The evening mist outside Gamarpatta city gathered dust due to the heavy traffic. The honking of vehicles was a regular exercise near the intersection that connected Gamarpatta City with the outside world. Cabs, Buses, two-wheelers and all sorts of wheelers made a perfect kaleidoscope of Polluting machines.
But the fourth floor at Tower 1 inside the Oxygen Zone of Gamarpatta city was bustling with a different kind of noise. Agents were talking to their customers located in UK. The floors were divided into bays for Healthcare and General Insurance, Pensions and claims for AVIS plc, UK.
The voice echoed across one such bay in the left corner of the fourth floor of the building, startling everyone. “All nominations are to be given by the end of November positively. You can send in your names for Dancing, Singing, Ramp walking or as a volunteer.” People taking calls from various quarters struggled to listen to what he had said.
Abhi was in a delightful mood while announcing for the annual day celebrations for XNS that was to be held on 22nd December 2004. The band “Euphoria” was going to perform live for the employees of XNS AVIS. For the people of Helpline, it was good news and for the 2nd batch of the process, it was a double whammy as they were still in their training period.
Almost everyone thought of nominating Shlok’s name for singing but he was hardly interested. Urvi and Anu were disappointed when Shlok declined to take part. Sandesh had kept himself isolated from the situation, thinking about Sayyede’s Voice & Accent sessions. Neetu’s face was red with excitement. She started thinking about her friends of other processes with whom she can hang out during the party. She also wanted to participate in Dancing. Saakhi, Shivangi and Sania were ready for any decision as they were hardly bothered. Sanuj regarded it as a waste of valuable training time.
Toying with a cigarette in one hand and his mobile with the other, Shlok took us to a different world, belting out one Hindi number after the other. Anu would be in a state of trance and would suddenly become silent and aloof. The ever reserved Sania also enjoyed it thoroughly and tapped her foot synchronising it with the song. Though the break was for 20 minutes, everyone looked forward to it.
Music can bring people together. The seven Surs and the five Komal Suddhas are the only constant things in all land and ethos. It makes people forget their differences and it is only to Music that people react with unison.
Shlok was also popular amongst the first batch of Helpline. Dipsikha, Sneha, Giteeka, Sudhruv, Swapna, Supriya, Suvarsha, Sraddhanjali and the most pompous of the lot, Clapton formed the crux of the first batch.
The bond amongst the 2nd batch grew with get-togethers on weekends and also birthday parties. Neetu’s birthday party was organised in her residential society at Wanowrie. Sanuj , Sandesh, Anu, Urvi, Clapton and Dustin were present. Neetu asked the DJ to play some Music and everyone grooved to the music beats.
Neetu grumbled and said “This is not fair guys. I spend so much cash but not many people turn up”. Her brother had also joined and had started asking questions to Sandesh and Sanuj. He was already in the mood, down with a few pegs.
The Biryani and the egg chops were delicious. Dustin started complaining about how boring the party was and asked everyone if they could join him somewhere else after Neetu’s birthday party. As usual, no one agreed other than Clapton.
Thereafter, Shivangi’s Lunch party was attended by almost everyone at GangaSagar Village. The Pulao and Salad were as delicious as Boondi ka Raita and Papad. Cold Drinks and beer set the tone for a relaxing get-together. Shivangi’s daughter Sannu was being cuddled from one person to the other. Neetu and Sania started discussing clothes. Anu and Saakhi discussed jewellery. Sanuj was in the kitchen with Shivangi, learning how to make Pulao. Sandesh and Urvi were already engrossed in a spiritual conversation. Then everyone discussed how interesting the training was and how things will change when everyone will start taking calls. But everyone promised to be friends forever. In the end, Shivangi packed two boxes of Pulao for Sandesh’s girlfriend.
Sania’s birthday party was next. It was more of a female gathering as Sandesh didn’t turn up and Shlok came late when everyone had left. He sat uncomfortably while having Biryani with her father and mother.
