I bump into her at odd times of the working hours. Before or after lunch break, in the lift in the early mornings or late evenings or in the deserted corridors! She is a lively, vivacious girl of about twenty, a little pale in the countenance, but definitely not ungainly and of course very, very smartly dressed always. The most striking feature about her is the bout of infectious giggles that accompanies every sentence that she utters like a babble of heady suffixes and prefixes which will not leave her speech alone.I have a habit of reaching office before time and leaving late. I suppose she is equally “dedicated” to her work. Once when I questioned her about the unearthly working hours that she resorted to, she laughingly replied that she had a cranky boss who hated pending work. That was the reason why she would either stay back late or come to office early to keep her work absolutely up to date. I am appalled at her sincerity. She has another odd habit of humming to herself. I can make out whenever she is around especially in the washroom behind one of the closed cubicles, when I hear a string of soft crooning notes, I know it is she who is in there. Sometimes, going past the corridors too I hear her lilting tunes.
Our floor is a stretch of elliptical space shared by two corporate bodies; though there is no distinct dividing line in between, it’s only the brass plaques flaunting the names along with the indicative arrows which guide the visitors to the right direction. Certain essential services are common too – the pantry and the washrooms belying a fraternal spirit which in reality is more of an arrangement of administrative convenience.
I have nicknamed her “Giggles” as I do not know or rather care to know her real name. The nickname suits her fine. There is another reason too. She is always in such a hurry to evaporate inside stacks of files, papers, PC, Fax machine and the works that it is just impossible to have a two minute conversation with her in peace without discerning that she is fidgeting to vanish across the corridor. She sounds crazy. She is a bit of that I presume. But what makes her tick is her impish chuckle which is ready to ripple anytime into a gurgle of laughter tickling me as well in the process. Whenever I am with her, a spontaneous almost senseless phlegm of mirth boils in my throat without any rhyme or reason in a bid to loosen out any moment and squirt in the air. Odd that when I mention her to my colleagues they do not seem able to place or identify her!
But never mind that! It’s quite some time now that I have been having this most refreshing tete-a-tete with my friend till Sompal, my ubiquitous peon, catches me giggling in the lift one late evening. I can’t help it!! As I hurry in I find her there greeting me with one of her gleeful “hi”. As the lift doors shut behind, I press the “0” button to signal a ground floor journey. The lift is self operated. But the pulley does not carry us down as the door re-opens to usher in the omniscient Sompal who gives me a strange look before asking,” Aap khali lift mein kisse baat kar rahin hain?” His penetrating gaze makes me ill at ease. “Kyun, yeh hai na?” I look around. The lift is empty. But….An understanding Sompal soothes my muddled sensory organs,”Madam, aap apne aap ko sambhaalo. Yahaan koi nahin hai. Aap ko toh maaloom hi hai, hamaara office kabristan pe banaa hai.”The lift doors open in front of a gaping me. I almost sleep walk out of the exit of the monolith which houses my office. Wise, little Sompal! You are right but what do I do when the hum of the latest Hindi film song keeps echoing in the corridors and washroom embellished with an effervescent spurt of merry giggles fringed with prankish delight.
Next day I apply for transfer to another Division in the NCR. Reason? I really scratch my brain hard, to produce one. After much mulling over, I write, “severely indisposed being highly allergic to hybrid pollination”. You see, our office resides next to an agro-horticultural park, a part of the graveyard that is, a brainwave of the Capital’s Administration to beautify the cityscape, now being unabashedly used as a romantic refuge by skulking couples and which also inspires, in exigency, perfect excuse for insufferable executives, desperately in need of a camouflage, accosting the ethereal.
Jai Ho!
