Life is a circle

Our company has seen a trend for the last 6-7 years that people spend 2-3 years here and then they join our client company. They become client contacts on one of the many projects we handle here. 2 years back I had a team-mate in this company with whom I shared a good friendship. We both were on the same level as in title/position and pay package, but never did any thought of personal competition ever cross my mind. It might be due to the fact that I knew I was working hard enough to prove myself better than the rest of the lot. One fine day this friend of mine told me that he has resigned from our company and is joining the client company. Frankly speaking, this was a pleasant surprise to me, pleasant because I was happy for him and surprised because I wasn’t aware that there was a vacancy at the client side and many people from our company had actually applied there.

Later when he went abroad, another common friend of ours told me that since most of the client contacts were pretty much impressed with my work, the friend had kept me in dark about the vacancy. For a moment I felt bad that I had not been pro-active to look up some sites but never blamed anyone else since they were looking for a job switch and they did what they thought was right for them. I mailed this friend asking him how he was putting up in the new country and asked him to pass over his new mobile number. He replied back that he was a client now and I was a contractor/vendor so he wanted to maintain a distance. I actually felt bad reading that reply. I was looking for my moment of vengeance since that day and a few days back I got the message that this guy was terminated on grounds of poor performance. Now he is jobless and with added responsibility of a newly married life. Sweet revenge? Actually it should have been but I felt sad for him. Maybe I should thank him for not letting me know the vacancy otherwise I would have applied, got selected (another client contact who is a senior told me last month that they were expecting my resume for that post and had finalized before the interviews to pick me up) and maybe got kicked out due to the recession period. I should be happy that I stayed back, did good job on the work front, convinced two sets of parents that I was a good boy for the girl I wanted to marry, got married with her, and I am spending a good time with my set of wonderful friends. Yes, I did miss out on a better pay package. I did miss out going abroad. But I am sure my turn will come one day. After all, life goes full circle.