by Kunal Sharma
With a Little Help from My Friends
Nakul had to make a call to Talukdar the next morning after the emotionally wrought assault from his subconscious, to rinse off some of the self-deprecating overhanging. When he rang up his college friend and philosopher, he caught him with his dinner.
“Looks like this job is driving you nostalgic about your college days...” Talukdar observed.
“Look man, its okay if you don't want me to disturb you,” said Nakul, before Talukdar even completed his sentence.
“Hey I didn't mean I don't like missing my college days!” Laughed Talukdar, realizing that the tough job was taking its toll on Nakul.
“I have decided to quit,” declared Nakul.
“And do what? It’s not the greatest of times to be out there in the job market,” asked Talukdar.
“Nothing, just take a bike to the hills or something”
“Dude, this isn't Argentina and you aren't exactly Che Guevara”
“No but I freaking hate everything about my life right now”
“Hmmm. Let’s break down your issue into sub points, what is troubling you?”
“I signed up with the wrong firm. My career’s going to be on a standstill and to top that, the guys I work for are absolute shitheads…I hate that retard Rohtaj shouting at me…and for what? And don’t even get me started on Mona and others…Plus, I am in a bit of a dilemma when I think of the fact that no one gives a damn about getting a deal closed, they are just earning retainers…almost as if they’re afraid of closing deals…I can't sleep, and….there's no one in my life..,” said Nakul.
“Woah man, slow down, I thought you had a magnanimous CEO?” said Talukdar.
“Papa is one hell of a sugar coater. Think of how he magically gets all these clients even though he hasn’t closed any deal yet. And he has perfected the drill to work like clockwork. Everytime the client gets stunned by Papa’s bouncers, he finds opportunity to quickly interject and talk about his team’s pedigree of premium MBAs…and by the time they sign the Mandate, it’s too late to realize that the team has already churned,” said Nakul who felt he was now long enough in the firm to know how the wheels turned.
“Hmm so your workplace is resulting in a good amount of grief, as long as your love life, I can't say much since if you had a girlfriend, she would have felt terribly deprived of your time,” said Talukdar.
“Yea, so it’s a good thing I don't have a girlfriend,” said Nakul.
“Honestly, if you aren't exaggerating about your boss Rohtaj, he really is a retard,” said Talukdar.
“I am telling you man, that’s how he is, and Viraj totally backs him,”
“To me it seems the only thing left to do would be look for a different job”
Nakul felt relieved. He had wanted this validation of his thoughts and conviction regarding PanAsia from someone very capable. Last time he checked, he could think of no one who came close to being as capable as Talukdar.
The next day, Nakul said to Prashar as they entered the office together: “It makes more sense everyday to go work with some college pass out with a crazy startup idea.”
“Yeah, I was going through an interview on Mint this morning about this guy…” Prashar shuffled through the pages on the paper and read from an article about someone who was running a school for the handicapped, “To him, the joy of diving deep in compassion for the helpless compensates for the corporate experience, stress and all.”
Nakul planned to speak with Viraj and quit. Soon.