Where My Eyes Wandered

“The job was supposed to be my first beginning in Bangalore. I didn’t know the city had something—or someone—else waiting for me.”

Friday — 10:00 AM

My phone rang.

An unknown number.

I stared at the screen for a few seconds, wondering whether I should answer it or let it ring.

Finally, I picked it up.

“Hello?”

“Hello. Am I speaking to Sarah?”

“Yes.”

“We’re calling from Juvm Technology, Bangalore. Your internship starts from Monday. Please come to the office by 9:30 AM.”

For a second, I didn’t know what to say.

“Okay... sure.”

The call ended.

I stared at my phone.

And just like that—

the long break called unemployment had an ending date.

Monday.

My mind immediately started running in ten different directions.

What should I wear?

What should I take?

What if they ask me something I don’t know?

What if everyone is experienced?

What if I mess up on the first day?

What if I don’t understand anything?

And, of course—

Why did they tell me to come at 9:30 when the office starts at 9?

Questions.

Questions.

Questions.

But there was one thing I knew.

I was finally going to work.

After months of waiting, applying, hoping, worrying and wondering when my turn would finally come, I finally had somewhere to go on Monday morning.

The weekend disappeared faster than I wanted it to.

Saturday went in the usual chaos, followed by one very long sleep—the kind of sleep you enjoy when you know that from Monday onwards, waking up early is no longer optional.

Sunday was mostly rest, shopping and mentally preparing myself for the week ahead.

I bought the things I thought I might need.

Checked my clothes.

Checked my bag.

Checked everything again.

Because apparently, when you’re nervous, checking the same thing five times somehow makes you feel prepared.

But somewhere between all of that, I realised something.

A phase of my life was ending.

That comfortable little phase of waking up without an alarm, staying at home, having no fixed routine and wondering what would happen next—

was finally coming to an end.

And something new was about to begin.

Monday

Monday arrived.

New timing.

New route.

New clothes.

New workplace.

And one nervous girl trying very hard to look like she wasn’t nervous.

My mother dropped me at the office.

Before I got down, she looked at me and gave me the most familiar words possible.

“All the best.”

I smiled.

“Thank you.”

She waved goodbye, and I stood there for a moment, looking at the building in front of me.

So this was it.

My first step into professional life.

For a moment, I just stood there.

A little nervous.

A little excited.

A little scared.

And honestly?

A little lost.

Of course, being me, I had already received some very important instructions from home.

Apparently, there was one unofficial rule for my new workplace.

Be humble.

Very humble.

Because the person who had interviewed me was known to someone in my family.

So, according to my family, I wasn’t just entering an office.

I was entering a place where my behaviour apparently had a family monitoring system.

Funny?

A little.

Annoying?

Maybe.

But I had no choice.

I accepted my fate.

I called HR.

A girl came downstairs, greeted me warmly and took me upstairs.

The formalities were completed in the cafeteria.

The place was actually quite nice.

People were sitting around, talking, working, moving in and out.

Some were having conversations.

Some were working on laptops.

Some looked like they had already been there for years.

And I?

I sat there with my documents, trying my best to look calm.

Inside?

Absolute chaos.

I didn’t know where to look.

I didn’t know what to do with my hands.

I just sat there and observed everything around me.

And then—

I noticed someone.

Not intentionally.

It was just a glance.

Someone standing somewhere nearby.

Tall.

Perfect height.

A well-kept beard.

The kind of beard that every girl who has watched enough K-dramas and Indian movies knows exactly how to notice.

I looked once.

Then looked away.

Okay.

Nothing.

Just a person.

Just a glimpse.

That’s it.

At least, that’s what I told myself.

I didn’t even know his name.

So there was absolutely no reason for my brain to remember his face.

Right?

A few minutes later, HR came back and took me to the tech cabin.

I walked in.

And immediately noticed something.

Full of boys.

Great.

I quietly found a seat, placed my laptop down and tried to concentrate on what I was supposed to do.

The first task was simple.

Read the basics.

Learn.

Understand.

Try not to look completely lost.

I opened my laptop and started going through the material.

And then suddenly—

the door opened.

