Sharan, Akki and I

Sharan and I met each other for the first time outside the office building. We had reached the parking lot together and were parking our bikes. I needed to shift my bike a little to the right, to allow him space to park his.

“Hey, thanks,” he said.

“Welcome,” I replied.

We headed to the lift together.

“Which floor?” he asked.

“Sixth,” I replied.

“Atlas?”

“Yep.”

“New?”

I nodded

He grinned. “Welcome aboard. I am Sharan. I work in the marketing division.”

I nodded and smiled. “Thanks.”

We reached the sixth floor a few seconds later and headed towards the office.

“See you. Have a great first day,” he said cheerily and headed to his cubicle while I headed towards my office. It was to the left – right beside Akki’s.

 

Akki and I went back a long way. School days to be precise. We were in the ninth standard when he joined school. He was a quiet, unassuming boy who sat all by himself at the back of the classroom. He had joined a few months after the academic session had begun. His father, I got to know, was an army officer who had just been transferred to the city. Akki certainly did not look like an army officer’s son. He was short and lanky, with hair that fell over his forehead. His eyes seemed too big for his freckled face and there was a perpetual look of anxiety that made me wonder how a boy with an army background could be so.

Our class teacher was instrumental in bringing us together. Since Akki had missed out on the earlier lessons, I was asked to help him. I hadn’t been too enthralled with the idea, but I did it nonetheless. Being as extroverted as I was, chatting up with Akki wasn’t an issue. We would sometimes meet at each other’s houses to catch up with the lessons he had missed. His mother was a very warm person and insisted on preparing my favourite delicacies for me. Soon enough, we became good friends and began to hang out together after school. By the time we moved into the Senior Secondary level we were inseparable.

The following year, I moved to Mumbai while he shifted to Delhi and then our careers took over our lives. We were in touch though – but one tends to get lost in the humdrum of daily life and our conversations weren’t as frequent as before.

Till a few months ago.

He had called me with a business proposition. Could I join him his business? The company wasn’t doing as well as he had expected it to and well, I with my dynamism and charisma could get it going. His words, not mine! I agreed. Three months later, I shifted to Delhi.

Akki’s office was bigger than mine. But mine had a window that overlooked a beautifully landscaped garden. The view was fantastic – the kind that can inspire you to come up with good business ideas. There was something very soothing about the view. My Mumbai office had been on the 14th floor and gave me a grand view of the skyline that hovered over the sea. But I disliked the sense of drudgery that was associated with the work I did. There was little freedom of thought and the deadlines were killing. Akki’s offer seemed to be promising.

An hour after reaching the office, I joined Akki for a little chat and coffee.

“I can’t tell you how happy I am to have you join the company,” he said. “We haven’t been doing too well. And Dad’s mad with me. He wasn’t in favour of this business idea of mine. He would have liked me to take up a proper job. He knew I’d never join the army. But he did want me to join the Civil Services.”

He laughed and shrugged. “ Thankfully Mom supports me. She’s even put money into the business.”

“That’s great,” I said. I had always admired his mother – the way she stood up to his father, each time he berated his son. His father was a good man, no doubt, but could never understand why his son wasn’t like him. “You need to be a man,” I remember him saying one evening when Akki had said that he wasn’t interested in football. His mother had interrupted him and said, “One doesn’t need to be interested in football to be a man. Our Akki is a great boy – caring and sensitive. Most importantly, he is a wonderful human being.”

 

I put down my coffee and looked at Akki. He was responding to a text that he had received.

“We will put things right,” I said. “This business is going to pick up soon enough, I promise you.”

He smiled. “Thanks, bro. I still remember how you helped me catch up with my academics. You’ve been a rock. Thanks a ton.”

Just then there was a knock at the door.

“Come in,” he called.

The guy I had met in the parking lot that morning entered.

“Sharan!” Akki greeted him warmly. “So you are back after your break?”

Sharan nodded and looked at me.

“Meet Aditya,” Akki said. “He is my new business partner.”

“We met this morning,” I said.

He grinned. “We did. Though I hadn’t known at that time that you were going to be the new boss.”

“Well,” I said. “Technically, Akki is the real boss.”

“Oh come on,” Akki laughed. “Let’s dispense with this boss nonsense. We’re a team and I’ve been more of a friend to these guys than a boss.”

“I agree,” Sharan said. “He’s really good to us. Anyway, I just came to let you know that I’ve mailed you all the details regarding the Mumbai project.”

“Ah that’s great,” Akki grinned. “I knew you’d get it done within the given time. I am sorry to have rushed you up. But you do know that any delay from our side would be too costly for us to handle.”

