If office politics,visibility games,groupism are the to-dos in the rule book on how to get promotions and good appraisals,then what happens to those who just go on doing their job? Meet Chandrashekhar,protagonist in the play IT Professional,who does just that works hard and is the best in office,but fails to gain a good appraisal because he did not 'network' well enough with the bosses. The comic play pivots around the intricacies of the professional life of an IT company employee and portrays the challenges they face daily. I have been a part of the IT industry for the past six years. When I was pondering over a theme for the play,one of my friend suggested as to why cant it be about our own lives? At first everyone laughed it off,but subsequently agreed to work on it,'' says Yogesh Baldotra,the director of the play. So is it a real life story? Well,I can say 90 per cent of it is true and any one who is working in the IT industry will easily be able to relate with the characters. The play begins with the mental breakdown that Chandrashekhar faces after getting to know that he did not get a good appraisal,in spite of him being the epitome of passionate workaholism. The story is about whether he remains the same weakling or does he change for the better, says Baldothra. He feels that there is a preconceived notion on how boring techies are. The play is a little effort from his part to break this myth. People have this general notion that an IT profile is a white collar one with a hefty salary package. But the fact is that there are also challenges,and I wanted to depict them. Eight out of the 10 main characters of the play are techies informs Baldothra. For Chandni Choraria,who is perusing her MBBS,playing the lead role as an IT professional was a different experience all together. When I went for the audition I told them that I don't know anything about the IT profession. But while working with them during the practice sessions,I got to know more about the technical side of the job. It is obviously totally different from the medical field. I am hoping to give a good performance, says Choraria. (Catch the play at Ambedkar Bavan on August 29,at 6:00 pm. The play will be followed by two comedy short films called ashiqi@google.com and It's a love game)
