Ready, Set, Back to Work

Since the COVID epidemic had shown us the promise of the least contact, more productivity in work and work-from-home is the only work norm, we have come a long way to bite the dust. 

I have one of the lucky few corporate slaves who dig in and around the leaves (counting the maternity leave and the blissful journey a year back) to work from home since 2020. Happy and jolly, giving my best from the comfort of home and having meetings through the giggles of my child in the other room – all well,  till the stroke of midnight on Christmas when I was informed of 6 hours mandatory office hours thrice a week!

I spiralled into panic. Those grim memories of traffic, long queues in the office canteen and chair stealing came back jousting one another for priority.

Cut to three weeks later,here I am on the first day back to the office! After fighting with insane snake-like traffic and then looking for a parking spot like a squirrel looking for a spot to store a nut – I managed to reach the office door. Now, let me mention that “rules” state that I sit my client ODC but since my access was in progress, I proceeded to a “Hybrid ODC” which basically translates to open for all, come and waste time here. I sat down at an empty seat, making myself comfortable in an uncomfortable chair.

Two cubicles away was a group of 7 girls all hurdled in a space meant for 2 people. The Professor Mcgonagall in me wanted to shout  “babbling, bumbling, band of baboons!” to them for the slightly audible chaos they were creating. Their happy but anxious faces reminded me of the honeymoon period every fresher goes through – the no or minimal work, shadowing around seniors, going for a cup of tea every 2 hours, mandatory post-lunch stroll around the campus and stopping by every counter in flea stalls for the day! I let out a sigh as I relieved those days.

As I look back to those happy and gay days of being a fresher, I understand now more than ever what a burden it is to be a senior that too, in the same company for a decade – and be back after close to 5 years, inside proper workstation. I couldn’t understand the new norms, I had forgotten where to leave my used meal tray, I had forgotten that the parking lot had few connecting bridges for extra parking space, I had forgotten the vending machines were(well, it has been shifted mostly!). I had to sit on a call with the Helpline team to get my system now adapted to a workstation with an intact office Wifi. I had to memorize which lifts stop at every floor, and which stop only at the odd or the even ones. There’s so much more to figure out before I can call myself “settled in my seat”.

Wish me good luck!