One morning

A day off from office. I was just sitting under the under the sun listening to my favourite music. It was loud but not enough to disturb anyone. It's a silent neighbourhood and in between lies our humble abode, where my friends and I stay. 

I could easily hear the silence on most mornings. I had the pleasure to observe the elderly and kids due to my early morning routine of jogging. It was all too surreal. The sunlight hitting my face and then going off behind the trees. Birds trying to play with each other or perhaps fighting or making love, never to be found out. Wind blowing and hitting the exposed parts of the body, giving that chill. I felt happy with the vibes of the day.

Incidentally, I had to meet a friend of mine that particular day. She was to meet me in Cafe Delhi Heights, Connaught Place (Delhi). I finished my morning chores such and readied myself to leave. I booked an uber pool. I noticed the waiting time was more than the usual time. Out of curiosity I checked for the other pickups. Seemingly, it was picking up Shalini from office on a Saturday. It got me thinking.

The cab came and I boarded. There was a young girl in the cab. Silent, under-confident, sort of scared, with a file in her hand. I am usually the 'don't ever look at a girl' in a cab types and don't blame me because that's what Delhi-NCR has taught me - Be careful than sorry. After sensing that she was really tensed I asked her "What happened? Did you have an interview today? Because it looks that like from the file you're carrying and your pickup location." I was really not sure if I would be blasted off or will I get a proper answer. Thankfully, she answered. She said she had an interview for Risk Analyst opening in Accenture. The interview went little sideways, with the HR asking her to come in night shifts and she not agreeing to that and therefore she was sad. On further enquiry I figured that the corporates make you agree to things and are not willing to pay you bare minimum for survival. She was a fresher, graduated in commerce field. So, she was offered 15K as a remuneration and was asked to come in night shifts. She was almost in tears. I had to convince her to not doubt herself and that she should not accept this less amount in form of salary. I used the right words perhaps, which got her to listen to me. I told her that it's just the beginning of the rest of the life. If she thinks she is worth that much than it's not going to make her look confident in her interviews and that she need not accept everything HR throws at you. I saw her smile for the first time during that journey. I shared couple of anecdotes from my career and she was back to normal. I felt happy to have shared the burden on her head and left her with a smile. I ended my uber ride and left to take metro.

You would ask - "Did we ever get in touch later?" The answer is - No. I did my part in that moment and left right after. Maybe she will remember me, maybe not. It doesn't matter. I made her smile and that made my morning. Carpe Diem!