The Fortune Curry - (Team effort - Check the conclusion written by me)

It was a squally afternoon in the middle of April. The nature was breathing a sigh of relief after a prolonged spell of heat wave. So was Arjun, a mid-level technical writer, who had joined the Kolkata office of one of the leading MNCs in the IT sector only about a year back. He had just received a really encouraging note of appreciation from the client on the successful completion of his project. Eventually, it was his first project for the company.

After having a cup of coffee at the cafeteria, Arjun entered his bay in a very relaxed mood which he really deserved after working so hard for the successful completion of his project. He could see that his supervisor, Nikhil, was having a discussion with one of his colleagues, Sonali, in the conference room. Arjun did not pay much heed to it and slowly moved back to his desk with an intention to complete whatever little bit he was left with for the day, as early as possible. At the back of his mind, he was planning for a short trip with his family.

As Arjun resumed working on his computer, he could feel a gentle tap on his shoulder. He turned back to see that Sonali was standing just behind him. She said “Hey Arjun, Nikhil wants to have a talk with you. He is waiting for you in the conference room.”

Arjun had not anticipated it at this time of the day. He asked with some worries “What is it, Sonali? Do you have any idea?”

Reading Arjun’s mind, Sonali replied “Don’t worry, Arjun! I guess it’s just going to be a discussion on your performance in the previous quarter.”

This put Arjun back at ease. He was confident about his recent performance. He gently pushed the door of the conference room and greeted Nikhil “Hi Nikhil, have you sent for me?”

Shifting his eyes from the computer, Nikhil replied in a very cordial tone “Yes Arjun, please come in and take your seat. I want to have a short discussion with you about your performance in the previous quarter.”

Arjun took his seat, thanking Nikhil.

After a brief pause, Nikhil resumed “Arjun, your performance in the previous quarter has been really commendable. You have been very sincere and hard working. The note of appreciation that you have received from the client is a testimony to this fact. Well done!”

As Arjun thought that Nikhil was about to wrap up the discussion, Nikhil started again “However, keeping in mind the present situation, this is not going to be enough! You need to take up some additional responsibilities.”

Nikhil continued “I’m assigning you an additional responsibility of doing some R&D on the latest trends in the market on technical writing.”

This seemed interesting to Arjun, and so he replied, “Okay Nikhil, I’ll try my best to come up with something concrete on this”.

Excited and confident, Arjun left the conference room, thinking about the responsibility that Nikhil has just assigned to him.

_______________________________________________________________________

The day ended on a positive note for Arjun, he was all charged up to research for his new assignment.

The next morning he entered office and did the usual things, he made himself a coffee and opened the e-paper for reading his horoscope. He believed in astrology and following it had always helped him in life. The horoscope read well for him, he was supposed to have a positive day and that made him more confident about the research. He started surfing sites which could provide him information regarding the latest trends in the market which are related to technical writing. He noted down few sites and downloaded PDFs for his research work. The next day he jotted down all the points and arranged a meeting with Nikhil and Sonali to discuss the points he wanted to highlight in his research.

The meeting went really well, they were very impressed and wanted Arjun to complete the research as quickly as possible. As his research included many trends like digitalization, Github, single source publishing and many more, he was asked to narrow down his work and choose one topic for his assignment that can be followed by technical writers.

Around two days went by but he could not come up with anything concrete. It was a Wednesday, he reached office and firstly checked his horoscope which read, ‘a good day to learn something new’ and that is when he got the idea to learn a new tool which nobody in the team has ever worked on before. He searched for a new tool that can be used by technical writers create user manuals faster and easier. Arjun loved his job profile so much that he had once read a book called ‘Rise of the Robots’ by Martin Ford, which highlights the future of technology and its effect in the rising industry. He found the mention of the book in one of the sites and also got the source for his new tool. He followed the link and found a tool named ‘RoboX’. He started reading about this tool and how it has helped creating user manuals in an easier way. It was an interactive tool which did the work automatically following instructions. He got all excited and learnt all the techniques to run this tool for creating manuals. He felt he had discovered something so new that everyone in his team will appreciate his efforts. After almost taking a week to learn the basics of the tool using the trial version, he started creating a presentation highlighting all the points that would convince his seniors to think about the tool.