A restaurant at Koregaon Park named Prem’s was the favoured destination for hanging out. The dim ambience and candle lights, soothed the atmosphere during the gatherings. Anu and Sania would always sit adjacent to each other. Anu would laugh, with a nasal tone restricting herself, lest she would fall. Shlok would often tell Sandesh about Anu’s inability to laugh whole heartedly. Urvi would team up with Saakhi and Neetu to create a ruckus of sorts that would often attract the attention of other guests in the hotel. Everyone would discuss the happenings in the office. Sanuj was called rarely after it was widely known that he makes fun of everyone and runs after girls and Managers.
Even before seven days of the annual day event, no one provided their name for the nominations except Neetu for Dancing. Everyone was excited about the good food, drinks and above all Euphoria’s live performance. The Team Leader Abhi was already in a party mood on the floor since we could hear him humming “Maye ree”.
Neetu started discussing different dance forms. In a split second she had decided what to wear for the dance and which dance forms would suit the event. No one had seen her dancing before but her passion and interest in the subject was exemplary.
Abhi was more like a spoiled brat than a Team Leader. Being a true Delhiite, He was fun to work with. He would keep your adrenaline rising on one occasion or the other. His energy kept the Helpline process moving and he was like a beacon of light shining high. He never harassed anyone with policies and procedures and was rather flexible and pragmatic in his approach.
Though Abhi was termed as a womaniser by some of the girls in the process, he never ran after them or bothered them, he was merely fond of them. After all no one could expect him to drop his Delhi lineage so soon. He had various flings in the office but nothing serious till date. He carried his larger-than-life image unabashedly.
Camera mobiles were always banned in the office but Shlok and Abhi kept it in silent mode throughout. Whenever it was known to Abhi that the management will start checking camera phones, he would also take Shlok’s phone and hide it in his car.
But Shlok’s phone was a trouble machine. No one invites trouble and offers a chair to sit on it. During one huddle gathering, when changes to the existing Healthcare policies were discussed, his phone screamed “Yeh Dosti Hum Nahin Chodenge…from Sholay”. Sandesh started laughing and the process manager Karuna was not happy about it. When she came to know that it was a camera phone, She confiscated it. With a typical and mischievous smile she said “It won’t be returned.”
Karuna’s eyes produced more water than the Khadakwasla Dam. Sandesh always asked her if she was suffering from permanent conjunctivitis. She was stringent with people and always pushed for the procedures and policies to come first than anything else. Many a times, Abhi had quite a spat with her in front of everyone. She wanted to keep people under strict discipline. She was unaware that she could not make young people work under strict supervision like a rule book type school. Soon people fell out with her style of functioning and objected to her methods. Some people from the first batch opposed the most trivial things about her. But she was a woman who took the bouquets and the brickbats alike. She pacified the cribbers and grumblers by being friendly with them. One could see her soft persona emerging out of a hard exterior.
Anu and Urvi used to gossip about how the first batch guys made subtle efforts to woo Sania, but never came close. By the end of the shift, Sania was too sleepy to understand anyone attempting to attract her attention. Her eyes would become red with exhaustion and she would always look at her watch to see when the shift would end. Anu and Urvi would then laugh and also ask Saakhi and Neetu to pitch something in the gossips. Anu teased Shlok about someone’s eyes he was fond of, outside the process. But Saakhi suspected that Shlok did not want to go outside the process to look for the blood-red eyes of the person he liked.
As time went by, Neetu prepared herself for the Dancing event and spent considerable time on rehearsals. She was happy to go for rehearsals than attend training to take calls. Another girl named Shakti from XMATI and Neetu had choreographed a medley of songs to dance on, and everyone was surprised to see Neetu dancing gracefully during the rehearsals. Sanuj looked for ways to act as a volunteer but his efforts turned futile. Sandesh thought of buying a new suit and Anu thought of backing out from the event. Shivangi thought of how she would manage her kid during the event and Saakhi thought of connectivity to the location. Urvi wanted to do Ganapati dance on stage with Palash Sen. Shlok was lost in thought of someone’s eyes and Sania thought of what clothes to wear for the event.
