14

Ordeal at Client Office


Just another day at work, just another client meeting! The only thing which excited me that day was the team lunch at South-Indies after the so-called brain storming session. The magic about these kinds of meetings is that even the most complicated problems on earth get solved if you talk jargons sitting around a table flashing power point presentations! Please note - Quality of the solution is directly proportional to the fanciness of the slides shared! So easily we draw conclusions and arrive at the so-called best decisions! Oh... how I wish, if decision making in life was as simple as that!

However, on this particular day, there was something else in store for me. …something more fancy than the usual pie charts and bar graphs that pops up and fades away on the wall!

I was waiting at the lobby to meet this guy for the first time, the Communications Manager of ‘so-&-so’ company. FYI, ‘so-&-so’ is one of world’s largest makers of laptops and desktops! I was hoping the guy to be good looking; you see - there should be some motivation on a Friday morning to participate in a discussion actively! 

I had 10 more minutes, hence I decided to utilize the time to visit the rest room. I finished the planned activity; but to my horror, I discovered that I got locked inside! I looked around… except for a dust bin, there was nothing else in the tiny stupid room which I could use to try to open the door. Now I know why most of the girls carry spanners and screw drivers in their handbags; not only lip sticks and eye liners! But, I had no gadgets with me and to add to the misery, unfortunate me had gotten inside the visitors’ rest room. Hence I saw chances of somebody coming in soon almost close to nil. I looked at my watch… God, the good-looking (I wish…!) manager would be waiting for me! How nice, if all the loos in the world had emergency alarms!  

I thought, "Should I call my boss and inform that I cannot meet the client as I got trapped in an inaccessible zone?!" But, how could he pull me out of the mess? I scrolled through the contacts on my mobile and paused at ‘so&so manager’. “God, What a fate… Should this really be the first thing to discuss face-to-face?”, I couldn’t have been in a more embarrassing situation!!  

I dialed his number, thinking “Wish he gets relocated to the US tonight itself, so that I need not interact with him ever after!”
“Hello Shalini… Are you still on your way? I am waiting at the lobby”.
“Hey, Hi… Very Good Morning. How you doing?” Daivame… how do I tell him?!
“Good morning! I am going good. And you?”
“Actually, I am not… I…”
“Oh… not keeping well?”
Idiot, will you let me speak? “No no… I am absolutely fine! But, I got trapped inside your rest room”
“What?! You inside MY rest room?”
Dumbo! What will I do in your toilet? “I mean… here, inside your office rest room near the lobby. Unless you rescue me, I don’t think I will be able to join the discussion”
“Oh no… I am so sorry. I shall make the arrangements to get you out!”

In few minutes, I was set free; I felt sorry for all the prisoners in Tihar and Kannur Jail! Thanks to the mobile revolution! Else, I would have compelled myself to become a James-Bondi, that too inside a toilet fighting against the door!

I met the not-so-good looking manager; for the next five minutes he apologized to me on behalf of ‘so&so’. Later, he introduced me to rest of his teammates. Perhaps, he would have wanted to say, “Meet Shalini Surendran, the girl whom I rescued from the rest room!!"

After the discussion, the floor was open to share “Take Aways”. I almost said, “In future, you may or may not use computers; but definitely you will use toilets! Hence I STRONGLY think there are more important things to be done in this company than innovation on desktops and laptops!”

Like most times, finally the twist in the tale – This is my ex-colleague’s experience! About her in short – She is from the land of Rasgullas!

Folks, enjoy your weekend!
See that you don't get trapped in rest rooms in cinema halls or restaurants! ;)

14 comments:

Swaram said...

Sheesh! I do need hv a lot of nos on the contact list .. even those I might nt like to ;) Who knows which one might come in handy :P

Anonymous said...

Oh.. Hilarious as usual.
I have been reading ur blogs since since last week. I love your narration. You voice ur thoughts pretty well.

-Devika

Aishwarya V said...

ha ha. good one :) the most consoling part fo the situation is that he turned out to be a 'not so good looking' manager ;)

Shiva said...

Shalini gets the most interesting anecdotes from the most interesting coworkers :) :)

Pink Mango Tree said...

@ Swaram - Yeah.. so, be prepared; expect the unexpected! ;)

@ Devika - Welcome to my blog! ...n Thanks! :)

@ Aishwarya - Exactly! And so, I specially mentioned! Hehehe... :)

@ Shiva - Yes, indeed I am fortunate to have interesting coworkers! :)

lostworld said...

Heehee..I love the way Mals say 'Ende Deivame' :-))heehee some more!

Anonymous said...

Haha , that was an embarrassing experience..

Meety said...

Scary.. the next time I go to an un-known washroom I need to be very very careful ;-)

Pink Mango Tree said...

@ lostworld - Ente daivame...!!! :) :)

@ anishthomas - I swear! if at all in future, some girl call u for the same reason, please never laugh at her! :)

@ Sigma - You better be! ;) ;)

Bullshee said...

Ha ha ha!!! This really happened??!

Poor you! Poor embarrassed guy from so&so!

And don't be dissing on fancy ppt presentation. They be me lifeblood that lets me keep me jaaab!!

:P

The Holy Lama said...

Could have been taking rest in the rest room for the rest of the day. Ende daivame. God exists.

Nona said...

What a way to meet your client! :)

Anyways, they are not going to forget the meeting! Mission Accomplished!

Nithin said...

Were you really serious about that Spanners :)

Anonymous said...

I thought women carried spanners and screw drivers for an act of self-defense. Even wearing high heels for that matter! :)

And, why would you say that 'so&so' would introduce your ex-colleague as - “Meet Shalini Surendran, the girl whom I rescued from the rest room!!"?!

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