THE CONTRAST

He just woke up from the deep sleep which he was enjoying to the fullest, while the alarm was buzzing. He was getting late for work. Jumped out of his bed and rushed into the bathroom to a quickie bath. He dressed in his formal suits as it was an important day for him. Made his little bachelor breakfast, the lifesaver bread roast with jam. He came out of his home to the garage and revved his car. Suddenly he realised that he was missing something. He rushed back to the hallway where the thing was stored in a small box. He opened it and sighed. He said to himself “Oh that was too close. I would have killed myself“.

He wore his mask and went back to his car. As he drove through the highway, he slipped into his daydreams. He was recalling  last year’s scenario, fully packed highway, traffic jams and people honking as they were getting late to work. Soon he reached the toll plaza. A man in uniform was sitting inside the cabinet, a skinny guy wearing a full on personal protection gown. He lowered his window, the scanning equipment popped out and began scanning .The Display board signed “Clear”, that was a huge relief for him. Gates opened and he drove to his work.

He parked his car in the basement and walked towards the elevator. As usual he was getting scanned through the kiosk kept just before the elevator. He went in and to his cubicle at fifth floor. He was getting nervous, the day was too important. He was the new guy in this office last year, he had hardly spent a month at office and rest of the days at home. The pandemic had constrained him to four walls of his house instead of the air-conditioned cubicle space with colleagues. During the containment days he used to meet the top officials on videoconference. Today he is going to meet them in real for the performance appraisal interview. Jake looked into the wall clock, its 40 minutes past nine in the morning; his interview was scheduled for ten o clock. As the second hand in the clock was racing forwards, Jake felt his heart beats raising . He said to himself “Relax, Its gonna be okay, after all it’s just an interview. No big deal, you can do that.”

Finally the clock rang its ten o clock bell, MD’s personal assistant came over to him and said “Jake, come on. They are waiting for you at the board Room“.

Jake had no clue about the location and the looks of board room; as his business had no concern about the board room. He silently followed PA’s footstep. They took the elevator and reached the eleventh floor. As the door opened, Jake couldn’t believe his eyes; the hall way is filled with so many indoor plants and interior design was entirely different from the office space. The rooms were spacious, furniture were luxurious. Photos and framed certificates on the walls caught his attention. Then he realised that the interior designer had done pretty good work as he highlighted these mementos and pictures with concealed spot lights. 

PA opened the door and asked him to take a seat. He went in, again his eyes were mesmerised with the luxurious interior. But he couldn’t find anyone there; PA noticed his looks and said “This is the waiting room, I will take you to board room as soon as I get the final call”. His mind was wandering around the thoughts of board room, soon he was no way worried about the interview. PA came over and directed him to board room. He asked for the permission to enter and went into the mysterious room. There he saw four individuals; MD, GM, HR head & his Reporting officer. He expected a five membered team headed by chairman. PA went on and pushed button. A Screen popped out and projectors were lit up. He saw the final person on the screen.

“Hi Jake, I wish I could have joined you in person. As you know about present scenario, I couldn’t make it.”,chairman said.

 “Well, first of all I would like to congratulate you for your successful completion of your probation period. And this interview will decide the final proceedings for your next stage “, chairman continued.

“Thank you sir, it’s an honour to be employed in our reputed firm. I extend my gratitude towards all for their cooperation and guidance”, Jake replied.

He was getting relaxed. As he gave the introductory talk, his mind was busy in digging about the facts and figures of his business; how well he planned his targets, how much achieved, what all strategies were implemented for the shortfall etc.

“Well Jake, you are energetic and enthusiastic gentlemen, but you do understand our position in the market and how we are coping with the current scenario”,chairman said . Jake nodded as if he knew the company for a very long time. Chairman continued “Also you know about our progress before the pandemic……”.

Jake knew exactly what his boss was referring to. He loved the past days; days before the pandemic. The college days, passing out ceremony, Job interviews, and hangout with his friends. He was missing all those moments so badly. He wished that the time would reverse and stay stagnant in those golden days. As he dreamt about the past, he soon reached the dead end of joyful world memories, the pandemic began as soon as he joined his company. Initially he didn’t care much about the pandemic and was enjoying his life. Soon the pandemic came into his country and the harsh days began. News was filled up with facts, figures and data about the pandemic. The authorities were stumbled by the increasing rate of infection. Initially the authorities were confident about their smart and latest health infrastructures. But Pandemic was consuming lives like nothing, then the authorities realised that they are helpless and hopeless until the spread is controlled. Pandemic was like a wildfire, uncontrollable and horrific.  The citizens were also late in reacting to such an epidemic as they were not used to any such situation before. This was first of its kind in the history of mankind; the disease which changed the lives of entire population all around the world. The pandemic had its signature in history as it leaves a dark long period for the human population.

As the Pandemic reached its peak, authorities proclaimed a total lockdown on the country. The things around him changed so rapidly that he couldn’t believe it in the first hand. The busy roads turned into empty streets, the only vehicles traversing were the ambulance and police armoured vans. There was sudden phase shift in his life. The greener days turned out to be  silent and dark. He remembered watching war films, he was living in a  similar scenario . The whole population is stuck at their house, no one can move out.  Scientist were deputed for developing vaccine and medicines for the Pandemic. But none of the news showed any positive signs of any successful achievements.