Sandesh was still struggling to be a part of the entire madness. The after effects of the Voice and Accent sessions had taken its toll on his confidence. He was feeling out of place due to Clapton’s continuous downplaying of his abilities. Clapton had been assigned the job of fine tuning Sandesh’s skills. Sandesh’s patience was withering with each passing day due to Clapton’s pushy attitude. Urvi always encouraged him to be strong and dedicated. Coming from a technical background, he didn’t take much time to learn the tricks of the trade and bounced back to take on every challenge. He was also excited about the annual day event. He loved dancing and was excited to show some moves.
Finally the wait was over when Elyssium at Koregaon Park was chosen to be the venue for the party. The evening started with rewards and recognitions for yearly achievements. Then the senior management used the podium to inspire everyone with their thoughts and ideas. The company’s vision and misson were discussed at length. Then the stage was pitch dark for a moment and the spotlight was on Neetu moving graciously and swiftly to the centre of the stage. Rest of the dancers joined her in a rhythmic fashion in tune with the music and rocked the show. Neetu’s dance was admired by everyone later.
Finally the much awaited Palash and his group Euphoria came on stage and mesmerised the entire crowd. With foot tapping numbers like “Kya karegi tu Pune main aa ke” to the emotional “Maye Ree” and the Hindi Rock number “Dhoom Pichuk Dhoom” to the ever popular “Kabhi Aana tu meri Gully”, they kept the audience captivated and glued till the end.
Beer flowed incessantly like water and the Elyssium staff were sweating it out to serve everyone. Food was also arranged in hot containers decorated with shining aluminium sheets and were neatly segregated as Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian. People were shuffling themselves between the Food and drinks area.
Shivangi and Anu came late and left early. Saakhi was cheering the prize winners throughout the event. Urvi was looking for more beers around the drinks area and Sanuj was flaunting his newly acquired designer suit, courtesy his brother, who owned a NIFD institute. Neetu was away from the second batch, with her new friends. Shlok was with another friend named Sadanand Sharma at the other side of the venue throughout the event, with his typical sheepish grin. Sandesh was dancing to his full might with the first and the second batch guys and also roped in other people from unknown processes. Sania was looking beautiful as ever and was attracting a truck load of attention. Anyone who was with Sania was also getting envious looks from the onlookers.
Meanwhile, Abhi could not control his passion for alcohol and was out and dry after some bottles of beer and was trying hard to act sane. He was shouting aloud while calling anyone and was having all the fun in the world.
After Palash said goodbye, everyone gathered in the discotheque to brighten up their spirits. Neetu and Shakti moved and danced inside the pub in a hyperbolic way. Sandesh wanted to dance badly and there was no one other than Sania to give him company. They danced together uncomfortably for 30 mints and when everyone started looking at them, Sandesh called it quits and settled for an orange drink at the lounge.
Transport was arranged to drop everyone after the event. It was quite a mess as the Transport dept was not managed properly then and everyone struggled to get a place in the cabs.
Amidst the frenzy of Training, Annual day event and lots of other competitions, the bond amongst the second batch was growing as ever. As time would tell, even being in separate continents would not sever their ties.
Alok : Thank you for helping me recollect some incidents and planning the write-up.
Neeta : Thank you for providing inputs on some characters.
Dhruv : Thank you for pushing me to write another story about Helpline. I am sorry that I could not include more about the first batch in this story but I promise to do so next time.
But the fourth floor at Tower 1 inside the Oxygen Zone of Gamarpatta city was bustling with a different kind of noise. Agents were talking to their customers located in UK. The floors were divided into bays for Healthcare and General Insurance, Pensions and claims for AVIS plc, UK.
The voice echoed across one such bay in the left corner of the fourth floor of the building, startling everyone. “All nominations are to be given by the end of November positively. You can send in your names for Dancing, Singing, Ramp walking or as a volunteer.” People taking calls from various quarters struggled to listen to what he had said.