Nikhil saw in this new venture, a ripe opportunity to showcase his technical knowhow and zeal to explore new ideas. He embodied the spirit of every aspiring corporate rookie, who dreamed to make it big in the Silicon Valley. Between his dreams and efforts, loomed ‘large’ his ever-growing paunch and the need to find the ‘fair, slim, and tall’ wife who would be modern, yet traditional. All of 29, Arjun’s life swung between hope, aspirations, struggles, and the double cheese burger. With so many calculations to make and moves to measure, the daily horoscope provided Arjun with a little help in getting a heads-up on which way to move, every single day. From, how far right he would sweep his hair, to how many ounces of water he would pour over the holy basil, to what would comprise the neighborhood cow’s gourmet, Arjun ensured he would never deviate from the horoscope dictates. The latest exercise with RoboX was no different. He would logon to the tool exactly at 10:13 am every day to commence work. That was the opportune time when the stars aligned so perfectly that they could give the Pyramids a run for their money, or so the holy horoscope pronounced. With his research going full swing, every passing day was a run-up to the final show.

His beliefs aside, Arjun had truly put in his life and soul in the project. Once the presentation was ready, he would go through every meticulous detail to ensure the presentation was a blockbuster. While the day went into perfecting the presentation, nights were made up of dreams of acing it. He would often dream of his presentation turning out like an orchestra performance, with a neat crescendo, followed by thunderous applauds.

“Good morning everyone! Welcome to this presentation on RoboX!”, announced Arjun in a gritty voice. The day had finally arrived. Dressed in his best indigo formals, Arjun had secured every avenue to deliver a flawless performance. His nerves were deftly camouflaged by his dapper exterior. The presentation began. Arjun went through every single piece of information that he gathered and groomed in the deck. His face shone like a proud father talking about his son at the dinner table. With every passing slide he knew, he was building up a very strong case. “I would now welcome questions”, concluded Arjun as he clicked into the final slide. The room was brimming with curiosity and excitement. Questions followed, “How much does the tool cost?”, “Can we export content to other medium?”, “Does the tool let you reuse content?”. With a contended smile, Arjun shot down one question after another. “Take a bow, Arjun! That was a remarkable job!”, declared Nikhil and soon the room echoed with thunderous applauds. The presentation was perfect! As Arjun walked out of the room, congratulations kept pouring in. He knew he was going to sleep like a baby that night. He had delivered beyond expectations.

The next few days Arjun basked in the glory of his achievement. Ever since the final moments of the presentation, he had not stopped smiling. The recent show gave his waning image a fresh lease of life. Rohan, who sat next to Arjun was often taken aback seeing his compatriot smiling sheepishly and softly murmuring, “Thank you so much!”, “You’re too kind”. A slight tap on the shoulders would bring the man back to the grim air of his office. “This man needs to stop smiling now! I feel diabetic!” exclaimed Naina, who was tussling with an unkind project.

Amidst, all the euphoria, checking the emails was Arjun’s favorite diversion. He had organized all the congratulatory emails in his PST folder called, “I did it”.

It was just another day for when he was scrolling up and down many times to ensure he hadn’t left out any feather in his cap. While he was at his usual business of organizing his emails, a new mail notification popped-up. The subject read, “Business Organizational Updates”. A little puzzled, Arjun clicked on the email to read further.

“ORGANIZATIONAL RESTRUCTURING THROUGH COMPETENCY UPDATE” yelled the first line in bold 24 font.

“Hah”, exclaimed Arjun, “maybe they realized I need to move up the order!” Before proceeding further, he quickly switched tabs to the DailyHoroscope4You.com website. He had to ensure he was looking at the email at the right time.

The page went blank and then failed to load. An ominous sign. Arjun smacked the mouse on the desktop a couple of times, hoping that would bring the page back to life. No luck.

“Well, some days you need to live on the edge, mate” he thought to himself and opened up Outlook again.

He read the next line and stifled a scream.

“Innovation in automation has helped us open doors to new aspects of quantifying business propositions. Based on new automation tools being introduced in the domain, we will be identifying opportunities to help initiate a transition to automated delivery. This will help reduce our dependency on manual effort.

On these lines, we have identified the following positions to be redundant and will be phased out by the end of this quarter.”