He was pulled out of the recallment by the loud voice of chairman  “ …it has been a year with us right.” again his mind slipped into his memories. He joined his company on the first of November and the Pandemic came up during the December first week. He had a short span of office working hours. He used to walk early to the metro as his house was located somewhat near to the metro station. On his way, he passed by the old café where he used to take his breakfast occasionally. Then the busy metro station, a crowded queue for the security check. Again a crowded entry gate where he swiped his access card. The humongous station was fully packed during his visit as it was the peak hour; everyone on their way to their office. He checks the information display for the next metro time and stand by observing folks around him, even checking out hot girls who was busy chatting in their phone .As soon as the metro reaches, people rushes in fast, the gates get closed and off to their destination .The metro would be fully packed in and hustling noise as the passengers talk. If he had a chance to sit he would doze off or while standing, continued observation till his destination. The final stage of travel was the short walk to his office inside the large tech-park. This stage was his favourite as he gets a glimpse of his crush. She was a cute, fair, short figured girl. He didn’t know her whereabouts, no name, didn’t know where she worked. The only thing he was sure about her was she being a newbie to the area just like him; that too by seeing her temporary entry pass. He followed her till his office; whereas she used to enter into zone two of the park. He didn’t have access to that area. So her location detail was a mystery. The Pandemic didn’t give him enough time to figure out all those things. He used to greet his guard and enter the building, walk straight towards the elevator and up to his cubicle at fifth floor. There were group chats followed by meetings, PowerPoint presentations, statistical reports in spread-sheet and finally the status report in word files. In between all those hustles there was the boring lunch with his exciting friends. At sharp five o clock the computer was turned off, all packed up; straight towards exit. If his luck favoured he got a chance to meet her again. He followed the same routine during the metro ride to his home. He used to enjoy his daily evening jogs in the nearby park. During those days, the park was filled with playful kids, old age reunions, fitness freaks and lovely families. Once back home, he rings up his mother while he cooks his dinner; his cooking is entirely controlled from the remote station. Right after the dinner, he had his multitasking sessions with his laptop and phone; watching movies and chatting. And in between he used to sleep off.

Just one month after his joining, the pandemic picked up its pace in locality. The authorities declared a lockdown and everyone had to move into their house. He felt that his life became stagnant. The freedom of movement was taken off, neither he could see his friends nor he could go to the office; the latter was a plus point. During the initial days of lockdown he enjoyed it but slowly the loneliness started to haunt him. Everybody was talking about taking a break from work, but nobody knew that the break was coming like this. People were constrained to the four walls of their home. They couldn’t step out as the police and army were patrolling around. Even the essential goods were supplied by the authorities. The medical officers were trying their best to provide treatment for infected patients. With their PPE suits, doctors looked like members of a bomb squad. Every news channel reported the high spread rate and mortality rates of the pandemic. Companies started making arrangements to offer work from home options for their employees, as it was the only way for them to survive in this situation. His whole routine went upside down. Now he wakes up at 9 o clock, switches on his laptop and joins the review meeting. Meanwhile he also prepares his breakfast ,which consists of bread toast with jam or butter. The work continued, but he was alone. He found a solution for loneliness in his chatting apps, which was group video chats. He had to limit himself to these virtual screens. Most of his colleagues went home, but he couldn’t as he lived far away. He missed his home and parents so much. 

He came back to his sense on hearing  the chairman’s question, “Show us your presentation“. “Sure Sir”, Jake replied. He went on with a presentation about the progress and performance appraisal. He finished the presentation quickly as he knew that the presentation was a mere formality requirement, already they were well aware about the facts.

“Well done Jake, we are quite impressed about your performance .But that’s not enough for us, we need to evaluate you based on our company’s mission and vision”, Chairman said. Jake felt a sudden grasp of sadness throughout his body. For the past one month he was getting ready for this moment where he could prove himself. All his hopes were getting shattered right in front of his eyes.

“Do you have anything else to convince us?” Chairman asked. All the other heads nodded in agreement with the chairman. “Well just speed up, chairman and ourselves have got plenty of other things scheduled for the day”, GM said.

He was dazed because of the unexpected question raised and on top of that GM was exerting pressure on him to speed things up. He glanced through the panel and saw his reporting officer hinting him about something with his eyes. At first, he was unable to decode it but soon realised what the reporting officer was alluding to. Jake stood up and explained “I wanted to be part of a reputed firm and here I’m with the best company in the world. During the pandemic, the company took care of me, provided work from home option and ensured the relentless guidance from the seniors. I had proposed an idea to utilize our CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) Funds to do the welfare activities which I thought would boost the company’s profile. But the idea got rejected with an explanation that due to the current situations the CSR funds were being utilised for employee welfare. Even though my idea was rejected, I organised a campaign for this and collected a small contribution from employees. The amount collected was distributed under our company’s name. Somehow this action got the attention of the media and the initiative had a positive impact on the share values of our company.  While every other company’s share values were falling apart, our shares were stable.   To be honest with you sir, my intent was not to boost the company’s profile. It was an act of kindness that was required. We shouldn’t focus on ourselves, there are plenty others living near you. We should serve them as well. I didn’t mean to offend anyone with this talk. But I think this would convince you. “

“Well done Mr Jake, you have done your part.  You can wait outside. We will let you know.“,Chairman said.

On his way out he heard the murmuring sounds, which decides his future in this company. He was eagerly  waiting outside and after 10 minutes he was called in.

“Well that was an impressive enough and convincing presentation. Congratulations Mr Jake. The paper works will be shared to you after this.“the chairman said.

His tense moments changed to delightful, he thanked them all and went out. As soon as he reached his cabin, entire colleagues congratulated him. Curious Jake jumped on to his seat and checked for the appraisal mail. It was already there in the mailbox. He went through it and immediately shared the acknowledgement. He got a reply mail from his GM within seconds after sending his acknowledgement.

He was smiling at the contrast of the two situations he confronted on the same day; primarily how corporate minds were impressed about his humanitarian approach and secondly how corporate world works without any such commitment.  He minimised the mail window and went back to his colleagues and enjoyed his moment.