TRUCE AT LAST

I didn’t hate him anymore..I think so. We have fought our silent wars and now both of us have matured.. we have wizened and the reasons that mooted the rivalry seemed trivial.

I had been working as an auditor for about an year. It was my first corporate job and I was just getting the hang of things, corporate politics and above all my job… of all the things in life I never though I would end up as an auditor.. Oh! How I hated auditing!!!!

The chief of our zone had been replaced – this is the guy to whom I address my audit reports. The new guy is some one I have known in the past, he was second in command in another zone. I knew him to be a levelheaded guy and a good decision maker. Our zone was in deep shit and I was sure that if anybody could get us out of this mess, this was the guy..

So it came as a shock, when the first statement he spoke to me was that “I think your work and your department as a whole is a waste of time and resources. I can stand and proclaim the same from any roof top”. How dare he!! That arrogant prick! I fought back my tears. I reasoned with my self, all those self motivation, zero stress theories swamped my head “ when the going gets tough, the tough gets going”, “this is the dog eat dog corporate world”, “don’t let such people get to you”. I had to talk to some one…my Boss. I called him up and went at it for about half an hour… I let loose all my feelings and my Boss patiently listened. At the end of the conversation he chuckled. I was really mad now. Here I was pouring out my frustration to him and he laughs!!!! Then he tells me “I was just imagining the chief on a roof top – that is the best place for him, that’s where you normally find monkeys!” I burst out laughing.. I certainly did not think of some thing like that…..

So that is what he symbolized for me .. an educated ape with an ego the size of the Pacific!

Things at office began to change, drastic changes were made, I heard the good things, I saw the bad events. My colleagues spilled their guts out to me, my shoulder was always readily available for them to weep off office miseries. There were stories of him being rude, sarcastic… that’s what he did his masters in, I’m sure. But the zone was improving.. we could see the changes, sales were up, revenues were inching north, the company’s reputation was improving… he was as I had thought good for the business..very good indeed. I was happy that I was an excellent judge of character.. but God I still hated him.

As per company tradition, birthday boys and girls get a bouquet, cut a cake and then get pasted brutally. It was my birthday. Chief offered me a bouquet and sarcastically asked me “Will you accept this from me?” I shot back “ I don’t seem to get any responses for my audit reports from you, so hell why not, I will take the flowers from you”. The cake was being cut. He invited me to do the honours. I accepted on the condition that I get the biggest piece. He remarked, “Your size demands a big piece”, I retorted, “By that logic, you shouldn’t get any”…. Seems like teenagers fighting.. but that’s me and the Chief.

Then one day, inspiration stuck me and I wrote down a real life incident and sent it to a friend for review. She forwarded it to Chief and a whole bunch of other people. I receive an unexpected call from Chief. He actually read the article. He calls me and says “that’s one of the best pieces of writing I have read in quite a long time”. Oh well! The big man read my article and liked it. He even mentioned it to the entire staff in one of the gatherings.

I’m sure deep down both of us will continue feeling the way we did the first time we met each other and nothing will ever erase the image of him hanging off the rooftop and thumping in chest in blatant proclamation of the futility of my existence. But, hey we have moved on…. After all how long can I stay mad at my fan???!!!