Office Party!

Yearend brings in a lot of parties with it. Office parties, team parties, alumni meet and a horde of other celebrations. Maybe it is a fun thing for everyone but for me it is a sad reminder of the people I lose and the weight I gain every year.

 For FRIENDS fan, I almost sound like Chandler Bing imitating his steward saying,

“More Turkey, Mr. Chandler?” on every Thanksgiving Dinner.

I don’t want to put off your mood or sound sadist at the start of the year and ruin it, but here is a quick example of what I felt at the recent year end office party.

Getting placed from college is a feeling of elation. I was happy too. On college farewell everyone had a mixed set of emotions, sad to leave the college but excited to uncover what future holds in store for them. One chapter ends, another begins.
We enter Corporate life, which begins with a grand training. You begin to fathom that that’s how life’s going to be. New and happy faces all around you. Blossoming friendships, blossoming love, eat, drink, party and occasionally paying attention to training sessions. But this too doesn’t last. On the final day of training we promise to stay in touch, BFFs, Friends forever. Our Facebook timelines seem thrilling just like our state of mind.

All like Deja vu.

Lunch at office is with batchmates, Chai breaks with them too.
Travel to office seemed less suffocating with them.
Come the year end party and it seems like a school picnic to us all over again. You hardly remember spending time with your colleagues.

But after three years of office, all I remember is spending time with colleagues. Year End party 2017 was a dream shattering, truth-revealing, bittersweet pill of life. I went for the party with colleagues and was dancing with colleagues. If I accidentally bumped into my training batchmate it made me feel very different now. A part of my distant past, a shadow of the old ways of life.

Some left for further studies, some switched jobs and some just changed careers. I feel just like every other office going person now:

Life
Office
Death

Staying alive, trying to smile, respecting ME time and maintaining a close-knit circle of friends amidst maintaining a job are few of the many things I learned from my time as a corporate.

So, my advice, although I don’t think I am in a position to give it to people my age as well as younger to me:

1)Enjoy the time with your friends and batchmates, but always with a reminder at the back of your head, “You meet people to leave them”. Are you in touch with all your school mates? No right. Same is with others.

2)Office colleagues are just colleagues. Do not get attached to anyone. You never know in next year’s office party you might be dancing with different set of colleagues. May be not in the same organization’s party too.

3)Year End parties usually overlap with Annual Performance Reviews. Try not to overlap the two. Learn to Keep Professional and Personal life separate.

4) And the last point, in between all of this if ever someone talks about Marriage, how much ever you have the urge to kill someone and how much ever you are close to a weapon resembling object. Try not to kill.

Close your eyes for 3 seconds, Breathe, put up a fake smile and say to yourself like Elsa(Frozen)

“Let It Go….”

“People Never bothered me anyway”