The Catalogue - Part 3

Nishigandha was late for the weekly team meeting by around fifteen minutes. 

Generally, she has never been late. In fact, she was the one who was known for her punctuality. Her team mates used to tease her, nayi hai…fresher hai. Aage aage sikh jayegi. (She is new in the office and a fresher too. She will eventually learn to be late). But such comments never deterred her in any way. She used to remember what her mother had taught her when Nishi was in school. Her school was far away from Nishi’s house. If she missed the bus then she would have to use an auto rickshaw to go to school. And the rickshaw would be an expensive affair for them. And because of this reason, one day her mother had told her, ‘We don’t have a lot of money. Traveling everyday by auto rickshaw is expensive. Try not to miss the bus. It is much cheaper and in our budget.’ From that day itself, Nishi never missed the bus for her school. That brought in a sense of punctuality in her.

But today she was late. And the reason for being late was the local trains. They were late by few minutes. Nishi was new to Mumbai and it would certainly take some time for her to adjust with the train schedules. She was nervous by the thought of telling the truth if her Team Lead or Manager asks for the reason of coming late.

The meeting had already begun. It was a conference call with their team’s counterparts in New York City. The new project had begun in full swing. There was a lot of work to be done. And a resource risk as well since there was a fresher in the team. But Nishi had a good grasping power. She understood the requirements and the necessary knowledge for the project really well.

As she entered the meeting room, her Team Lead looked at her and signaled her to sit. The meeting continued.

At the end, her Team Lead looked at all, especially at Nishi, and said, ‘Two of us will have to visit New York next month. It is very critical to understand the designs and the new requirements by sitting with them and discussing face-to-face.’

Everyone was quiet. The thought of visiting NYC was a feel-good feeling. And most of them guessed that it would be Sameer, the Senior Software Engineer and may be the Team Lead Prakash himself, would go for the same. The team comprised of five members, out of which Sameer who was a senior, Mohit and Radhika who had joined Sunrise about two years ago, the Team Lead, Prakash and Nishi. 

However, the same did not happen. The Manager, Mr. Singhania finally said, ‘Mohit and Nishi have been selected for this first onsite tour of this project. I and Prakash had a lot of discussion on it and finally we could come up with this decision.’

Disappointment! Sameer had almost made up his mind for the onsite tour. He had never got a chance to go onsite through Sunrise earlier. This would have been a golden opportunity as the project had just begun. But he was hugely disappointed when his junior and a fresher were selected for the same. Generally, onsite tours keep on happening in IT companies as per the project requirements. But not even a single one had come his way. And the current one went to his juniors. This thought added to his frustration.

‘But would Nishi be able to handle the work there? She is a fresher and has joined this organization just two months back.’ Sameer tried to intervene.

‘I understand what you are trying to imply. However, I believe, this would be a good opportunity for her to learn and explore this project. She is young and bright. I am sure she will handle it. Moreover, Mohit has a good experience of onsite visits. He would definitely be there for her guidance. We all have to work as a team. Sameer, Prakash and Radhika would have lot of work in Mumbai itself.’

Sameer kept quiet. The news brought a glow on Nishi’s face. Her nervousness about coming late flew away.

It was a feel-good feeling. She had never traveled outside Maharashtra until then. Pune to Malvan, Malvan to Pune and now Mumbai to Malvan and Malvan to Mumbai…that was her only travel map until then. However, now, she would be traveling all the way to the US. Good things come together. New project. The US tour. But is it that simple? Nishi was not aware about the reactions of the people around her.

Later, during the lunch time, she told Durvesh and Dia about her onsite tour. Durvesh was extremely happy on hearing it.

‘You totally rock, girl! Firstly, you got such a wonderful project. And now this onsite visit. Amazing!’ Durvesh’s happiness was visible on his face.

But the same happiness was not present on Dia’s face. She, however, said, ‘Congrats Nishi. You deserve it. But it’s New York! Are you ready for it?’

Durvesh somehow understood that Dia was being jealous.

‘I didn’t get your point. How can one be ready to travel to New York?’ Nishi asked her very innocently.

‘I mean the attire, the accessories and much more. You have to be more fashionable. You have to look rich and glamorous.’ Dia was expressing her knowledge about an American’s looks and lifestyle.

Nishi remained calm for a minute and later spoke, ‘May be you are right. I’ll prepare myself that way.’ Durvesh intervened, ‘Oh, what rubbish! Nishi, you don’t listen to this idiot. C’mon, Dia, she has to look like an IT professional and not like a Bollywood actor.’

‘Durvesh, please don’t talk about the things you are not aware of. IT girls should have that rich look in them. Well, I have been to US twice. I have seen it all. Anyway, it’s completely your choice.’ Dia said so and got up from the table.

Nishi kept thinking about what Dia had said. Durvesh tried to comfort her, ‘don’t give much importance to what she is saying. She has been born rich and has a fashion freaky attitude like a model. She has always stayed in air. You are different. You look really good in your simple attire. You be the same there as well. Don’t spend much on unnecessary things.’

Nishi was listening to what Durvesh was saying but the thought of what Dia had said still floated in her mind.

Later, while getting fresh in the wash room, she sprinkled some water on her face. While she dried her face with towel and saw herself in the mirror in front of her, she admired her beauty, her bright face. However, she overheard Dia leaving the wash room and telling her friends, ‘You need some fashion sense to travel abroad, especially in the US. And it is much required if you are working in the corporate world. You need to look par with your US counterparts. It is not like clubbing hair in pony tails and run here and there like you did in your villages. Oh, so middle class mentality!’

The words hit Nishi like a slap on her face. She definitely felt bad by those comments. She looked at her face again. She noticed a tear rolling down her right eye.

Before leaving the office in the evening, Mohit came to Nishi’s desk. She was about to leave. She saw Mohit coming her way and stood up.

Mohit was an extremely good looking and handsome man. And he knew he looked good and was extremely proud of it. A 25 years-old guy and a bachelor, Mohit Tripathi had been working at Sunrise for about two years. He was intelligent but he was not amongst those down-to-earth guys like Durvesh or even the other men Nishi knew in her office.

‘Listen, your VISA interview is scheduled for next week. Do you have a passport?’

‘No. I don’t!’

‘What?’ His voice rose. But he calmed down as Nishi said, ‘I have applied for passport the day I came in Mumbai. I have been told that it is ready. I will be getting it in two or three days.’

‘Ok. Then be ready with your documents for VISA interview next week.’ He said, looked at her in a disgusting way and went away.

While leaving the corridors of the floor towards the office lift, Nishi was stumped as she heard, ‘What a stupid girl she is! She doesn’t even have a passport and wants to go the US. What kinds of people are joining Sunrise these days?’ Mohit was talking to his friend. But as he entered the lift, he saw Nishi behind. Nishi stood still and did not enter the lift while Mohit was standing inside the lift. The lift doors closed as both of them kept looking at each other. Somehow, the feeling that she heard what he had said made him uncomfortable while looking at her.

Dia’s comments during the lunch break and now Mohit speaking this way made the day one of the worst days of her life so far. There was a happiness that she would be going to US soon but these comments and the attitude of some people towards her made her feel extremely sick.

Nishi was beautiful but she had come from a village and not born and brought up in a city. A village girl reaching these heights was a cause of envy for many.

Nishi stood still in the lounge. As the lift came up again and the doors opened for her to enter, she read a wall frame put up near the lounge. It was for the new recruits. It read, This is just the beginning! Welcome.

The words ceased to go away from her thoughts.