Get a Life! (Part I)

Its office time! I love my plush new office, the fountain at the entrance, the well arranged parking space, but most of all I love my own personalized cubicle. It offers me the comfort of my own private space in a maze of cells. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Harish. If I were to introduce myself, Bond style, I'd probably say 'A glass of ginger-lime, shaken, not stirred. By the way, I’m Introverted, acutely Introverted. '

The dictionary defines an introverted person to be a person predominantly concerned with his/her own thoughts & feelings rather than with external things. It also says someone who is introverted is a shy inwardly thoughtful person. That’s exactly what I am and I am happy and contented. People are always talking about how they are so lonely and need company. Why? Why when you can do what you please with your imagination?

For example, the paper weight on my desk is sufficient entertainment for me. All I need to do is say paperweight and let my mind go! The paper weight is pyramidal in shape. Pyramids! Those sophisticated wonders of architecture; I should go to Egypt sometime and see them. If I go to Egypt, I should definitely visit the Sphinx. I have a question for the Sphinx! What was that fanatic thinking when he cut your nose off? And there five minutes of unlimited entertainment. Who needs people? There is so much to think! So much to visualize!

But then, today was one of the days when my imagination was not helping much. The paperweight looked just as it was, a plain transparent paperweight and I was soon bored. So, I decided to look around for more interesting objects. I stood up and then there she was. She looked gorgeous! Her hair was casually tied up, with a few strands trickling down her fair face . She stroked her neck, contemplating some matter of supreme importance and then, with a look of determination, started typing away on her keyboard.

I sat down and my imagination started kicking in. She looked regal and graceful. Maybe she could be the daughter of a count and me a young prince. They would organize a huge party and being the most eligible bachelor around, I would ask of her to dance with me. As the band played Tchaikovsky's ' Dance of the Swans ' we would dance and all other couples would look at us with envy. Then dinner would be served and she would be enchanted by my deep knowledge of the random motion of electrons .We would then sneak away to the terrace , where in the enchanting moonlight , my cell shall ring .It was my boss calling !

Better get going!

I never seemed to tire of her. Once, she was a Kuchipudi dancer, being tortured by her maternal uncle to marry him and then, she was an animal rights activist, fighting a losing battle with ruthless poachers to save the three horned rhinoceros. And always, I was there to help her out, save the day and live happily ever after. All I needed was one look at her and all these thoughts flowed automatically to keep me entertained.

One day, I got up to get my glimpse when she turned around and our eyes met. My heart started beating faster and I felt something hollow in my throat. This had never happened before! Not even in my imagination! It was a feeling I couldn’t explain. She then smiled a most charming smile, one that could melt a heart as hard as the material my paperweight was made of and then continued with her work. Life just got so much more interesting. Maybe I could ask her out sometime…

To be continued…