Arjun’s face had gone pale. His eyes darted on to the list of positions and the names against them.

His name was third on the list.

“HOW MUCH DOES THE TOOL COST?”

“CAN WE EXPORT CONTENT TO OTHER MEDIUM?”

“DOES THE TOOL LET YOU REUSE CONTENT?”

The questions were ringing in his head like Frankenstein was caressing the temple bell in Mahabaleshwar.

Arjun turned around to check if anyone else had got the email.

Sonali was sobbing in her seat. Arjun was distraught. “Uh oh! Look at her! She must be on the list too. She won’t be able to feed her cats anymore. Poor little thing.”

Arjun’s chivalry (and a tiny sense of timely opportunity) chimed in. He walked up to her and in a soft tone said, “Don’t worry girl. Arjun will take care of all this.”

“What?!”

“You got the mail, right? Don’t worry. I will find a job for you. Promise.” He made it sound as comforting as possible.

“What nonsense are you blabbering Arjun? Why do I need a job?”

“But… I mean….I saw you crying from my….”

“My boyfriend has put up a Whatsapp status with another girl. How dare he? And she is not pretty either. I mean… wait what mail were you talking about?”

“Damnit!” Arjun cut her off and sheepishly made his way out onto the aisle. “I should have looked at that damn horoscope.”

Kasturi, the HR Talent Manager for the team, was walking across the bay. Arjun half-walked, half-ran up to her.

“Hey! Hi! What is this restructuring update about? Am I being terminated?”

“Oh hi! Can you wait for a minute? I will just bring a cup of coffee and ping you.”

“Sure”, said Arjun.

And like Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Kasturi was never to be seen or heard from again.

After loitering in the bay for three hours, and watching Nikhil dig his nose like ASI at Mohenjo Daro, Arjun left for the day.

The next day, he found a stranger at his desk.

“Hey! What in the name of…”

ZOOOOOOT.

“Hellho. Mhy nhame is RoboX-1000. I am hhere to rephlace yhou”, a robotic head swiveled around.

“Are you kidding me? I don’t…”

“Unfhortunately not. Whe can whork 200X faster and are 300X more efficient than you.”

“Do you know who introduced you to the management? ME!! And you wan’t to replace me? Get out!!”, Arjun was freaking out now.

“RoboX-1000 kan also do a half-curve Abhishek Bachhan smile like yhou, Arjhun.”

Arjun had started trembling.

“Wait, who are you texting?”

“Your ghirlfriend. Whe are also replacing you at home. 300X mhore efficient!” RoboX-1000 was actually smiling that half-curve smile.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! I WILL KILL YOU, YOU AUTOMATED PIECE OF …”

*kriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing* The alarm woke Arjun up.

What a horrific nightmare. Felt so real. Arjun was drenched in sweat.

As he brushed his teeth, he caught himself staring at the mirror.

“Do I smile like Abhishek Bachhan? Really?”

That damn RoboX.

He had to find a way out of this labyrinth.

_______________________________________________________________________

Arjun stared out of his window and saw the morning welcoming a bright day. Having showered, shaved, and dressed in his black formals, Arjun walked downstairs ready to face the world again. At the breakfast table, the television, broadcasting the pregame cricket analysis held his father captive. Arjun tried to escape his father’s gaze and sneaked out from the rear door.

Arjun arrived at the office earlier than usual. As he walked into the bay, he noticed Nikhil coming out of his cubicle wearing a white suit and smiling at the employees who were greeting him. The ambience at the workplace resembled any other day, but to Arjun it seemed different. He felt a strange sense of worthlessness in life as his self-esteem was unconsciously connected to his work.

As he sat at his desk and logged on to his system, about to quickly glance at the DailyHoroscope4You.com website before starting his day, he noticed Sonali and Rohan walking in, engaged in some intimate conversation. Arjun avoided looking at them and tried to concentrate on his daily horoscope when suddenly an advertisement popped up:

“Young Professional DJ Wanted…playing a selection of EDM, Dubstep, House and main stream music…”

Arjun immediately clicked the advertisement and read the details. Arjun has always had a passion for disc jockey and music production, and has been actively involved with the music group in college. He had studied music production at the London College of Music and had frequently played gigs at college events, aspiring to adopt his passion as his career. Motivated by his aspirations, the advertisement seemed like an opportunity to him. Arjun felt a sign of relief. He suddenly felt very confident and thought to himself that his education combined with his work experience and passion for music production would definitely provide him the confidence to connect with people through music.

