Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Life in a Metro, Part 2
The blue and green of the last presentation slide reflected on the polished walnut table of the conference room. The Corporate Strategy team had presented the business plan for the following year. Sameer waited for the question he didn't have an answer to.
"Sameer, what do you think? What are our financing alternatives for the business plan?" Ketan asked. Ketan had been promoted to the position of CFO after Narayanan left for the rival company Pfizer. Hence the vacant Financial Controller position.
In the slightly darkened conference room, Kartik smirked, watching him struggle.
Damn you, Kartik! I am in this embarrassing situation because of you.
Sameer cleared his throat. "Ketan, given the significance of this plan to the company's vision to consolidate its position as the fourth largest pharmaceutical company in India, I think we'll need some more time to review all of its facets in order to zero in on to an optimum financing plan."
A frown furrowed Ketan's forehead. He ran his fingers over his clipped french beard. "But isn't this what the meetingis all about, Sameer? I thought we had agreed we'd settle this today. The board meeting is in two weeks."
Kartik grinned.
The bastard. I won't go down alone on this. Sameer said, "I had asked Kartik to take a look. He can provide some early feedback."
Seven pairs of eyes turned to Kartik. Besides Corporate Strategy and Finance teams, Ketan had also invited Nitin from Treasury department. Kartik's ears were the exact shape of handles of beer mugs they had at home. Flared at ends, narrow in the center.Over a shirt of white and blue squares over his bulky frame, Kartik wore a black tie with tiny white diamonds. It looked like ants partying on his chest.
Kartik glanced at Sameer and his grin widened. Then he addressed Ketan. "I have done some prelim matching and my view is that the resource gap will be about two million dollars. I have worked out a few scenarios for raising funds. Let me show you some of the projections." He walked over to Rohan's laptop, inserted a pen drive and opened a power point.
What?
It was clear he was primed for the meeting. Sameer had been set up.
After he finished the presentation, Kartik pressed the switch on the wall behind him and the roller shades moved up from the windows with a whirring sound. Natural light flooded the room. The seventeenth floor of Hindustan Times Building offered a vantage view of Connaught Place. A curious mix of skyscrapers interspersed with the British era buildings that were tall, white and had elegant pillars. The glass fa?ade of the tower adjacent to them reflected the clouds above and the winding traffic below.
Ketan seemed pleased. "Sameer, this is a fairly good analysis. Not sure why you need more time."
"It'sIt's just that I haven't fully examined the options so far. The last two weeks have been hectic." Bad move. Shouldn't have gone defensive. No one liked excuses.
"Very well, let's go with this unless you come up with one better."
"Good job, Kartik!" Nodding at him, Ketan shuffled his papers to signal the end of the meeting.
They filtered out of the conference room. Kartik triumphant, Sameer looking like a fool. Kartik had been playing these silly games of one-upmanship with him for some time. But this was brazen. A blatant lie to him to shine in front of Ketan.
Ritu, Ketan's assistant, smiled at him, as he passed her desk. She looked good in the blue green saree. The color of the damn slides.
Sameer Chadha, Asst. Controller Finance, read the black on silver nameplate outside his cabin. He winced. They had all started together in Stonewell but Sameer had been left far behind. Anand was the CFO of a Dutch multinational, Rajiv had left for the US five years ago to a middle management position at Coke headquarters in Atlanta and Komal had found success in the online portal she set up with her husband. He was one of the oldest serving employees along with Ketan and Ashok, the office boy. Sticking with the company too long had been a mistake. Perhaps he had been lazy staying in his comfort zone while others sought opportunities. Whatever. He was here and he was screwed.
He looked at his name plate again. He didn't even like his last name. Chadha. He could have been a Khanna, Malhotra, Anand or Kapoor. Nice Punjabi last names. Bollywood hero names. Ever heard of a hero called Chadha?
Sameer picked up the folder lying on his chair. Not finding a place on the table, it landed on the floor with a soft thud. Too much clutter. Files, loose papers, all over his desk. If only Neena, his secretary, could file. He read through his e-mails. A stinker from Corporate Strategy for not receiving any comments on the business plan. Yeah, that worked out great today. The London office had asked for more information for auditors. More? What did they do with all this information? Light a bonfire? Neenahad sent him a note. She didn't understand how he wanted the worksheets revised. God. How did you work with a daffy? She sat two feet away from him and she thought it best to send him an e-mail.
He called her in. Neena arrived wearing her usual harried expression, her bleached hair frayed. He wondered if she ever combed it.
"Can you please move these columns to the right to display the growth in sales of each region?"
"Oh, I forgot. Union Bank people called. They can't come this week."
Focus, Neena, focus.
"The worksheets, Neena. These columns here," he said, running his finger on them.
"It is so confusing."
When she left his room murmuring to herself, he went back to his mails and saw a new message pop up. From Tim Reynolds, Global Financial Controller. Subject: Financial Controller - India. His heart raced. His breath became shallow. As if the air around him had been sucked away.
Knock on the door right then. Abhimanyu from the Treasury team, the office gossip, harbinger of all news, good and bad. "You saw the announcement?"
"No." It seemed someone else spoke for him. He could barely recognize his own voice. Had it happened? Ketan hadn't said a word, but then it wasn't his style.
"It's Nitin! My boss is now our boss."
"Good." His facial muscles froze, and he didn't hear rest of Abhimanyu's chatter.
They preferred Nitin over me? Nitin had been with Stonewell only two years. He didn't even have direct finance experience. He was soyoung. Perhaps, that's what it was. I am too old. The company doesn't see me as a future leader.
So much for his loyalty to Stonewell. His temples throbbed. He felt as if his insides had been singed. What should he do? He could talk with Ketan, but it wouldn't help. The decision had already been made. He wanted to talk to someone. Kavita? He looked at the picture besides his desktop taken on a vacation to Ranthambore a few years ago. She wouldn't understand. She had stopped understanding him and his problems a long time ago. He rolled a pencil between his thumb and forefinger. Anand?
"Oye, what a surprise." Anand's voice radiated joy.
Sameer's hand drew a squiggly line on the note pad. "Busy?"
"Actually, I'm on my way to a meeting. Can you call me in an hour's time?"
He hung up the phone, disappointed.
He threw the pencil in his hand against the wall with full force. Screw Nitin. Screw Ketan. Screw Stonewell.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone