STRESS, SUCCESS AND EVERYTHING IN-BETWEEN
The Highs and Lows of A Woman’s Journey in the Corporate World
CARE: This is Chapter 46 of my book Stress, Success and Everything In-Between. These are individual anecdotes but to understand the professional journey in totality, I would recommend reading the book right from Chapter 01 onwards.
Krishna Kishore and Pawan Prakash, both
faculty members, were like oil and water. Their cabins were separated only by a
thin wooden wall. Yet professionally, they were sworn enemies. The monthly
staff meetings were the arena where they tried to rip each other apart,
with smiles masking their attempts.
One day at the lunch table, fate intervened with the help of a chicken leg. Krishna Kishore, as always, was teasing Pawan Prakash for his Brown Sahib ways, his neatly knotted tie, the well-fitting coat and his perceived dislike for chapatis as it was a messy hand food. Pawan Prakash had served himself rice and chicken curry and was concentrating on dissecting a piece of chicken leg with a fork and knife. The verbal jabs of Krishna Kishore were not registering with him.
Suddenly, with a flick of the wrist, the chicken leg on his plate did a spectacular airborne manoeuvre and launched itself from the plate of Pawan Prakash. It straightaway landed with a splat on the pristine white shirt of Krishna Kishore. Turmeric and spices, mixed with oil, made an awesome abstract design on the white background.
A flustered Krishna Kishore needed a solution and needed it fast! He rushed to the wash basin, but no amount of rubbing the stain with water helped. His lecture was in fifteen minutes, and a stained, damp shirt would not look professional.
Pawan Prakash invariably wore a coat and a tie. Guilt-stricken, he quickly brought the coat from his room and suggested that he wear it to cover the stain on his shirt. The coat was a tad oversized on Krishna Kishore, but was a good camouflage for the stain. Seeing no other option, Krishna Kishore accepted the offer, sported the coat of Pawan Prakash and marched off to his lecture, a silent testament to the reality that sometimes, the best solutions come from your sworn enemies.
Thus the unanticipated flight of the chicken from the plate, managed to end the icy rivalry between the two. And the two competitors, usually at the throat of each other, became good friends.
Who could imagine that a flying chicken could help thaw a long standing cold war?
(To be continued...)
*****
6 comments:
Interesting stories told so wonderfully. Ranjana, your anecdotes are very interesting and as I can visualise the scene- you write so descriptively, that I watch it enacted as a bystander.
Thanks for your lovely stories. (Varsha Uke Nagpal)
Kudos to you, Ranjana ji. I have gone through the penultimate paragraph of your episode at least half a dozen time. It is pure poetic prose.
Enjoyed this episode thoroughly. Thanks a ton.
Duelling duo and the flying chicken : What a well thought of topic. (Vijay Gupta)
The entire chapter is a beautiful, (even fun-framed) piece of immaculate prose. (Pran Nath Pankaj)
Wow, what a story...written so nicely that the reader can visualise it in all glorious detail...(Lakshmy Iyer)
Brilliant piece of writing ! You are a great raconteur .What happened thereafter ? Was it a one time truce between the sparring two , or did things lapse into pre chicken leg days ? Dying to know. (Manju Iyengar)
Wonderful! Thanks Ranjana for another delightful read. Had I known the bank was such an exciting place, I might not have quit! (Rakesh Govil)
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