Excited, he dialed the number of the contact person given in the advertisement. As he heard the person on the other side, he immediately spoke about his interest for the position, his voice brimming with determination. The very next moment his heart sank as the person replied, “Sorry Sir…the position is already filled. Better luck next time.” Arjun’s dreams seemed to shatter once again. Feeling completely dejected, he decided to leave for the day.

As he was about to step out of office, Arjun noticed it was pitch dark outside although it was just five in the evening. He began walking towards the bus stop … the wind blew on his face, and the whooping sound of the passing winds roared in his ears creating a void within him. The rain started falling heavily on the black, empty streets. To Arjun, the rains appeared like the residue of his grief. Arjun felt distressed, as if a parade of troubled times are marching through the long passages of his mind. Drenched to the skin, Arjun reached home. Trying not to look at anyone, he went up to his room and sat cross-legged beside the open window.

The wet sounds, the cold smell, and the goose bumps rising from his skin reminded him of the good days at office, the client appreciation he had received, and the thunderous applauds after his presentation. “Have all my dedication and efforts gone in vain?” thought Arjun. Feeling helpless, he sank in his bed and fell asleep.

The next few weeks passed by and Arjun continued looking for jobs. One option to another…nothing clicked.

Just another month for the quarter to end, and Arjun’s position would be redundant. Arjun sat thinking, staring blankly at the computer screen. Around him, he could hear his colleagues happily chatting, when suddenly his phone rang. To Arjun’s surprise, it was his childhood friend, Kunal who has been working in a recognized IT firm in Bangalore. Kunal mentioned that he is returning to Kolkata as he wants to start an online food delivery system in his hometown. He asked Arjun if he would be interested to partner him, and Arjun immediately replied in affirmative without a second thought. The next few days Arjun researched extensively on food startups and was counting days for his friend to reach Kolkata and call him.

Three weeks passed and Arjun would stare at his phone every minute lest he missed Kunal’s call. But he didn’t hear back from Kunal. Tired of waiting, Arjun finally called Kunal’s number and learnt that Kunal had left for California. “It was a great opportunity that Kunal didn’t want to miss. So, he decided to stay back with the company and avail the opportunity”, said Kunal’s roommate who was now using his number. Shattered Arjun disconnected the phone.

Months of fruitless job-hunting followed and Arjun became completely frustrated.

_______________________________________________________________________

Arjun woke up with a nose that ran and feet that smelled. After the brutal euthanasia of putting ‘DJ AJ’ and nutriment start-up dreams to sleep, Arjun was exasperated beyond measure and now he had a common cold that vowed to give him uncommon agony. Too broke to even pay attention, Arjun unmindfully turned on YouTube and chanced upon a TedX video where some random guy was giving a random speech on how his random hobby had helped him become a random sensation overnight. 

His self-esteem was at an all-time low right now and he too, was ready to try any randomness to catch up to his runaway pride. He grabbed a tissue and logged on to his anonymous Twitter account, @Fiddle_Astro. Just for jest, he had been penning his own puny predictions digitally, behind the display picture of a magnifying glass that resembled an irate Cuban cigar, on closer inspection. Nothing as serious as why Katappa killed the mighty Bahubali, but his predictions were limited to more insignificant issues such as the brooding economic earthquake in India etc.

Sure he wasn’t a trained astrologer and was no eight-legged psychic either, but with his wit and power of observation he could pick up some of the tricks of the trade and at least become talked-about, if not anything else. And why not? His keen interest & occasional study of the cosmic for all these years, had provided him with much guidance. The competition was also relatively less in this field. How many astrologers do we really know? A Bejan Daruwalla here or an Anupam Kapil there. Surely the Ekta Kapoors of the world could do with a few more!

