Ritesh surprised me on a Saturday afternoon by paying a visit to my room. He discussed a few general official matters and a little casually about life in London before hitting the subject.
'Listen Alex, I need help.' He was making himself comfortable on the bed. 'I know, I don't talk to you much in office or haven't tried to befriend you.'
'What is it Ritesh?' I asked.
'You know what is happening in office these days. It's not just these days. It has been like that since I came onsite. I had big dreams when I came to London. But Bakshi shouts at me for every small move I make. He's not looking at who is around. He's not worried if he would embarrass me in front of them.'
'I know. It's the same story with every one, not just you.' I tried to calm him.
'No Alex. I have tried my best to keep him happy. I have been working late hours every day. For this delivery cycle, I have already done the documentation. I am trying to finish all regression testing well ahead of the schedule but there are quite a few P1 (critical) defects that stop my team from proceeding. If I raise any P1s or High priority defects, Bakshi would shout at me ...[Bakshi] says it would reflect the quality of our deliverables in the matrix graph and the clients would question it. If I do not raise them, the developers do not fix it. It's a kind of deadlock situation. And now the delivery is affected because of this. Bakshi blames me for that. I tried to explain but he don't want to listen.'
'No point wasting your energy on that.' I kept my laptop aside and stretched my legs.
'He acts like I have raped his wife. Now I am a fool in front of everyone. I look like an idiot. ...[Bakshi] says I'm an 34 year old kid [and] that I am not even worth the rating of 1.'
It didn't surprise me. Bakshi is an asshole and he would do what he says. WRSC has this scheme of rating an associate on a scale of 1 to 5 based on his performance. Associate's immediate supervisor judges his quality. Obviously, the associate can escalate it if he is not happy with the ratings but it is as good as barking up the wrong tree.
'I am lost. I have struggled all the time just to make sure that he would at least give me a rating of 3. ...so that I will have my job.' Ritesh continued
'I see.' I wanted to laugh at his foolishness but I pretended to be serious.
'See Alex, I have a family. I married the girl I loved although my parents were against it. If I get a rating of 1 or 2... it's Recession, I'll loose my job. I can't go back to my parents. They will spit on my face.'
'Huh?'
'You know, Alex? My wife was 7 months pregnant when I came here. I haven't even seen the face of my baby yet. It's been 9 months now. I have been working like hell for this asshole who is not even ready to listen to me. I thought to suicide yesterday night. But I didn't know how. I drank a lot and I kept drinking and then I dozed off.' I could see the tears crawling down his cheeks. I knew I was not dealing with a regular friend's regular problem now.
'But today morning when I woke up, I thought, why should I die?' Ritesh now sounded angry. 'Why should my family suffer? Why should my wife live a widow supporting my kid all through her life? My own people would definitely spit on my face. I would look like a real fool in my home town.' He cried... he cried like a kid. I stood up and hugged him. For a moment, I felt like I was dealing with a 5-year-old kid. I felt uncomfortable when Ritesh's moustache rubbed against my naked tummy. I waited until the sobbing stopped. I went back and sat down in my chair.
'I need help, Alex.' He wiped his tears and looked at me.
'What is it that I can do for you?'
'I understand that you have made some good friends here in London. Probably, one of them could help me out.'
'Good friends? In what way?' I was surprised.
He stood up and walked to my desk and whispered in my ears 'I trust you Alex, with all my senses. I don't have a choice. I want Bakshi dead. I would love to do it myself but I want my job, I want my family. He's not worth living in this beautiful world.' He went back to the bed and made himself comfortable leaving me to deal with my shock. I blinked at him from where I sat. The first thing that came to my mind was to throw him out of my house.
'Are you crazy? You have any clue what you're talking about?' I screamed.
'Yes, I do.' He gave me a firm but calm reply ’Tell me yes or no. I would expect a yes, because this is not something I can go and ask everyone I know in London.'
'You are talking about assassinating a WRSC manager and that too here in London.'
'I know. I thought of getting it done in India which would be much more easier for me. But this fucker is not going back there in the near future. By the time he decides to go on a vacation, my fate would have already been written.' He stared at me; a stubborn dark masculine figure. He almost looked like an assassin.
He has gone out of his mind, I thought. There was no reason I could give to persuade him out of this because, as a matter of fact, Bakshi was as good as a crocodile; very cunning and dangerous. I felt like Don Corleone listening to people's problems and fixing it for them. I had to take care of this very carefully. I sat there blinking at him for a few minutes.
'It's true, my friend,' I started, 'that I know a few guys who can do dodgy things. But I'm not sure if they would be ready to take up this job.' I struggled not to shiver my voice.
'Listen Alex, Mahesh and I together can pay them a big cut from our savings.'
Wow!! It's is not just one associate who wants him killed, I thought.
'There is one guy I know. You need to give me some time to check with him. It's not something I can ring up and ask, you understand?' I said.
'Agreed!!! Let me know the price.' He stood up.
'But you still have your job, your family. Wouldn't it be too early to take a fair decision now?'
'I don't care. I can't take a chance. There is no point taking a chance with a guy of his character.' He waved good-bye and walked out.
After he had left, I ran down to the kitchen to drink some water. 'What the fuck', I thought. 'Bloody Bakshi!!! He doesn't even know what he's doing.'
In the next few months, Ritesh reminded me about the "Job" a couple of times but luckily the ratings came out a little earlier than expected. Bakshi had given him a rating of 3.77 and that meant Ritesh had his job and probably Bakshi, his life.
