Safar 27, 1448 AH
Safar 26
Remember this: https://theothermeunfolded.com/blog/monday-moodswings-freaky-meeting/
Today’s post is about the said unnamed person. But first, some context is in order.
I worked with this person, let’s name them ‘Whiner’, for 16 months, in a department headed by, let’s say Noddy. Hated their working style with every fibre of my being. Then got transferred to another department out of blue; my current department, headed by, let’s say GutterMouth. Different team, different technology, no concept of consent or choice… I can still feel the anger bubbling up. When everyone said that the transition is just part of corporate life, the Whiner was the only one who saw the unjustness of it. So, we kinda became gossip buddies: they would gossip about Noddy, Bean, BBC, Jai-and-Veeru (other characters in the real life story, not real names, though) etc. I’d sulk and listen.
Slowly, people assumed that we were bestest of friends. It didn’t bothered me enough to clarify things; I like keeping my interactions with colleagues to minimum (because keeping it nil is not an option).
Time flew by, the Whiner was also a conspiracy theorist. After a lot of fights and arguments, they were transferred to US team. A long two months of how difficult it is to get a transfer to US (then why get a transfer in the first place, would never know). Come November 2019, the deed was done.
My own life followed a bettering trajectory: I became more aware of my Muslim identity than my corporate identity. I performed Umrah in January 2020.
Covid followed shortly. Me, my younger sister and younger brother were in Pune. And the next few months were the scariest ever. August 10, 2020, we flew back to Nagpur: the most scary form of Nagpur airport. COVID story is for some other time.
The whiner came back to India after two years, meeting family, having surgery or something. Then travelled back in December 2021. Feb 2022, their entire department was shut down: US and India, both. Everyone was let go, with a severance package and a clause that these employees can’t apply to any other SAS office for three years.
And so roughly four years later, the Whiner came back.
In the linked post, I mentioned they joined some other department, right? I was wrong. They joined a sibling mini department, same vice president, basically Gutter Mouth and Whiner reporting to same vice president in US headquarters, let’s call him Arrogant Mountain.
Yesterday, Arrogant Mountain sent an reorg email; these mails are never good. It announced, with heavy heart, apparently that two projects are shelved as they don’t align with company’s strategic priorities for future.
The project names seemed familiar. I checked my conversations, spent good five minutes, concluded something and resumed reading the email.
Sure enough, the email mentioned that Whiner was leading the abandoned projects. All team members are reallocated to other projects; they aren’t let go this time.
And my only thought was: which department is Whiner going to shutdown now. It’s two for two 🤓
I know, I’m being insensitive, this could happen to anyone, but stray thoughts could also come to anyone’s mind, I ain’t no exception.
This blog post is a perfect example of:
یہ واقعات کہیں روز روز ہوتے ہیں
کہیں کہیں ہی کوئی خاص بات ہوتی ہے
شعر میں گو کہ “خاص بات” ہے مگر کوئی خاص بات نہیں۔
A lot is said but nothing meaningful about it.
NOTE: This is part of “write one post every day for a year” challenge.
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Shabana Mukhtar