by Vas, Mahita;
A young man in a khaki uniform and metal buttons, which made him look like a bus conductor, offered Uday tea and cake. Having lost the taste for cloying Indian cakes, Uday politely declined those in favour of a bottle of ice-cold soda water. In Singapore, he missed the daily ritual of someone serving employees their mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack and hot drink. Uday watched some of his colleagues helping themselves to two slices of cake, while the tea-boy poured drinks from flasks labelled “Kofee” and “Chai”. This benefit was not a frill to his colleagues; it was a right they took for granted. At Uday’s office in Singapore, one of the world’s most expensive cities, it was a luxury he could not justify. His employees seemed sufficiently content with a simple coffee machine, tea from Sri Lanka and China, and a variety of biscuits, including Digestives and Oreos.
Uday scanned the room. The men spoke amongst themselves in hushed tones. In the years he had been away, Uday had become detached from the global team in Mumbai, while building strong ties with his Asia Pacific team in Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Sydney.
Shivram Gopinathan, the Chief Financial Officer, patted Uday’s shoulder as he cleared his throat and stood up. “Gentlemen, there is a lot to do, so we should start. A moment of silence, please, for our dear departed founder.”
The men bowed their heads, most of them closing their eyes. Except for Rajan Lakhiani, the Director of Human Resources, who picked up his piece of cake with his spindly fingers and took a large bite. The coarse chewing on his last mouthful signalled the end of the minute of silent contemplation.
Shivram Gopinathan broke the silence. “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m going to get to the point. Mrs Gupta called me this morning and asked about appointing a CEO—”
Rajan shot out of his chair. “What’s the rush? Suresh-ji’s body—God bless his soul—hasn’t turned fully into ash—”
“Shut up, Rajan! Don’t be so disrespectful,” said an elderly man sitting next to him. “Sit down and let Shivram continue.”
“Let us not forget that Mrs Gupta’s father started Fortuna, and together with Mr Gupta, built it into what it is today. Some of us have been around since the beginning and we remember those early years well.” Shivram Gopinathan rubbed his short, thick beard which looked like tarred moss clinging to his smooth cocoa-coloured skin. “Until the moment comes when we must retire, I, for one, would like to serve a good leader. One who is worthy of taking over the reins from Mr Gupta.” Shivram did not seem to be in a hurry to name Suresh Gupta’s successor. He looked at everyone in the room, all eighteen of whom were in the upper rungs of management. Shivram seemed to relish keeping them in suspense. After a long pause, he clapped his hands and asked, “Who will be our new CEO, then?” He smiled as he glanced at Uday.
“I propose you, Shivram Gopinathan!” Joseph Pereira, the ebullient chief operating officer was known to be rather chummy with Shivram. “Fortuna is as successful, as rich, as it is because of your joint stewardship.” He stood up, and with both hands outstretched and pointing towards Shivram, he continued, “I don’t believe anyone here is as deserving as you, Shivram.”
Several people clapped and cheered.
“Thank you, but I have no wish to be CEO. I was going to propose …” Shivram Gopinathan turned towards Uday and pointed his outstretched palm towards him.
The room was still. Uday took a deep breath and spoke softly, addressing no one in particular. “This is wrong. Just wrong.” Uday shook his head slowly and placed a hand on the table. Turning to Shivram, he continued, “When we spoke yesterday, we agreed that Fortuna does not need a new CEO right away. Suresh had always said Aditya would succeed him. We must honour that wish.”
“That was before Mrs Gupta called me. No one expected Mr Gupta to go so soon. Aditya isn’t ready. Mrs Gupta said she gave this matter much consideration. This appointment comes from her, from the very top.”
“This is Aditya’s right. He’s ready. I’ve worked with him. He spent a year at the office in Singapore. Give him the position and he’ll grow into it. Trust me.”
Shivram snorted, “Just because Aditya is Suresh’s elder son does not make him the best successor. He’s too young and inexperienced. Besides, there’s nothing in writing. We need someone who can lead Fortuna for the next ten years at least.”
