Musings of an Undercover Yogi

Late in December 2015, HR sent an e-mail to introduce a bunch of new hires. Toward the end, was the picture of a fresh-faced, cute young techie who writes poems in spare time. I thought, “Techie and poems?! Okay! I must meet him.” 🙂

That was a time of transition for both of us. He joined Mentor, and I moved to a new project and location. I have never been a social butterfly, and I am bad at small talk. No wonder it took me a month to discover our seats were a stone’s throw away. 😶

One day, while he was lunching at the cafeteria with another colleague, I decided to break the ice. I walked up to their table to ask if I may join. That was the beginning of a friendship that blossomed during post-lunch walks. We hit it off instantly, proving age is just a number. 😎

He switched into a warm, open, loving, and loyal friend at the blink of an eye. His constant, sensible chatter about everything under the sun was like a breath of fresh air. The ravages of time and responsibilities were forgotten as Mister funnybones made me giggle nineteen to the dozen. Sometimes, I sighed at his mild boastfulness and playfully dismissed his fun-filled, tall claims to glory. At other times, I listened with rapt attention to the interesting tidbits of knowledge he furnished. 😊

Mister linguistic speaks four languages. His desire to add a fifth to the list made him pester me to no end. We decided to barter our native languages; he was to teach Punjabi and I, Bengali. The results of this arrangement were disastrous. In all this time, I learned only one sentence in Punjabi—why did you kick my buffalo! 😂 I will never learn Punjabi in this lifetime, thank you very much! 😰🤐

Were we not such a lawless country, he would have been behind the bars by now. The heinous offense being gross mutilation of my beloved Bengali language. Who knew in an attempt to teach him Bengali, I would almost forget the language! 🤓 Phew! I am blind, deaf, and mute to his relentless request to pair him up with a suitable Bengali girl. Sorry, buddy! 😬

Regardless, he has an excellent vocabulary and is a good writer. However, I have serious doubts about the poetry part. I mean, dude, you never showed me any poems! HR, please note and prosecute the felon for allegedly misleading by supplying false information during hiring. 👹😇

Jokes apart, it is a time of transition for both of us again. As this delightful bloke takes a career break to pursue his dreams, I wish him the very best in life. I am proud of him and appreciate the back-breaking effort he put in in the last few months to make his dream come true. I am confident his sterling nature and capabilities will take him far ahead in future. I just hope not too far away from my reach. I am grateful our paths crossed, though briefly, and I thank him for being there for me. 🌸🌺

Ducky, congratulations and farewell, my friend. 🍀♥🙂

Picture credit: Riti Gupta