That Day

It took me two buses and a rickshaw to finally reach to the company’s office. Not that the company is some far place off or my home is situated at some backward area, but somewhat the path I chose was the most convenient and inexpensive for me. I could easily have taken a metro till South Delhi and then taken the bus, but that would have been a time-spending affair.
It was my interview that day. After working with Samsung for a couple of months, I thought to change the job and expected a nice raise in my salary. No, I wasn’t from a poor family and I was the sole bread owner, but just for my own personal satisfaction and to prove myself that I can do bigger, I was sitting for this interview. Samsung was a nice start for me after my B.Tech from a not so famous engineering college, which too situated at a place in Delhi anyone hardly has a hint of. I was surprised when I was recruited in an electronics core company when half of my friends were either getting a software job or getting interviewed for various MBA degrees. Maybe, this was my dream. Maybe, this was my destiny.
My family is a middle class family. I am the youngest of the three. I was still studying when my brother and sister started working. My father was a government bank official. So, I was never a concern in my family. My mother told me that I could do anything in life as there was no pressure on me. So, when an offer in the company came to me, I thought to start working rather than spending two more years studying MBA because I hated to study from my school. It isn’t that I was terrible in studies, its just that I used to get bored with the same words and numbers everyday. It seemed like a monotonous chore for me. I hardly enjoyed it.
As I entered the office, the receptionist welcomed me with a nice warm message she repeated umpteen times from the morning.
“Hello Sir, How can I help you?”
“I came here for an interview of a job.”
“May I know your name, Sir?”
“Rahul Mukherjee.”
She pressed some keys on her keyboard, giggled something to her mate sitting right beside her, and then told me.
“Sir, you can sit in the conference room. It’s in the right corner.”
I thanked the lady and went where she directed me. As I entered, I was stunned to see almost sixty people like me who were sitting tensely on their chairs and talking to themselves. Some were busy filling a form while some were even vibrating in the chair with a small book of Hanuman Chalisa in their hands. I couldn’t figure out how could Hanuman help them in getting through an interview. I wondered which God wrote the Mahabharata.
I searched the whole party and saw a person sitting on a partly banked portion of a side of the room, with a desk in his front.
“Excuse me, I came for an interview.”
He was busy doing something in his mobile. He hardly took a notice of me and handed me a paper lying in his front.
“Fill this form, submit it and wait for your turn.”
I took the form and was unsure whether I am supposed to fill it or not. I was not a fresher from a college waiting for a job. I was experienced guy who worked in an Electronics Company. I was expecting a warmer welcome and a direct interview. But due to my subdued nature, I profusely accepted the form, took the nearest possible seat available and filled my form. I completed filling all my details in it, even the crappiest details which hardly kept any relation with the matter. I submitted it to the mobile guy and sat back on my chair. I later realized that a fresher sat right beside me who had even more finest details to discuss.
“Hi, I am Vikas Sharma. Fresher. Have done my engineering from U.P.Tech. Just passed out. You?”
I wasn’t in the slightest mood to talk to this person. But just for the sake of goodness, I replied.
“I am not a fresher. And I am not a UP Tech alumni.”
“Ok. Is this your first interview? You know this is the farthest I have been in a recruitment process. Really worked hard. They used to disqualify me in the group discussion round only. This time I have cleared that round and come up here. Now I am quite confident about my selection.”
“Excuse me. What did you say? You are through the first round?”
“Yes. That’s exactly how we all are here. See that guy sitting over there? We became friends that day. He was so nervous last……..”
“Ya its fine. I understood how he felt. Now if you please excuse me.”
I left the seat and went straight to the guy with the forms and asked him about the washroom. It was a nice relief as the fresher was getting on my nerves.
So, it wasn’t that bad. My experience did have some value as I was directly called for the interview round. A start at a good company didn’t go in vain.
I didn’t have to wait too long when I was called for the interview. Three people welcomed me inside. They looked like hungry bears ready to eat you up with a smile on their faces.
“Good morning Sir.”