But instilling faith in people was going to be a tough act in this skeptical world. So he decided to play the game a little differently. He started publishing daily forecasts to get his page more visitors. Emotionally bankrupt people were easy targets and Arjun provided them with the good predictions and lucky colour inputs they needed to kick-start their day. He gradually gathered a loyal following, but this wasn't enough. He needed to stir up something sensational. That’s all you need for today’s Facebook generation, he decided. Take some burning issue, add generous amounts of non-stop Arnabesque non-sense on a social platform and garnish with some Radha Ma eccentricity in all its crimson glory... and voila, you’ve got yourself a freshly-baked controversy that will get you more retweets, shares and forwards than a cute puppy video or a Game of Thrones spoiler alert.

He finally hit a jackpot upon choosing an unlikely subject and made his calculations. He tweeted, ‘Tusshar Kapoor, you’re soon to get a man in your life.’ The tweet went viral, owing not to his foresight, but the utter absurdity of the matter. To Arjun's dismay, the subject of the tweet became more famous than the tweet-er. People started trolling TK and hashtags were in the air.

Arjun's taste of fame came a few months later with the Kapoor boy’s announcement of becoming the single father of a baby boy.

The Twitterazzis who remembered Arjun’s prediction, trended his foretelling tweet and Arjun's popularity soared. Within months, important people reached out to him to seek his advice. With this new-born fame and Daruwala's career on the brink of being be-jaan, Arjun became the man of the hour. His knack of making right predictions came from his ability to bluff logically and he was able to suggest remedies which almost always ensured success. He provided consultation about safe topics like career and relationships and took to speak only after the client had revealed enough about himself.

Politicians came to him asking about how they could swell their vote banks and even KJo came up to him to seek his advice. When Arjun’s prediction, that discontinuing film titles starting with ‘K’ will make his films bigger blockbusters, came true, ‘the unsuitable boy’ was not shy to publicly credit Arjun’s expert ‘conjecture’ for his success.

Arjun even proposed to his girlfriend in the most astrological manner he could think of. He took her hand and wrote on her palm, carefully edging on the heart line "You will marry me"! The fault in Arjun's stars were finally receding as she smiled a bashful nod.

 ‘...and who do you think advised Dhoni to shave his head?’ beamed Arjun over the phone. 'Me!! After Dhoni brought the World Cup home way back in 2011, India was talking about only two things…Poonam Pandey’s promise to strip, and my prediction! Believe me, I can see Rahul is undergoing Kalsharpa Dosham. He must not use the word 'Bhrashtachar' in any of his speeches, Soniaji, trust me.’

The Conclusion_____By Sudip Biswas

It’s been more than a year ever since Arjun left the organization.

After Arjun, ten more employees were sacked for not being able to match the fast-paced RoboX raider.

Today, Nikhil evidently missed Arjun’s presence for his assertive yet sincere attitude towards work. He carried an involuntary guilt for not being able to defend Arjun from the onslaught of the recent automation revolution. In just 11 months, Arjun believed Nikhil to be his friend, philosopher, and guide. Apparently, Nikhil’s fondness for Arjun grew strong and deep during the time. 

With extreme pensive thoughts about Arjun, Nikhil leaned on his desk, almost lost. His ideas flowed like a river that grappled with enormous rocks to arouse meandering estuaries of thoughtfulness.

In prismatic thoughts, his ideas went irrationally wayward, when a sudden call on his cell phone brought him back to his senses. 

“Hello,” responded Nikhil in his rich baritone voice.

“Hey Nikhil - Arjun here”

“Whaaa, Arjun!” exclaimed Nikhil. “I was just thinking about you. So, how is everything?”

“I’m great da,” replied Arjun. “Just called to say ‘Hi’ da. Been quite some time we met over a glass of beer. Let’s catch up, someday. What say da?” - his classic ‘Bangalorean’ lingo obvious as ever.

A habitual party-lover, Nikhil promptly responded with a long ‘YESSSSSS’. He heaved a euphoric sigh of relief. “And a plate full of dim sums too - Sounds great – Ahh.”

“Yeh - tonight then?” asked Arjun - a sudden need for urgency blatant from his voice.

Nikhil took an abrupt deliberate pause. “Possible. But ‘hey’ just a moment. Let me check my schedule”. Nikhil’s voice proclaimed a purposive sign of seniority.

“Done - I’m in!” exclaimed Nikhil.

“Great - Zodiac then at 8?”

“Zodiac it is,” confirmed Nikhil.

