I'm not good at sulking. I move on. So it must've been a month after my meeting with AG and I had started to get comfortable in JC. May be the heavy workload helped me, Islamic Financing had receded into history. Then one fine morning, my deskphone rang and the display said VG. VG, AG's boss, the head of our Engg. and one who had no fathomable business to call me that day. I picked up the phone, introduced myself and he came straight to the point. He was calling up to confirm the request that I be moved out of Engg. into Support. I didn't understand a word of this. In the past few months, there had been frequent rumors of my moving into some team or the other and it was common for my colleagues to message me or stop me in the pantry to ask about it. It had been amusing but coming from VG, it sounded like a bad joke. And how come nobody - RR or AG at least - had talked to me first? I gathered my wits and said there seemed to have been a mistake. I hadn't put up any such request. He seemed annoyed and said but he had received it. I asked him who had conveyed it to him. He said it was MR, his counterpart in Support. I had no time to ask how MR could speak on my behalf. I just proceeded to tell VG firmly but also a little desperately that I had no intention of moving out of Engg and I was definitely happy with what I was doing and I wanted to continue doing it for the foreseeable future. I don't know what he thought of the mess but he said okay, that was settled then. He said he was dropping the matter and I needn't talk to anyone about it. The call was over.
I sat in my seat, dumbfounded. I had never spoken to MR in my life. My ex-boss had joined Support a year before and was keen that I join him there. I had politely refused but he had said he would continue to try to get me there. Was this his doing? But this thing was almost like an extradition! I was angry. And what would RR think of me if he heard about it? Would he believe that I didn't want a movement? I once more sat in his cabin, this time to tell him that I wanted to stay put in JC. He was bewildered and that was some solace.
On RR's advice, I next told AG the whole story. His first reaction was to ask, "My boss called you directly?"! Yes, he did. Okay, AG didn't know how this happened either but he was amused. I wasn't. I told him I was going to speak to MR and that was the only thing remaining now. He shrugged his shoulders.
I messaged MR next. Luckily he was working in the next block that day and he said why don't I come over. I went into the big and empty meeting room he had occupied. It was a bit creepy somehow, in that dimly lit space. I wanted to finish it off quickly. So I told the story one more time and asked him how it had transpired. He asked me who brought up his name. I told him it was VG. He had a strange expression on his face, I couldn't read it and his response was vague. He said they were reviewing my profile(part of a mass review) and going by what I'd put, VG thought I was more interested in customer-facing role. Then he proceeded to give me a short marketing talk on Support. It hardly answered any of my questions. I didn't want to go on. I said right now I was going to stick to Engg and thanked him for the offer. He said I needn't talk to VG about it anymore, he would take care of that. I left, feeling a little dazed.
It's been four years for me in JC now. MR has left the world since then and AG our company. I had a sort of image-altering talk with him before that. But I still don't know the truth about that day.
I sat in my seat, dumbfounded. I had never spoken to MR in my life. My ex-boss had joined Support a year before and was keen that I join him there. I had politely refused but he had said he would continue to try to get me there. Was this his doing? But this thing was almost like an extradition! I was angry. And what would RR think of me if he heard about it? Would he believe that I didn't want a movement? I once more sat in his cabin, this time to tell him that I wanted to stay put in JC. He was bewildered and that was some solace.
On RR's advice, I next told AG the whole story. His first reaction was to ask, "My boss called you directly?"! Yes, he did. Okay, AG didn't know how this happened either but he was amused. I wasn't. I told him I was going to speak to MR and that was the only thing remaining now. He shrugged his shoulders.
I messaged MR next. Luckily he was working in the next block that day and he said why don't I come over. I went into the big and empty meeting room he had occupied. It was a bit creepy somehow, in that dimly lit space. I wanted to finish it off quickly. So I told the story one more time and asked him how it had transpired. He asked me who brought up his name. I told him it was VG. He had a strange expression on his face, I couldn't read it and his response was vague. He said they were reviewing my profile(part of a mass review) and going by what I'd put, VG thought I was more interested in customer-facing role. Then he proceeded to give me a short marketing talk on Support. It hardly answered any of my questions. I didn't want to go on. I said right now I was going to stick to Engg and thanked him for the offer. He said I needn't talk to VG about it anymore, he would take care of that. I left, feeling a little dazed.
It's been four years for me in JC now. MR has left the world since then and AG our company. I had a sort of image-altering talk with him before that. But I still don't know the truth about that day.
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