02-01-2019, 05:12 PM
Ramesh 2/2
The old man was already seated and the maître d' guided me over to him. He half rose from the seat as I greeted him. I slid across the opposite seat. The waiter poured me a glass of water and I took a sip.
“So Mr. Ramesh, tell me how you are”, he said, “We have been trying to find you for so long and it seems you had vanished. No one had your contact information.”
“What?”, the surprise on my face must have been plainly visible to him.
“Yes, what is this you say on your email is confusing to us. We were said that you left job without saying where you were going.”
The world stood still. I picked my words carefully,
“Sir, I was sacked from my job because it was explained to me that your company would sign the deal only if I was removed from the company.”
He paused a second and then said, “But why should we want that? All we said was that you should remain in charge of the SPV that we would be setting up for the implementation of the project here. But your Mr. Rao said that your company policy didn’t allow that and though we persisted with this demand, he didn’t agree. Actually that reason is why we are so late in finalizing the deal”
Everything had suddenly fallen silent around me. In a moment of clarity I could see through the entire conspiracy. Rao had used the opportunity to bring me down and force me towards accepting their diabolical plans for Kajol’s surrogate motherhood. The treachery was too much to bear, I hung my head …
“Your proposal was so good in design and approach, that we had accepted it in principle on the first day. But we wanted a suitable person to handle it, and so, we were studying you, examining your suitability for the job. Personally, I was of the opinion that you have the right aptitude and talent for the job; you lacked experience … thought you understood that all the time … and then we heard that you had left … and we were so sorry to lose you …
I half closed my eyes, listening to him as he rambled on. My goodness! They had been apprising me personally and not the proposal all the time. And what Ching was saying that their Chairman had been so impressed with my presentation that hewanted that an offer be made directly to me to head the special purpose vehicle that they would be setting up here for their market entry. But Mr. Ching had argued that that would put too much pressure on me outright. So instead he had suggested in imparting some hands on experience in international trading, right in one of their international offices and then to launch the country wide operation after an year when I would have been groomed.
My mind boggled at the sheer magnitude of what he was suggesting. Me to have international exposure, work overseas for an year, ceo of an spv, albeit a small one – I stopped thinking altogether.
“So tell me, what happened. Which job you have taken and would you still like to come to work for HK Corp?”, he asked.
I told him everything, all that had taken place on that eventful day and the manner of my dismissal, leaving out the Kajol angle. Mr. Ching couldn’t believe any of that, - Mr. Rao had been so adroit, so deft in spreading disinformation about myself.
He stopped me when I told him that I hadn’t got any job offers yet.
“Mr. Ramesh; I would like to appoint you as an entry level executive to work in our New York office as per current standard compensation basis. Would you be willing to join us. Of course, I would be happy to appoint your team members too, for the wonderful work that they could produce in such a small time. Now, are you interested to join us?”
I nodded my head feverishly.
“Fine”, he said, “I will send for you a five year job contract – which you may collect tomorrow from our associate Sudha Imports tomorrow. They will handle all the paperwork for your travel etc. By the way will 55k usd be acceptable to you as the starting. Of course, we compensate on merit and performance?”
I didn’t trust to open my mouth, lest this beautiful dream end. I just nodded.
He was rising to go but sat down again with a thoughtful expression on his face. “I am thinking just now. You don’t have a job right now. So join ours from today – in principle. You can sign the documents in our Singapore itself, where I would like you to work in head office for a couple of months before you go to New York. And also, there is no need for your old boss to know about these arrangements - what do you say? ”
“Yes sir, certainly sir”, I croaked. ‘Fuck Rao’, I said to myself.
“Then let us finish the pro forma documents. I will ask them to fax those to Sudha Imports.”
A couple of hours later, I was dropped at home. In my pocket there was a cheque made out to me by HKC’s local associate Sudha Imports. The cheque was for a very indecent amount.
* * *
The moment I entered into my apartment, I felt weary – extremely weary. The ding-dong that fate had been playing with me – I smiled ruefully. Still it was way better to be on the right side – I thought. I collapsed on the sofa saying a prayer to all the gods that I knew.
