Not A Simple Engineer Boy!

Seven: Castigliano's Theorem (Part 1)

Year: 2022

"Ms. Karthika Ashok!" the receptionist announced, "Please come forward."

She snapped out of her wrecking nervousness and rapidly blinked.

This is it.

She was the last person left to be interviewed and she felt tensed, her body so tight, that anyone could break her like a thin dry twig.

This is it, don't run away.

Standing straight, she flattened invisible creases from her pleated saree which she had worn for the first time, and that added to her anxiousness. She stepped forward and smiled, "Yes, I am Ms. Krithika Ashok.", she tried to correct the receptionist but the lady merely nodded her toward the interview room.

"You may proceed with your interview.", she didn't care to look at her after that, quite busy with her typing skills on the computer.

Krithika fiddled, her fingers playing with the file in her hands. It would have been clear to anyone that she was debating in her mind whether to go inside or run in the opposite direction.

Don't chicken out!

When she had applied for this job a few months ago, never in her dreams she had thought of being called for it- let alone being in the last stages of the interview. After clearing five rounds, and entering the final one-to-one, where she could finally meet her role model, she felt more than just nervous. She shook her head, trying to appear calm and confident, a weak nervous ball can never be able to secure a job under the great "Ms. Satya Devi".

Breathe Krithika, breathe.

This was a great opportunity for her, to work under her idol and her dream company- the Xhasis. She had followed them from her college days, their ideas had interested many, shares had skyrocketed within three years of them being in the business, and the firm had found its way to many international investors and mergers. She had seen them initially struggle and reach to the peak, to be what they were now. That was bloody inspiring and had always awed her.

Anyone could think about initiating a startup, probably a handful of them would pursue it, but only the passionate ones, the ones like Ms. Satya Devi and Mr. Xavier L. Joseph, dared to make it successful.

Satya Devi was her goddess, and there were many reasons for that. Krithika's family had been in the textile business for years, and she knew how hard it was for a woman to stand up and fight for her place in this world- in the world of men, in the world of business. And Satya was not just standing but running to achieve greater-than-life goals. She was the young cheetah of the business world.

Krithika's father had always neglected her ideas and her input. He had favored her brother over her. She had seen things from front to end, she had known from a young age to run a business, yet her father had made sure that it was only the son who sat on the throne. Growing up in a household where she was insulted for having an interest in her father's work- in the business, she had cried whenever they had shunned her.

Her eyes started to burn with contempt.

She deeply inhaled to clear her chaotic mind. She had to get this job, to prove to herself that she was worth all her efforts, no fucking familial validations required.

Knocking on the clear glass door, she watched intently as her idol smiled to call her in, "Hello, Krithika!", Satya welcomed her, "Please take your seat."

Krithika was stunned, it was so unreal for her. She had seen Satya only in the magazines and interviews, never in person, never so fucking close. It felt surreal to be able to sit across her, to be able to hear her talk. This was the absolute fan-girl moment for her.

 Don't be a dream. She pinched herself.

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A/N

"Gilehriyaan" aptly captures that part of your life where you leave your house to experience the world outside, the expectations, the excitement, the freedom, the naive you entering adulthood.

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