Two people walked in.

I looked up.

And froze for half a second.

Because one of them was—

him.

The same person I’d noticed upstairs.

For some reason, my brain suddenly became very interested in the fact that I had noticed him.

Oh.

There was a tiny blush somewhere inside me.

I immediately ignored it.

The first person introduced himself.

“Hi, I’m Jasper. I’m a Senior Developer.”

The other introduced himself as Varun, also a Senior Developer.

They spoke casually, like it was just another normal day at work.

For me?

It was anything but normal.

Then everyone around me started introducing themselves.

One by one.

And finally—

my turn.

I took a small breath.

“Hi, I’m Sarah. I completed my college in Chennai.”

A pause.

“I know Java... well, the basics.”

I smiled awkwardly.

“And now I’ve taken the frontend track, so I’m learning that.”

And that was it.

No dramatic entrance.

No perfect introduction.

No idea what the next few months were going to look like.

Just me.

A laptop.

A new profession.

A room full of strangers.

And one familiar face I had somehow already noticed twice.

That was how I began working with a team of strangers.

I thought I was only starting an internship.

I didn’t know I was also stepping into a story.

A story that had already begun with a single glance.

The first day sounded exciting in my head.

But the reality?

Sitting in one place for the entire day and reading the basics was... boring.

Actually—

Not just boring.

Very boring.

My college life had been completely different.

It wasn’t the usual kind of college where every single class was compulsory and someone was constantly checking whether you were sitting in your seat.

If you were interested in attending a class, you attended.

If you weren’t—

Well...

Nobody was going to chase you down the corridor.

We had enough freedom.

There were days when we bunked classes, wandered around, went wherever we wanted, came back when we felt like it, or simply went home.

As long as we maintained the required attendance, everything was fine.

It was a comfortable little world.

A very comfortable little world.

And now suddenly—

9 AM to 6 PM.

One chair.

One laptop.

One place.

And absolutely no disappearing in the middle of the day.

I looked at the screen.

Then at the clock.

Then back at the screen.

The clock seemed to be personally against me.

How has only twenty minutes passed?

I checked again.

Twenty-three minutes.

I sighed.

This was definitely going to take some getting used to.

College had taught me how to survive assignments, exams, presentations, deadlines and last-minute preparation.

But apparently, nobody had taught me how to sit in one place for eight hours without escaping.

I looked around.

Everyone seemed to know what they were doing.

People were typing.

Talking.

Working.

Moving around with confidence.

And I was sitting there trying to understand what half the things on my screen even meant.

It suddenly hit me.

I wasn’t a college student anymore.

Nobody was going to tell me what to study for an exam.

Nobody was going to give me two days off before a deadline.

Nobody was going to say,

“It’s okay, you can submit it tomorrow.”

This was different.

This was work.

And whether I liked it or not, I had to adapt.

After all, I had spent long enough waiting for an opportunity.

Now that I finally had one, I couldn’t complain about the rules that came with it.

So I took a breath.

Adjusted my chair.

Looked back at my laptop.

And continued reading.

Maybe this place wasn’t going to feel comfortable immediately.

Maybe I would miss my college freedom.

Maybe I would count the hours every single day.

Maybe there would be days when I would wonder why I had chosen this path.

But this was the beginning.

My first real step into the professional world.

And beginnings were never supposed to be easy.

They were supposed to be unfamiliar.

A little uncomfortable.

Sometimes boring.

Sometimes exciting.

And sometimes—

unexpected.

I didn’t know what Monday would bring.

I didn’t know who would become my friends.

I didn’t know who would become my mentors.

I didn’t know how much I would struggle.

I didn’t know how much I would learn.

And I definitely didn’t know that among all the new faces around me, one particular face would slowly become familiar.

For now, though, he was just a stranger.

A stranger whose name I had only heard a few minutes ago.

Jasper.

And I was just Sarah.

The new girl.

The girl who had no idea what she was doing.

The girl who had walked into a completely unfamiliar world with a laptop, a nervous smile and a lot of questions.

I looked at the screen again.

And smiled to myself.

This was my new zone.

And somehow—

I had to learn how to belong in it.