“No worries,” Sharan said breezily. “Now let me grab some coffee for myself before I plunge into more work.”

They laughed and Sharan headed out.

“Good guy,” Akki said. “Works hard.”

“Ambitious?” I asked.

“Why not?” he replied.

I nodded. For some reason, I hadn’t taken much of a liking towards him. I also sensed that he didn’t like me too much either. Well, I would need to settle a few things before putting the company back on its feet.

 

 

Changes …

If Atlas Enterprises had to live up to its name, changes would be needed. This was something I had a tough time getting Akki to agree with. The work culture, for instance, needed to be changed. Eight hours were just not going to be enough to achieve the targets that we had envisaged – or rather I had envisaged. Akki, you see, was a great guy but wasn’t imaginative enough to think big. I might sound a bit boorish when I say this, but it was a fact. He was happy to be afloat, pausing at times to smell the sweet fragrance of success and then moving on at a leisurely pace, basking in its glory. Success happens, he would say, whenever luck strikes. Success needs to be made to happen – every bloody time, I would retort. We would then laugh and joke about being as different from each other as chalk and cheese. Thereafter, I would make a few new rules and he would eventually agree. He had no choice. I was here, I told him, to help him recover the ten crore loss that he had suffered. I added that I wasn’t prepared to lose the money and effort that I was ploughing in to make the company work.

 

Employees now needed to report to work at 9.30 in the morning and leave at 8.30. The announcement was made by Akki at a meeting one Friday evening, after work. The resentment was evident. Some members of the staff were livid while others kept a blank look on their faces. If anyone had a problem, they could quit, he added at the end of the meeting. They were quiet. A few of them kept looking in my direction.

Soon after, there were rumblings of protest, but no one really came out into the open with their objections. Jobs were hard to come by.

The next thing on the cards was to replace Raju, the middle aged accountant. He drew the highest salary and unlike his younger counterparts, was yet not familiar with the new techno savvy methods of work. He was rigid in his thinking and unwilling to change. I had an altercation with him one afternoon when I asked him about the use of Enterprise Resource Planning systems. His resistance to the use of digital accounting annoyed me and I ticked him off. He was furious. When he raised his voice, I asked him to leave my office immediately.

I later spoke to Akki regarding this. Akki was unperturbed.

“He’s sincere and very efficient. He has never made a single error in all the years that he has worked,” he said. “I can’t think of a more honest and committed employee. Mom had brought him in herself – she knows him personally.”

“Oh come on, Akki. Don’t give me that crap. There are many more people around who aren’t just honest but are also willing to move with the times. This guy is rigid and extremely rude. We can’t have him on board. He is a liability.”

“Adi,” he protested. “You are being too harsh in your judgement. The other two in the accounts department can handle the digital part while he can supervise them.”

“We don’t need three people in that department,” I retorted. “This guy needs to go. We need to cut costs too.”

“He has a family to support.”

“Not at our cost. Not when we are grappling with finances ourselves. To support his needs, you are compromising on the needs of others. If we make good money we can pay others, right? Akki, the company needs to get out of the mess that it is in. Get that clear. That’s why you asked me to join, remember? And I never fight a losing battle. I see opportunities in this organisation that can be capitalised on – and that’s going to be good for both of us.”

Raju was dismissed with a month’s prior notice. He wasn’t going to be replaced.

I applauded Akki for taking a tough stance. I could visualise things shaping up the way I had planned. We would not only recover the ten crores the company had lost, we would make a hundred more.

 

Ayesha

Ayesha was one of the new recruits. She had been appointed as a Marketing Assistant and was to work under Sharan. I had allowed Akki to select her because she was young, with a zeal to learn and the skills to contribute to the growth of the company.

She joined work on a cool November morning just after Diwali. I knew she was the perfect candidate for the job the moment she had walked in through the glass door for the interview. She had a quiet confidence and an air of maturity. Her resume was top notch too – a Master’s degree in Business Administration followed by a year’s experience at a private firm in Mumbai. She had shifted to Delhi to be with her parents.

Sharan and she hit it off from the very outset. Strangely enough, Akki did not approve of it. He felt that Sharan was a bit of a flirt and that could create some problems. I chuckled when he mentioned it.

“So now you’re going to be all protective about the girl ?” I asked.

“Well, when she works for me she becomes my responsibility. Sharan is notorious. I’ve seen him flirt with almost all the girls who come to the office. I wouldn’t want Ayesha to get hurt. She is a kid.”

“Well,” I laughed. “What they do in their personal lives is none of our concern. As long as they deliver.”

