Ranjan was a lowly officer in the large private organization specializing in film and video productions. However, despite his low rank, he had been making many creative contributions in various stages of productions for which he never received any official recognition as was customary in the bureaucratic hierarchy, only the concerned superior sometimes praising the efforts of he. But Ranjan had always been happy that the people in the circles of power that matter knew exactly what he could accomplish in his specializations, which were often limitless. In fact, he had been doing more extra professional work than he was officially supposed to do or assigned to. He too enjoyed the patterns of bureaucratic behavior on full display everywhere, and was convinced that typical bureaucracy was just as palpable in private offices as in government services, the latter usually being blamed for bureaucratic mentality. Therefore, he was hardly surprised when a superior officer called him in to help with some matters that weren’t officially Ranjan’s concern. He expected the same as always: for this particular superior to also do the work for him and boast of the achievement as his own to his bosses.
That particular superior, called Dinkar by name, headed a completely different section from Ranjan, and under normal circumstances they never collaborated or met regularly. Still, Ranjan knew Dinkar very well; behavior patterns and moods of him. Dinkar was of medium height and dark complexion, with a stocky, muscular build and had a nearly bald head with only a few strands of gray hair appearing haphazardly on the sides. His face was long like a horse’s and he maintained a carefully cut gray beard in a French cut. Ranjan particularly enjoyed his head shining against the daylight, as well as any artificial lamp, and at times seemed to see his image reflected in the bald, shiny surface.
Dinkar always wore a tight smile when dealing with his subordinates; however, Ranjan saw a lot of his teeth whenever he loafed among his superiors and mainly at general meetings when all the bosses were present, and Dinkar was always placed close enough in the seating arrangement; sometimes he also occupied the stage with the bosses as required. Unfortunately, Ranjan was unaware of one of Dinkar’s various traits and realized it too late. Perhaps, he reasoned, Dinkar’s subordinates were afraid to openly discuss that particular trait that might hamper his performance appraisal reports.
Ranjan entered Dinkar’s elegant, acoustically decorated, wood-panelled chamber. He was sitting in his high-backed, padded chair like a benevolent king. He welcomed Ranjan with his customary tight-lipped smile and asked him to take a seat. Without beating around the bush with nonsense, Dinkar went straight to the point. The job was simple, but unusual by Ranjan’s specializations. There was to be a special event involving outside film and video producers, artists, and other dignitaries in a fortnight’s time in his organization’s huge auditorium. What Dinkar wanted from Ranjan was for him to write and design a rare and unique invitation letter that would really excite the guests. And he wanted the job to be completely finished by Ranjan in two days so that the printing job could start immediately afterwards. Ranjan agreed and left promising him various drafts and designs the next day. A cup of tea was conspicuous but expectedly absent.
As promised, Ranjan delivered several computer-designed alternatives with different texts and different font styles and colors for Dinkar’s approval. Dinkar luckily fell in love with one of the drafts and instantly approved it, keeping it as a surprise for his bosses as well. He thanked Ranjan profusely, still toothless and without a cup of tea. Ranjan wished him every success in the event and he left happy.
As the big event approached, Ranjan was excited to receive his own designed invitation letter and to mingle with many TV and movie stars. He was surprised when the invitation didn’t arrive on his desk even the day before the event. He thought that perhaps the people in the office would skip the formalities of official invitations and that Dinkar would call him personally any time until the morning of the event. He too considered calling Dinkar to ask about the arrangements, but hesitated when he decided that Dinkar should be gracious enough to invite him personally. He expected the invitation in any form, and even dressed to the nines the morning of the event.
Absolutely none of that happened. Ranjan was agitated, restless, melancholic and also angry. He helplessly watched a large number of beautiful cars entering the campus from his office window.
Out of his frustration and anger, Ranjan brought up and discussed this appalling behavior by his superior with his colleagues the next day. And then he found out about that particular one of Dinkar’s various traits. That particular feature was religiously following the ‘throwaway policy’ like we do with pens. Several underlings grumpily briefed him on this policy: Dinkar would ask people to do jobs outside of his shift and then dump them as if nothing had happened.
Suddenly feeling light, Ranjan muttered to himself, ‘to hell with you, you hideous demon! What have you achieved, do you cheat? He used me and then he threw me out. It’s okay, you can only do it once. The next time you call me for anything, you’ll know the kind of person I am…! All the while she was fiddling with the glass paperweight on his desk, as if she liked the idea of throwing it squarely at that shiny head or blowing hard into his face to make those hidden teeth come out.