A Comedic Office Moment

Our Satyam Days, part XXX

Mandeep and I sometimes affectionately called Devi "Sexy Devi." A nickname that, while playful, had nothing to do with physical attraction. Instead, it reflected the unique chemistry we shared in our relationship as warm and friendly office colleagues, which made each of us feel attractive in our own right.

Mandeep’s comedic repertoire, which anyone with a sense of humour could appreciate, constantly filled his head with new, laugh-worthy thoughts that stuck with him like a second skin! Spurred on by this humorous game, Devi took it on enthusiastically, which brought us joy and deepened the charm of our friendship. And Devi liked the nickname very much.

Devi chuckled wholeheartedly when we first called him, "Hi, Sexy Devi, how are you?" He expressed astonishment at first as if not addressed to him but, oh god, someone else, and said, "I am... what...? SEXY…? WHAT DO YOU MEAN, Mandeep?! Kindly be specific!” Devi played along, and before saying anything else, he said with a naughty twinkle in his eyes: “Really…?”

Mandeep said, "Yes, man, you are TOO MUCH, Devi! I can’t get any more specific than this! You are sexier than sexy could be," without hesitation. Devi and I laughed as Mandeep's unapologetic humour shone through.

Devi laughed for a while, and since he was on a break and GG—our strong-willed human meat of a boss; incalculable rudeness was the strongest part of his personality, his effortless forte—was out of the office, he said, "Thanks for that ‘sexy’ compliment, Mandeep! Chalo, come on, let's go grab some coffee. I'll call Suresh to join us in the meeting room."

"Hunh…Haan... chalo chaltein hain re…, just give me 2 minutes. Oye!... thiss iss tooo muchhh yaarr…let me send this out," Mandeep said before finishing his task of report generation and sending a crucial operational email alerting one of our clients.

Looking at the good-natured Devi’s peart facial expression, I couldn't avoid laughing at his reaction to Mandeep’s remark about him being “Sexy.” It was a laughter-house!

On another day, Devi laughed when he considered teasing Mandeep in return. He joked, "You are so sexy too, Mandeep! Look at you!" Mandeep turned to face Devi and chuckled aloud as though he had proclaimed something surprisingly perceptive that caused everyone to erupt in amusing laughter in the cubicle. "And just look at Arindam!" Devi said, his tone too concise for comedy, but he was getting at it as he stood beside the open cubicle where Mandeep and I worked, hands resting on the wooden barrier, teasing Mandeep to his heart's content. "He is so attractive, sexy even!"

On hearing something like that from Devi, I pursed up my lips and made a serious face that was about to burst into laughter!

All of us made merry even as I declared to one and all present in our spacious cabin: "But Devi, you are sexy, sexier than me!" And I meant it when I alluded it to him: "Just give me a man as "sexy" as Devi, and I shall sail my humble boat into the last sunset!” That was once my favourite dialogue; I learned it from somewhere.

Mandeep revved up his imaginary Mustang and stated, "YEAH...didn't I say that before!" Apparently, the feeling was mutual, and Devi giggled.

The funny, quirky things when we joked around with each other in person or on the intercom were the best part of our days at Satyam! Devi was very sportive about everything anyone from our team said anything about him, and conversely, everyone seemed to take a leaf out of his book to learn how to be sporty and laugh at oneself when required. Life should be on an even keel, he seemed to suggest, not on—god forbid—spiky cacti.

Just then, Renju — a very pious soul who sounded, to us all, like a Magpie singing songs of love and longing for her lovely homestead in the deep south, where palm trees, backwater lakes, and lagoons abound: God's own country — entered our cubicle to check something with us. Thank heavens she was not in the cabin when we were joking around, our little bonhomie between us gentlemen. She smiled her hazel smile: her teeth seemed to dance in the whitest splendour (as though of the enchanting backwaters of her idyllic hometown) that you don't see pretty often until you work with someone as a friendly, pleasant associate of the team, and said, "Oh…kya chal raha hai...?"

"Kuch nahin…bas…" I said before adding, "Devi, Mandeep, Suresh, and I are going to get coffee. Do you want to come along?" She declined reasonably because she needed to get to GG's cabin quickly and apprise him of a pressing problem regarding a persistent technical issue that had been bothering him like a high-strung demon-possessed alligator! He wanted to get it fixed... "first thing in the morning." She promised to join us some other time.

Then Gnana came into the cabin, moving about with enormous curiosity for something he urgently wanted access to from our cabin. He hammered on the keyboard placed at the back but couldn't locate it. He then banged up the cupboard and peered inside, speaking to himself, "Nope, sorry, I didn't get what I wanted, or I got it, but I'm not telling yet." That was a good comedy show.

I said, "Hmmm... Gnana. Anything particular you are looking for?"

"None whatsoever. See you guys later," said Gnana, breezing through the short hallway by the HP printer station towards another hall on the right.

Before we could invite him to 'coalesce' with us for coffee from the excellent Nescafe espresso coffee machine, he went off again marching like a lumberjack on a mystery mission, perhaps, to the adjoining hall where he and Renju often camped together, programming their way through the other project they worked on—apart from the primary one on which Mandeep, Shiv, Shahnawaz and I had worked under GG's tutelage—diving into the minor/major or microscopic technical deficiencies (if any found) of the code blocks, testing the software application, troubleshooting, and the good old bug fixing.

I said to Devi, "Yeah…, let's take a break, shall we?" before having finished a few marketing reports and storing them in the 'common folder,' which only our team has view (read) and modify (write) access to. (Every marketing report due that day had to be delivered to every client by EOD; otherwise, a delay of even one day would subject you to GG-specific fatalities). While we strode to the Nescafe Espresso coffee dispenser machine in the green-marbled corridor, I jokingly added, "Is Chicha joining us by any chance?"

Everyone chuckled!

By Arindam Moulick

Alternative titles considered for this blog: “The Legend of ‘Sexy’ Devi,” and “Devi: A Sexy Legend!”