I had been working at that office for almost a year now, but it was then that I realized I was relatively still new and unaware, inexperienced in handling a situation as such...

I'd seen him a couple times at work, a middle-aged man, of a culture similar as mine, working in the same domain as I was at that company. At first, he was just another employee from a different team all-together, who I would encounter while just passing by certain areas of our office. In a couple months, I had an encounter with him on a one-day workshop when he too was a part of not only the activity, but also my team. It was there it all started - at first, it didn't really go down well, and was difficult for me to digest that this man was actually doing things like stepping on my foot, trying to stand as close to me as possible, and in that process also pushing me to the wall at times!

I was terrified - terrified by the act, but scared to question or react since it was my first few months at the workplace. I was wondering, am I overreacting? Was he actually trying to do what I felt or was it by accident? Does this even happen today, in workplaces like these? in countries like these, where we talk about equality and rights?
I was glad that I had to just spend a day there, and that I was done with it and would never have to work with him ever again.

However - just a couple months back, when I got a chance to work on a different team on an interesting new project, I met him there and learnt I will be working with him as well. This was a crucial point for me in my career that I couldn't avoid - I was between the devil and the deep sea since leaving that opportunity meant I would leave the company - and going there meant working with that man - this time 24x7.
Thinking that I would be able to avoid him and stay at distance, I chose to work there.

For the first month, I was trying to get well acquainted with the project, understand the team structure and begin my work. I had started getting along with the team - not only this, I'd also started working with "that employee" since he too was a part of the project. His gazes towards me were sometimes not inappropriate (is something I feel now) but I'd also started feeling then that maybe his actions months ago couldn't really be done now (I thought he wouldn't dare to) and that I was afraid for no reason. In the heart of hearts, I felt good for not giving up on this opportunity for a reason that seemed so silly now.

But I was wrong - after working together for the last month, one fine morning when I was in a meeting with him, discussing about my ideas, working on my laptop, he slyly slid his hand on mine and started intertwining his finger into mine. I was shocked and I didn't realise this was coming. His touch annoyed me, made me feel dirty even though it was just the hand on hand. But at this point, I couldn't raise any issues since I was already someone trying to keep an asshole manager happy and stay away from controversies.

This happened a couple more times and I got more intimidated by the thought of going to work. Even though these were touches like hand on hand, stamping on foot, standing too close etc. a couple of my friends and I kept telling myself that it was just a matter of a few weeks for this project to get done and that I would never have to interact with him ever again. Couple reasons for the ignorance being that there were cases previously where we heard HR asking for proof, and such issues not being taken to severe action since the offender was on a relatively high position in the organization. I also needed a review from him at the end of my project, which was one main concern for me.

A few days passed by without any such instances, and then came the big one. This man didn't leave the meeting room after a team meeting and asked me to show my work. He got his chair closer to mine and literally so close, that I was stuck to the wall, on one side of the room and next to me was him, with the rest of the room vacant.
While I was trying to keep myself composed and show the work he asked for, he gradually started rubbing his knee to mine, and in a fraction of a second, the back of his hand touched my chest. I froze and started stammering, however I stopped talking. He noticed someone pass by the room and immediately took his hand behind. All this happened so fast - so fast that it didn't seem anything happened.

All this while, he was trying to make me feel comfortable, trying to make every move very cautiously (now it seems like he was a professional at it!) and his moves were so well played that it didn't leave any room for raising an issue or proving it wrong.

I cried and denied going to work, spent sleepless nights, tried avoiding meetings and did everything in my capacity to just try and forget it and focus on my work, but this couldn't happen. I minimized my interaction with him and tried to work by myself, which is when he started using work as an excuse to berate me and started keeping taps on my progress.

I now knew that either he would not provide me with my deserved rating if I don't communicate well, or if I do, then he will surely try and touch me again. This time, I decided to go into a meeting and video him using my phone. And he touched my hand and leg again - it wasn't the intensity as before, maybe he was cautious after all this while, or guarded, but part of it happened.

I have the video of him touching my hand and rubbing his legs to mine. I also have his chats to me, asking for personal information, talking casually and "trying" to flirt (but smartly, not directly).

I indirectly spelt this out to his manager on the same project, who I assume understood I didn't want to work with him anymore, gave me the authority to do as I wanted. I worked solo, finished everything with that team, got my rating from his manager instead, and got done with it.

Even today, even when I've moved to a different team and project now, and I have no interaction with him, I received his email recently asking about my whereabouts and how things are going for me, to which I choose not to respond.

I haven't spelt it out to the HR or any other authority only because of the fact that I feel I lack sufficient proof and that he would know of the complainant, and also that he would still be working here due to his position and my insufficient evidence. Recently, after talking to a colleague, I realised another employee has experienced the same emails or chats with him, which seem awkward and out of place, but insufficient evidence.

Workplace culture seems to be easy to handle, especially today when we talk about things like feminism, rights, equality and justice. However, companies are still going to try and shield their "experienced" employees against the newer ones, and I realised this sad truth after having this experience.