When I looked at the watch, it was around three thirty. I felt the urgent need to share the news with someone. ‘Who with now?’, I thought. Kajol would be probably commuting back home and of course; I had to think of carefully what to say to her – had to make up a plausible story for her … who else then. The only person left was Preeti – that kept of Rao; and suddenly it was a moment of schadenfreude – I would be killing two birds in one – showing the bitch her place and sending her back with egg on her face to her master as well…
“Preeti, I have decided on the proposition”, I called her up and said.
“Oh! Have you?” Her voice sounded heavy.
“But I want to tell you in person, can you come over?”
“Yes, yes; right away”, she said and hung up. There was something in her tone I couldn’t place.
Later when she was inside; I had a look at her face – it was heavy with tension. I wanted to capture her exact expressions – the way it would break when she heard the news.
“Preeti, you would be happy to know that I have got a job today. So you can go and tell Rao to go and shove the proposition in his ass.”
Her eyes grew wide as I had expected.
“A job – a job with whom?”, she stuttered.
“HKC.”
“I don’t believe that. Why are you making such a story.”
“No dear”, I rubbed it in, “Mr. Ching – you remember the one who had hosted us lunch – well I met him today and look here – I picked up copies of my employment contract and waved it before her face.” I had reneged on my word to Ching to remain silent, but what the heck!
She stood rooted to the ground and then moved forward for what I thought to have a look at the papers I held in my hand. But I was in for another surprise. She ran directly towards me, hugged me tight and started crying outright.
I was totally nonplussed. That was the last thing I was expecting from her. Why the hell was she crying out so loud?
“There, there”, I said trying to separate her from me, but she won’t go despite my gentle efforts. Perforce I had to pat her back, her head waiting for her to calm down.
“Come on. You are a brave girl”, I kissed her head this time, “Tell me, tell me your problem.”
Amidst the violent racking of her chest, she said; “You have any idea what I have been going through since this all started … you were celebrating lunch with the boys … and I was ordered to write your resignation letter for you … you know what it felt like … like cutting out an arm … while you were clearing your desk … I was crying my heart out alone in the conference room … but did you ever notice that … did you? … …
I felt like a dog that had been kicked in the ribs. What had I been thinking?
Gently, I shepherded her to the sofa and made her sit alongside. I wiped her face of tears and smudge; and made her sip a little water. Though still sobbing, she settled down considerably …
She looked at me and said in a very small voice, “Take me with you, take me anywhere …”
“What are you saying”, I asked in surprise.
“Do you know, why I had to come to tell you of Rao’s proposal. It was either to have you agreed to it or for me to be prepared to entertain any of our company clients. That’s the ultimatum that Rao had issued to me – and it had to be in a week’s time. He had added that if this was not acceptable, then I could of course be easily replace.”
My blood curdled.
I looked at her. “Pteeti, this is serious. Tell me if you are willing to work for HK Corp. right now.” I looked at my watch. “I might just catch Ching before he goes back.”
She jumped from the sofa and sat on the floor. Holding my hand she said excitedly “Yes, yes, yes. Is that possible?”<
“Let’s see”, I said and immediately called up Mr. Ching, whose number had been recently added to my list of contacts.
“Mr. Ching; I hope I am disturbing you sir. I just talked to one of my old team members – miss preeti sir – the one who had joined me at Singapore – if you remember her sir – well she is interested to join HK Corp sir – if you see ...”
Mr. Ching’s voice cut through, “Of course I remember that young lady – she has such great communication skills – have her send her cv and we will find something suitable for her as well and of course no need to get a reference from her boss”, he chuckled “But let’s say; let she join two weeks later so as not to cause any disturbance.”
I hung up after profusely thanking him. I turned towards Preeti and smiled. Her eyes had welled up and she made no effort to stop the tears flowing down.
“Silly girl”, I pulled her up and kissed her on the lips, “stop crying and get that cv ready.” But she didn’t stop. She had placed her head on my shoulders and let the tears flow with silent sobs. I let her have her way.
Much later, when she had become normal, I had shown her my job contract and the advance cheque. She was happy and I saw her laugh in a long time – that I could remember. It was evening when she left and I let out a deep breath.
