“Alexa, don’t run away from me. Listen.” “Playing, Run to you by Bryan Adams.” “Alexa, Stop.” “Alexa, will you pay attention here for once?” “I didn’t quite get that.” “Not you, Alexa. Alexa, you!” “I still didn’t get that. Could you…” “Alexa, Stop.” “Alexa, will you give me, for heaven’s sake, some break from this … Read more
“Raichand posted a message in our group over the weekend and told us to be ready for an urgent meeting on Monday morning,” Swami reported to us last evening over coffee. One week into the new year and his holiday season mood seemed gone. “2025 Goals it said,” he said. “But we had no clue … Read more
He sat in his room at home in the dark. All alone. In solitude. The noises he heard everyday were about to start. And they did. On the dot. At the precise appointed time. The noises never started all at once. It always started with a couple of voices. Then as time progressed, it always … Read more
“I think Raichand is back to his shenanigans,” Swami said when we met at the café the other day. Jigneshbhai and I stayed silent. In the past, we had seen Swami suffer due to his boss Raichand’s penchant for making money by hook or by crook. “He wants me to talk to some placement consultant … Read more
“Every time I am unhappy with the work scene, Raichand calls me and gives me some pep talk,” Swami told me and Jigneshbhai over his coffee the other day. We thought maybe he was telling us how he felt like a wanted employee due to that. But it turned out that he was not happy … Read more
Swami woke up the following day counting his blessings and realised that the tally did add to something that was not insubstantial by any means. “We have each other for company first,” he told Jigneshbhai and me. “And I have a boss like Raichand who gave me a week of leave on his own,” he … Read more
The one thing Jigneshbhai likes is a quiet life. He is not the kind who gets restless and worked up when there is not much happening. Give Jigneshbhai his daily freedom, his daily work and his daily food, and the company of a few loved ones and friends to talk with, not all the time … Read more
At the red signal, with 76 seconds left for green, he felt someone touch his feet inside the auto rickshaw. He turned to look at his left. A girl in tattered rags, running nose and dishevelled hair stood there with a small board in her hand. It surprised him that she spoke in English. He … Read more
The biggest challenge after I left my corporate job a few years back has been to do nothing when there is nothing to do. Not that when I was in a job, I had a lot to do all the time. But there was a constant focus on doing something. A lot of days even … Read more