Abhi was in a delightful mood while announcing for the annual day celebrations for XNS that was to be held on 22nd December 2004. The band “Euphoria” was going to perform live for the employees of XNS AVIS. For the people of Helpline, it was good news and for the 2nd batch of the process, it was a double whammy as they were still in their training period.
Almost everyone thought of nominating Shlok’s name for singing but he was hardly interested. Urvi and Anu were disappointed when Shlok declined to take part. Sandesh had kept himself isolated from the situation, thinking about Sayyede’s Voice & Accent sessions. Neetu’s face was red with excitement. She started thinking about her friends of other processes with whom she can hang out during the party. She also wanted to participate in Dancing. Saakhi, Shivangi and Sania were ready for any decision as they were hardly bothered. Sanuj regarded it as a waste of valuable training time.
Toying with a cigarette in one hand and his mobile with the other, Shlok took us to a different world, belting out one Hindi number after the other. Anu would be in a state of trance and would suddenly become silent and aloof. The ever reserved Sania also enjoyed it thoroughly and tapped her foot synchronising it with the song. Though the break was for 20 minutes, everyone looked forward to it.
Music can bring people together. The seven Surs and the five Komal Suddhas are the only constant things in all land and ethos. It makes people forget their differences and it is only to Music that people react with unison.
Shlok was also popular amongst the first batch of Helpline. Dipsikha, Sneha, Giteeka, Sudhruv, Swapna, Supriya, Suvarsha, Sraddhanjali and the most pompous of the lot, Clapton formed the crux of the first batch.
The bond amongst the 2nd batch grew with get-togethers on weekends and also birthday parties. Neetu’s birthday party was organised in her residential society at Wanowrie. Sanuj , Sandesh, Anu, Urvi, Clapton and Dustin were present. Neetu asked the DJ to play some Music and everyone grooved to the music beats.
Neetu grumbled and said “This is not fair guys. I spend so much cash but not many people turn up”. Her brother had also joined and had started asking questions to Sandesh and Sanuj. He was already in the mood, down with a few pegs.
The Biryani and the egg chops were delicious. Dustin started complaining about how boring the party was and asked everyone if they could join him somewhere else after Neetu’s birthday party. As usual, no one agreed other than Clapton.
Thereafter, Shivangi’s Lunch party was attended by almost everyone at GangaSagar Village. The Pulao and Salad were as delicious as Boondi ka Raita and Papad. Cold Drinks and beer set the tone for a relaxing get-together. Shivangi’s daughter Sannu was being cuddled from one person to the other. Neetu and Sania started discussing clothes. Anu and Saakhi discussed jewellery. Sanuj was in the kitchen with Shivangi, learning how to make Pulao. Sandesh and Urvi were already engrossed in a spiritual conversation. Then everyone discussed how interesting the training was and how things will change when everyone will start taking calls. But everyone promised to be friends forever. In the end, Shivangi packed two boxes of Pulao for Sandesh’s girlfriend.
Sania’s birthday party was next. It was more of a female gathering as Sandesh didn’t turn up and Shlok came late when everyone had left. He sat uncomfortably while having Biryani with her father and mother.
A restaurant at Koregaon Park named Prem’s was the favoured destination for hanging out. The dim ambience and candle lights, soothed the atmosphere during the gatherings. Anu and Sania would always sit adjacent to each other. Anu would laugh, with a nasal tone restricting herself, lest she would fall. Shlok would often tell Sandesh about Anu’s inability to laugh whole heartedly. Urvi would team up with Saakhi and Neetu to create a ruckus of sorts that would often attract the attention of other guests in the hotel. Everyone would discuss the happenings in the office. Sanuj was called rarely after it was widely known that he makes fun of everyone and runs after girls and Managers.
