As the clock struck 5 am the
alarm went on. The shrieking voice of alarm forced her to get up from her bed.
With heavy eyes she cursed herself and made her way to the washroom to freshen
up. She could feel her heavy head and aching body’s growing pain but she forced
herself to walk to the washroom. She checked the clock it was 5:25 am way too
early for the time she decided for herself the night before but she wanted to
look good today so she started right away. She scanned almost all her kurtas
but at last she choose the black kurta with red and green border on sleeves and
a V neck… she decided to wear it with her favourite peacock green churidar. She wore this for all the important days in
her life in the past one and half year and today was nothing different. “The body
ache was all because of her nervousness.” She consoled herself.
She took a quick bath, put on her
kajal, wore the chosen dress and her kholapuri sandals. The clock stuck 6:30 am
now she was good to go. For a second she could not help but adorn herself. She
knows that she is not conventionally beautiful but she had a charming face; a
charm that stands out for its innocent appeal. Being a big fan of ethnic
products she always managed to stand out in the crowd. It was 6:45 am now… she
quickly grabbed her bag and rushed out of her room.
As she moved forward she could feel
her legs getting heavier but she forced herself to move fast. Today her body
and brain refused to coordinate. She reached the stop much before time and she
was relieved. She took out her phone and saw her face on the screen, a final
touch up was needed for her charming face. She then waited and waited like she
was waiting for eternity. She was nervous and excited at the same time. This was
the big day for her. She waited long for this day and this journey to start.
Her wandering thoughts were bought back to reality by a husky voice calling out
her name … she turned back to see Ronit. She greeted him and vice versa. They
stood in silence for some time and after few minutes he wished her luck.
She checked her watch…she still had 20
minutes to board the bus. To pass the minutes and seconds until the bus arrives
she decided to pay attention to Ronit’s looks. He was wearing a black shirt
with beige coloured trousers. Ronit is one of the reasons why she is here.
Ronit with his chiselled looks and warming humour sense sweeped her off her
feet the day she saw him and here she is
about to share the seat with him… be with him for 8 hours a day and listen to
his husky voice over and over again. Her face was screaming out her happiness but
she kept her excitement low. The bus arrived she boarded the bus. She sat next
to Ronit. They started talking. He told her about his family, his hobbies and
interest and asked the same to her; she reciprocated. She could feel the
adrenaline rush every time their arms rub against each other every time the bus
hits a bumper on the uneven roads of Hyderabad. Neither of them bothered to
move their arms apart. It was a long journey but she was enjoying every bit of
it. As the bus moved towards its destination they got deeply engrossed in their
small talks. Ronit complemented her for her beautiful eyes and her dimples; she
blushed. Finally they reached their destination.
As the guard was verifying the IDs with the
No. Of people present in the bus, she spotted the big bold letter flashing the
name of her destination in maroon and navy blue coloured stones. She felt good
after seeing this place. Ronit walked with her to the final destination. She
saw 6 guys and 4 girls wearing smart formals, high heels and pencil skirts. She
felt out of place because she knew she is one of them yet she looks nothing
like them. She gathered her courage and with a confident smile that came with
endless practise she headed towards the group, she looked back to see Ronit
standing there smiling. She smiled back and moved ahead.
After the initial introduction within
the group she felt comfortable. She was talking to the people in the group yet
her eyes were searching for Ronit. They didn’t find him. After 20 minutes a
beautiful lady in a maroon coloured cotton sari with black borders and with a
smiling face asked them to follow her to the conference room. The group members
obeyed. After entering the room they started to scan the conference room which
was large enough to accommodate 100 people at a time. Comfortable chairs with
coffee holders, an empodium in the centre and few chairs close to it facing the
crowd and a projector and the white board on the wall behind the empodium facing
the projector. The lady in sari asked the group members to take their seats. They
all grabbed their seats in the middle row. As soon as they were seated 4 guys
and 3 girls in smart looking formals took their seats in the front row. She
identified one face among those guys and it was Ronit. They exchanged a quick
smile. They were the departmental heads and the regional heads.
At first Ronit Menon Process Head of
south Indian region addressed the crowd. He gave a brief intro about himself
and how he climbed up the ladder of success with ease and reached heights at
the young age of 31. Once he was done the other regional and department heads
addressed the crowd and then the new joiners were asked to introduce
themselves. Ronit invited her first.
From the first time he saw her in her
campus he liked her. He had been too many campuses and interviewed many people
but she had something in her that made him think of her ever since he saw
her.He dint make any recommendations to his colleagues who were also the panel
member for the interview process but he was elated to know that she was
selected. He dint know that she would finally be reporting to Ronit but here
destiny was being very generous with him and he sure dint have any complains
about it. He waited long to finally meet her and today he was beyond happy as
he saw her after 2 months since the interview. He dint drive to the office
today, he instead walked to bus stop boarded APSRTC bus and then reached the
stop where he saw her standing with eyes set on infinity. They both waited for
the company bus. He kept his emotions in control and spoke to her. She is
beautiful he told himself. She is different from the girls he usually meets.
They talked all the way. He decided to ask her out for a coffee today before
lunch. He dint bother about the gossip mills in the office because all the
mattered to him was the spark that she had.
On being invited for the introduction,
she slowly moved towards the empodium she could feel nervousness in every inch
of her body but she dint let her confident smile fade away. This is the day she
waited for she told herself. She turned towards the crowd and scanned the room
and the eyes looking at her and then she saw Ronit; he smiled at her and his
eyes guided her to shoot her charm.
Hello everyone I’m Nina Kaur and I’m
from Bangalore. Her confidence came back. With excellent communication skills
and a pleasing smile she spoke her mind and everybody applauded. As she
returned to her seat she could see admiration and envy reflecting in the eyes
of the group members except Roshni , the girl from Mumbai. She complemented her
for way she spoke. She saw ronit looking at her. Their eyes exchanged more
conversations than their words have. Both of them knew they liked each other’s
company. One by one everyone introduced themselves to others and the
introduction was over.
The new joiners were asked to visit the
campus, roam around and see the campus after meeting Anita, the lady in maroon
sari who will assign cubicles and stationery to the new joiners and later lunch
by 1:00 pm. Nina and Roshni walked together to the main area. They reached the
main area. They all got their mentor allocations and teams. When Nina was told
about her mentor and her superior she could not believe the generosity of lady
luck on her and she demanded roshni to pinch her to bring her back. Nina was
overjoyed… Ronit will be her mentor and roshni and naina are in the same team
with 4 other guys reporting to Ronit.
Roshni and Nina filled with happiness
went for the campus tour. She saw Ronit coming from the other side.” So you guys are
reporting to me.. Huh” Asked Ronit to the both of them. The reply
was instantly a yes filled with excitement. He asked the girls and especially Nina
if they would like to join him for the campus tour with 3 more people from the
group of MBA graduates and as expected they joined him. As they went around
seeing what happens in a company all the new joiners were happy to be a part of
a fortune 500 company with a good package. Nina was happy for other reasons as
well. She was happy to have roshni and ronit close by. The tour ended. It was
time for lunch. Nina was not hungry so she was waiting in a corner trying to
stay away from food and chatting with random people and forgetting the name the
moment they say it. She felt a pat on her shoulders and there he was.
“Would you like to have a cup of coffee with me…? I’m not
hungry and I can see neither are you”.
Without waiting for an answer he led her to the coffee shop just outside their
campus. They both smiled to themselves and walked together. Roshni saw them
walking outside and she was happy to see nina happy. She already likes nina,
having somebody like her to work with would be a great experience. With many
smiling faces and a lot more simple to come the first day went by beautifully.