After a usual day at work, Nikhil left at 6-30 pm. He was excited about Arjun’s plan for a toast for long lost friends. He hastily walked to his newly acquired Chevrolet and drove to Zodiac Bar in China Town.

China-Town shimmered in blue strobe lights and yellow fluorescent lamps dangling on the top of every restaurant doorway. He carelessly looked around as if he is in some Chinese toy town, when a gentle tap on his left shoulder interrupted his thoughts.

“Hey, ‘dragon brother’, what’s up?” Arjun yelled with joy.

What Nikhil saw was Arjun’s dark swollen eyes as if he is already two bottles down. His eyes beamed with confidence, though he looked weird with an enormous bright ‘Tilaka’ on his forehead and a double-jacketed black Versace suit.  

After overcoming from Arjun’s out-of-the-world wardrobe madness, Nikhil asked, “Zodiac?”

Zodiac had a dingy ambiance, like one of those abandoned dungeons of the sixties, with profuse usage of mystical elements from the world of astrology.

Arjun seemed to enjoy the place. He sat down at the extreme left corner of the bar and ordered for two bottles of beer. He turned to Nikhil, “Sooo … how does it feel to see an old friend?”

Nikhil, still edgy in the murky ambience, replied, “Sure, it feels great.”

Drinks were served. Nikhil took out a cigar and flaunted his Hunter Bullet lighter to prove his mettle.

“So, what is this astrology all about?” he retorted with obvious dissatisfaction. “Why would anyone ever want to become a god-damn astrologer? It’s so ..”

Arjun, equally drunk as Nikhil, snapped back, “Why wouldn’t you?”

“Astrology is the ‘inn’ thing now. You may find it lame, but what if I say I’m better off than you. What possible difference did you make as a technical writer?” - Arjun’s verbiage now in full swing. He vigorously swayed his hands to prove a point to Nikhil.

“Oh come on, you dumb piece of ….,” Nikhil crossed all limits of urbane compliance. “How … how could you compare writing with astrology?” Nikhil irked with anger. In a fit of frustration, Nikhil clutched his knuckles.

“Just because you lost your job for some automation stuff, it doesn’t mean you lose faith on the industry - of course, not at the expense of some botched up astrological crap.”

“Technical writers are the future of IT. We work on multiple tools – RoboHelp, FrameMaker, Captivate - just name any. We are writers, editors, designers, technologists, and what not,” Nikhil went on.

“You talk about automation? … RoboX is a mere programmed junk that works mechanically. It’s us ... we work all day to achieve perfection. We work with logic … we thrive on our fine sense of judgment to deliver quality deliverables.” Nikhil’s voice got louder - a subtle air of seniority was evident. 

“OOOO NOOOO! Don’t give that crap”, yelled Arjun.

“Tech Writers are passe, brother. You are now better of washing dishes and plates, while your smart kid RoboX does your work in minutes … in minutes brother!” Arjun banged the table in desperation.

As the fight heated up, a pretty waitress walked up to pacify the situation. Nikhil calmed down first.

“Okay! So why choose Astrology, if it’s fame you want?”

“You got me all wrong, brother,” clarified Arjun. “I chose astrology to prove a point – an idea. It’s not about how astrology can foretell your future; elicit spirituality in you or gift you fame. It’s about how you apply your knowledge in real life scenarios to strike a balance between spiritual living and natural existence.” explained Arjun as his eyes sparkled like a yogi.

One more sip from the bottle, and Arjun delved deeper. “I chose astrology for passion, to adapt to change in crisis situations, and eventually make a difference in this world.”

Nikhil was awe-struck. He gave a sarcastic smile and left the scene.

After few weeks, while working on a cost analysis sheet for an internal project, Nikhil unexpectedly received an email alert. He quickly tapped the notification window. A colorful mailer with glossy illustrations covered the entire screen.         

“ORGANIZATIONAL RESTRUCTURING THROUGH COMPETENCY UPDATE”- the first line conveyed.

Nikhil frowned, misinterpreting it as a generic change management procedure, and then turned pale as he scrolled down.

The email reminded him how Arjun had lost his job last year.

In reckless despair, he scrolled through his cell phone contacts to search for a friend who works in a similar IT giant. “Ahhh – Got it!” Nikhil exclaimed with a sigh of relief.   

“9830567023,” he murmured and walked out of the aisle. 

The End