Thursday, July 09, 2009

Entry #9

Untitled
by Suryanarayanan


I never wanted to go to this party, but the invitation was from CEO Mr. Sharma himself. I have worked with him for 5 years now and I know him in and out. He likes to end things with a good note and a wine party was his favorite. The talk of mass downsizing has been going on in the office, and now it seemed quite sure that most of us will be seeing Sharma for the last time. The very thought of that gave me goose bumps.

I walked inside the party and Sharma welcomed me with a big smile. I grabbed a glass of wine from the counter. I could feel the blood red wine laughing at me in a very sarcastic way.

After a while, Sharma in his trademark way called for silence by stroking his wine glass with a spoon thrice and what immediately followed was the loudest silence I have ever seen. Sharma started talking about how the company with a mere investment of Rs.5000 is now making millions. He ended his speech by saying that today would be the last working day for some people in his company.

The air in the room became tense. The very thought of preparing my resume waiting for interview calls made me sick. But that night I went home a loser.

Now sitting in my own company and having made it come in the Forbes Top 50 fastest growing companies I only consider that a blessing in disguise.

20 comments:

Chris Eldin said...

A timely topic--unfortunate for so many. I wonder if this really happened to someone you know?
I could feel the discomfort at the party. Nicely done!

Laurel said...

Excellent! I love the "wine laughing at me in a very sarcastic way."

I also like the opportunity created from something the protaganist was so afraid might happen.

laughingwolf said...

turnaround is such sweet revenge :)

Aniket Thakkar said...

Reminded me of the Pixar story.

In current testing times, I guess many would relate to this.

Nicely done.

JRVogt said...

Just coming off of unemployment, I can relate well to this. One always needs a bit of hope to hang on to.

Catherine Vibert said...

Good things come wrapped in painful packages sometimes. Nice story.

Tessa said...

Of the moment. Well done, a good story.

Kunjal said...

what I love is the simplicity :) good efforts:)

JR's Thumbprints said...

Here in Detroit we know all too well about corporate downsizing. I've been shopping around a flash-fiction piece of my own relating to this topic. Nice set-up with the wine.

Therese said...

I like, "I went home a loser."

I also like how the protagonist wins in the end. Made me smile.

Rohan said...

Simplicity of the narration makes this one stand out.

Sarah Laurenson said...

Losing is in the eye of the beholder. He won, in the end. Good job.

The Preacherman said...

Some loser!!! Nice one old bean.

er...got any vacancies? ;-)

Four Dinners

PJD said...

I have found that most blessings arrive in disguise, as do many curses. One needs only the proper attitude to distinguish truth.

Unknown said...

Hi All,

Thanks a lot for your kind words.This is my first attempt at writing and all your comments have given me a lot of confidence.

Sury.

Gughan said...

Surviving and living are two different things - That just randomly popped to me when I read this.

I see people struggling due to the recession lately. Hope that this turns to be a blessing to them all.

Nice read :)

Jade L Blackwater said...

I appreciate the 'blessing in disguise' theme - so often this is only perceivable in hindsight.

JaneyV said...

As Talk Talk once sang - Baby - Life's what you make it

I'm a firm believer in taking the positives out of every situation. Nice upbeat ending Sury.

Sonia said...

Love the simplicity you said it with. Well done!

Anonymous said...

Standing there must have been like waiting for execution. The emotion was well done. High marks for pacing.