Work friendships are just that - bonds you form at work. Not with everyone of course. You do remain friends with 2-3 good souls who genuinely want to form a bond with you, beyond work hours. My first job in the city, was with a dream boss, Mary Oommen. The work environment was a cozy little cocoon, that she had built to help us succeed. She had personally handpicked us, we were Mary's angels (like Charlie's angels of course, only we didn't have to save the world).
She was our work-mom. She pushed all the right buttons and threw us outside our comfort zones. Mary was the first non-family member, who called to congratulate me on the birth of my son. She gave me subtle parenting tips and told me in plain words to quickly get back to work for the sake of my sanity. She still calls me once a year, to check up on me and keeps throwing job offers my way, to get me out of the house!
The next organization I joined was where I truly experienced the harsh world of corporate politics, Mumbai's corporate politics, mind you. I cried in the office and I cried at home, everyday without fail. The travel time to work, didn't help either. One hour in the morning and four hours in the evening. Looking back, I wonder if it was even worth it, going through all that travel sickness and dealing with a toxic work environment. My colleagues however, made my time worthwhile. I had multiple shoulders to cry on, at least.
Fast forward to five years, I'm deep in the throes of motherhood, raising an unreasonable toddler whose only answer to every question is "No" and "Don't talk". I'm laughing my way through this phase as well, for I know he will soon grow up and go to school. I pray hard to every God I know, every night, for schools to reopen quickly.
Through each of these experiences, I have seen firsthand, the resilience of people and faced their wrath/cut-throat behaviour. I have also seen their friendly and approachable nature. A city is made up of its people. And this city has a mixed bag of folks. Sometimes they disappoint you, with their cold behaviour and sometimes they overwhelm you with their kindness.
The past five years, have given me a lot of time to form friendships in my immediate neighbourhood. I've had the chance to interact with toddler moms, moms of twins, moms of teenagers. And the conversations have always been refreshing. I look forward to playdates everyday. A day without a playdate, is a day wasted.
So coming back to the question in my mind, is this my city, now that I've lived here for close to a decade? Can I call myself a Mumbaikar, even if my heart is still in Chennai? Let me just leave it to time, to unravel these answers. All I can do is sit back and watch.
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