Even before seven days of the annual day event, no one provided their name for the nominations except Neetu for Dancing. Everyone was excited about the good food, drinks and above all Euphoria’s live performance. The Team Leader Abhi was already in a party mood on the floor since we could hear him humming “Maye ree”.
Neetu started discussing different dance forms. In a split second she had decided what to wear for the dance and which dance forms would suit the event. No one had seen her dancing before but her passion and interest in the subject was exemplary.
Abhi was more like a spoiled brat than a Team Leader. Being a true Delhiite, He was fun to work with. He would keep your adrenaline rising on one occasion or the other. His energy kept the Helpline process moving and he was like a beacon of light shining high. He never harassed anyone with policies and procedures and was rather flexible and pragmatic in his approach.
Though Abhi was termed as a womaniser by some of the girls in the process, he never ran after them or bothered them, he was merely fond of them. After all no one could expect him to drop his Delhi lineage so soon. He had various flings in the office but nothing serious till date. He carried his larger-than-life image unabashedly.
Camera mobiles were always banned in the office but Shlok and Abhi kept it in silent mode throughout. Whenever it was known to Abhi that the management will start checking camera phones, he would also take Shlok’s phone and hide it in his car.
But Shlok’s phone was a trouble machine. No one invites trouble and offers a chair to sit on it. During one huddle gathering, when changes to the existing Healthcare policies were discussed, his phone screamed “Yeh Dosti Hum Nahin Chodenge…from Sholay”. Sandesh started laughing and the process manager Karuna was not happy about it. When she came to know that it was a camera phone, She confiscated it. With a typical and mischievous smile she said “It won’t be returned.”
Karuna’s eyes produced more water than the Khadakwasla Dam. Sandesh always asked her if she was suffering from permanent conjunctivitis. She was stringent with people and always pushed for the procedures and policies to come first than anything else. Many a times, Abhi had quite a spat with her in front of everyone. She wanted to keep people under strict discipline. She was unaware that she could not make young people work under strict supervision like a rule book type school. Soon people fell out with her style of functioning and objected to her methods. Some people from the first batch opposed the most trivial things about her. But she was a woman who took the bouquets and the brickbats alike. She pacified the cribbers and grumblers by being friendly with them. One could see her soft persona emerging out of a hard exterior.
Anu and Urvi used to gossip about how the first batch guys made subtle efforts to woo Sania, but never came close. By the end of the shift, Sania was too sleepy to understand anyone attempting to attract her attention. Her eyes would become red with exhaustion and she would always look at her watch to see when the shift would end. Anu and Urvi would then laugh and also ask Saakhi and Neetu to pitch something in the gossips. Anu teased Shlok about someone’s eyes he was fond of, outside the process. But Saakhi suspected that Shlok did not want to go outside the process to look for the blood-red eyes of the person he liked.
As time went by, Neetu prepared herself for the Dancing event and spent considerable time on rehearsals. She was happy to go for rehearsals than attend training to take calls. Another girl named Shakti from XMATI and Neetu had choreographed a medley of songs to dance on, and everyone was surprised to see Neetu dancing gracefully during the rehearsals. Sanuj looked for ways to act as a volunteer but his efforts turned futile. Sandesh thought of buying a new suit and Anu thought of backing out from the event. Shivangi thought of how she would manage her kid during the event and Saakhi thought of connectivity to the location. Urvi wanted to do Ganapati dance on stage with Palash Sen. Shlok was lost in thought of someone’s eyes and Sania thought of what clothes to wear for the event.
Sandesh was still struggling to be a part of the entire madness. The after effects of the Voice and Accent sessions had taken its toll on his confidence. He was feeling out of place due to Clapton’s continuous downplaying of his abilities. Clapton had been assigned the job of fine tuning Sandesh’s skills. Sandesh’s patience was withering with each passing day due to Clapton’s pushy attitude. Urvi always encouraged him to be strong and dedicated. Coming from a technical background, he didn’t take much time to learn the tricks of the trade and bounced back to take on every challenge. He was also excited about the annual day event. He loved dancing and was excited to show some moves.
