What’s in a Name?

Circa 2000!  It was just a week into my first abroad tenure in the Far East.

Back home in India, I was happily staying with my father, wife and kid, enjoying my work as telecommunications’ software engineer in a company which was just a stone’s throw away from my home.  

I was selected to work with a telecom provider in Malaysia, after a couple of telephonic interviews.   

Go or no-go?   There was a significant tug of war between the homely comforts and career progression!  Thought, thought, and thought.  Later I decided to pull up my socks and pack my bags.  And, at a very short notice, I left my hometown.

After the initial joining formalities at the new office,  my  Project Manager ushered me to my  designated seat.    There were no familiar faces at all.  From a cosy desk in a cubicle environment in my previous office,  I felt as if I was dumped into an ocean, destined to lead a 9-to-5 life in an open work floor, among around 100 colleagues.

All of a sudden, I heard somebody calling me by a “Hello” from behind.   I turned back.  

“Hi, I am Rehman.  I am also in your team.  Glad to meet you.”

With a heavy sigh of relief, especially seeing a fellow citizen, I nodded positively.  Eventually, we became good friends, perhaps due to our match in nationality and the nature of work.  He introduced more about him, the work and other formalities, including many dos and donts.  We shared a similar wavelength, at least, I felt so.   But, I found it funny as he used to bail out of his seat and rush towards the washroom whenever he got stuck in some codes while developing software applications.

Next day or so, while helping me settle in,  my Project Manager told me that I would be reporting to Sara who was on an emergency leave.  There were no bounds for my happiness when she pointed Sara’s seat which was just ahead of mine. I was excited, visualizing how am I going to work closely with Sara, my new boss.   I became more comfortable when Rehman assured me that Sara is a nice person to work with, being a person who really cares the subordinates.  That was a real morale booster as I was desperate to have one to evade my homesickness. 

I was eagerly awaiting Sara to resume the duties and get myself introduced.  I had wild imaginations of Sara with whom I would be spending a lot of time thereafter.  Without manifesting my excitement,  I approached Rehman and started the conversation with some technical queries to set the stage.  Little later, I posed the real query - “Do you know whether Sara would be coming today?”

Rehman replied - “I forgot to tell you. Sara extended the leave and would be joining only tomorrow, or most likely, a day after.”  For sure, I was disappointed.   

After a while, my project manager handed over Sara’s mobile number urging me to seek help, if required, on a particular assignment which I was asked to complete on a war footing basis.

Thanks!  I got an opportunity to speak to Sara!  With much enthusiasm, I dialled out Sara’s number – but I was disheartened again, as apparently the phone was switched off.  

With an added vigour and vitality, I worked late hours on the assignment to prove and establish my ability and stability!

Friday!  Sara was expected to join and resume the duties that morning.  From Rehman, I understood that Sara was so open that many of Sara’s  team members were given the  freedom to access the computer, desk or any reference materials for work purposes. 

After a short gap, a person came to access Sara’s computer.  So, what?  

But, with a self initiated responsibility to protect my boss’ interests, I kept a tab of him especially when I found that he was behaving slightly different from the others who used to access Sara’s computer.  I noticed him accessing some personal folders in Sara’s computer and rushing towards the printer to get some print outs.   I became alert and  turned back to share my observations with Rehman.  Alas! he had again gone out to vent out his pressure at the washroom, probably with an intention to gather his stuck coding back!

Within a few minutes, the “controversial” person got up and went to my project manager’s cabin.  

I watched out his movements from a distance.  After a while, this person returned to Sara’s seat, looking at me with a smile.  I reciprocated with a smile and extended my hands to introduce myself.  

I was surprised when he asked me – “Hi Renjith, you joined last Monday is it?”

How come he knows my name, especially when I had never seen him before? – I was bewildered.   I literally stared at him, without any clue as to who he was!

He continued – “I was on emergency leave.  I am SARA.....   SARAVANAN  KUMAR”

I fell off the chair!