"Please, please, clear the blacks fast... " Except for this, for most part of his speech, we don't know what the words are. And they are best left unheard for reasons known to us. I shall not name him, but lets call him Z for discourse. Z gets to everyone's nerves but he is very, very amusing, I tell you.

Z joined us amid much fanfare. Lots were said about him prior to his coming. Well-read, grammarian, perfectionist, and a little ummm... -- you know the stuff great minds and men are made of! So we were mighty eager to meet this someone who was above the run of the mill. Day one: I saw him and felt a little sorry at how much at odds he was with us the noisy crowd, and me the worst of the lot. Natural that he did not warm up to us, and me, immediately. I sensed things wont be so easy for him.

True enough, he had a tumultous beginning. He laboured hard, sentence after sentence, para after para that the pages looked like incricate works of art. Coma here, fullstop there, para up, para down, scratches here, scratches there. In horror, I exclaimed, "God, I don't agree with these changes." Egoistic writers (who actually needn't overreact so much) too backlashed. That week, an issue with many errors hit the stands. Damage saving exercise: meetings after meetings. Sometimes, things do start on a wrong note, but they dont necessarily herald doom. Good for Z. He smiles these days.

On most days, Z sits all hunched on his chair and computer. Thinking, staring hard at the screen, wrapped in his intricate world just like his intricate editing :). Breaking his concentration is the laughter from our bay. He hates that sight of us. Funnier is how he called the trainee amongst us and told him to keep away from the women. "Why do you laugh so much", he asked him once. Probably wants to train him on confirmed bachelorhood. My team-mates asked me what if he reads my blog. "In that case, I'd add some porn elements," I told them. Ha ha ha...

Z is a caricature by himself . He doesn't eat, he doesn't listen, actually doesn't have the patience to, and he only mumbles. I guess he is bogged down with worries, worried, perhaps, that the team is whiling their time away doing everything but work. Maybe he means well. But he should communicate, no? This vehicle of connecting is important, especially in a team. I wouldn't want him to assimilate to our culture -- because some people are meant to be the way they are. And we are all human beings with our own inadequacies. But Z should smile more often -- that would keep the sunny side up of the team!

1 comment:

Shanti Thokchom said...

Ahoy! someone has found a good excuse to pull Mr.Z's legs!! Leave him alone and maybe he'll warm upto you guys in no time!For how long can he preach confirmed bachelorship to all and sundry?One day or the other he's bound to fall in line with you all!! just give it time!!!

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