Corporate Affairs! #wattys2016

The Publicity Stunt

Mr. Taneja looked at his bow tie. He loved it. It was dark blue with a tinge of violet and of a velvety appearance. He looked at the mirror from different angles. 'Impeccable' he thought to himself, 'I look impeccable.' He took out his comb once more from his coat pocket and combed his thick hair and moustaches for the umpteenth time. 'Perfect.' He thought to himself, 'I look perfect.' And then just as he was glancing away from the mirror and walking back to the door, he thought he saw a strand of hair misplaced. He gave a low desperate whine. He again took a step towards the mirror and took the comb, brushed his hair. This time he made sure that not a single strand was out of its place. He took a step backwards and glanced back towards the mirror. No, nothing was out of place. Everything was perfect. Good, that's how he wanted it. With that final glance he went out of the washroom.

As he walked through the long corridor, he could hear his steps. They didn't sound even. Perhaps his shoe was out of alignment or something, he thought. He must have this checked.

He opened the door to Ankit's office and there he saw a young man in his mid twenties sitting on his father's desk and working on some documents quite sincerely. Ankit saw him and greeted him in open arms. Ankit had some trouble here because Mr. Taneja was only 5 feet 1 inch tall and Ankit was 6 feet 2 inch. This difference in height made the greeting somewhat awkward.

Ankit tried to bend a little for the friendly hug, but that seemed awkward. So he bent his knees a little. This made situation worse. His bent knees touched the legs of Mr. Taneja. How can a simple manoeuvre be this complicated, Ankit thought. In the mean time, all Mr. Taneja could do was stand on his heels and feel as tall as he could. Ankit bent his knees a little and bend down his head to meet Mr. Taneja.

A simple shake of hands would have sufficed, Ankit thought later.

Mr. Taneja sat comfortably on the chair in front of the desk. It was at this moment Ankit understood that the chair was a little too small for Mr. Taneja. He could only his head from where Ankit was sitting.

Perhaps the seat could have been adjusted, Ankit thought, or perhaps an extra cushion could have been put at Mr.Taneja's disposal. But the present condition was not good for a conversation. Ankit suppressed his laugh with a cough and a strange hiccup, to which Mr.Taneja looked at him quizzically.

"How are you Ankit? I am sorry I could not meet you the day you joined. As I told you earlier I had to attend a meeting in Raipur with one of our partners and was stuck in a meeting." Mr.Taneja's voice boomed. His voice was a deep.

"Its ok Taneja uncle, no worries. I am ok here." Ankit said raising his hand to say that he is just fine.

"No, no. I should have been there. Your father has given me this responsibility before he passed. I will try to be with you and guide you in the proper direction. After all you are the captain of this ship. And now we must guide this ship through these troubled waters."

Ankit sighed internally at the mention of the analogy of this company to a ship. This has been mentioned to him before quite a number of times by now.

"Of course, of course." Ankit said nodding his head in agreement.

"By the way I think you have been introduced to Mr. Siddique and Mr. Singhania. They are always here to help you in case you need it" Mr. Taneja said.

"Yes, yes I have been introduced and it's all going very good. But I am a little new at all this."

"And sometimes it can be a little overwhelming. I completely understand what you feel. We all had been there. But don't you worry; there are a lot of experienced people to help you out."