'Listen Alex, I need help.' He was making himself comfortable on the bed. 'I know, I don't talk to you much in office or haven't tried to befriend you.'
'What is it Ritesh?' I asked.
'You know what is happening in office these days. It's not just these days. It has been like that since I came onsite. I had big dreams when I came to London. But Bakshi shouts at me for every small move I make. He's not looking at who is around. He's not worried if he would embarrass me in front of them.'
'I know. It's the same story with every one, not just you.' I tried to calm him.
'No Alex. I have tried my best to keep him happy. I have been working late hours every day. For this delivery cycle, I have already done the documentation. I am trying to finish all regression testing well ahead of the schedule but there are quite a few P1 (critical) defects that stop my team from proceeding. If I raise any P1s or High priority defects, Bakshi would shout at me ...[Bakshi] says it would reflect the quality of our deliverables in the matrix graph and the clients would question it. If I do not raise them, the developers do not fix it. It's a kind of deadlock situation. And now the delivery is affected because of this. Bakshi blames me for that. I tried to explain but he don't want to listen.'
'No point wasting your energy on that.' I kept my laptop aside and stretched my legs.
'He acts like I have raped his wife. Now I am a fool in front of everyone. I look like an idiot. ...[Bakshi] says I'm an 34 year old kid [and] that I am not even worth the rating of 1.'
It didn't surprise me. Bakshi is an asshole and he would do what he says. WRSC has this scheme of rating an associate on a scale of 1 to 5 based on his performance. Associate's immediate supervisor judges his quality. Obviously, the associate can escalate it if he is not happy with the ratings but it is as good as barking up the wrong tree.
'I am lost. I have struggled all the time just to make sure that he would at least give me a rating of 3. ...so that I will have my job.' Ritesh continued
'I see.' I wanted to laugh at his foolishness but I pretended to be serious.
'See Alex, I have a family. I married the girl I loved although my parents were against it. If I get a rating of 1 or 2... it's Recession, I'll loose my job. I can't go back to my parents. They will spit on my face.'
'Huh?'
'You know, Alex? My wife was 7 months pregnant when I came here. I haven't even seen the face of my baby yet. It's been 9 months now. I have been working like hell for this asshole who is not even ready to listen to me. I thought to suicide yesterday night. But I didn't know how. I drank a lot and I kept drinking and then I dozed off.' I could see the tears crawling down his cheeks. I knew I was not dealing with a regular friend's regular problem now.
'But today morning when I woke up, I thought, why should I die?' Ritesh now sounded angry. 'Why should my family suffer? Why should my wife live a widow supporting my kid all through her life? My own people would definitely spit on my face. I would look like a real fool in my home town.' He cried... he cried like a kid. I stood up and hugged him. For a moment, I felt like I was dealing with a 5-year-old kid. I felt uncomfortable when Ritesh's moustache rubbed against my naked tummy. I waited until the sobbing stopped. I went back and sat down in my chair.
'I need help, Alex.' He wiped his tears and looked at me.
'What is it that I can do for you?'
'I understand that you have made some good friends here in London. Probably, one of them could help me out.'
'Good friends? In what way?' I was surprised.
He stood up and walked to my desk and whispered in my ears 'I trust you Alex, with all my senses. I don't have a choice. I want Bakshi dead. I would love to do it myself but I want my job, I want my family. He's not worth living in this beautiful world.' He went back to the bed and made himself comfortable leaving me to deal with my shock. I blinked at him from where I sat. The first thing that came to my mind was to throw him out of my house.
'Are you crazy? You have any clue what you're talking about?' I screamed.
'Yes, I do.' He gave me a firm but calm reply ’Tell me yes or no. I would expect a yes, because this is not something I can go and ask everyone I know in London.'
'You are talking about assassinating a WRSC manager and that too here in London.'
'I know. I thought of getting it done in India which would be much more easier for me. But this fucker is not going back there in the near future. By the time he decides to go on a vacation, my fate would have already been written.' He stared at me; a stubborn dark masculine figure. He almost looked like an assassin.
He has gone out of his mind, I thought. There was no reason I could give to persuade him out of this because, as a matter of fact, Bakshi was as good as a crocodile; very cunning and dangerous. I felt like Don Corleone listening to people's problems and fixing it for them. I had to take care of this very carefully. I sat there blinking at him for a few minutes.
'It's true, my friend,' I started, 'that I know a few guys who can do dodgy things. But I'm not sure if they would be ready to take up this job.' I struggled not to shiver my voice.
'Listen Alex, Mahesh and I together can pay them a big cut from our savings.'
Wow!! It's is not just one associate who wants him killed, I thought.
'There is one guy I know. You need to give me some time to check with him. It's not something I can ring up and ask, you understand?' I said.
'Agreed!!! Let me know the price.' He stood up.
'But you still have your job, your family. Wouldn't it be too early to take a fair decision now?'
'I don't care. I can't take a chance. There is no point taking a chance with a guy of his character.' He waved good-bye and walked out.
After he had left, I ran down to the kitchen to drink some water. 'What the fuck', I thought. 'Bloody Bakshi!!! He doesn't even know what he's doing.'
In the next few months, Ritesh reminded me about the "Job" a couple of times but luckily the ratings came out a little earlier than expected. Bakshi had given him a rating of 3.77 and that meant Ritesh had his job and probably Bakshi, his life.
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