A Comedy of Errors - Part 3

 

Networking, His Worst Nightmare

Raghav disliked people.
Not passionately—just efficiently.

So when his old college group suddenly became active with messages like “Let’s catch up!” and “Networking is important yaar!”, Raghav knew something terrible was coming.

The meet-up was at a café that described itself as “cozy and vibrant”, which meant loud music, uncomfortable chairs, and people pretending to be successful. Raghav arrived on time, which meant everyone else arrived late.

He sat alone for twenty minutes, practicing his nod of polite interest.

When his classmates finally appeared, they were louder, shinier, and clearly winning at life.

“So, what are you doing now?” someone asked him cheerfully—the most dangerous question in human history.

“I’m… looking,” Raghav said.

“Oh nice!” the man replied immediately, having already stopped listening.

Another classmate bragged about promotions, startups, and foreign trips. Raghav nodded like a dashboard toy.

Then came the networking advice.

“You should market yourself!”
“Be confident!”
“Just talk more!”

Raghav smiled thinly. Talking more had never helped him. Once, he spoke during a meeting and the company shut down three months later. Correlation, maybe—but still.

Someone suggested he hand out his résumé.

Raghav pulled out a carefully folded copy. He had printed five. All five were in his bag, damp from yesterday’s rain, now fused together like emotional baggage.

He handed one out anyway.

The paper tore in half.

“Ah,” someone said awkwardly. “Digital copies are better.”

“Yes,” Raghav agreed. “I believe in the future.”

As the evening ended, everyone exchanged contacts enthusiastically. Phones buzzed. Promises were made.

Raghav added five new numbers to his phone.

He texted them all the next day.

No replies.

Two weeks later, one replied accidentally—meant for someone else.

“Sorry wrong chat.”

Raghav stared at the message for a long time, then deleted the contact. It felt like cleaning a wound.

That night, he removed “Good communication skills” from his résumé.

Honesty, he decided, was easier.