Babe in the Woods...

The flight landed in Singapore the next crazy morning. The Singapore Airlines Business Class was comfortable in terms of the flatbeds and colorfully dressed airhostesses. Aarwen caught up on the movie ‘Kungfu Panda’ and was wondering what the hype was all about when the landing announcement happened.
‘Singapore ..here I come. Just be half as good as Mumbai and I can deal with the rest.’ She thought to herself picking up her luggage from the conveyor belt.
The service apartment was convenient , clean and luxurious. She decided to quickly shower and rush to office, ‘lets rip the band-aid right off.’ She took a shot of coffee and was on her way! (God bless the Ethiopian who discovered coffee!)
Office was a sprawling building in the heart of the business district surrounded by other investment banks.
Have you ever noticed how Investment banks always huddle around each other. Everywhere, that is of consequence in the world, you will find all the investment banking offices within walking distance from each other if not in the same building. Look at Wall Street, London, Singapore or Hongkong. They seem to be a species that hunts in packs :) or are just too scared they will perish as a lone rider.
First day in on a new job always makes you feel like a ‘BIG Endless QUESTION Mark’. Anyone and everyone keeps feeding answers to you. And to top it all, she was a curious soul. She loved asking questions.
Her new boss greeted her and introduced her around. Angela was a Singaporean brought up in US. Her accent was American, food habits - Japanese, parents - Chinese, husband - Dutch and her daughter was named Meera after an Indian deity. (Ah the gift of globalization - choice!) Aarwen was amused and curious at the cosmopolitan and exotic nature of her life, multi-cultural and fast. Obviously, she had much to learn about Angela in the days to come.
In her ignorance she asked Angela if she noticed how women are so overly dressed up in this city and so skinny? What is the obsession with being fair? Angela shifted uncomfortably unsure and Aarwen hurried on to change the topic.
Why do people hate questions? Because it makes them think and hence , uncomfortable? Or just because they don’t have the answers. And still they are doing things without ever bothering to figure it out.
Her new workstation was a mess as the previous owner left in a hurry. She wondered how long it will take her to call it her own. She cleared it, hooked up the laptop and logged on to her mails and chat. The day sped by fast. Her old team came online and chatted with her for hours. She ran and got herself a new SIM card and sent her new number to everyone that mattered. Once the lifeline was restored she could breathe.

‘Day one wasn’t so bad’, she mused to herself on her way back to the apartment and crashed without changing out of office clothes. As she slid into the deeper layers of slumber she thought ,‘Have you ever met someone who would not do a thing until he/she had figured out the answer to that first?’