“Aditya is exceptionally clever. Thirty-two is not that young these days, especially when inheriting a solid firm with a strong team of highly competent men and women. Many were younger when they became heads of great companies. Tech is famous for its young CEOs. I dare say Aditya is more capable than a number of you here. He is the rightful heir, and when the mourning period is over, he should be sworn in as CEO.”
The others mumbled and grumbled.
In a voice laced with cordiality, Shivram said, “Uday, I respect your sense of honour, but these people are right. Aditya isn’t ready to step into his late father’s shoes yet. For the sake of the company, let’s compromise. We’ll have a caretaker CEO for five years, during which time, we’ll groom Aditya to take over. Theek hai?”
Uday considered Shivram’s proposal, but the others were already chanting, “U-day, U-day, Uuuu-day!”
Uday waved his hand to dismiss the suggestion. “No, no, no. I was planning to retire in a couple of years.”
Shivram sat next to Uday. “You know you are the best man for the job. This is what Suresh would have wanted had he known he was going so soon. Five years, tops.” Shivram waved his hand to quieten the enthusiastic men and women. Lowering his voice, he continued, “There’s also that problem with Rohit—”
Uday leant back in his seat and frowned. He had always done his best to hide his intense dislike for Rohit. “What kind of problem?”
Shivram stroked his beard. “Rumours have swirled since his engagement to your daughter that Rohit plans to take over from his father. Probably expects that you’ll stand behind him, being his future father-in-law. All the more reason you need to step into this role, to prevent Rohit from planting himself in Suresh’s seat immediately.”
Uday stared at Shivram. “Are you saying he’s marrying Lavinia to get to the top in this company?”
“Not at all. I’m sure he loves Lavinia and is marrying her for all the right reasons. He’s just being the opportunist he is, and always has been.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about these rumours? The engage- ment was months ago. They’re due to marry in June next year.”
“There didn’t seem to be any point. What could any of us have done? It’s not like we were expecting Suresh-ji to just drop dead … God bless his soul …”
Uday excused himself and walked down the narrow, musty corridor. He paused just before it opened to a space filled with men and women on their imitation Herman Miller chairs, facing computer screens propped on dull grey desks. Uday watched them with an unsettling mixture of joy, gratitude and loss. Like himself, many of them had been hired fresh out of university and were due for retirement in a few years. Suresh Gupta had taken good care of his employees, paying them well and advancing anyone who showed promise.
It had been more than thirty years since Uday had joined Fortuna, then housed in a decrepit old building near Colaba. He was an intern waiting to enter university on a Fortuna scholarship programme at Edinburgh University. Upon graduation, Uday returned to serve a six-year bond, starting as a management trainee. In those early years, Fortuna was barely making a profit. Sheer grit and hard work, along with generous bank loans, catapulted the company into the ranks of Mumbai’s big corporate players within ten short years. Now, more than thirty years later, Fortuna was on the list of every respected business magazine featuring businesses in India.
Uday had always known Rohit to be smart and determined. He lacked the scruples for which his parents were known, but most people were willing to overlook Rohit’s flaws by focussing on his charm and sense of humour. But Uday had felt devastated when Lavinia told him that she had been in love with Rohit for years, and that he had chosen
to do his Master’s in Singapore so they could be closer. Unable to bear the thought of Lavinia moving to Mumbai upon her marriage, Uday had promised Rohit a position at the Fortuna Asia Pacific office in Singapore. Rohit had willingly accepted the offer. Uday was not prepared to witness Fortuna’s unravelling over a younger sibling’s greed for power.
He returned to the conference room. Complete silence fell abruptly over everyone. He asked for a private discussion with Shivram and watched as the others sauntered out of the room, some eyeing him with suspicion.
He ran his hand along the cold stone in front of him, smiling.
“You remember that trip?” Shivram asked as he turned his chair to face Uday. “I couldn’t go as it was too close to Eid.”
Uday nodded. He had forgotten that Shivram had married a Muslim woman several months before the trip. “Just before I moved to Singapore. We were on our way to the animal sanctuary in Rajasthan to make a big donation. On a whim, Suresh insisted on stopping at Abu Road. This office was almost complete. Suresh had heard about Abu Black being Rajasthan’s finest marble, and had asked for the most richly textured stone in deepest black, with dramatic splashes of white.”
