My private sanctuary…

Some four years back, I worked on a client implementation project in Bangalore. The client was a national bank and we worked in their office. I don’t recall the name of the location but it was close to a huge bus station.

Our office was in the middle of some kind of a market, I faintly remember. It was pure noise and crowd outside the office, not so different inside. Our floor was full of bankers and consultants, the air conditioning in the server room and the huge UNIX machines buzzed all day long, the machines hummed morning to night, phones rang on and off, people called out to one another… it was one typical implementation site with a scheduled go-live date et al.

The only area of peace that I could find was in the toilet. There was a tiny window near the ceiling through which I could see the tops of nearby buildings, birds flying by occasionally, and a small patch of blue sky. In a strange way, that sight used to provide me with immense calmness. I used to escape to this *vista* every time the hustle-bustle outside got to me. I know this may come across as incredibly pathetic or totally romantic, depending on how full or empty your glass is. It is interesting how indelibly marked that vision is on my consciousness till date. The minute I set my eyes on that patch of blue, all noise disappeared.