The familiar ringing tone of my alarm pierced through my fading dreams as I woke up with a start. The day had finally come. I was going to start working. To many, including myself it was a surprise. But what was more surprising was the sudden gush of emotions I felt. I was excited about discovering the new phase of my life, feared the unexpected and sensed a feeling of loss and nostalgia. The walls of my room seemed to hold no answers to the innumerable questions that crossed my mind as I sat staring into the distance deep in thought. Hearing my mother call out to me, I finally dragged myself out of bed and noticed the neatly ironed shirt and pair of trousers that she had carefully picked out and smiled to myself. That morning my appetite had deserted me. After a string of advices I finally left home. The cab was late by twenty minutes.
As I reached, it was an eight-story building and the atmosphere of the corporate world that seemed like a shroud around it that greeted me. It was lunchtime and the crowd seemed to be getting bigger as I stood there waiting for the lift. And unfortunately that day only two of the four lifts seemed to be working. Finally the lift opened up to the fifth floor and I walked to the Security Desk where I met my batch mates. They seemed as perplexed and nervous as I was. The Security Guard clad in a blue uniform directed us a room and I managed to seat myself on the first bench. Unknown faces surrounded me and I was glad that Neil, one of my best friends was there. Mr. Deepak, one of the trainers introduced himself. He seemed witty. He introduced the other trainer, Ms. Neelam who was seated at the back. I liked the sound of her voice. We were then asked to introduce ourselves and it seemed to drag on. But the second round of introductions seemed a little more interesting. Our places were changed and we had to introduce another person. This idea to get to know others appealed to me.
We then went to the Tech Park Food Court and my stomach growled in reaction. I found my appetite and managed to eat more than just a morsel of food. After this we happened to stumble upon one of my favorite places- the smoking zone. I was elated. When we went back to our training room a part of me missed the classroom in college and I smiled at the irony. It seemed like it was just yesterday that I was coming up with every possible ruse to get out of class. It was our first day and we already had an assessment test. I didn’t particularly look forward to it but then at the end of it I was happy with my performance. Public Speaking was not so difficult after all. Ms. Karuna and Mr. Joel from the HR then gave us an introduction about the Company. Their speeches were encouraging and I felt a sudden surge of confidence. The day finally came to an end. It was eleven in the night and I stood waiting for my cab in the pleasant Bangalore weather. After bidding good night to my friends I left. The day had worn me out and I was tired. I propped into bed with the same catacomb of thoughts and questions in the morning. But the difference was I knew I would eventually get answers. I was content. It was a start to a new beginning and I had the confidence that I would make something of myself. Those were the last thoughts before I fell into deep slumber.