It was the month of August, the sun was shining down with clear skies as Mr Mahalingam Muthu walked in to his office premise on appraisal day with his head held down. He avoided any possible eye contact as he maneuvered in the expansive building, hurrying for a moment and then slowing abruptly for the rest. There were multiple stairs on the way; he had to get down two and then walk a while again to reach his desk. It was a pesky little table against the wall that he had to share with another for over a decade now.
Mahalingam carefully placed his bag on the desk and sat down with his eyes fixed at the corner office on the top right. It had a large desk with a comfortable chair and a fancy desktop that stared on to the beautiful painting on the wall. However, all these were supportive elements, the one that mattered to him the most was the large window that peeped into the green outside. The very thought made him a little less suffocated, a little more alive. Though this dream of his remained elusive.
People came and left, some to other companies and a few to higher positions but Mr Mahalingam Muthu stayed put. His promotion was due for over 4 years now, the chance of making it ahead was growing bleak. There was a tinge of anxiety as he toggled his cursor towards the mailbox, but he couldn’t gather enough courage to click it. Feeling disappointed at himself, he finally gave up as he dragged the pending files from the corner of his table and started attending to them.
It was early afternoon, around 12 when he heard a loud shout of congratulations from behind. His eyebrows rose in surprise as his long smile touched his eyes, there were literal goosebumps on his hands. He rose from his chair and turned around to find his neighbor being congratulated instead. There was a sheepish smile as he congratulated him in a low tone and sat back on his chair. He stared at the blank screen for long before getting back to his files.
It was only in the evening that he clicked on the mail. He was all alone in the space, baring a couple in corner, when he finally saw what was meant to be. There were tears swelling in his eyes as he put his head down on the desk only to rise suddenly from his chair with a shout, ‘Yes! Yes!!’. He looked around with a smile, only to find a few staring at him as if they saw a mad man. He sat down immediately, unable to hold his grin. He looked up again to his top right and smiled.
‘It was meant to be, it was meant to be’, he mumbled to himself as he carefully placed the files back in the corner and got up to leave. He walked for a while before climbing two stairs up with a long-forgotten smile on his face. It was a long journey, but he didn’t mind it today.
The End.
rroopeshkumar 