Srimayi was
a young woman who loved herself more than anyone else in the world. She carried
a contagious smile; her eyes had everything that would make anyone fall for
her. She was from Coorg, a heavenly place with greenery all around and an
abundance of tea and coffee. She lost her mother when she was young; her father
(Vasisth urf Vasi) did everything to keep her from missing her mother. They had
an estate of their own, which also had a guest house for the tourists. With the
place always filled with a different set of people, she was exposed to
different parts of the world, and she learned about a variety of things, from
different languages to different lifestyles. Whenever a tourist used to leave
the place, she asked them for something that would remind her of them, like a
souvenir, and they used to give her something or another, and she used to keep
them in her safe (which was her mom’s trunk) with each and everyone's name
label stapled to the item.
There came a
time when she had to leave her father and Coorg; she wanted to get out of this
small world she lived in and experience living in a new place. Srimayi's father
had a friend in Bengaluru; her name was Arundati, and she had her own
advertising company. So Srimayi's father requested that his friend give Srimayi
a job in her company. Arundati was happy to have Srimayi, and she also insisted
Srimayi stay with her as she was alone and would love to have company.
Everything went well, and Srimayi shifted to Bengaluru, a place where life
moves fast but traffic is still there.
Day 1:
Srimayi woke up early and made bed coffee for Arundati. Arundati asked her to
sit beside her, and taking a sip of coffee, she moved her hand on Srimayi's
head and said, "You are just like your father." Srimayi was confused
about whether that meant she looked like her father or if it was the gesture of
making coffee for her that made Arundati think so. Arundati snapped Srimayi out
of her confused state, asked her to get ready to go to the office, and told her
that she would prepare breakfast. With all these new things happening in her
life, Srimayi found a mother in Arundati, and Arundati had a daughter she never
had. Both of them reached the office five minutes before the actual time.
People
started coming to the conference room as there was supposed to be a meeting
with the team, and it started with introducing Srimayi to all the
team members. The meeting was about planning a new ad for an insurance company, and
it was led by Dhyan. Dhyan was a young man in his mid-20s with a passion for
storytelling. In the meeting, Arundati introduced Srimayi to everyone. Arundati
asked Srimayi to assist Dhyan in his insurance company assignment. The meeting
ended, and all of them went to their spaces, and Srimayi followed Dhyan to his
cabin.
Srimayi:
Hello Sir.
Dhyan: Hey,
Srimayi, right?
S: Yes, sir.
D: Don’t
call me sir; call me Dhyan.
S: Sure,
Dhyan.
So they
talked about where she came from and how she ended up here, and then Dhyan
asked her to give her ideas on the insurance ad they were going to work on. He
also called his team for a brainstorming session. Everyone started pitching in
their ideas, and after some time, the session ended. As the team left, Dhyan
asked Srimayi if she would have coffee with him. She agreed, and they went to
the cafeteria. Her day went well. While coming back from the office, Arundati
asked Srimayi how it was, your work, and the new people around. She replied,
“It was great.”.
The days
went by, and the bond between Arundati and Sri became much stronger, as did
Sri’s friendship with her colleagues. On weekends, her colleagues used to visit
her place, which was also their boss's place, to chill, cook food, watch
movies, and have fun. With them, Arundati felt young; she reminisced about her
college days and recalled how she and her friends went to one of their
friends’s farmhouses to enjoy. On one such weekend, everyone asked Arundati to
share her favorite memory from her past. She was so close to them by now that
she decided to share the story of the proposal. Everyone sat down, while
Arundati sat on the couch with her legs folded.
To be continued...
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