Secretly, I was in favour of the two of them being together. It was a much tested theory of mine that colleagues who are in a relationship work better. They certainly would not mind working beyond the stipulated hours if they were together. I would observe the two of them through the glass door of my room and chuckle to myself. Sharan was leaving no stone unturned in wooing her. He had done that with Nitika, Akki’s earlier secretary. Nitika was a worldly wise girl and had taken his proclamations of love with a pinch of salt and lots of laughter. Ayesha was different. While they did get along like a house on fire and had long conversations in the cafeteria below, she was highly driven when it came to the work front. She seemed to have a sobering effect on him and despite his flirtatious overtures, she managed to keep him focussed on the work at hand. I was impressed.

 

A week after Ayesha joined work, I called her to my office.

“Good afternoon, sir,” she said. “Did you wish to speak to me?”

“Yes,” I said, closing the file that I was going through. “Do sit down.”

She lowered herself into the chair opposite mine and placed her hands on the desk. That is when I noticed the tattoo on her hand – a star with a number etched below it. It looked like a 16.

“That’s an interesting tattoo,” I said.

She smiled.

“Why 16?”

She took a moment to respond. “I lost my brother when he was 16. I like to think of him as a star. Hence …”

Her voice trailed off.

“I am so sorry about that,” I said.

She shook her head. “What is it that you wanted to speak to me about?”

“Nothing very serious. It’s been a week since you joined and I just wanted to know how you’ve been. Any problems or challenges?”

“Nothing, Sir,” she smiled. “It’s been good so far.”

“Colleagues?”

“I’ve been working with Sharan and Prachi pretty closely. They’ve been a great support and have helped me to find my way about.”

“You do realise that we have a lot of expectations from you?”

She nodded.

“You may need to work on weekends and beyond your normal working hours.”

She paused and then nodded.

I pulled out a file from my drawer.

“Have a look at this. This is the projected turnover I am looking for in the coming year. We’ve had a bit of a lean phase in the recent past and we need to make up for it. We need to expand our operations. I would like to gain a foothold in the south.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem, Sir,” she said. “The earlier firm I had worked with did quite a bit of business with the south.”

“Call me Aditya,” I interrupted with a smile. “I like to keep things pretty informal around here. Helps to foster a more comfortable environment.”

She hesitated and then continued. “It may take me a while to address you by your name. With regard to your expansion plans – do you have anything chalked out for the south?”

“We’ll need to do a survey. Then we’ll work out our strategies.”

“Right.”

She continued to study the file and then looked up.

“We’ll work on this,” she said.

“Good. Thanks a lot. You can get back to your work.

She rose, picked up her phone and left.

“Nice girl,” I thought to myself. I liked the quiet dignity with which she carried herself. I smiled to myself and then continued to browse through the file on my table.

 

 

Disagreements ..

 

I disliked Sharan – intensely. There was a touch of insolence in the way he spoke. When I once ticked him off for coming late twice in a row, he replied rather cheekily, that if I too had a life beyond the office, I would understand why he had got late. He chuckled, winked and sauntered off. That was certainly not the kind of behaviour I was going to tolerate from a subordinate. I called him back and asked him to watch what he said.

 

That evening, I kept him back for some work. I knew he was livid – for I overheard him talking to Ayesha. She in turn, tried to calm him down and asked him to finish off the work quickly and leave. Later I got to know that she had stayed back with him and even fetched him some coffee and a snack.

“He’s a good worker,” Akki remarked, when I told him about Sharan. “He’s always risen to the occasion during crises and is reliable. Also, don’t forget, he meets targets and delivers more than is expected.”

“He’s cheeky,” I retorted. “Besides, guys like him get a bit too comfortable in the organisation because they know we think they are good. They begin to feel they are indispensable. Look at the way he took off from work last Friday – when he knew that we were having a client visit.”

“His mother was sick. She had a surgery,” Akki said.

When Akki and I had a disagreement over something, he would turn very distant and cold. I was pretty sure about one thing – he was very fond of Sharan. I had often seen him chatting with him over a cup of coffee. They would even go out of office for a smoke.

“He never told me about that,” I retorted.

“He told me.”

“He ought to have informed me too.”

“I conveyed it to you.”

“But he never told me, right?”

“Was it even necessary? One of us knew. Besides, when he is busy attending to his sick mother, is he going to have the time to call up all of us to say he is not going to be in for work?”

“You realise you are taking his side against me?”

“I am not taking sides. I am just presenting facts. Besides, he’s known me for a far longer time than he’s known you. So I guess that’s why he reached out to me. I think we are just wasting our time talking about this. Let’s get on with our work. If I do catch him shirking work – which let me tell you – he never does – I’ll correct him.”

