Man's Ego

What’s a bigger catastrophe than long working hours, burden of work pressure and watertight schedules? Guess, guess, …chances are you are familiar with this one… c’mon. It’s not so rare- in fact it has become as common as common cold! A three letter word that can be seen, heard, felt (like a piercing knife sometimes) … you could say it is omnipresent. I’ll give it out anyway- a man’s EGO- Not very difficult to guess, after all. But what’s difficult to fathom is the need for its unnecessary intrusion, every now and then. Thank heavens there is a choice, to put up with it or to do away with. Like I braved just the other day.

It was the grand Promotions day in office. For some, the D-day. The atmosphere was charged with fears, doubts, anxieties, expectations and so on. I was cool as a cucumber, confident of my performance all year round. Having waded through the bitter green envy of this particular male colleague of mine- a Herculean task, I must say. To make matters worse, my efforts were always lauded liberally by my boss whose appreciation was expressed without editing! Naturally my able colleague- Mr. Ego was most peeved and determined to impose his vindictive self to make an I-am-better-than-you statement. Well, I was patient, having got a glimpse of his insecurity, borne out of sheer incompetence. And patience of course, did pay off handsomely- I was promoted with an unexpected increment. But Mr. Ego was where he was. Making a bon-fire out of his vanities.

What do you expect when you spend your working hours politicking endlessly and assassinating characters? The truth is, manipulations are not rewarded. But some learn it the hard way, especially those who have grown up with a-man-is-better-than-a-woman attitude. Our man in question of course burst into a cynical laughter the moment we got our letters. His sardonic smile lingered on ruthlessly amidst the happy cheer that all of us were gloating with. Obviously, the smirk soon gave way and he left office early that day while the rest of us were boogeying away our rewards, gyrating to the music that screamed out "hearty congratulations". But we also heard the whining of a man defeated by his own masculine machinations.

Not that we expected Mr. Ego to give up. He sprung back to his devious ways and before I knew it, there were rumors floating around about my amorous relationship with my boss and the resultant promotion! Can you imagine the depths to which a man can sink? I mean, here was one man, destructively chauvinistic and here was the other- my boss – a man who respected a woman as a human being. Alas! My faith in the inhabitants of Mars was restored. And I was assured that things would work to my advantage. Meanwhile, I maintained my stoic calm, with a something-like-a-premonition of his Doomsday. And put my heart and soul into my work while my adversary went on with his anti-work.

The next day, there was a huge commotion in the office. As I parted the crowd, I saw my arch-rival standing with his head down, fixated on the ground. I got to know that he had been caught red-handed, trying to steal someone’s wallet while that person was absent from his desk. Fortunately or rather unfortunately, the man came in time to catch the thief red-handed. And our man – the mightier-than-thou looked like a deflated balloon. All the chauvinistic air sucked out of his guts. Obviously, he was fired.

And so followed another celebration like it was part of a divine plan. Nature had conspired to give him his due. My spirits danced with joy, secretly wishing a similar demolition of the likes of Mr. Ego. You think it’s vicious? No, I think it’s justice- no wonder, they call us the fairer sex.