“Suresh always knew exactly what he wanted.”
“And he always got what he wanted. No matter what the price. It took three hours of viewing countless slabs before he was satisfied with this. It was sheer torture in that desert heat and the weak Indian air-conditioning.”
“I know you’d like to respect Suresh-ji’s wishes but Aditya simply isn’t ready. You must lead Fortuna. For now, at least.”
“I can’t live in Mumbai. It’ll be hard to leave Singapore’s efficiency behind. And greenery. Oh, and the very effective air- conditioning.”
Shivram laughed. “Yes, yes … And the food—”
“Especially the food!”
“Mrs Gupta was expecting you to come up with this excuse.” Shivram laughed. “Run the company from Singapore, then. We’ll work out the details. Besides, there’s a rumour you’re planning to marry that woman from China. Tamara? She’d be miserable in India.”
Uday laughed. He could not imagine Tamara Wang in Mumbai. The city’s pavements were not designed for her killer heels.
3
A Saturday in October
As summoned, Uday’s sons, their wives and his daughter, Lavinia, gathered around the ten-seater dining table for a late breakfast. Uday was drained from a week of Dussehra celebrations in Mumbai. His head was still throbbing and he did not want to see another Scotch or hear another Bollywood song for as long as he lived.
Ashwin, his son and eldest child, laughed as he handed his father a large mug of ice-cold sugar-cane juice, bought by their Indonesian cook that morning from a stall at Adam Road. “Sure, Dad! We’ll see. You’ve said this before. There’ll be a Scotch in your hand just a few days from now—”
Uday pressed his fingers against his temples and moved them in a circular motion. “Nope! No more Scotch. Ever!”
His daughter and youngest child, Lavinia, hugged her father. “Ashwin’s probably right, Dad. Sounds like you had hell of a time in Mumbai.”
Uday’s second son, Sayana, raised his coffee to his father, “Once again, Dad, congrats! CEO of Fortuna Global. I’m so proud of you.”
Uday loved these moments when the whole family got together. As long as Ashwin and Sayana were not quibbling, the five of them brought much mirth and joy to his home. Uday raised his mug and said, “Thank you. It’s only for a few years. But you know what …” Uday breathed in deeply and leant against his chair. Nodding slowly, he continued, “As much as I’ve done for Fortuna, as rich a life as Fortuna has given us, nothing matters more than all of you. Nothing!”
Lavinia shrieked “Me the most, Daddy! Because I’m your favouritest daughter!”
Ashwin laughed, “And our favouritest sister!”
Uday smiled and immersed himself in the affectionate atmosphere while the family teased each other and waited for Uday to tell them why they had to meet so urgently. His beloved late wife, Julie, would have been proud of their children—Ashwin, at twenty-seven, a rising star in foreign exchange trading at a Swiss bank and married to Angela, a beautiful financial analyst in a rival bank, pregnant with their first child; Sayana, at twenty-six, teaching English Literature at one of Singapore’s elite schools, and recently married to Priyanka, a copywriter in an advertising agency; and Lavinia, their unexpected and most welcome gift, the light of her father’s life. The twenty-two-year- old had recently graduated with a law degree and was engaged to Rohit Gupta, younger son of the late Suresh Gupta, founder of Fortuna Global. With the exception of Rohit, Uday could never have conjured up a more perfect family.
Uday tapped his teaspoon against the handle of his mug. “I am a very lucky man …”
Ashwin and Sayana cheered while the women clapped.
“It’s true! But there’s just one thing—”
“A dog! Daddy, are we getting another dog? Please say yes. I really miss Coco.”
Everyone laughed. “No, my princess. Not a dog. I’m going to get myself a wife.”
Uday had not expected the response this evoked. He wasn’t sure which was worse—silence so thick it smothered him, or the five faces so morose that he felt he was drowning in melancholy.
