A cup of tea
Ruchika was a corporate trainer. She has been with this organization for the past 4 years now. She conducted induction for the new joiners, took them through the company’s business, organized training sessions for them and then handed them over to their leads. She enjoyed her profile, partly because she loved training and mostly because she got to meet new people regularly. Almost everyone in the company now knew her.
The company she worked for had couple of offices in her city. There were times when she had to travel to all the offices to conduct her sessions. Whichever office she went, she always found someone she knew. She never had to have lunch or evening tea alone. She always found company.
Today was one such day where she travelled to a different office to conduct her session. At the reception, someone said ‘Hello’. Since she used to meet so many people, there were times when she forgot their names. The tall guy looked at her and said, ‘Hey Ruchika, how are you?’ Ruchika could not recall his name. She was sure she had probably met him in one of her sessions, but she is unable to retrieve his name from her memory bank. She said a warm hello to him and continued, ‘So, what’s up? How is work treating you?’. He smiled and said, ‘So far so good. Sometimes it gets hectic, but I kind of like what I am doing.’ He then asked Ruchika, ‘ How come you are here in this office. I haven’t seen you here before.’ Ruchika said, ‘ I am here for a day long session today. Could you please tell me where can I find the training room?’. He said, ‘You go straight and take a left. The first room out there is the training room.’ Ruchika smiled and said, ‘Thank you so much.’. He then asked, ‘What time does you session end?’ She said, ‘Around 6 p.m.’. He said, ‘ Cool. Just wanted to inform you that in the cafeteria here, you don’t get good lunch or tea. So, you might want to go outside for lunch and tea.’ Ruchika said, ‘Oops. Thankfully I got my lunch box, but I can’t survive without tea. Where do I get tea here?’ He said, ‘ Umm well, let’s do this. Once you are done with the session give me a call. We can go for tea together.’ She smiled and said, ‘Sure! See you then.’ He shook hands with her and then both of them went their way.
Ruchika had a huge batch that day. 40 trainees. She marked their attendance, sent the reports, conducted the session and when she looked at the watch, it was 6:00 p.m. After her students left, she thought of taking her tea break and going home but then she was too exhausted to walk up to the tea corner. She boarded her car and reached halfway when her phone rang. It was an unknown number. She used to share her phone number with the induction batch because in case they needed help, they could get in touch with her. She received the call. It was the guy she had met at the reception. He said, ‘ Hey Ruchika, I am sorry, I am a little late. Are you still in office. If yes, we can go for tea now.’ Ruchika had completely forgotten about this tea plan. She said, ‘ I am extremely sorry. I had such a hectic day today, I completely forgot to call you. We can catch up next time I am there in this office.’ He laughed and said, ‘It’s absolutely fine. I understand. Next time you are here, don’t forget to call me.’ She laughed and said, ‘ Sure. I won’t.’. She then went home.
The next week was hell busy for Ruchika. Back to back training sessions, documentation stuff and all. After reaching home from work, all she did was make dinner, eat and go to bed. She was so busy, she used to get so exhausted that she did not even touch her phone or watch television.
It was Monday again today and she had to go to the office she had gone a week ago. She thought today she will certainly take out some time for a cup of tea with the guy she had met last time. She still struggled to recall his name, but in vain. She thought this time she will ask the security guards at the reception. They will know his name.
She reached the office premises and entered the reception area. The security guards smiled at her and said, ‘Ma’am, the training room is ready. The AC is switched on. The projector is ready too.’ Ruchika smiled and said, ‘ Thank you so much.’ Again she forgot to ask about the guy. She started walking to her training room, when a security guard called her out from behind. He said, ‘Ma’am, did Anish Sir call you the other day for the cup of tea you guys were discussing here?’ Ruchika replied, ‘Anish Sir?’. The security guard replied, ‘The guy you were speaking with the other day, who had informed you about the tea corner?’ Ruchika smiled and said, ‘Aah yes. I had completely forgotten his name. I remember meeting him at induction. After that I met him last week. I could not go out for tea with him the other day. Today, I am definitely calling him. Please help me with his number.’ The security guard said, ‘You don’t know?’ Ruchika was confused. She replied, ‘ Don’t know what?’ The security guard took out a newspaper and handed it over to her and said, ‘ He met with an accident when he had gone out with his friends last weekend. He died on the spot.’ Ruchika read the newspaper. She could not believe what she was reading. She read again and looked at the picture. Yes, it was the same guy. She stood still there looking blankly at the newspaper. First time in her life, she realised the unpredictability of life. She never knew that discussion of a ‘cup of tea’ with someone whose name she was unable to recall, would remain a memory which she will never be able to forget.
