Shut up amid the cackle.

In my new job, I had been getting along with my seniors for a period of a month straight....and honestly, I was getting a little uncomfortable....life can get miserable without its daily hint of drama. An opportunity presented itself surely enough, and not one to let opportunities go, I seized it with both hands.

Scene 1: A week before Diwali. My tickets have been booked for home. I wring my hands every free moment in anticipation of Mum's diwali sweets, endless roaming around on the roads back home, the unwatched movies....the wait is almost unbearable. In the midst of my day dream, I am shaken awake rudely, with a message from my immediate superior that he wants to see me. I walk down a flight of stairs wondering what it could be. I walk inside the conference room. The air conditioning seems a little more chilly than usual, and I wring my hands again, in a different kind of anticipation, which is more like apprehension. He gives me a look and asks me to sit down. He is going through some papers and I am forced into the maddening act of waiting for him to speak. To ameliorate the conditions, I start staring at his nascent goatee beard. I have traced the roots of all the errant hair which are growing out of the limits of the goatee, and have also almost prepared an efficient blueprint for it to grow the way it should, when the motherland of the goatee moves in a most unsightly fashion. I realise my superior is trying to speak, which is why the goatee suddenly seems mobile. I am about to blurt "You need a trim..." instead I say, "Yes, sir?" He says, " The project you are handling seems to be going well." I look down in mock humility, while in reality my cheeks are being effused with a most narcissistic glow. He continues for a bit about work, and then I seize the chance and say, "I am going home on the sixth for Diwali". He looks at me, my hackles are already rising. He says, "All right!" I cannot believe that I got by so easily. I heave a sigh of relief and walk out with my head held high.

Scene II: The day I am about to leave. My train is in the afternoon, so I stretch lazily in bed till the office hour is long past. The phone rings ominously, and I look at the number. I start in my bed....it is my big boss! I pick up the call and his voice says quietly, "Good morning." I answer in a tepid tone, "Good morning". I think I hear background music piping in the distance. he says, "I hear you are going on a 3 day leave". I muster up all the courage I have managed to accumulate since childhood, and answer, "Yes, sir. Is it a problem?" He answers, "You have not filled in the leave application." By this point I have realised the potential of this conversation to turn into a full blown argument. Excited by this revelation I listen on.

I hear things about me being irresponsible and how many leaves I have taken in the past. Now the phone conversation has assumed the dimensions of a boxing match. I couldnt have faced myself had I let such a wonderful opportunity go by, I seize it full on...