As I opened the door of my flat,
early in the morning, to pick up the milk packets I saw the milkman standing
right at the door. Not sure if this was a co-incidence or was he just waiting
for me to open the door. He gave a smile
and said, “Sir, the service charges increasing by 10% from tomorrow”. I gave
him a look, with a question mark on my face.
He grinned at me and said, “Sir, I just now read in the newspaper – your
company is giving 10% salary hike this month.” I barely opened my mouth to say
something but he interrupted me – Sir, I know you will be 1+ only. But what is the meaning of this CRR sir? I
gave him a squirming smile and banged the door.
Paying up 10% additional service
charge was the least that could have bothered me at that time. It was like
someone had touched an open wound that had barely dried overnight. This topic had raised enough of my blood
pressure the previous day and I would have best avoided this topic as the first
discussion this morning.
I left the paper on my coffee table in the
balcony and went to the bathroom to freshen myself up. As I got back to the
coffee table my wife was already there, reading some news very intently. I
picked up the city supplement and started reading some masala gossips. And then
my wife dropped a bomb. “Listen, you said you got 4% hike – does that mean you
are one of the lowest performers in your company?” I was taken aback and gave her
a menacing look. “Yes, that is what the newspaper says – that your company has
given hike in the range of 4% to 10%. I am surprised that you have to be in the
lowest band. Is everything fine?”
I was already piqued at the early
morning appraisal by my milkman and to add salt to the injury, my wife was now
doing a full review of the same. Luckily, I was able to gather myself quickly and
with full composure I declared to her that the news item spoke about the junior
folks and that I belonged to the ‘Leadership Layer’ that was a different level.
She didn’t seem fully convinced but was perhaps more worried about the whistling
pressure cooker on the gas. As she got up to switch off the burner I got hold
of the newspaper and to my great relief we moved on from that conversation.
