First round feedback -TF

Judging is always an arduous task as Suresh  mentioned. In school, some teachers have this idea of making the most problematic kid the class leader. It was something of that sort for me - becoming the judge. Because usually I  am the one to raise the flag of rebellion against the judging process everywhere. To date I have not been satisfied with the judging process anywhere and I don't harbor notions I would be doing a much better job either. Its much more fun being on the other side and cribbing about the judges. But anyways CS got me into this and I had to volunteer myself.

So moving on to the feedback part. Actually Suresh's feedback has been so comprehensive that I have very little to add without repeating whatever Suresh has said. I and Suresh discussed out ratings and to a large extent I agree with his ratings especially in the aspect of selection of the first three. So let me focus on a different aspect that I generally look for in stories as a reader- what I call the X-factor. I am one of those who believe any amount of perfection can not substitute for sheer genius. Of course genius can not be learnt in a workshop like this but definitely the workshop can help identify, nurture and leverage  effectively what you already have. It  often happens that somebody's genius lies somewhere else but they end up barking up the wrong tree.

So coming to the X-Factor, these are those invisible things that make a story work. We often wonder why Chetan Bhagat novels sell or Rohit Shetty' movies are block busters. It is of course easy to castigate them. But in the world everything happens for some reason. In spite of their obvious deficiencies in some critical aspects, the X-factor was so overpowering that people just ignored the deficiencies and gave a thumbs up to their works. So it would be helpful to identify and familiarize ourselves with these X-factors and see which of them comes to us naturally. So I will list down a few X-factors that come to my mind and the stories in this exercise that have used them. This list is by no means comprehensive and it is of course possible to use more than one X-factor in a story. Some of you have done that as well in this exercise itself but I will put the story under the strongest X-factor according to me.

1. Empathy - Most popular blogs posts work on this factor. It is about creating characters that reader relates closely to and can easily gets into the mind of. Some themes especially romance and tragedy lend themselves easily to this factor. However this story was not one of those. So lot of effort was required from the writer to create empathy. Deepa, Rajrupa, Jayashree, Nabanitha and Medha have empathy as the X-Factor in their stories. Deepa was the most effective followed by Medha in my opinion. Rajrupa, Jayashree and Nabanitha are generally brilliant at empathy  but this plot brought them out of their comfort zones, which is reflected in their stories.

2. Backdrop - Sometimes one can create a certain mood in a reader by the right setting. For instance Mohabbatein was not a great movie as such but the school campus atmosphere and the falling autumn leaves created a  certain mood in the viewer. Same thing can be done in a story as well.  Some of the people who used vivid descriptions to take the reader to a different plane were Leo, Mahesh and Pradip. Leo was the most effective in my opinion as he brought the settings to life. Pradip and Mahesh could have done a bit more to give a stronger and more distinct mood to the settings. All three of them I felt however somehow missed giving the basic plot the minimum attention it deserved.

3. Exploration - This is not something that works with all readers. But there are lot of people who view books as an exploration into the unknown, a flight of fantasy. Here the game provided a very strong opportunity to take the user literally on a ride. But since many of the people here were not gamers, only 3 people took this approach - Sandeep Nair, Indolent Insomniac and Srijith Nair. Sandeep was the best since his game description was just out of the world and at the same time other elements of the story were well maintained. Indolent came close in terms of game description but there were gaps in basic aspects such as smoothness of flow. Srijith on the other hand let the basic plot go taut.

4. Style - Often style trumps over substance. We forget even plots but a few memorable lines from a story linger with us for life.They became quotes and statuses on facebook. Again to take an example from Bollywood, Om Shanti Om was a crappy movie but dialogues have become etched in the minds of thousands of Indians. Here Arvind Passey, Yatin Khurana and Pramod Lohia have attempted to create some style. Mr. Passey especially is a master at one liners. But all three of them lost the plot and let their pieces take the form of essays rather than stories.

5. Cliff Hanger - This is what most best seller novels and Holly Wood movies do best . The idea is to keep the reader on the edge and always keep the reader guessing what is going to happen next. Asteria has interestingly taken that approach but unfortunately in doing so has changed the original plot.

6. Vantage points - One of the critical thing about narrative is the point of view. It is point from which you are seeing the story. Its like photography. You can take an aerial shot, a side view, a close up view, a zoomed view or whatever. Stories can be told from the point of view of a main character, a bystander or from a God view where you are an omnipotent entity overseeing the story. One innovative narrative I have come across is a story told from the view point of a lizard in the house where the events are happening. Other ways are through twitter messages, Facebook conversations, diary entries etc.  Harshal has made an interesting attempt to portray the story through dialogues on a game chat window. But of course needs more fine tuning to make it seem more realistic.

7. Humor - Humor could have also been the X-factor. Suresh has mentioned in his post how that could have been done. But no one seems to have taken that approach. I am planning to attempt that sometime soon. Not sure how effective I will be. But will share with you guys as and when I attempt it.

