The phone screamed its shrill monophonic ring tone. The voice on the other side did not begin with the famous word that features in the world’s first C program, “You are showing signs of not coming to office today.”
Salim Azmi wasn’t a person who was given to being formal when speaking with his boss. In fact no one in the consulting firm ever gave their bosses the impression that they were. “I’m coming,” Avinash said, “I wonder why you would say that. I will there in an hour.”
Avinash Sarkar imagined the chuckle coming through the radio waves of the mobile conversation, “There has been a barrage of instructions from you to everybody here; I guessed you were taking the day off.” Avinash was sure Salim was smiling, “Normally, all these would have hit us after you came in.” Salim completed his thought.
Avinash sensed that this conversation was not entirely about his attendance, “I am getting used to the fact of working from my skyscraper.” he said, praying that the light remark would not weigh heavy on Salim.
“Yeah; no need to remind us always that you are now not going to be around.” he said. Avinash wished for a video phone; he was sure that Salim’s smile-curve was slowly flattening. Avinash went back in time, four months back. His consulting firm had recently acquired a backend processing operation. Getting the acquisition to work the way his firm did would prove to be a nightmare. Avinash was to go and manage that company and see how they could make the acquisition an asset rather than a liability. In short, he was to make it work. Bring in scale and all that jazz. Avinash’s new office in Singapore was on the 43rd floor.
“’Around’ is a factor of the mind – not the body”, Avinash offered.
“Yes, but it is not the only factor. When a person is close by “body” he is closer by mind too.”
“Not true.”
“May be for you”
This was something Avinash was not expecting. “The only confidence I have, to take up this assignment, is because of you guys. If it was some other team here, I would have just asked for a salary hike and continued doing what I do now. If we really want to be successful with this kind of growth, we’ll have to manage it. Would you rather put your destiny in someone else’s hands?” Avinash said hoping that this would calm the rough emotions.
“No! I know that very well and in fact I am very happy that you are taking up this assignment.” Salim said, the tone becoming more solemn. “Even when you became Consulting Partner, I always believed this firm would benefit more, if you did different things. In fact this has been a key discussion point when I talk with Sanjay and Raghu.”
“Then why do you all seem so sad, depressed, and confused?” Avinash cried out. It was not easy being God, and definitely not easy being the emigrant God.
“The only confusion is that we need an authority figure who will take firm and final decisions which seems to be missing, now. You know it, we are all very stubborn and we might not bend, if you know what I mean. There were many instances when you took decisions that were against us, but they were fine because you were the authority.”
It’s convenient that way, Avinash thought, and it’s even more comfortable. But it was becoming difficult for Avinash. He was learning things that he believed to be his imagination. Following the current, Avinash said, “Good then, time for you to learn then, maybe an authority will evolve? Maybe you all will learn to take decisions by consensus. Consensus – can be a good possibility, though I personally don’t prefer it. Maybe you all will just call me when you can’t take a decision”
“But we wasted a lot of time in that; we hardly ever reached a conclusion, when we went the consensus way,” he said. Avinash winced; he remembered the meetings that went on forever. Everybody came with their own agenda; in the absence of a common shared objective.
“Now it is real – you will have to learn to take decisions – that is the only reason why some of you are not growing. In a company where everybody has the possibility of growing every quarter, we’ve had a year of stagnation. Now – whether you like it or not – you will take decisions, right or wrong – you will. None of you made any mistakes in the last year, which proves that you guys did not take any decisions at all.”
“Bullshit”
“Why?”
“You can’t say that we did not take decisions!”
“Of course you guys took decisions; I am talking about the decisions that you look up to an authority for. If you guys are so sure that you did take decisions then why does my absence bother you so much.” Avinash said, hoping he did not get the answer to that.
“No. again we come back to the point where your absence bothers. I already told you my views on that. There is a probably a vacuum created by your shift. And we are trying to fill it. And I am very sure it will get filled. I will just miss the Avinash Sarkar effect – that always used to be there.”
This world is made of clay gods and plastered smiles, Avinash thought, clay gods are immersed every year in the water with much fanfare. Plastered smiles are de-plastered when you look the other way. Next year the same God is brought back – with equal fanfare, again made of clay. It’s easier to immerse a clay idol – it dissolves in water.
“You will get used to it, that’s how life is. We all get used to change. Only we don’t know it when the change occurs. God has given us an amazing power of forgetting.”
“This change will not be to forget. We all know that you have a big hand in running the show. And it’s going to be a new challenge for us to keep the show running.”
There was a pause; Salim was speaking with someone else. Work came up, a market analysis report was to be sent, and Salim was the Lead Consultant for that account.
“This is an unfinished discussion, boss,” he said, “We need to finish this over three strong espressos.” Avinash agreed, and shut the phone. Avinash wondered whether the blisters near his ear were because of his CDMA phone or because of what Salim just said.
Taking an office in a skyscraper wasn’t going to be so easy. Avinash was shifting to take up a change management assignment; he never realized that he was going away from one.