Akki picked up his phone to check his messages. That was a clear indication that he had no intention of pursuing the conversation. Akki could be very stubborn at times.

 

I went back to my office, feeling extremely annoyed. This was the first time Akki had disagreed so strongly with me. We did have arguments about other issues related to the business but Akki would invariably give in, knowing that I had a better business acumen than he did. I couldn’t let this pass. I would deal with Sharan myself.

The following week, I had a meeting with some potential clients at the Radisson Blu. I asked Ayesha to join me.

“Sure – but don’t you think Sharan should be the one to go for this meeting? He is heading the team.”

“I would like you to come for this meeting,” I replied. “It will help you to learn and grow. A person with your potential needs more exposure.”

She seemed a little hesitant.

“But, sir..”

“You are coming. And that’s it,” I said.

She nodded.

 

The meeting was a huge success. Our clients had flown down from Singapore. This was their first possible tie up with an Indian firm. We had extensive discussions about our business proposal and then went on to talk about world politics, the impact of the US tariff policy on India and even Bollywood cinema. I kept observing Ayesha throughout. There was a sparkle in her eyes as she spoke. I discovered that she was a Bollywood buff and spoke at length about one of India’s iconic movies, Sholay. It was evident that the two men on the other side of the table were enthralled with the conversation.

I was happy. We had gained a very valuable client and well, I had got my bit of revenge. Sharan would now understand he wasn’t indispensable.

 

 

Ayesha and I began work on the new project. It was one of the biggest projects we had ever undertaken. Akki needless to say, was very excited. We spent long hours in the office, looking into the minutest of details. There were days when we worked till almost midnight. I would then drop Ayesha home. In the initial days, Sharan would wait for her but then I asked him to leave since we would be late. He wasn’t too happy about it, but would leave because his mother was ill.

“Mom’s been asking about you,” he told Ayesha one evening before leaving. She was in my office.

“I am really sorry – I’ve been so busy. I promise I’ll call her soon.”

He nodded, gave me a curt look and left.

“Sharan should have been with us,” Akki said.

“He’s handling the Mumbai client,” I replied. “That lady is a tough nut to crack and Sharan is the best person to tackle her.”

“You are right,” he laughed. “He is a genius.”

“I agree,” Ayesha laughed and went on to narrate an incident when Sharan had managed to deal with a particularly difficult person.

“Could we get back to work now?” I asked.

“Oh yes ofcourse,” Akki said. “I’ll ask Bhushan to fetch us coffee.”

 

 

Success

 

A year later, our firm was all set to recover from the losses it had suffered. I had managed to create a client base in the south, Singapore and Malaysia and we had expanded our operations in the North. I have never learnt to back down in the face of challenges, no matter what it took. And it did take a lot – I had no well wishers in the office, except of course for Akki and perhaps Ayesha. She and I had grown pretty close – not in the romantic sense, but the fact is we shared a common wavelength. Much of our success was because of that. She understood the way I worked and that made it easier for us. She understood the kind of risks that I took and was fully supportive. The truth was that she was enjoying the work and was thrilled with  the recognition and appreciation she was getting. Very soon, I gave her a hike in salary. It was more than Sharan’s.

 

I was aware of the distance that had crept in, between Sharan and her. She liked him – it was evident from the way she kept looking out for him in the office or checked on him to see if he had eaten his lunch. But she was too busy to spend time with him. There were days when she didn’t even meet him – she would be out with me.

One Saturday evening, we returned to the office at around 7. Ayesha was pretty tired since we had been out since 9 in the morning. Sharan was in his cubicle. He looked up as soon as we entered and then pointedly looked at his watch. She kept her bag in her cubicle and went over to him.

I went back to my office but I could hear them speaking in hushed voices. Some kind of an argument seemed to be going on. I needed her back in the office but I decided not to call her in.

She came in a little later looking visibly upset.

I raised a brow questioningly.

“Sir, could I leave now? I am tired.”

“You look upset. Is everything ok ? Sharan?”

She shook her head.

I shrugged.

“Go ahead. Could you come in tomorrow to finalize all the details for the meeting on Monday?”

A look of discomfort flashed across her face. “I actually have a prior commitment.”

“I understand. We could have a zoom meeting instead. It won’t take too long. I like to be completely prepared for my client meetings.”

She nodded and turned away.

I continued to check my mail.

A few minutes later, Akki stormed in. He looked furious.

“What the hell are you up to?” he demanded. “You have spent twenty goddamn lakhs on some blasted machine?”

“Yes, I did. I told you that we will be requiring new machinery to speed up production.”

“You never told me you were going in for it now. You never even told me what it is.”

