But for now it is too late…

It has been 18 years since I began working, and my school life seemed to have followed me like a faithful dog. Is it me or is it the system? I still carry my lunch-box and some of my colleagues even take company buses to work. Our professional life mirrors  school life in many ways other ways too.

We begin the day without a school bell or assembly, but we come out grim from the 30 and 60 minute conference calls that remind us of Math and History classes. We may not run around the office during lunch-breaks, but we still enjoy sharing from our lunch boxes or escort each other to the canteen. And on the days they are absent; our days appear long and grey and breaks are unappetizing.

The business units we work in remind us of our classrooms and our superiors remind us of our teachers. We may not play book-cricket any more, but solitaire is good enough. We strike conversations with our colleagues with a hope to discover a hidden friend in them. Sometimes we get lucky, but many at times it remains transactional. Those discovered friends become our Stonehenge, we rest our professional burdens at the minimum and sometimes we use them as a sounding board to compare raises and discuss other aspects of our lives.

In the course of the year, the organization holds internal competitions that stack rank individuals on various dimensions (cricket, dance, football, music, quiz, fashion, etc.) in the name of employee engagement. They also celebrate annual days where some of the winners from these competitions get to showcase their hidden and special talent. Oh, I forgot to mention about Tech Fiesta that reminds me of science project fairs in schools inaugurated by scientists and bureaucrats.   

Every year, one among us get elevated to play the class monitor (some say brown-nosing, while some argue performance), and we immediately notice a quick switch in loyalty from friends/colleagues to superiors. Shit! Yes, and now we are confused how to handle our relationship with the person in his/her new capacity. Caution builds distance and occasional complains stop and we start to measure words and we lose a trusted colleague.

Finally, the school year finishes with the evaluations. Some of us come out in flying colors (Not 50 shades of Gray please), while some of us get relegated to the corner and are made to stay longer in the same classroom. Those moving to the next grades are put in new (sections) teams, and we have new superiors and colleagues to build rapport with. And needless to say, exams and evaluations happen and similarly one among us gets to be the next monitor.

Like in schools, there are back-benchers who arrive late, make after deadline submissions, and enjoy every day of their life and their colleagues’ life too. Then there are fringe elements that do what they are not supposed to-do at work (for ex: browse questionable sites) and turn into a corporate bully who harasses colleagues. While some of them get to stay for long and continue with their under the radar activities, some get caught and shown the door.

And every time a colleague leaves, we pool in money to organize a small party and give them a token of appreciation. Soon follows an invite to follow them or write a recommendation in LinkedIn (digital autograph book). 

Every evening is the same. Mom welcomes you with a cup of coffee, checks on your lunch-box and the tales that come along with it. There are days when you rave about a raise and move to a new section, and but then there are days when you don’t have the energy to rant and go back to doing your homework.

Now we’ve discovered our school life is no different from my professional life, we still ask our kids, nephews and nieces to go to school. Every Friday evening, Sunday evening and Monday morning still feels the same. Though our summer vacations are not elaborate, but we still have to stay connected and finish our homework. In the end, nights are still sleepless, we still care about some of our colleagues, and we work hard and to-do well in my evaluations and please our superiors.

Had my parents told me before, I would have been a proud school drop-out. But for now it is too late.