‘I see fire, I breathe it, I hear it burning all around. When I move, I carry it with me. In the ruse of its false strength, I fail to see, what is burning is me.’
Neel Lakra was a financial analyst at a financial institution. He had been in this particular institution for one year, four months and nine days.
Mr Azmi, Neel’s manager, was on round. He came and stopped near Neel and then he spoke, “Neel, please come for a quick word in ten minutes”
“Okay sir,” Neel replied and Mr Azmi walked away
Neel knocked and stepped into the cabin of Mr Azmi after ten minutes had passed.
“Please sit,” Mr Azmi said to Neel and Neel pulled a chair and sat down.
“So, Neel how is work going?” asked Mr Azmi
“It is fine sir. Is there a problem?” asked Neel
“Work-related? No, work is fine, we are quite happy with your performance. You are among our best,” said Mr Azmi
Neel wanted to smile but he didn’t, sensing something else might be the matter behind this sudden call, he spoke, “thank you sir”
“How long has it been since you have been working here?” asked Mr Azmi
“More than a year,” replied Neel
“Have you made any friends among your colleagues?” asked Mr Azmi
“A few,” Neel replied after thinking hard, then focussing upon the few friendly exchanges he had with some of the employees.
“Okay that is good, keep that up,” said Mr Azmi, then his expressions took a slight denser change, “the reason I have called you is because of a few complaints regarding you”
“Complaints about me? What did I do?” Neel was genuinely surprised given the limited number of interactions he actually had with people.
“Neel, I will not beat around the bush. Not that I have seen all of them happen, but from the complaints I have heard, I think you might have a temperament issue,” said Mr Azmi
“I don’t know why you might have come to that conclusion,” said Neel
“Mr Maraj, he works in other department, he said one day he was holding the elevator door for one of his colleagues and you were in the elevator as well, and when his colleague arrived you started pressing the door opening button of the elevator till the two gentlemen left the elevator,” said Mr Azmi
“He could have simply waited for his colleague and then they both could have waited for the elevator. Why should someone else have to wait?” said Neel
“It is a matter of a few seconds Neel, I am sure we all have held the elevator door for someone sometime,” said Mr Azmi
Neel had never done so ever in his life, neither for a friend nor for a family member. He never waited for anyone; it was a great annoyance to him.
Mr Azmi started speaking once again, “Mr Nair you must know. One of our senior employees. He came across you near the water cooler. He said when he arrived you filled a glass of water and drank it slowly so he began to fill his bottle, while you stood visibly annoyed waiting for your second fill of the glass. He left the bottle on a nearby table and went to the restroom and when he was back, he couldn’t find his bottle. Someone had hidden it and only with the janitor’s help it was found”
“Why does he think it is me?” asked Neel who was sure no one had seen him do it
“He insists there was no one else there at the time. He is elder than me Neel and he has a problem in his right knee. I don’t see what was the issue here,” said Mr Azmi
“I think he might have misunderstood. But he saw me standing there and yet he started filling up his bottle without asking me whether I was done,” Neel said
“Do you know who hasn’t misunderstood? Dipta, you deflated her car tyres because one day you had to stay late and work as she had to leave early. The security guard sent her the video clip of you doing so which has been captured by the cameras in the parking place,” said Mr Azmi
Neel stayed quiet and thought, ‘I thought the cameras weren’t working.’
“Many people here are afraid of sparking a heated argument while talking to you. You always carry an unwelcoming expression on your face. I don’t know what is the problem Neel. Are you feeling overworked or pressured? Just tell me, maybe I can guide you through it,” said Mr Azmi
“I agree there has been a fault on my end, but other people were at fault too, sir. I think you should talk to them too,” said Neel
Mr Azmi leaned back on his chair and sighed and then spoke, “look Neel, no matter how good you are at your work, if you keep this up then you might end up losing your job. I will give you a two days unpaid leave, take this as a warning and also a sign to go over the kind of temperament you are carrying around and how it is affecting others.”
Neel quietly got up and quietly walked out but not before impulsively slamming the cabin door on his way out. He later found the mail which announced his termination.
Written by Anuran Chatterji
Early Morning Memories 
One response to “The Point of Eruption”
Nice story!
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