So that was the feedback from my side. Sandeep and Deepa are clear winners for excelling in their respecting X-factors at the same time not losing track of other hygiene factors that are integral to story telling. For the third, it would have been a tie between many people. But I and Suresh decided to go with Indolent Insomniac based on the insightful feedback he has been giving as the winners have to be judges in the next round.

 As far as X-factor goes, one final word. Though there can be multiple x-factors in a story, like how too many cooks spoil the broth, too many x-factors can ruin the story. Also not everyone is strong in every x-factor and some x-factors just don't work for certain themes. So one should be careful to focus on the ones that comes to them naturally and the one that is natural for the plot as well. Also x-factor alone cannot guarantee success. If you screw up the pizza base, however good the toppings are, the pizza will still taste bad. So the basic factors also need to be worked on.

First round feedback - CS

Deciding the Winners

C. Suresh

I hate judging! I hate judging! I hate judging!

There is something about this exercise of weighing the merits and demerits of creative output and deciding that the one is better than the other which strikes me as totally artificial. Reading, for me, is a perceptive experience and what I am left with at the end of a piece is an emotional experience of varying intensity. I can make out when a piece has not moved me at all, when a piece has touched me and when a piece has moved me intensely. The problem, however, arises when I feel roughly the same intensity of emotion in more than one piece and I am expected to determine which moved me a shade more than the other. And I have not even started talking about how odd it feels to act as though my own perceptions have some sort of universal validity!

Be that as it may, now that I am saddled with the job of doing the judging, I shall do it to the best of my admittedly limited abilities. Before I get on to the actual process of weighing the merits of each piece, I would like to say something about what constitutes a good story for me in the context of this exercise.

The plot given by TF had enough flexibility to build varying stories around it. A good story, in my opinion, should either (a) be a conflict/dilemma and a resolution/potentiality of resolution within the story or (b) be a voyage of discovery of a person’s mind or better still, an exploration of the change in a person’s mind over the course of the story or (c) a capturing of a mood so vividly that it resonates in the mind of the reader. The most popular stories are of the conflict/resolution type and the most difficult to achieve successfully are the ones that seek to capture and communicate a mood.

In the context of the given plot, the ideal person who ought to have the conflict or dilemma or need would be Arup, since he is the character more likely to find sympathy with the reader. On the other hand, if it were to be a voyage of discovery or the capturing of a mood, Meghana is the more likely candidate since she has the more dramatic emotions and is the one who is to undergo an epiphany.

Thus, if the intent is to write a conflict/resolution type of story, the best way – in my opinion – would be to make Arup’s need for some action by Meghana apparent to the reader and then have Meghana give it to him upon her realization of the Strider identity. If, on the other hand, it was intended to explore Meghana’s mind-set, to unfold her realization of the character of Arup over the course of the story – instead of in one dollop – which slowly changes her own attitudes would have made a better story. If, again, the intent was to communicate a mood then the emotional state of Meghana – passionless, ruthless, arrogant and contemptuous – should show a change, given the plot.

The latter two types of stories are best written from the concerned character’s perspective rather than as a third party narrative – since that would invariably lead to the assumption of a conflict/resolution story. The last type of story should normally be set at the time of realization and all incidents of the past ought to come in as recollections that contribute to the mood of the moment. This last was not tried in any of the entries.

In the event, most stories seem to have fallen between two stools. The narration promises a conflict/resolution type of story but the end of the story gives a resolution to a conflict that did not exist – to be concrete, Meghana gives Arup something that he has not been shown to either need or want. Where the end of the story has been the change in attitude it is more of an intellectual realization and not an emotional change – good for mathematical theorems but not gripping in a story. The problem, of course, lay in the assumption that since the plot was laid out in intellectual terms, the same had necessarily to be adopted.

Now on to the entries – from the winners down, in my view:

Sandeep Nair: Sandy’s entry – Games People Play – fits in with my own idea of a story that explores the mind-set and change in it of Meghana. He does an interesting double-reversion here. First, his is probably the only story centered on the Game aspect and shows a change in Meghana’s Game character due to the realizations of the real life Meghana. Second, where it was almost automatic to assume that if Meghana disliked Arup and liked Strider, the realization that Arup was Strider would make her like Arup – Sandy makes her hate Strider, instead!!

Deepa Duraisamy: Again a story where Meghana’s mind-set and change is explored – this time in real life. Deepa does put in place the emotional aspects of the initial contemptuous reactions and the guilt that goes with the final realization. The only issue for me was that the contempt of the beginning could have been stronger and the final end of the story could have been a mention of an emotional change as well (as in feeling guilty and ashamed at the arrogance of her behavior of the past) and not purely intellectual. Had she done both, I would have had a headache deciding between her and Sandy!

The next four were at par as far as I was concerned. The narration was interesting but the story felt incomplete because it did not seem clear as to whether they had chosen the conflict/resolution route or the mind-set exploration route. Since I had to select one more winner, Indolent Insomniac gets that place for the reasons that I have stated while describing the other entries. The other entries are given in the order in which I received the entries.

