My worth at work

Something happened at work, last Thursday, that gave a whole new outlook to my worth at work.

In the office closer to my place, I am, in theory, only a visitor. So, I don't get to choose a desk for myself and my department folks have been kind enough to give me an independent cubicle. But this cubicle, is a corner one and unfortunately, one of the wings of the corner is the main aisle in that area.

The picture here shows you the cubicle and the pillar you see on the left is the only thing that ensures that people don't simply walk into my cubicle. Or so I thought, till Thursday afternoon.

I was in my post-lunch near meditative state

Thank you Padmavathy

I attended Padmavthy's wedding reception this evening. She was in my team in the previous project and is overall a very good kid. Its sad that she had to quit, to join her husband in USA.

Her wedding was held outside Chennai last week and so she had a reception this evening. I'd marked my calendar a long while back for this. So much so, that I even skipped the reception of an old friend from Polaris this evening. But my father attended that on my behalf and I will drop in tomorrow morning during the wedding.

Anyways, I got a bit held up in traffic this evening while returning home. I planned to come home, change me clothes and then head off to the reception at Hotel Kanchi. But some accident near Kathipara Junction, threw the traffic haywire and there was a 45 minute delay when I reached home.

I quickly freshened up, changed to better attire, my mother did the gift wrapping to the best of her abilities and I rushed out at around 8.10 PM. The reception was supposed to start at 7 PM, so you can imagine how delayed I was.

When I reached there, the hall was nearly empty. The guests had already gone to the dining hall and there were only like 4 or 5 people waiting to greet the couple.

So, when I entered the hall, a lady came up to me and said "vaanga vaanga". First, I responded as was expected in civil society and assumed that it was a generic welcome. Please note that, other than Padma, I haven't met anyone in her family.

After this exchange of pleasantries, I realised that the lady who spoke to me resembled Padma a lot (its the other way around, but I met Padma first, so...). I safely assumed that it must have been her mother. So, I was a bit surprised when I noticed the mother talk to someone pointing towards me.

It clearly demonstrated that she knew who I was. Then I moved towards the line to give Padma her gift. Then a man came by and greeted me saying/asking that I was Padma's boss/manager. Introduced himself as Padma's father. I was really shocked. He even introduced his wife!

It was a bit overwhelming for me at that point. Meeting people for the first time, but they know who you are. Obviously this kid has talked about me at home. And must have shown the pictures from all our project parties.

But still, the parents knowing/remembering this, was quite flattering. I will even give a small chance that somehow Padma informed her parents about me, when I entered and I probably didn't notice it. But then, the events that unfolded after I met Padma were even more pleasant.

Her mother insisted that I go to the dining hall right away and dragged a poor kid to accompany me. The kid turned out to be Padma's brother and even he asked if I was her boss and if my name was Jawahar.

I kinda went gaga at that point. The kid then took me to the dining hall. Saw to it that the food was served to me on time. Insisted that I eat a lot. Looked genuinely upset when I refused the ice-cream (solely due to the sore throat I have now).

All in all, it was very different experience. Maybe her family is indeed this courteous and friendly to all guests. But having experienced it first hand, I will give them full credit for the near royal treatment meted out to me.

So, Padmavathy, many thanks to you and your family. Wishing you a very happy married life.