Day before yesterday I became a mad woman yet again. We have a slum area right outside the office and many times we have employed boys from that area as office peons without checking their credentials or background or identity proof. Somehow I have always believed that ‘faith’ is the only way to work with people.
However, none of them lasted for even a month. Either the hours were too long or cleaning and swapping the floor/toilet was an issue and most of them left abruptly. Then they would come back for their wages of four days or ten days or even one day. It was always very irritating. Day before yesterday night a boy who left in a weeks’ time came with some relative (they never come alone, always in groups) in the night. My timings are known to all. I reach in the second half and work late. Mostly beyond 8:00pm I am alone in the office. So the guys came to create a ruckus. The guard asked them to come in the morning and talk to Shiva but to no avail. There was this urgency to create a drama. ‘poverty of thought’, ‘unwillingness to work’ and ‘addiction to drama’ goes hand in hand I guess. So they started just that when I lost it. I had had just enough of people not wanting to work and creating a ruckus for nothing in the office. I shouted and screamed at them and there was a crowd (maybe I should have been in politics, not business). Of course Shiva arrived on the scene (he was still in the new office) and tried to manage the situation. But it was unmanageability for me all around. In the head and outside. Why would someone come for money in the night at 10 pm? Is it money or drama they wanted? It makes me sad. One cannot, should not use poverty to manipulate people when one is not ready to put in any efforts to get out of that mode oneself. Being poor does not entitle us to create ‘noise and ruckus’ all the time while being unwilling to do the hard work needed to change the situation. Anyway, this is just my take on the issue.

We move today. Finally. We started packing yesterday. We have been able to deliver a part output for most projects which implies that we can take off for two to three days to shift, unpack, settle down and usher in the new year. Sandeep is back from Ajmer after taking the feedback for all the maps prepared. Hopefully, we should be able to wrap up this project in January.

There is hope and there is faith that we are moving on to a better future with less uncertainty, with more respect,money,good projects and team bonding. The stay here has been memorable. Fights, mass walkouts, the cops, the fights with the landlord, the disconnection of our water supply, the crucial months where we carried on with no salaries and no work. Is the worst over for us? I sincerely hope so.

Everyone is excited over the move. Narendra and Dimpi will have their own cabins. Shiva has an enitre room for himself. And there is a space for training. The admin and accounts section is also separate. luxurious. At least for us. And we do have a glass door with our logo on it as the main door. We are far from being an MNC but at least we are in the right direction. Appu has designed fabulous visiting cards for all of us and they are looking ‘cool’. Thanks Appu. Thank you very much. Dimpi and Kamakhya are organizing the tailor and the fabric for getting blazers for the entire team with our logo on it. Sounds good.

Miracles do happen. At least they have happened for us.

Unless I am in a dreamworld like ‘Alice in Wonderland’.