Of the new and the old

There is nothing new in feeling this way. I am in no way a unique creation of God conditioned to feel like this in a new place. It happens to one and all, without an exception. Although, the way one handles is could be as different as the Gandhian and the Bhagat Singh's philosophy, it ultimately boils down to the same thing- Change.

Recruitment, job hopping, change of stream, changing schools….I could come up with a whole list of scenarios in which one is faced with the cumbersome task of getting used to a new environment. While for some, this might actually be quite exciting, for a typical Capricorn like me (yes, I do follow Sun signs quite closely), settling in a new workspace, where the only familiar faces are those of Mother Teresa and Kapil Dev smiling out of a poster (which for some reason seems totally misplaced) , this can be quite a task.

It is not that I am an introvert or lack in the confidence to speak to people or make contacts, but my apprehensions stem from the fact that I like to take my time to judge people. So, after all the smiling and after all the pleasantries have been exchanged, I like to sit back and just get a feel of the place. 2-3 days into the new schedule and I can bet you won’t be able to guess in your wildest dreams that I am a newbie.

Another very fascinating thing that I have observed, or rather, that I like to observe is the different people around me. Everyone seems to have their own little story, own way of adjusting to the scenario and the likes and some can be truly fascinating!

To share a few, there was this gentleman in the lift the other day, who was happily chatting away with his son on the phone, coochi-cooing him and oblivious of the fact that every new person to enter the life was giving him the stares before they could figure out that he was using the new wireless headphone and was actually on the phone. There would be the usual furrowing of brows, trying to figure out who was taking to whom and then the look of understanding dawning on the face of the unsuspecting victim ,gradually.

There was also this female who sat opposite to me on the lunch table who was, for some reason, bursting into very funny giggles every 5minutes that kind of sounded like she was choking. In the end I actually looked myself up in the mirror on the adjacent wall to make sure I was not the subject of her mirth. ( I am still clueless about the reason behind her...er…happiness.)

There are actually various categories of people one might chance upon. There are some who take it upon themselves to give you an introduction to every possible fellow employee that you may chance upon (with value added suggestions on how to tackle them of course!). Then there also are a few who can be called the you-know-what (s), who give you all the ex news, the happening news and the future news. Then, the other more serious types who take it upon themselves to fill the editorial columns of newspapers and have award-winning skills at criticizing everything from the government, to the scams to the auto-walas to Himesh Reshamiya. In between all this, there are some like me, who just smile and try to take in sophisticated- corporate circus around them.

On the whole, after the initial hiccups, a new environment is a welcome change, even more so, if the city also happens to be a new one. There is something special about every place. Every city/town has its own charm and I love exploring new cities. My Mumbai experience will be something I will always cherish and now, I am sure Bangalore will try very hard to match up to it.