‘I am trying to. I have to,’ I said, wondering where I could call Ananya apart
from her home number. If only these damn cell-phone prices would drop fast.
‘Good. And the last thing is,’ Bala moved forward to whisper, ‘these reps are
quite lazy. Keep an eye on them. Anyone not doing their job, tell me.’ He winked
at me and stood up to leave. ‘And come to office early.’
‘I came at seven-thirty. Isn’t the official time nine?’
‘Yes, but when I was your level, I came at seven. If you want to be like me,
wake up, soldier,’ Bala said and laughed at his own joke. The Tamil sense of
humour, if there is any, is really an acquired taste.
I didn’t want to be like him. I didn’t even want to be here. I took a deep breath
after he left and meditated on my salary package. You are doing it for the money, I
told myself. Four lakh a year, that is thirty-three thousand a month, I chanted the
mantra in my head. My father had worked in the army for thirty years and still
never earned half as much. I had to push bubble stocks and the cash would be
mine. Life isn’t so bad, I said to myself.
‘Sir, can I go to the toilet?’ one female rep came to me.
‘What?’
She looked at me, waiting for permission.
‘What’s your name?’
‘Sri.’
‘Where are you from?’
‘Coimbatore,’ she said, adjusting her oversized spectacles with cockroach-
coloured borders. Fashion is not a Chennai hallmark.
‘You went to college?’
‘Yes sir. Coimbatore University, distinction, sir.’
‘Good. Then why are you asking me for permission?’
‘Just like that, sir.’ She said.
‘No one needs to ask me permission for going to the toilet,’ I said.
‘Thank you, sir.’
nora
(Nora)
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