Evil Eye
I did really well in the interview. I think my year-long search has ended today. I got back home. Karthi was waiting anxiously. He was more keen on the results than I was. He kept saying, “If one of us got it, the other one would also get it soon. And, we can manage with one person’s salary until the other one starts earning.”
Karthi and I didn’t become friends after coming to Bangalore. We studied together for four years. We were best friends from the first week of our college. We stayed in the same room in the hostel in the first year. We managed to stay together in the final year also. Even in the second year and third year, when we didn’t stay together, we always used to be together. He would be in my room or I would be in his depending on whoever woke up first. We would never go to eat without each other. There were a few friends like us. We were like an exception yet. A lot of our friends used to make fun of us. Some of them used to call us ‘twins’.
Today, most of those friends have gotten a job. Some of them got on campus. Some got within a few months. Most of us are in Bangalore. A few are in Chennai too. There is one group of five friends in Madiwala and another four in Koramangala. There are four in Chennai. Karthi and I decided to stay away from them. We stay in a two bedroom house near Electronics City. It can house two or three more. We would be able to save some money on the rent as well. However, we were not too keen. Had we stayed with one of those groups in Madiwala or Koramangala, we could have saved on the rent entirely. The norm they have is, the rent is shared by only those who have a job. We are okay to bear this hardship for the comfort of staying with each other. We have stood by each other for five years. We haven’t found another person who is this truthful to us. Moreover, once there is a third person, it becomes three groups. We have tried it in the past and it never worked.
I never felt this confident after any interview. And, no interviewer spoke this positively while concluding. Some of them speak positively, but you know they are just empty words. This one is different. Karthi would be relieved if I told him this. I would tell only Karthi. No one else. We happily shared the news with people in the past. But we ended up feeling embarrassed when the offers we got were rolled back. Karthi had this experience once. I had it twice. Companies think this is the new normal. These are crazy times. It isn’t easy getting a job in the middle of a recession like this. Even if you got, it isn’t guaranteed that the companies would honor their offers. They might call you and say before the joining date that they are indefinitely postponing the date of joining. I don’t know how these HRs would feel when they are asked to communicate this kind of bad news. It’s the new normal for them. They might be convinced that that’s what they are paid for.
Karthi himself told me many times. “Let’s not even share the news with our parents until we join a company and wear the ID card.” ID cards were a big deal those days. People used to proudly wear those ID cards wherever they went. You were received better in shops and shopping malls if you wore ID cards. He is right. We were so broken because we celebrated too early and broadcasted the news too widely. I had the first experience. Then, Karthi had a similar experience. I was a fool to repeat the same mistake a second time. I was more careful. But I just shared with my ‘real’ well wishers. Even then things went wrong. That’s why Karthi doesn’t want to share with even parents this time.
“Really, Karthi? Do you think even parents would have an evil eye on us?”
“I am not saying that. All I am saying is, why take a chance. You never know what plans they make with your first month salary. So why give hope and then shatter it!”
It makes sense. I am not going to call my parents and announce it this time. Well, Karthi… should I even tell Karthi then? What’s the guarantee that he wouldn’t have an evil eye? He has been struggling for a year too. Oh, no! Why am I becoming this cheap! What next? Am I going to suspect myself?
I am really confused. If my parents could be suspected, why not Karthi? No. He is more than my parents for me. I am not going to hide this from him.
“It went really well, da. Really well means really well. Not like the last really. He asked me, can you start on Monday? He called his HR in front of me and said, I have a new joiner this Monday, will you be able to ensure he has everything in place by 9am this Monday? What more do you want? I think we finally cracked it.”
“You cracked it, da.”
He said the HR would call me first thing in the morning. It’s noon now. Technically it’s not morning anymore. I think I should call them without any more delay.
“Hello, good morning. My name is Ganesh. Can I speak to Mr. Naveen?”
The Mr. was not required. That’s what happens when one is this desperate and anxious, right?
The call got transferred to Naveen, but Naveen didn’t come on line. It was the receptionist again. “Sorry, Naveen is busy in a meeting. He will call you back later.”
“OK. Can I speak to the HR please?”
“Sure. Please hold on the line.”
The call got transferred to the HR. It was a long wait. It’s a female voice. “Hi Ganesh, good morning. I was planning to call you later today. Good you called. Unfortunately, the project you were interviewed for was put on hold. So we would have to push your start date. I will call you back after discussing with Naveen later today.”
I never got that call later that day or on any day.
