The People I Will Miss - Chapter Two

I said I would write separately about my past and present colleagues and what I will miss about each of them, because the first post was rather long as it stands. But I think that if I try to fit all these people into this one post, it will be a little too long. So I'll break it up. I'll put down my musings about the friends I normally have lunch with. I'll save the others for another post.

I know I'll break down into tears if I start talking about Bhavna and how much I am going to miss her, but she's the one I have to talk about in order to begin this article. She became part of the company and the team just a little over a month after I did. She was the second person in the team, after Rachita, with whom I became friends. She's one of the sweetest, most clear hearted people on the planet. She has her weird sense of humour and her signature style of PJs which is simply amusing at times, and rather endearing at others.

Then there's Chaya. The most practical and sensible girl I've ever come across. Whenever I've felt low, I've often found solace in her cubicle. Either I'd go and listen to her jokes or her anecdotes, or if she wasn't around, I'd just go sit there and hug one of her soft toys for a while. She has quite a collection of those. No penguins sitting around in her cubicle, though, in spite of her legendary love for them. She keeps them safe from the likes of Akash and Bhatti, who are often on the lookout for soft toys they can torture.

Which brings me to Akash. He used to be on the lookout for opportunities to irritate me and would jump at the slightest hint of such an opportunity. But he was also the peacemaker of the group. He'd calm me down every time I was agitated with someone (or something). We'd randomly go to Spice Mall for hot chocolate fudge. Those few outings were very special to me.

And as for Bhatti, he is one of the few people who were part of my immediate team and whom I never really got to work with. But, being immediate cubicle neighbours, I got to know him pretty well. I got to hear his random drumming on the desk at various points of time during the day. I got to see him clutter his cubicle with all kinds of VxWorks boards and hand over random components to me to hit Akash or Abhinav with. I got to see his priceless facial expressions at just about everything under the sun. Once I also had the privilege of hearing such an expression. I am sure that neither Akash nor I will ever forget that. I am also forever indebted to him for encouraging me to start a blog. The extent of the consequences of this event are way more significant than what I have ever shared with any of my friends, and there are reasons for that which I have kept mostly to myself. I will certainly share those thoughts with some close friends before I leave the company.

This brings me to Abhinav. He was the first guy in the team with whom I felt comfortable enough to discuss just about anything. He's one moody guy, but mostly he's been a very good friend to me.

Then there's Sandy. We always enjoy pulling his leg at the lunch table, what with him being the most excruciatingly slow eater on the planet, and also, being the only married member of the group. I'll certainly miss that. I'll also miss Sumit's brilliant jokes at the lunch table.

I don't think I'll find another girl like Neha, who fasts at the slightest provocation. Who is this really adorable, innocent girl who still looks like a school girl. Oh, and did I mention how polite she is? It's rather hard to imagine how someone can be like that in this day and age, and in this city. But it's true. I've never seen anyone quite like her. And of course, she's one person who's almost always smiling (unless Abhinav and/or Alok are doing something to irritate her) and who laughs at the smallest trigger, and laughs uncontrollably at regular triggers which cause normal people to laugh as well.

I guess that leaves only Namrata. A woman of few words, but it's always interesting to listen to her talking. She's known as the logic woman at our lunch table. She'll always come up with an interesting logical explanation for the weirdest of things.

I hope I didn't miss out anybody here. Up next: a post on the people outside of the lunch group.