Insider Stories

I was in-charge of a branch of a small office. There were three administration staff members including me.  It was a small space, our tables were close to each other and we could hear each other talk. We worked in collaboration with our head-office.

We had a messenger who was also responsible for our lunch. He would go to nearby restaurants on his bicycle to get our lunch and would make tea for everyone in the afternoon. We also outsourced security guards on a contract basis. The guards kept on changing their duties as their company would rotate them from office to office. They stood at the gate and checked people coming inside the office.

 Here, I am talking about our messenger, Harka Bahadur. He was famous for knowing insider news and all the gossip. As he would say,“ Do, you know Madam, that driver Shyam, he pretends to be so nice and caring in front of the CEO, but later he talks badly about him, so pretentious.”

One morning he came up to us saying,“ Maya our office cleaner she is married, but she also has a boyfriend who drops her off at the office every morning, I have seen them together on a motorbike several times.”

“That is her elder son you fool” Our another staff Lahana shouted, “I know her, she was married at a young age.”

“Harka Bahadur, watch what you say, or else someday you are going to get slapped publicly.”  She added.

“You never know. He never took off his helmet, I thought………” He murmured.

Our lunch break was his favourite time for storytelling, he would give us our lunch along with the stories. Actually, the gossip of Bahadur was our only source of entertainment in this monotonous job at this remote office.

“Madam I am going to raise some fishes in the old water tank of this office, it is full of water and useless,” said Harka.

“I know you have already raised them and you are just informing me now, very smart,  just go and get me a glass of water.” I  jokingly said.

 One day he came complaining, “ Madam, the new security guard wants to borrow some money for lunch, he says his wife has locked the kitchen and gone to her parent’s place.”

“You yourself will be responsible for your money, you know they keep on changing, later when they leave without returning you the lunch money, don’t come complaining to me about them, Bahadur,” I replied.

The newly placed security guard seemed to be really problematic. He kept on asking for money even from other office staff and sometimes from our customers. One day he somehow managed to order food from a nearby Bengali restaurant. We heard him say “Send that small boy with lentils and rice, I will pay you later.”

Every day, the security guard would call them in the afternoon for lunch and annoy them, until and unless they delivered the food to him.

Harka Bahadur was again in my room, “Ma’am he is eating on credit from the Bengali Restaurant…….. .”

“That’s none of our business, the restaurant owner will take care of his credits,” I said.

However, we warned the new security guard about his behaviour. Even after the warnings, the security guard didn’t seem to change his attitude. So, I made a complaint about his behaviour. Him acting this way and asking for money was having a negative impact on our clients. After a few days, he was transferred and a new security guard was on duty. We felt relieved.

The same morning the delivery boy was at the office gate with his bill, I was busy but I could see him talking to Harka Bahadur at the gate. He talked for a while and went back.

This time I called Harka Bahadur, “What happened Harka, is there any problem?”

“You will not believe Madam, “He was smiling.”

Other office staff gathered near us, everybody wanted to know what had happened. 

“I informed them about that security guard and how he got transferred from here, probably dismissed.” 

 “I scolded him, I asked him how can he trust anyone like this? He ate all his lunch and went away without making payments,” said Harka.

“Do you want to know what he replied,” Harka was curious to explain the agenda

“Just say it, I’m curious,” said Lahana anxiously.

“You know what he said,” Harka Bahadur was smiling

“He said never mind we will reconcile our payments in heaven,” quoted Harka

“I have never met a person like this,”  Bahadur was murmuring, “What a cool guy.”

For a while, it seemed that Bahadur’s stories had lost their essence. He seemed to be very astonished by the owner’s reaction towards what the security guard had done. There was no complaint, no drama, no issues.

However, after a while, Bahadur was back with fresh gossips and stories along with food for lunch.

“You want to know, why we have been lent this office building at such a cheap rent…….”

 His voice became low and he  murmured  “ There is an unsatisfied soul residing here…ghost of a poor student, who was unable to pass his board exam  even after a year of  hard work.. he committed…. Apparently he shows himself at night, his target is the most educated one, as I am an illiterate I am on the safe side……”

We looked at each other and smiled, OMG new story again.