did I say that? Oh God!”
Few more minutes passed by
in waiting. The girl with red and white identity card was listening this time.
She frequently was pushing her hair back with left hand and making every effort
to listen intently. The other person with her seems to be in his mid-thirty’s,
perhaps her manager – definitely does not seem to be her colleague. He looked
confident, reclined back in to the chair, cross legged and shaking one leg, his
hands loosely hovering all around him as part of explanation. Cleanly shaved,
spiked hair, expensive clothes, luxury watch loosely hanging at his left wrist,
sparking shoes – over all a perfect package; Vinod wondered, ‘how much time
does he spend to get ready to office each day?’
“Yo guys, Tthankks forr Khalling
me” Rex came in out of nowhere and grabbed a chair “That meeting was rreally
exhaustive.”
Rex looked pretty similar
to the guy next to the girl with red and white badge, except that he dint have
a gotie and had an expensive watch with leather strap. Too much perfume
increased the density of air around him.
“No problem Rex”, Suresh
smiled at him pleasantly, “yeah that meeting was something” paused a little and
said “don’t you think so too Vinod?”
“Yeah” Vinod nodded
briefly. He still could not believe he is having tea with this Rex thing.
“Dude Vinod, you werre
awesome, I mean you rrocked man!!” Rex said, raising his hand for a high five.
Vinod did not know if he
had to respond back to that, rather dint see the need to do that either, but
after a couple of awkward moments seeing that Rex’s hand is still in air, returned
a reluctant high five.
After high-five there was
some uncomfortable silence, Rex did not know what to talk, Vinod and Suresh are
not the people he usually hangs around with. Nor does Vinod; he looked at
Suresh to break the awkwardness. Suresh in the interim was thinking on how to
start his social experiment and tried giving it a start.
“How did you find today’s
meeting Rex?”
“It was ggrreat!! This
client is really thorrough in wwhaat they need”
Vinod’s mouth opened wide
in surprise, but did not say anything.
Suresh nodded as though
agreeing to what Rex said, “You are right!! They really knew what they want”
and then thoughtfully added “Rex what did they actually want?”
Vinod smiled within
himself, he wanted to hear what Rex says for this.
Rex opened his mouth to
say something, could not get right words, closed his mouth, and thought for a
moment, glanced both Vinod and Suresh for their reaction ‘as this was
unexpected direct question as though challenging his understanding’ and finally
said
“Kkome on man, they want
it to get it morre end-userr accepttable and frriendly”
Vinod’s smile dissolved
within him ‘may be Rex is not as dumb as he thought’.
“Yeah agreed, that’s what
the client told too, but don’t you think it’s very unlikely to have those
features so soon, and that too when we are so close to delivery” Suresh
persisted.
Rex checked something in
the expensive smart phone, which bigger than his palm, said “bbut that’s what
wwe arre paid to do rright? Give customer what they want? That’s even one of
our company’s guiding principles, I don’t want to complain”
Vinod’s irritation levels
started shooting up; he could not relate between what’s been asked and what’s
been answered.
Rex continued hurriedly,
“You guys need anything to eat, am famished?”
Suresh and Vinod got the
hint, ‘he is trying to change the topic’, Vinod said, “Yeah I will have some upma,
dint have lunch too preparing this meeting.”
Rex said adjusting his
cuffs and checking something in his smart phone again, “I’d grab a Sub and some
cold coffee, how about you Surresh?”
“I’d have a sub too” Suresh
said mildly and got up from his chair.
Both Suresh and Rex walked
away in to the crowd.
Vinod took this time, and
looked at the guy and girl in red and white badge. They seemed to be having a
good time. The guy is leaning over the table and almost in to her talking
something and she was laughing out loud with a visible blush.
‘Hmm’ Vinod let out a sigh
and said to himself ‘whom am I stuck here with?’
5-6 minutes passed by and
Suresh came back alone with food on a plastic plate, he said “Rex had something
come up, he had to go”
Vinod let out a sigh of
relief. This Rex thing is not what he wanted after a tiring meeting, and
surprisingly Rex felt that the meeting was very good. ‘Oh God, why?’ make these
people.