Come on, Akki. We are partners. You’ve got to trust me. Till date, have I done anything that’s gone against the company?”

“That’s not the point. You ought to have told me.”

“Chill, Akki. Come sit down. Have some water. You won’t regret this. Trust me.”

He pushed away the glass of water that I had proffered.

“You seem to be doing a lot of things arbitrarily. That’s what I object to.”

“I’m sorry if it seems like that. I guess I am so full of energy that I just go ahead with my ideas. I apologise. I truly do. I assure you, henceforth, I will always speak to you before I go ahead with something.”

He calmed down a little and drank some water. Then without saying a word, he left my office.

I smiled to myself. It never costs anyone a thing to apologise.

 

The Mass Exodus

 

One morning, Sharan put in his resignation. I wasn’t surprised. He had been dropping hints. Akki was upset. He was extremely fond of him. He tried his best to dissuade Sharan from leaving but to no avail.

“One needs to move on,” he explained to Akki. We were seated in Akki’s office at that time.

“But this place is yours. I’ve seen you grow with this organisation,”Akki argued.

He chuckled. “Well not quite. In any case my upcoming work is offering better prospects.”

“When are you leaving ?” I asked.

He gave me a cold look. “Next week.”

“So you aren’t giving us a month’s notice?”

“Nopes.”

“You’ll need to forfeit a month’s salary.”

“Fine. Then I am quitting today itself.”

I was about to tell him to do just that but Akki interpolated. “No no, you can’t do that. We need to find a replacement for you. And I really can’t let you leave like that. Stay on, please. You will be paid till next week.”

He grinned. It was a devilish grin, I felt.

“Chill, I won’t cause you any inconvenience.”

A month later, two more people from the accounts department quit. Soon after Ayesha resigned. That was the final straw for Akki. I hadn’t been too perturbed when the others had put in their papers but Ayesha’s resignation upset me. I was angry, to be honest. When I confronted her, she told me that she needed flexible hours of work as her father wasn’t keeping too well. I wasn’t convinced. I was pretty sure Sharan had something to do with it and I told her as much.

She flushed a little. “That isn’t true, Sir.”

“He’s instigated you to quit.”

“No, Sir. This has been my decision.”

“I don’t buy that,” I bit out.

She lowered her head. “I need to leave, Sir. I’ve learnt a lot from you and I shall always have the deepest respect and admiration for you. I’m what I am because of you.”

“Kindly leave,” I said coldly.

She got up quietly and left.

I banged my fist on the desk. I could have killed Sharan.

The next day, Akki called for me. The office was pretty empty. The ones who had quit were yet to be replaced and Ayesha had taken a day’s leave.

“Things haven’t been too good in the recent past,” he said. “I hope you realise that. In the last eight years, we haven’t ever had a mass exodus the way we are having now. I suspect there will be more quitting.”

I was silent.

“Are you aware that Sharan has set up his own business?”

I was taken aback. “He has?”

Akki nodded.

“Bloody hell!” I slammed my fist on the desk. “He’s got some nerve.”

“And the ones who are quitting are joining him. Ayesha too.”

“I knew Ayesha was lying.”

“Not entirely. She needs to have a more flexible work schedule. Besides, the two of them will be getting married in a few months’ time.”

“He used us! Picked up all the experience he could from us and is capitalising on it.”

“I beg to differ. He is a smart guy with immense potential. He was an asset to our company and we benefitted from the kind of work he put in.”

“That’s nonsense,” I retorted. “The company was tottering when I entered.”

Akki was quiet for a while.

“Adi,” he said, looking straight into my eyes. “There is something you need to understand. You’ve been way too arrogant for your own good. You’ve been having an ego clash with Sharan. You isolated him, put him down, tried to create a rift between him and Ayesha and thwarted his growth. It’s the truth – face it.”

“So, I’m the bad guy, right ? The guy who destroys people’s lives.”

“Well, I won’t say that. Listen, Adi. There is no such thing as bad people. We’re all just people who sometimes do bad things. All humans make mistakes. What determines a person’s character aren’t the mistakes we make. It’s how we take those mistakes and turn them into lessons rather than excuses. Just understand something – you’ve done stuff that wasn’t quite right. You’ve been driven by your ego. Now what’s done can’t be revoked. Let’s just move on.”

 

I didn’t reply. Instead, I got up and went out for a smoke.

As I stared at the crimson skyline, I smiled wryly to myself. I took the last draught of my cigarette, savoured it and threw the butt away. I needed to make sure the next guy I recruited wouldn’t be like Sharan.

 

This story was written for Tale A Thlon Season 5 organised by Penmancy

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Image : Aakash Mallik ( Unsplash )