Are you a four-point someone??

We are again in that period of one to one and half months, where we have people going mad around us , talking about their successes, throwing unimaginable promises about their vision and mission, issuing apologies (though they don't sound apologetic actually). Different may be the ways, but the aim is common .

No, this post has nothing to do with the forthcoming General elections. It is only about the Annual Employee appraisal 'Mela' in our firms.Each individual has his/her own strategies/tactics to become at least a four-pointer on a scale of 5 in their appraisals.

The beginning of this festival can be determined by a sudden change in the peak hours. The T51s and 19Bs (Local Buses)by 7-7:30 am in the mornings,which had been nearly empty the previous days, suddenly won't have even space to have their automatic doors closed. Yes, people, all of a sudden start adhering to the office timelines(start time only) by waking up before the alarm clock rings and reaching office even before the cleaning staff and security start to the office. Though they start early to office, they make sure that they leave only after the last light in their cabin goes off.

Though we all believe in humility and have been asked to be so by our parents, when it comes to the appraisal season,people start believing in the opposite i.e.show-offs as the only way to catch 'the eye' . People start preparing self-assessment statistical reports of what milestones they had achieved, their contributions and bla bla . If someone asks his colleague as to why he leaves late everyday from office(yes, it indeed should not be asked), then a beeper goes ringing in their mind like 'Kanna Laddu thinna aasaiya?'. Having got the opportunity they had been looking for, they then start boasting about how difficult the work is assigned to them and how they are extending their work hours and all to save the supervisor and the project and the company and in turn our Indian economy. Phew! Some even go to the extent of taking credit of what someone else did and at the worst case raising accusations .

There are other sets of people who adopt a different harmless strategy. They can be seen mostly at the rear end of the long serpentine queues to get their skill certified for the big occasion. It is the time when tatkal counters are free, online tatkal bookings are hassle-free, mobile operators get a beating , because, all people aim for, is a PC in the test centre and once they get that, they know, 'Ella pughazum Dumps ke'!! Some others differ slightly by organizing trainings on how to reboot a windows PC, attending conferences on Win 95 and showing how indispensable they are.

When we were in school, we were told not to compare ourselves with our friends, be in the luxuries, they have or the marks they get. I still remember an occurrence in my 7th standard where I got 63 in my English II paper, but was the class 2nd due to some technical reasons :). When I reached home that evening,my parents scolded me for the low marks and when I told them I was the class 2nd, I was told not to feel proud for that and never ever judge my results based on comparison. In complete contrary to what we were taught,when everything is done and dusted after the appraisal results are out, everyone judges where they stand, by comparing others and feels either gutted or happy.

Thus, people could be seen doing many similar things intentionally in this season of competition just to achieve their intentions. Thinking about all this, makes me remember a verse quoted by the 'Appraiser of Appraisers' , Lord Krishna,

"Karmanye Vadhikaraste Ma Phaleshu Kadachana,

Ma Karma Phala Hetur Bhurma Tey Sangostva Akarmani"

Meaning: Do your duty and be detached from its outcome, do not be driven by the end product, enjoy the process of getting there.

So, I have done the duty of writing this blog and I am not bothered about its outcome. Am I? Er, no! I am planning to send this article to the concerned and show how good I am at observing people and my study on appraisals. After all, I too want to be a four point someone.:P Don't you?

Thoda adjust karo na..

The only exciting thing for me about the journey apart from going home was that my ticket status was in RAC. My aimless walks in the busy Chennai Central platform was full of the thoughts about sitting opposite to a young lady of 20(Courtesy the reservation chart) in the side lower RAC berth. I had indeed rehearsed the answers for her queries like I don't have any specific hobby but I like creating 3D animations, writing blogs, short stories and bla bla :P The train had left Central but still no signs of her. Convincing myself that 'she' would get in at Perambur, I dozed off for a while in my sitting posture, after a long day in the office. Then I felt someone tapping on the back and as I woke up , the train had already left Perambur, but no signs of her. Irritated,I turned to the direction of the wake-up call. It was the Ticket Examiner telling me that my RAC has got confirmed and I can take the side lower berth.

With serious disappointment(it indeed was serious;seriously), I started to flip through my twitter and FB profiles to find something interesting to immerse myself into after this bulb. When I tried to update some profile details in FB, I saw my profile status as single. Dragging as deep a breath I could, I turned when a man out of nowhere came and asked me "Are you Single?".

"Shoot! How the hell did he know?". "Take my upper berth and I will take your side lower", he continued. "Phew! Idhu vera single!". Without waiting for even a millisecond for me to think on this proposal, he started again. "My Grandma has got a upper berth in S6. Since you are single, adjust na". He told. It was not a request for sure, but was it an order?. Seeing his grandma already with her luggage in my berth, I nodded.I indeed had to. I then went to S6 with my baggage and I could say I was never ready for the surprise in store over there.

As I went to the designated transfer location(S6-14), I saw two 'Pairs'(Searched the dictionary, could not find any other better/decent term) in the bay and one more in the Side berths. I was already half-sleep and apart from this berth transfer, this sight increased my agony :(.  As I was climbing up to my berth, I noticed, for the six berths, only five are there, including me. We Indians are always happy when someone shares the same misery as you. You then feel happy rather than sad. I too got happy similarly thinking that someone else in the bay also would be single like me and he too would be sad at seeing others in the bay.

After a minute or so, while I was searching for my bed sheet, I saw a beauty coming and placing her backpack in my opposite berth. Seeing the backpack, I confirmed she is also one of my breed, an IT professional :). Shockingly, she turned towards me in the upper berth, gave a smile and came towards me. She started talking to me. Being someone, who is always proud of knowing 5 languages, I, to my surprise found that I was not understanding what she was telling. Probably, it was 'Angel English' I thought. After she finished, I switched off my I-pod and told "Sorry! What was that?". She told "My Boyfriend-Berth-38-Please adjust.You-Single". Everything else was Greek and Latin. With the surrounding I was in, I understood that I had to move to 38. I thought of yelling "EVERYBODY!!" like Mudhalvan Arjun.

With no energy for any more ADJUSTMENTS, I dragged myself to 38, where as I entered and kept my bag on the upper berth, one guy came and told that he would like to have the upper berth and I could take the lower berth. At last, 'I have found a gentleman',I thought.Proud of him as I sat , I saw a family sitting and chatting in the lower berth talking about everything under sky from RAGA to Ragamalika. When I told them that I wanted to sleep in my lower berth, they told that they were yet to have their dinner and asked me to wait and adjust for some time."Thirumbavuma(Again)???" I thought. I thought that the guy who gave me this berth was not a GentleMan, but a Brutus :'(.. "Cha!! RAC was better than this".

When I reached my home after this horrible journey, I decided two things. First, never travel single. Second, never heed to these ad-hoc adjustment requests unless it is absolutely necessary. Because after all it is "EN BERTH!! EN URIMAI!!".

If you find this post not that good, then I have four words for you, "Thoda ADJUST karo na!!".