A different perspective

When we were shifted to our new premises, we took some time adjusting since this was a far cry from our comfy cubes. As usual, there were a lot of cribs – “Why on the earth were we shifted here?” “Did we have to be the only team?” “I hate coming to work these days (??)”. On a more serious level, this led me to ponder that perhaps – just perhaps – we had become so addicted to the comforts around us that we could not work without them. What happened to our professionalism?

While I was thinking along these lines, I chanced to see one of the housemaids filling one of the water-purifiers. I had always wondered as to how they got to maneuver the heavy water jar on to the purifier, and now I was seeing it in person. It was an arduous task and by the time she was finished, I could sense that she was tired. Slowly and methodically, she went about her other chores, stopping every few minutes to relax and rub her back. Within a few minutes, she swept the whole room clean, set up the coffee-machine, arranged the sugar, tissue-papers and tea-bags in a neat pile, cleaned the table, arranged the chairs (left haphazardly) around the table, emptied the dust-bins and lugged them out of the room.

Suddenly, it struck me – she does not have the privilege of being dropped to work every day; she does not earn as much us; she cannot have a break as and when she wished; she HAS to work in whichever building she has been assigned to; she cannot lean back in her (semi) comfy chair and pretend to work ( :) ); she cannot even express her discomfort on a blog (^_^) ; she cannot play make use of the gym to unwind…….. Still, she comes everyday and performes her duties religiously, without complaint.

All at once, I felt humbled. All these excuses stated above seemed very mundane and ….. childish! It led me to believe that everything depended on one's own self to make life as interesting and optimistic as possible.

And yes, did I mention that the maid was several months pregnant?