A week at GPTW!

“Sometimes what you want isn’t something that you need”

I twisted my wristwatch, which was out in the open after a long time(courtesy of the pandemic) – 10.30 it said! This was after I read the above quote written in blue at my new desk. It immediately made sense as making that walk from the Lower Parel station wasn’t what I needed on my 1st day at GPTW though the deceptive Google maps made it look a lot easier as I was finding my way to office in a Churchgate slow local.

Everyone was fixated on their screens as I tip-toed my way across to my team, Monday Morning Meet was ongoing and I heard somehow, ‘Vadapav wasn’t that impressive’ — No! That’s not possible. We at Mumbai have blistering humid summers coupled with equally heavy downpours but nothing stops the bite of potatoes, chillies and chutneys. Maybe not the right outlet to have the soul food was the reason but we will change the perception next time.

The absolute silence was broken when the headphones were removed, chairs pulled out and hands stretched as the meet was over and everyone was on their feet. The L shaped desks were surrounded by opaque tinted cabins that housed the top-brass. I was confused as to who should I approach first, maybe introduce myself or maybe just say Hi! or maybe.. Thankfully my team pitched in, we shook hands and there were cheerful Good Mornings reverberating in the northwestern corner of GPTW, Mumbai.

We formed a circle, outside the gates of the office for my first in-person huddle. The camera does lie I felt, as everyone looked different and expressive than what Teams had made me believe for the last one month as we stared at the initials of the speaker and virtual claps was all we could manage to commend the work put in.

“Did you have your breakfast?” was not the first question I expected from my manager! Not that ‘The Office’ has blurred my vision of how ‘assistant to the regional manager’ are, well yes it has. This was my first one-to-one as we sat below a bright red umbrella going over how the past month had been and how better I can do.

The loft is a steep climb of stairs but worth every step of it. Freshly brewed coffee was somewhere as the aroma of the roasted beans engulfed us as we entered the snug little room. The team then stepped out for lunch armed with luncheons and consumables popping out of the vending machine. The canteen was straight outta college with dim lights, loud clanking of plates and heavy chatter of ironed white shirts and ruffle tops and salwar kameez. The conversations here ranged from the insipid buttermilk to the tanked Paytm IPO, which continued as we took our seats for the second half.

‘Kulhad Chai’ grabbed my attention at a strategically located ‘tapri’ at the end of an attentuated alley. The sun was going down as were also the energies of the corporate multitaskers and chai was what was needed to get them over that last lazy lap in that cushy air-conditioned cubicles. The walk back was marked with tangerine sunrays piercing through the bougainvillea plants planted across the The Empire Business Centre. The evening breeze rattled the climbers that overlooked the setback around the edifice that stood towering in the evening sky.

The day ended post eod huddle as the team made their way out, meeting the ballooned ‘GPTW’ initials and pebbled pavements with big red boxes of GPTW stacked one on top of the other, that greeted me, bathed in the morning sun earlier the day. It was 7.30pm on my watch and it felt different and good for a change from just shutting down the laptop at the comforts of the home and tuning in to another smaller screen, to actually closing the work for the day and walking down Mumbai roads bathed in sodium-vapour lamps, with fellow team members.

As I waved goodbye and headed towards my bus station, I couldn’t help but admire the city that churns out a different surprise every now and then. Bright red taillights staring right back at you from hatchbacks and sedans that had tired Mumbaikars trying to make it home. Besides them were huge hordes of students laughing and giving high-fives enjoying in their own abyss of collegiate life walking down the footpaths. An equally hard-working shopkeeper closing down his shop shutters after a tiresome day and then bowing down to the shop completed the picture. Faith is what keeps us alive while hope is what keeps us moving. Mumbai moved ahead into another of those long nights only to get awakened for the hustle next day.

“You know, Jimmy, sometimes, in our line of work, you can get so caught up in the idea of winning that you forget to listen to your heart.” – says Hamlin from Better Call Saul that I’m rewatching, for final season is dropping in April, that summed up Mumbai for me as I reminisced my day and got ready for the next one. Onwards and Upwards – that’s the battle-cry!