You guessed it right. The next time, I didn’t tell Karthi. He returned the favor too. Both of us are in good jobs today.
Karthi and I didn’t become friends after coming to Bangalore. We studied together for four years. We were best friends from the first week of our college. We stayed in the same room in the hostel in the first year. We managed to stay together in the final year also. Even in the second year and third year, when we didn’t stay together, we always used to be together. He would be in my room or I would be in his depending on whoever woke up first. We would never go to eat without each other. There were a few friends like us. We were like an exception yet. A lot of our friends used to make fun of us. Some of them used to call us ‘twins’.
Today, most of those friends have gotten a job. Some of them got on campus. Some got within a few months. Most of us are in Bangalore. A few are in Chennai too. There is one group of five friends in Madiwala and another four in Koramangala. There are four in Chennai. Karthi and I decided to stay away from them. We stay in a two bedroom house near Electronics City. It can house two or three more. We would be able to save some money on the rent as well. However, we were not too keen. Had we stayed with one of those groups in Madiwala or Koramangala, we could have saved on the rent entirely. The norm they have is, the rent is shared by only those who have a job. We are okay to bear this hardship for the comfort of staying with each other. We have stood by each other for five years. We haven’t found another person who is this truthful to us. Moreover, once there is a third person, it becomes three groups. We have tried it in the past and it never worked.
I never felt this confident after any interview. And, no interviewer spoke this positively while concluding. Some of them speak positively, but you know they are just empty words. This one is different. Karthi would be relieved if I told him this. I would tell only Karthi. No one else. We happily shared the news with people in the past. But we ended up feeling embarrassed when the offers we got were rolled back. Karthi had this experience once. I had it twice. Companies think this is the new normal. These are crazy times. It isn’t easy getting a job in the middle of a recession like this. Even if you got, it isn’t guaranteed that the companies would honor their offers. They might call you and say before the joining date that they are indefinitely postponing the date of joining. I don’t know how these HRs would feel when they are asked to communicate this kind of bad news. It’s the new normal for them. They might be convinced that that’s what they are paid for.
Karthi himself told me many times. “Let’s not even share the news with our parents until we join a company and wear the ID card.” ID cards were a big deal those days. People used to proudly wear those ID cards wherever they went. You were received better in shops and shopping malls if you wore ID cards. He is right. We were so broken because we celebrated too early and broadcasted the news too widely. I had the first experience. Then, Karthi had a similar experience. I was a fool to repeat the same mistake a second time. I was more careful. But I just shared with my ‘real’ well wishers. Even then things went wrong. That’s why Karthi doesn’t want to share with even parents this time.
“Really, Karthi? Do you think even parents would have an evil eye on us?”
“I am not saying that. All I am saying is, why take a chance. You never know what plans they make with your first month salary. So why give hope and then shatter it!”
It makes sense. I am not going to call my parents and announce it this time. Well, Karthi… should I even tell Karthi then? What’s the guarantee that he wouldn’t have an evil eye? He has been struggling for a year too. Oh, no! Why am I becoming this cheap! What next? Am I going to suspect myself?
I am really confused. If my parents could be suspected, why not Karthi? No. He is more than my parents for me. I am not going to hide this from him.
“It went really well, da. Really well means really well. Not like the last really. He asked me, can you start on Monday? He called his HR in front of me and said, I have a new joiner this Monday, will you be able to ensure he has everything in place by 9am this Monday? What more do you want? I think we finally cracked it.”
“You cracked it, da.”
He said the HR would call me first thing in the morning. It’s noon now. Technically it’s not morning anymore. I think I should call them without any more delay.
“Hello, good morning. My name is Ganesh. Can I speak to Mr. Naveen?”
The Mr. was not required. That’s what happens when one is this desperate and anxious, right?
The call got transferred to Naveen, but Naveen didn’t come on line. It was the receptionist again. “Sorry, Naveen is busy in a meeting. He will call you back later.”
“OK. Can I speak to the HR please?”
“Sure. Please hold on the line.”
The call got transferred to the HR. It was a long wait. It’s a female voice. “Hi Ganesh, good morning. I was planning to call you later today. Good you called. Unfortunately, the project you were interviewed for was put on hold. So we would have to push your start date. I will call you back after discussing with Naveen later today.”
I never got that call later that day or on any day.
You guessed it right. The next time, I didn’t tell Karthi. He returned the favor too. Both of us are in good jobs today.
Comments
Post a Comment