Finally the wait was over when Elyssium at Koregaon Park was chosen to be the venue for the party. The evening started with rewards and recognitions for yearly achievements. Then the senior management used the podium to inspire everyone with their thoughts and ideas. The company’s vision and misson were discussed at length. Then the stage was pitch dark for a moment and the spotlight was on Neetu moving graciously and swiftly to the centre of the stage. Rest of the dancers joined her in a rhythmic fashion in tune with the music and rocked the show. Neetu’s dance was admired by everyone later.
Finally the much awaited Palash and his group Euphoria came on stage and mesmerised the entire crowd. With foot tapping numbers like “Kya karegi tu Pune main aa ke” to the emotional “Maye Ree” and the Hindi Rock number “Dhoom Pichuk Dhoom” to the ever popular “Kabhi Aana tu meri Gully”, they kept the audience captivated and glued till the end.
Beer flowed incessantly like water and the Elyssium staff were sweating it out to serve everyone. Food was also arranged in hot containers decorated with shining aluminium sheets and were neatly segregated as Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian. People were shuffling themselves between the Food and drinks area.
Shivangi and Anu came late and left early. Saakhi was cheering the prize winners throughout the event. Urvi was looking for more beers around the drinks area and Sanuj was flaunting his newly acquired designer suit, courtesy his brother, who owned a NIFD institute. Neetu was away from the second batch, with her new friends. Shlok was with another friend named Sadanand Sharma at the other side of the venue throughout the event, with his typical sheepish grin. Sandesh was dancing to his full might with the first and the second batch guys and also roped in other people from unknown processes. Sania was looking beautiful as ever and was attracting a truck load of attention. Anyone who was with Sania was also getting envious looks from the onlookers.
Meanwhile, Abhi could not control his passion for alcohol and was out and dry after some bottles of beer and was trying hard to act sane. He was shouting aloud while calling anyone and was having all the fun in the world.
After Palash said goodbye, everyone gathered in the discotheque to brighten up their spirits. Neetu and Shakti moved and danced inside the pub in a hyperbolic way. Sandesh wanted to dance badly and there was no one other than Sania to give him company. They danced together uncomfortably for 30 mints and when everyone started looking at them, Sandesh called it quits and settled for an orange drink at the lounge.
Transport was arranged to drop everyone after the event. It was quite a mess as the Transport dept was not managed properly then and everyone struggled to get a place in the cabs.
Amidst the frenzy of Training, Annual day event and lots of other competitions, the bond amongst the second batch was growing as ever. As time would tell, even being in separate continents would not sever their ties.
Alok : Thank you for helping me recollect some incidents and planning the write-up.
Neeta : Thank you for providing inputs on some characters.
Dhruv : Thank you for pushing me to write another story about Helpline. I am sorry that I could not include more about the first batch in this story but I promise to do so next time.
Disclaimer : It's a story of fiction based on facts. It may not be entirely true as it's based on memories of several people which might have been clouded in the due course of time. The writer is not responsible for any untoward meaning that can be derived from this story.
very very nice santa... im so glad atleast one of us can describe our helpline exp in such a beautiful way... keep it up ur too gud... god bless u...
ReplyDeleteincredible as usual... Couldn't stop laughing at" Urvi wanted to do Ganapati dance on stage with Palash Sen " . lol
ReplyDeleteAnd the dance thing after " euphoria" ...i think i missed it when u danced uncomfortably.... and if any of u missed it too check it out http://o2studio.migapps.com/video/write2vin@gmail.com 13/11/09
u must add some more "made up "juicy gossip too.. I think Urvashi, neeta and
Rakhy could help u s with some real ones too. Whera are u .ppl?
wow again :) remembered shivani ke ghar ka lunch .. neetas bdday i missed .she was mad at me for that. she was announcing it for more than a month i think.. i still remember it is 4th december. she made sure everybody rmembers that.used to remind everyday.... TWICE lol.
ReplyDelete