Chapter 4: Isolation

That afternoon, my phone was eerily silent—no memes, no office gossip. I refreshed WhatsApp, expecting the usual flood of GIFs and forwards. Instead—silence. My groups were gone, one by one, like someone erasing my name from the notice board.

A lot of company work happens on WhatsApp—meeting links, client pings, even urgent updates. Kicking me out so openly was just another way to stop me from working.

I asked Kunal who did it. He shrugged, eyes darting away, and said HR had just sent an email to all admins, ordering them to remove me.

He looked like he wanted to help but couldn’t—"Bhai, ab main kya karoon?" written on his face.

Furious, I called Priya:

"Priya, what’s this? Why was I kicked out of the groups? How am I supposed to work? I can take you to labour court for not providing working conditions."

My voice shook with anger. Somewhere in the background, a pressure cooker whistled from the pantry. It all felt surreal.

No point in politeness now. I had to confront her head-on.

"Don’t try to scare me. Getting kicked out is your own fault."

"What fault?"

"You didn’t change your WhatsApp group name as per company policy."

I clenched my jaw. Change what? I wanted to throw my phone.

"Change what? Everyone in this office knows me."

"Don’t shout. Company rule is rule. You didn’t update your group name to your real name plus contact info. How do I know you’re not a competitor’s spy? Of course I can kick you out. If you go to court, it’s because you broke the rule first."

The gall! I wondered if she even believed her own excuses, or just enjoyed seeing me squirm.

But I knew the game—they were waiting for me to lose my temper and quit or slip up so they could fire me for cause.

"Fine, add me back and I’ll change my name immediately."

I spoke through clenched teeth, careful not to shout.

"Submit an application through HRMS first. I’ll add you back after that."

No need to check—I knew they’d set up a whole process just for this. The HR team must be inventing new rules just to see me jump through hoops.

I stared at my phone, the silence heavier than ever. I had the sense that this was only the beginning.