“Good morning Rahul. Please sit down.”
“Thank you.”
“So Rahul, how are you?”
“Pretty nice sir. Even the weather is very supportive today.”
“Definitely. So, Rahul, how was it working at Samsung?”
“Quite nice Sir. I got to learn some new stuff. Had some nice experiences working for the profit of the company. Getting associated with new projects.”
“Then why you left the company?”
“Well sir. I worked there for six months and I wanted to try new prospects.”
I think that was a nice answer to such a mundane question. Every company asked such questions to me when I went for an interview. This was the eighth interview I was going to. I felt lousy to get up every morning and search for jobs in the computer. Most of the time, I ended up playing computer games or reading ebooks. My parents got quite concerned with their child sitting unemployed after engineering. But any company that I picked didn’t like me eventually. It wasn’t that my interview goes bad, its just that they didn’t like my attire or my outspoken nature.
But this time, it didn’t go that bad. Actually it went very good. The interviewers looked contented watching my resume. They complimented me for my dressing sense. (well that they only murmured among themselves and I overheard). Looking at their smile, I could easily infer that this time I was going to be selected.
………………………………………….
“Hi!”
“Hello sir. How may I help you?”
“I gave an interview last week for a job. I wonder I didn’t get a call from you.”
“Let me check sir. May I know your name, please?”
“Ya. Its Rahul Mukherjee”
The receptionist again murmured something to the girl sitting beside her and clicked some keys in the keyboard and replied generously.
“Sorry sir. You were not selected.”
“Whaaaat….. Oh sorry. I mean, can I know the reason why wasn’t I?”
“Sorry Sir. But we don’t have such information.”
“Ok. Thank You.”
I found it worthless to howl at the receptionist. I find it very odd to howl at anybody who is not at all directly related to your reason. So, I called my friend with whom I hardly talked and who was working in the same company and told him if he can take the pain to know the reason of me not selected. Surprisingly, he said yes. Already disheartened, I thought to take a walk instead of taking a metro home.
And my friend called me within few minutes.
“Hey Buddy. I just asked the management. Seems like the interviewer was my boss. He told me that he called your previous company, Samsung I think. And they confirmed that you were fired from there due to excessive leaves. Sorry buddy.”
“Ya its fine. It’s cool.”
I hung up the phone. I didn’t want to talk anymore and listen to his consolations. I was bored of all such evictions, that too for my past doings. It’s true that I took little more holidays than normal. But I worked hard too. I spent many nights there just to complete my projects. Seems like that didn’t keep a tally in their registers. They just kept records of the holidays I took.
Ya, I did take some holidays. Because I had a thing participating in the cultural activities happening around. I liked to invest some part of my time directing plays and dance shows at the local Durga Pujas at our society. I started it all when I was in second year of graduation. I was eager to do some acting and not a single person was organizing a play. So, I took the initiative myself and directed the play. To my surprise, it proved to be a huge hit and all the people came to me and asked me to continue the trend. Hence, I started organizing and participating in plays as well as dance shows. I remained very aggressive and satisfied with it. This year too, I took holidays to give the script human form. My brother once told me to take this hobby seriously but I knew I wasn’t going to take the riskof doing it professionally. But after my eighth eviction, it looked like I couldn’t do anything professionally. I was tired. I didn’t want to go back home, sit on the internet and find new jobs, give interviews. I was tired of all this. Answering questions of my parents everyday, listening to my friends’ achievements. I was tired of all this
I couldn’t take it anymore. I sat on the footpath of the roadside. I was not in a mood to do anything. I walked again. I saw a building. I saw a board. It read NATIONAL SCHOOL OF DRAMA. I stood in front of it. I went in there.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
“And now, after six years of satisfying hard work you are seeing me in my state Delhi, inside a gigantic set, of a movie directed by Farhan Akhtar.”
“Thank you Sir for such a wonderful interview and taking out time from the busy schedule. Can I ask for an autograph?”
“Oh sure. Absolutely.”
Best wishes for your life
Aryan Mukherjee
“Is it fine?”