“What a day this had turned out to be.”
The old man was already seated and the maître d' guided me over to him. He half rose from the seat as I greeted him. I slid across the opposite seat. The waiter poured me a glass of water and I took a sip.
“So Mr. Ramesh, tell me how you are”, he said, “We have been trying to find you for so long and it seems you had vanished. No one had your contact information.”
“What?”, the surprise on my face must have been plainly visible to him.
“Yes, what is this you say on your email is confusing to us. We were said that you left job without saying where you were going.”
The world stood still. I picked my words carefully,
“Sir, I was sacked from my job because it was explained to me that your company would sign the deal only if I was removed from the company.”
He paused a second and then said, “But why should we want that? All we said was that you should remain in charge of the SPV that we would be setting up for the implementation of the project here. But your Mr. Rao said that your company policy didn’t allow that and though we persisted with this demand, he didn’t agree. Actually that reason is why we are so late in finalizing the deal”
Everything had suddenly fallen silent around me. In a moment of clarity I could see through the entire conspiracy. Rao had used the opportunity to bring me down and force me towards accepting their diabolical plans for Kajol’s surrogate motherhood. The treachery was too much to bear, I hung my head …
“Your proposal was so good in design and approach, that we had accepted it in principle on the first day. But we wanted a suitable person to handle it, and so, we were studying you, examining your suitability for the job. Personally, I was of the opinion that you have the right aptitude and talent for the job; you lacked experience … thought you understood that all the time … and then we heard that you had left … and we were so sorry to lose you …
I half closed my eyes, listening to him as he rambled on. My goodness! They had been apprising me personally and not the proposal all the time. And what Ching was saying that their Chairman had been so impressed with my presentation that hewanted that an offer be made directly to me to head the special purpose vehicle that they would be setting up here for their market entry. But Mr. Ching had argued that that would put too much pressure on me outright. So instead he had suggested in imparting some hands on experience in international trading, right in one of their international offices and then to launch the country wide operation after an year when I would have been groomed.
My mind boggled at the sheer magnitude of what he was suggesting. Me to have international exposure, work overseas for an year, ceo of an spv, albeit a small one – I stopped thinking altogether.
“So tell me, what happened. Which job you have taken and would you still like to come to work for HK Corp?”, he asked.
I told him everything, all that had taken place on that eventful day and the manner of my dismissal, leaving out the Kajol angle. Mr. Ching couldn’t believe any of that, - Mr. Rao had been so adroit, so deft in spreading disinformation about myself.
He stopped me when I told him that I hadn’t got any job offers yet.
“Mr. Ramesh; I would like to appoint you as an entry level executive to work in our New York office as per current standard compensation basis. Would you be willing to join us. Of course, I would be happy to appoint your team members too, for the wonderful work that they could produce in such a small time. Now, are you interested to join us?”
I nodded my head feverishly.
“Fine”, he said, “I will send for you a five year job contract – which you may collect tomorrow from our associate Sudha Imports tomorrow. They will handle all the paperwork for your travel etc. By the way will 55k usd be acceptable to you as the starting. Of course, we compensate on merit and performance?”
I didn’t trust to open my mouth, lest this beautiful dream end. I just nodded.
He was rising to go but sat down again with a thoughtful expression on his face. “I am thinking just now. You don’t have a job right now. So join ours from today – in principle. You can sign the documents in our Singapore itself, where I would like you to work in head office for a couple of months before you go to New York. And also, there is no need for your old boss to know about these arrangements - what do you say? ”
“Yes sir, certainly sir”, I croaked. ‘Fuck Rao’, I said to myself.
“Then let us finish the pro forma documents. I will ask them to fax those to Sudha Imports.”
A couple of hours later, I was dropped at home. In my pocket there was a cheque made out to me by HKC’s local associate Sudha Imports. The cheque was for a very indecent amount.
* * *
The moment I entered into my apartment, I felt weary – extremely weary. The ding-dong that fate had been playing with me – I smiled ruefully. Still it was way better to be on the right side – I thought. I collapsed on the sofa saying a prayer to all the gods that I knew.
