Shoe stories...

I have always loathed job interviews to the hilt. Especially the part when you are made to wait for a certain period of time before meeting the sovereign authority. You start galvanizing your imagining cells into action, whiling away in the reception area thinking about this unknown entity’s persona. Will he be a part Hitler- part Ratan Tata or will he be the emulation of one of those chilled out,non judgemental creative bosses who will treat you like his age old 'Chaddi-buddy'. Imagination indeed can take you places.

So recently when I walked into an interview, I decided I wouldn’t have any preconceived notions about this to-be or not-to-be future boss of mine. Sitting somberly next to the glass door entrance, all I could see was the moving feet of people, walking to and fro. Some sauntered, few cantered in a pace akin to Rajdhani express. The middle portion of the door was opaque, which restricted my vision to only their footwears. And trust me every footwear spoke a thousand words (at least in my mind)...

The red converse passing by made me imagine this young,cute, next door kinda guy who has come to give an interview somewhere just like me and is returning home disappointed or (maybe happy). His pace was fast, so I assumed he was either ecstatic about his confab with part Hitler-part Ratan Tata or he's simply desperate to get out of this place (which according to him had transformed into a hellhole after getting rejected)

The modest plastic sandals made me imagine this middle aged woman with calloused palms who is toiling hard in this harsh metropolis people call… ‘Bombay’, and earning her daily bread and butter. After sticking her nose to the grindstone, she invariably greets her family with a wide grin after she reaches home. Despite the fact hovering in her mind that her monthly expenditure is more than her monthly salary, this woman of steel puts on her rickety sandals and gears up for a new day, every single day.

The fluorescent green shoes made me imagine a struggling actor who probably lives in a chawl and is wasting his life, trying to achieve unrealistic goals. He thinks he looks supremely handsome in his gaudy ensemble and has all the required abilities to conquer the world. I guess he just needs a diligent guardian angel who will help him wake up and smell the coffee. And I doubt if even that would deter him from trying!

Maybe imagining was futile and the stories woven around them were not even tad close to their real life. The best part is that I didn't waste my time getting all jittery about the interview and harassing myself unnecessarily. I thought about people for a change, their lives, and the way they live. I just took out time to mull over others' lives and trust me, that was a great stress-buster.Thinking is like a medicine, it can make you feel better and it can also make you feel worse if you took the wrong dose!!!...Don’t stop thinking and observing, it works wonders for your mind and soul!