Suresh sat down quietly a
little upset that his social experiment had to end abruptly, “I guess he left
on purpose. Clearly he was not comfortable with us asking so many questions.”
“You mean the questions
were too technical for him” Vinod asked biting in to his upma, and then said
again “I thought he knew what was needed by client, definitely not dumb as I thought”
Suresh thought for a
moment, took a bite of his sub, “Hmm, questions may not be too technical, as
the client had been yelling it for 4 hours, but he definitely was not
comfortable giving answers his usual way, with us he could not just sell words”
Vinod
was still not convinced. He knows Rex is not technically strong, in fact his knowledge
is just basic, and still he was in company for last 5 years and even getting
regular promotions. Wonder how he manages that? Vinod said, “How can you just
sell words and live on projects worth millions of dollars?”
“It’s just not words my
dear Vinod, it’s a total package” Suresh said almost in a single breath,
“Talk
in accent, dress smart, carry smart phones, check it often, take bath in good
perfume, gel you hair – everywhere, wear suits often, put a lot of emphasis on
body language, – and finally give an impression that you belong to this
corporate culture.”
Vinod smiled at few random
usages of words in Suresh one breath statement. He suddenly asked, “Why does
Rex have accent? Has he been out of country for some time?”
Suresh laughed, “Who said you’d have accent only if you
stay out of country. Every simple call center will teach you to roll your R’s
and Bite your V’s.”
‘Really, is it that simple?’
Vinod shook his head in disbelief. He said, “All I always thought was that if
you need to do something you need to have right knowledge and right resources”
and continued after a little pause, “the list you mentioned above, who makes it
for them?”
Suresh looked at his
friend pitifully, “General knowledge Bro’. This is what the world around you is
selling. Looking in to any advertisement, be it smart phone or a watch or car
anything. People will be so smartly dressed and talk so elegantly.”
Vinod said, “It’s an ad
buddy, it has to be made beautifully to attract audience. It’s needed there.”
Suresh gulped down the
last big chunk of sub and nodded his head vigorously and pointing his index
finger towards Vinod “You used two very important words man – beautiful and
needed”
“What?” Vinod said
surprised.
“What you said is
absolutely true” Suresh came back to his calm, “now, most of people look at these
ads and other stuff and want to look like those ‘beautiful’ people in it so
that they can be ‘needed’ as well”
“What crap? You sound more
like a conspiracy theorist” Vinod dismissed the entire explanation.
“You don’t believe me? But,
this is the basis of this entire corporate civilization” Suresh pressed on his
point.
Vinod shook his head
disapprovingly, “when you know your stuff, when you talk with sense, be
responsible, that is when people feel the need for you.”
“Agreed to all the above”
Suresh did not disagree, but added “But it needs time to recognize all that. No
one has that much time to really understand what you are.”
“So people do all this to
get that instant approval or acceptance?” Vinod still was not convinced, “in
other words, I mean, not be themselves to get ‘needed’”
“It’s actually a thin line
Vinod, very tough to get a definition” Suresh thought for moment, “Let me put
it this way – this corporate stuff is so widely accepted that people enjoy
being that – hence I said “Oh so beautiful me”; it makes them happy being so
too. Very few actually may realize that it’s not their true self and stick to
their natural behavior. And if you are not like that, then they may even
consider that you don’t have proper manners.”
“Hmmmmmmmmmm” Vinod let
out an extra-long contempt again. He rose to leave. He said to Suresh laughing “Let’s
leave bro, before anyone see’s that I have been eating upma with my hand and
think I don’t have proper manners.”
Suresh joined the laugh
heartily, “you can never have manners, all you can be is hearty”
While walking back Vinod, from
the corner of the eye, looked at the table where the girl with red and white
badge was sitting. They were not there at the table and looks like they left a
couple of minutes ago. Facility personnel started cleaning the table promptly.
Vinod suddenly stopped,
and Suresh stopped too saying “what?” “Look that him” Vinod pointed to the
person cleaning the table.
Gelled hair, gotie, smart
pink shirt and grey dungaree uniform. The facility person was holding as
expensive smart phone with his left hand and talking to someone. A thick metal
watch was loosely hanging down his left hand.
Vinod and Suresh stared at
each other – no words exchanged.
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