He spoke softly. “I see no one was expecting that. But it’s not like Tamara is a secret.”
Lavinia burst into tears. “She’s horrible, Dad! I can’t stand her. She’s as fake as those designer clothes at Far East Plaza! I can’t believe you’re doing this! How could you?” Lavinia ran to her room.
Uday followed her, gesturing for his sons and their wives to wait for him.
“My princess, Tamara is really a lovely woman. You just need some time to get to know her. You’ll see that she’s good for me—”
“Don’t you miss Mummy? Do you think she’d approve?”
Uday felt a stab right through his chest.
“Lavinia, my darling, I think of your mother every day. I see her in you and your brothers. But she is gone and while she will always live in my heart, I cannot physically have her with me, by my side. And yes, Lavi, your mother would approve. Before she left us, she had asked me not to wait too long to find a companion. I told her she would always be my companion, and you know what? She laughed! Yes, a soft laugh because she was so weak, but she told me I was being silly.”
Lavinia, who was lying on her bed, sat up. “She said that? Really?”
Uday nodded. “I would never make up something like that.”
“Why can’t she be your mistress, like she’s been all these years?”
“She can’t possibly live here permanently on a tourist visa. My marrying her is the only way she can live here legally. Please, Lavi. Try and understand. In time, you’ll grow to like her. I’m sure of that.”
Lavinia walked towards Uday and hugged him. “I cannot understand what you see in her, Dad. But if she makes you happy then, well … I suppose … I mean, who am I to rob you of a second chance at love?”
“Thank you, Lavi. It would be a problem if you object and refuse to accept our marriage.”
“I suppose I could say the same about my engagement to Rohit. I know you don’t like him, but he’ll prove you wrong, Dad. You’ll soon see he’s the right one for me.” Lavinia hugged Uday and kissed him all over his face before warning him, “You should check with Ashwin and Sayana. They hate her just as much, you know. Just because they don’t live here doesn’t mean they’ll be very welcoming, Dad. They’re here for dinner nearly every evening and living in the same condo, they’ll see her a lot. Go, Dad, talk to them.”
Uday returned to the living room with an expression- less Lavinia.
“Well, boys, Lavi has given me her blessing—”
“I wouldn’t go that far, Dad!”
A chastened Uday continued, “Lavi did not give me her blessing but she withdrew her objection. I’ve been thinking of marrying Tamara for a while.”
Uday noticed Sayana, Angela and Priyanka nodding slowly as Ashwin spoke.
Angela sidled up to Ashwin and said in a soft voice, “She’ll expect more from me. I’m not sure I can keep up the pretence. I feel she expects me to be extra nice to her because we’re both from China.”
Ashwin wrapped his arms around Angela. “You’ll just have to show her in your own gentle way that being from China does not make you her comrade. There’ll be no reason for you to spend any time with her alone. You’ll be fine.”
“I think you’re all being unduly pessimistic. Please, I beg you, all of you, give her a chance. Is that too much to ask?”
No one spoke.
“Theek hai. I’m sure this will all change as the weeks pass and you spend more time with Tamara. She will grow on you.”
Uday decided against opening the bottle of vintage Krug, perfectly chilled specially for this occasion.
4
Early November
It had been four months since Tamara’s husband, Richard Wilson, was kidnapped and murdered. Today, on his way to Shanghai to see Tamara, Uday thought back to the day when she had called him, begging him to transfer a million dollars to save her husband’s life. But Uday was not about to save the life of a man who beat and publicly humiliated his wife and who assaulted anyone who so much as took a little long at the ATM or overtook him on the highway. It would be bad karma to intervene in the extension of an evil entity’s life. Let destiny take its course. Besides, Uday knew Richard had much more than a million dollars stashed away somewhere.
No one knew for certain what Richard did for a living—import export, he claimed, but never offered a clue as to what the items were. No one knew for certain where Richard came from or even what his real name was; he had three different passports and spoke with an affected English accent, trying, and failing, to mask a Slavic one. Richard Wilson was an ordinary name for someone who needed to pretend to be English while travelling on a British passport in a country where no one knew one foreign accent from another.