THE MALADY OF A HUG!

THE MALADY OF A HUG

Life has brought my fair share of instances where I have been hugged. Some are romantically inclined, while others out of friendship and yet others for lending support or for support. Now I am all ok with the practice of hugging for all above reasons and some more. Though what I am not ok are unexplainable ones. You don’t know what to do with unexplainable ones. I dunno if I am expected to hug back in such cases or feel offended or do nothing.

I aint saying that I hate it. No, all I am saying is that these hugs have me confused.
No bloody perverts, not ‘confused’ as in confused about my sexuality, but confused as in the purpose of the hug.

Now many would wonder why I am ranting about hugs here. I again point out this aint a rant. This is a civilised introspective dialogue with the readers, monosyllabic maybe but nevertheless a dialogue. Thus dialogue is inspired by a recent hug I from a very high ranking board member of the company I work for. It wasn’t the hug itself that confused but more the circumstances.

This is the plot. I walked into the gentleman’s office for a matter. The situation with the matter involved a bit of mild inconvenience for him which made him mildly irritated to put it mildly. Anyway he calmed down decided to deal with the matter with all its inconvenience, damn admirable I must say. Later on the same evening I went to met him to get a feedback on the matter. I was informed by his secretary that our gentlemen seemed to be still a bit peeved about the whole affair, to put it mildly. The wise secretary (though in retrospect not that wise) suggested I get my senior and let him enter the lions den. So I called in the reinforcement in the avatar of my senior.

But somewhere along the way some sort miscommunication happened as a result of which my senior conveyed to the gentleman that I was standing outside scared to enter like a rat quivering outside the lions den. On hearing this, the gentleman was apologetic and surprised. He called me in and upon seeing profusely apologised and tried comforting me in the assumption I was scared of him. He further tried pacifying with a handshake and when I thought that was that, he came around the table and hugged me.

Suffice to say I was baffled and felt the entire situation surreal. I had to hug him back and I was immediately distracted by the nice way his suit material felt. Thus here I was standing like idiot all grinning while this fine hearted gentleman was saying sorry and hugging me. I was bloody confused at the entire scene that seems to have unfolded. As I left the office in a daze, I literally shook my head to clear the old noodle. I realised I was just hugged by a guy who even needn’t know of my existence for no apparent reason.

For a long time now I have spend pondering over the hug. It baffled me, this hug and that man. I wouldn’t say I lost sleep over it but definitely a few winks. I asked all the experts of hugging manner of big men, even they were baffled. Most tried to mollify me by saying, be glad it wasn’t hugs and kisses. Now that would have been even more troubling. Anyway whatever they said, I was still perturbed.

A few days later I met the gentleman for another matter. As we were discussing the trivialities of that matter, my mind was building up the courage to get into the core of that hug. It seems it was then he remembered who I was (till that point I was messenger boy) and went on to explain how his ego got him peeved and the result of which I got scared (which I like to point out I was not) and he felt the need to comfort me. I guess now that’s why he hugged me. It was to comfort me. Well nicely intended though it did anything but comfort me au contraire it just made me bloody antsy.

Some one should give him a hand books on how to hug and find me a handbook to interpret these hugs. Any way the incident has left its mark on me and I have been rather more receiving of hugs in more good faith. Of course that just means more chance more lecherous people to take advantage of my innocence.