One badly groomed day

“Dear K, you have been registered for a course in Communication skills. This is based on a comprehensive assessment  carried out with all project managers.”

I was shell shocked. Poor communication skills! What the heck! Here I was, Vice President, Education at the Company’s Toastmasters Club and I had been nominated for a communications training program. If the people at the club came to know, they would laugh at me. The president may actually demand my resignation if he got to know. How could they have a Vice President, Education with poor communication skills?

My shock turned to resentment. How could Abilash have done this to me? I had always looked up to him like an elder brother or father and he had stabbed me in my back! What had I done to him that he had done this to me? No wonder I had not got my promotion as well. Or were my communication skills really that poor and I was refusing to acknowledge?

After some deep thought, I decided the best thing to do was to broach the topic directly with him instead of letting the wound fester in my mind. I set up a call with him that evening.

“Hi K, how are things going on in India?” He sounded so nice and cheerful. Would he of all people have done this to me? I made small talk for a few minutes and then cut to the issue bothering me. 

“What was that about? I don’t remember recommending you for any communication course. You are pretty decent. I don’t think you need to take any such course.”

“But the Learning and Development department has sent me a mail that says they have identified me for this training based on your feedback on that survey.”

“Oh, now I remember. I had not paid much attention to my responses on that survey. It was on that day you know -the day when I was pissed with you!”

I remembered that day pretty well. He had been pissed with me just once. I still remembered that day vividly. We had had that client meeting. I had forgotten to shave for 3 days running. And that day I had gotten up late and in my hurry to come to office, forgotten to comb as well. As if that was not enough, I had pulled on the old moth eaten looking sweater that was meant for home use. In short, I looked a complete ragamuffin. No wonder he had been so pissed to see me like that in the review meeting. That evening I had gotten a nasty dressing down. The survey must have come in that evening and it seemed like he had vented it out there.

But luckily for me, he was quite gracious. “Don’t worry. I will drop a note to the L&D team and tell them you are not required to take that program.”

Phew! That had been close. That one badly groomed day might have turned out a complete disaster for my career.

This post is a part of #WillYouShave activity at BlogAdda in association with Gillette

I am acknowledging the tag by Ranjith

9 comments:

C Suresh said...

Thank God I never worked in these times :) I have a badly groomed lifetime - not just a day :)

T F Carthick said...

Yeah - Suresh. But that is not the worst thing about corporate world. Married men anyways can't escape grroming - isn't that why they are called bride grooms? Because the bride will groom them for the rest of the lifetime.

indu chhibber said...

;) Ah well,it is good sense to present yourself in front of your wife before leaving home--she will at once point out what all needs to be rectified.Did you do that?

T F Carthick said...

I was not even married at that time. She would never have allowed me to leave the house looking like that.

Vajra said...

Good One Karthik. I had a similar incident in different contrast when I went to bride place for the first time,fortunately she is my fiancee now..:)... I went clean shaved of my beard(Due to scoldings from my mother) and some how she didn't liked that she almost in a stage of rejecting me.....Glad she liked me due to my rough look...:)

T F Carthick said...

Ha, Vajra - girl who likes stubble, eh?

Vajra said...

Ha ha ..Not exactly the rough look but the trimmed look....:) :)

Anonymous said...

Have to agree with Vajra, the stubble look does work ;)

T F Carthick said...

@ TTS - I am wondering if I wrote a post promoting shaving or stubbles.

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