When I looked at the watch, it was around three thirty. I felt the urgent need to share the news with someone. ‘Who with now?’, I thought. Kajol would be probably commuting back home and of course; I had to think of carefully what to say to her – had to make up a plausible story for her … who else then. The only person left was Preeti – that kept of Rao; and suddenly it was a moment of schadenfreude – I would be killing two birds in one – showing the bitch her place and sending her back with egg on her face to her master as well…
“Preeti, I have decided on the proposition”, I called her up and said.
“Oh! Have you?” Her voice sounded heavy.
“But I want to tell you in person, can you come over?”
“Yes, yes; right away”, she said and hung up. There was something in her tone I couldn’t place.
Later when she was inside; I had a look at her face – it was heavy with tension. I wanted to capture her exact expressions – the way it would break when she heard the news.
“Preeti, you would be happy to know that I have got a job today. So you can go and tell Rao to go and shove the proposition in his ass.”
Her eyes grew wide as I had expected.
“A job – a job with whom?”, she stuttered.
“HKC.”
“I don’t believe that. Why are you making such a story.”
“No dear”, I rubbed it in, “Mr. Ching – you remember the one who had hosted us lunch – well I met him today and look here – I picked up copies of my employment contract and waved it before her face.” I had reneged on my word to Ching to remain silent, but what the heck!
She stood rooted to the ground and then moved forward for what I thought to have a look at the papers I held in my hand. But I was in for another surprise. She ran directly towards me, hugged me tight and started crying outright.
I was totally nonplussed. That was the last thing I was expecting from her. Why the hell was she crying out so loud?
“There, there”, I said trying to separate her from me, but she won’t go despite my gentle efforts. Perforce I had to pat her back, her head waiting for her to calm down.
“Come on. You are a brave girl”, I kissed her head this time, “Tell me, tell me your problem.”
Amidst the violent racking of her chest, she said; “You have any idea what I have been going through since this all started … you were celebrating lunch with the boys … and I was ordered to write your resignation letter for you … you know what it felt like … like cutting out an arm … while you were clearing your desk … I was crying my heart out alone in the conference room … but did you ever notice that … did you? … …
I felt like a dog that had been kicked in the ribs. What had I been thinking?
Gently, I shepherded her to the sofa and made her sit alongside. I wiped her face of tears and smudge; and made her sip a little water. Though still sobbing, she settled down considerably …
She looked at me and said in a very small voice, “Take me with you, take me anywhere …”
“What are you saying”, I asked in surprise.
“Do you know, why I had to come to tell you of Rao’s proposal. It was either to have you agreed to it or for me to be prepared to entertain any of our company clients. That’s the ultimatum that Rao had issued to me – and it had to be in a week’s time. He had added that if this was not acceptable, then I could of course be easily replace.”
My blood curdled.
I looked at her. “Pteeti, this is serious. Tell me if you are willing to work for HK Corp. right now.” I looked at my watch. “I might just catch Ching before he goes back.”
She jumped from the sofa and sat on the floor. Holding my hand she said excitedly “Yes, yes, yes. Is that possible?”<
“Let’s see”, I said and immediately called up Mr. Ching, whose number had been recently added to my list of contacts.
“Mr. Ching; I hope I am disturbing you sir. I just talked to one of my old team members – miss preeti sir – the one who had joined me at Singapore – if you remember her sir – well she is interested to join HK Corp sir – if you see ...”
Mr. Ching’s voice cut through, “Of course I remember that young lady – she has such great communication skills – have her send her cv and we will find something suitable for her as well and of course no need to get a reference from her boss”, he chuckled “But let’s say; let she join two weeks later so as not to cause any disturbance.”
I hung up after profusely thanking him. I turned towards Preeti and smiled. Her eyes had welled up and she made no effort to stop the tears flowing down.
“Silly girl”, I pulled her up and kissed her on the lips, “stop crying and get that cv ready.” But she didn’t stop. She had placed her head on my shoulders and let the tears flow with silent sobs. I let her have her way.
Much later, when she had become normal, I had shown her my job contract and the advance cheque. She was happy and I saw her laugh in a long time – that I could remember. It was evening when she left and I let out a deep breath.
“What a day this had turned out to be.”
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