Resurrection - Uprooted

Prologue:

It was a bright and sunny morning, a Tuesday, and Rahul was waiting for the mid week holiday on Wednesday, 26th January. Republic Day. Though he was swiping in his attendance, just in time to avoid a late mark, his mind was slipping in to making plans for the next day. It has to be an afternoon in the Kolkata Book Fair, followed by a sumptuous Chinese dinner at Tyangra and the excitement he felt inside was same as catching the first day first show of a block buster movie. Even though the weather report had some warnings of sharp showers and light thunderstorm, but who cares about getting a bit drenched on an afternoon like this! “Oh, it’s such a great feeling to be in Kolkata”, mumbled Rahul from within, “I should ask around all today to make a plan so all meet together tomorrow!”

But as he strolled into his cubicle, the mood that greeted him was more somber than merry! The lull before the storm? Even before logging in, he moved towards the small huddle of heads a few steps away from his cubicle. The murmur had a strange sense of tension, and as he approached the crowd, few grim faces turned towards him. Rajeev was first to speak out, as always, in his loudspeaker whisper! “Do you know anything about the rumor that is going around in the office, Rahul?”

“What Rumor?”

“So you don’t know?” quipped in Jahangir.

“What?”

“You really don’t?” added in Rhitobrata, more a surprise, than a query.

Rahul couldn’t take any more of this! “Hey, what’s going on? Come on tell me now”.

A few faces looked at each other. And then Rhitobrata volunteered to share the secret, after the bit of discussion. “I don’t know how to tell this, or how much of it is true, but somehow the message that is making rounds in all the places around this office is that management has made some plans to shut down the office in Kolkata?”

“What?” shouted back Rahul, even before Rhitobrata finished the sentence! “What nonsense!”

This time it was Jharna who replied timidly, “No, Rahul, it IS true. And at this moment there is a high level management meeting going on, at the Arc Meeting Room. Go check on Bidyut Sir, you will find that he is not in his cabin.”

This time Rahul felt a shiver down the spine, as he could see in a distance, the lights in Bidyut’s cabin were turned off. It is a strange sight not to find Bidyut with the group, chatting away, rather checking on the work progress and deliverable plans.

Sugata added in, “I can’t take it anymore, Rahul. It is really getting difficult to stay at the office and concentrate at our work. Don’t ask for me, and run after me with deadlines. I am moving out guys; let’s catch a cup of tea downstairs at the cafeteria!”

Soon others followed out. Rahul was too stunned to react for a few moments, and then he also moved towards the elevator.

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Afterthoughts:

It was late afternoon, same day. And in the few hours, the mood in the office has become grimmer from the tense situation in the morning. Rahul along with his group was assembled in the cafeteria, all shell shocked to hear what the management had just spelt out in the last fifteen to twenty minutes. A few other Project teams were also staying back after the meeting and each of the face as pale as they could have been.

“We have just been uprooted!” was the feeling that slipped into Rahul’s mind. And he thought out loud, as he broke the silence, “Uprooted”!

All the faces around turned towards him, each of them had a strange expression which had shades of disbelief, uncertainty, fear and sorrow all mixed together.

Sugata was the first to share his mind, “It’s like a death sentence on us, Rahul! How can they do this to us; and that too with a days notice like this?”

“What will happen to our project? It is still a few weeks before we can wrap things up from here!” Rhitobrata added.

“Fuck the project, Ree! Who cares about the project now”, Rajeev boomed in. “And why the hell should we be caring about what happens to the Project anyway.”

“Calm down Rajeev, don’t lose your temper like this. It will not be good for you, or any of us.” Rahul had to move in.

“This is not about me, and my loss of temper. You tell me why should we be thinking of the project now?” Rajeev replied.

“Agreed, we need to focus on certain other important issues, but our professional approach needs to be refined.” Replied Rahul as he put an arm round Rajeev’s shoulder. “And we are all in the same situation, and we need to stand by each other in this difficult time.”

“Yes, Rahul, we all need your help in this.” Jharna spoke, as if in unison for all of them. “You have been our lead in all things we have done till now, office and beyond, and we look up to you for your advice.”

Rahul looked around; the known faces seemed to have a strange anonymity in them. For the first time in his stint in Kolkata, and working with his team here, he was left speechless. Each of the team members were like an extended family for him; and the office had been the extended home. You would feel a little jittered when your own house is on fire and you are too powerless to do anything for it. You stay there just see it getting gutted. You don’t seem to care about the causes now, but start to feel the pinch of the effects that it will have on all of them.

Rahul finally sighed back, “Team, we will talk again tomorrow; I am really unable to think straight at this moment.”

He started to look away towards the glass paned window. The Met Department got it right this time. The storm was brewing quite wildly outside. Splashes of rain drops lashed into the glass, and Rahul wondered why they had not got the same signal as well! Were they too satisfied to look beyond their own boundaries? Had they intentionally kept their eyes closed to all that was happening around?

Rahul kept mum for a few more moments, he really did not have any positive thing to say to his team. Each had their own story to tell, their own constraints, their own issues of staying back in Kolkata when the world was going places. Yet, each had their own sparks, their own strengths which kept them going, and Rahul knows that will keep them afloat on a day like this as well.

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Finally:

Rahul was out of office, was walking back home. The rain had stopped. The remains of the destruction were imminent all over. A few uprooted trees glared back at Rahul, posing for tomorrow’s Newspaper headlines. But, a few other uprooted souls were going to miss the headlines. Is life that much expendable now, though?