Pitter patter… sounds of small feet scampering up the stairs of our first floor office. ‘Mr. Magnet’ (Azeem) peeped out of the door. There they were, three ‘young gentlemen’ in school clothes with the mandatory backpacks, eyes sparkling. Azeem could not help smiling. “Hi, what’re you doing here?”, he asked. One of them, the sprightliest, answered hesitantly, “Chetta (elder brother), we saw your door from the road. Wanted to see it close.”
Azeem could not have asked for more. The door was making waves! “Welcome, fellas. We do a lot more things here, you know…
pictures, paintings.”, he tried to make it nontechnical. The future citizens inspected the door with wide open eyes. Azeem called them in and tried to explain what Eunoians are doing. And they left…. toffees in hand.
Our door is special! The original front door was rickety and emaciated. But in the matter of obedience, it proved quite strong-willed! It required the combined strength of at least two Eunoians to put the latch on! We had to make a proper door of it. A brand new one was out of question considering the additional expenses. The consensus was to give it a facelift. But the ‘Captain’ (Unni) was particular. It must reflect our art and be a signature of Eunoians. ‘The Monk’ (Rajesh) suggested that the door be covered in doodles by every Eunoian. We thought it a capital idea! Unni wanted something more; a slogan to highlight our all-round capabilities.
The answer was, of course, ‘This & that, Next & The Rest’.
There were technical problems. The surface was not even. There were wooden blocks set in a pattern. And we had to straighten the frame. A carpenter was called in for repairs. ODN (Jeroy) got another chance to do his magic. He did some wonderful work using putty. The result? The door took on a new life, all straightened up, with a smooth surface! Then came the question of colour.
The inside of the office was already painted white to make it bright. So white was the natural choice. Then it was the turn of every Eunoian to chip in with his own individual doodles. Maya-V (Imod), a past master at cute characters, was at his best. Unni, Rajesh, Mithun, Jeroy, Azeem, Aswarth… all came up with pretty doodles. It was great fun!
We also fitted an outer glass door for protection. The door was finished in two days… a symbol of what Eunoians stand for and hold close to the heart!