Indolent Insomniac: The moment you get two characters interacting on a series of incidents, you set the stage for a conflict/resolution type of story. The only way it can become a tale of mind-set exploration is when one of the characters’ mind-set is shown to change incrementally after each incident. Indolent Insomniac etches his characters very well over the series of incidents, narrates the game portions well but narrates as though it would be a conflict/resolution story and fails to deliver it!

Nabanita Dhar: The same issue of whether it is a conflict/resolution story or a mind-set exploration story! The mind-set swing is not strong enough or emotional enough to give the reader a sense of completion. The character of Arup is mainly explored by narration rather than incidents – which is the only straw I can clutch for classifying her after Indolent Insomniac!

Jayashree Srivatsan: Again we have a story that seems to promise conflict/resolution – romantic, probably – and ends up as a mindset change. The mind-set change is also intellectual more than emotional. Too many varying strands – the marriage beginning, romantic dream and all promise romance in the story; MBA training is also introduced in between – make for lesser clarity of what is getting communicated, which is the straw I clutch to class her below Indolent Insomniac.

Medha Kapoor: Same issue of not clearly deciding which of the two types of stories she was writing. It could have stood as a conflict/resolution story had she made Arup want to join the task force for strong reasons of his own. She does attempt an emotional end but fails to explain the emotions in Meghana’s mind – so it does not pass muster as a mind-set exploration either. Since she failed to maintain clarity in her point-of-view character across the story, she provided me the straw to clutch to classify her below Indolent Insomniac.

The next two are at par with each other and would have been at par with the previous four but for the fact that the story ended rather abruptly. Needless to say, they are also presented in the order of receipt of entries.

Rajrupa Gupta: She tells her story starting with Arup’s point of view and switches to Meghana’s point of view. Alternating points of view are unlikely to let the reader assume a mind-set change sort of tale. The story also does not make much of the change of mind-set. At the same time, there is neither a conflict nor a resolution.

Leo: A very lyrical start and descriptions. There is not much, however, about any conflict or resolution. The mind-set change also seems almost irrelevant – in the sense that there is not much importance attached to it in Meghana’s mind. She could almost be changing her mind about a movie for all the importance she gives to not judging the book by the cover.

The next two entries have major deviations from the plot. They are good in their way but cannot be considered as legitimate parts of the contest.

Asteria: She tells a proper conflict/resolution story with a tragic end. The problem is that the conflict is not about the laid out conflict in the plot. Others could legitimately claim that they could have done as good if not better had they felt free to deviate from the plot.

Arvind Passey: He had an interestingly different way of bringing the characters to life. The problem was two-fold, however. The first was that the characters and their actions were not in line with the plot. There was no real story, as such, given that his plotline had Meghana respecting Arup from the start and, thus, the revelation of the Strider identity really did not change anything in her mind.

I am dealing with all the other entries in the order of their receipt.

Yatin Khurana: Yatin re-narrated the plot put up by The Fool in his own words. Probably, being inventive means that the creative juices do not flow in other people’s plots!

Harshal Gupta: He narrated both the game portion and real life portion competently. Adopting the chat to move the story along was an interesting style of writing short stories.

Shrijit Nair: Interesting narrative. If he had taken more care in making the incidents more believable of the characters that enacted them, it would have been a far better effort.

Pradip Biswas: Good narration of the game part. Mixing up the tenses confused the narration a bit and, like Arvind Passey, made the relationship between Meghana and Arup too cordial for there to be any punch in Meghana’s change of mind.

Mahesh: Descriptions, particularly the real life portions, are very good. The story, however, lacked the punch required of the change of heart and there was no attempt at conflict/resolution either.

Pramod Lohia: He has given a good outline of a story. We are all waiting for the full story to get written!!

There are some alternative tales for the same plot that I would have loved to see. I am outlining them below:

Option-1: Meghana startes suspecting the Arup is Strider (typical phrase?); She gets curious to learn about him; Finds he was an office boy before; Starts thinking of how little she knew about the people around her and starts noticing her immediate staff also as people; Discovers that he had to quit education due to family reasons; Realizes that her own rise was partly due to good fortune and not entirely ability; Confirms with him that he is Strider; finds that the process of discovery had made the office a more friendly place for her; Game interludes as appropriate!

Option-2: Meghana is arrogant and contemptuous but does not realize it herself. She thinks that she is not popular as a boss either because she is young or a woman or both. So, from her point of view, the tale starts as though that is the truth. She has floated a project that is approved but her rival is being considered to head it since she does not have a good 360 report. The CEO says that in the year which it will take for the project to get off ground if her 360 improves markedly, she may head the project. Realizing the Strider identity makes her realize that she was behaving arrogantly and that was creating problems for her. She is now confident that the change in her mindset will ensure that she will get to head the project.

Option-3: Humorous take. Arup wants to be the IT man on Meghana’s task-force for the new project (So that he can get married to his love??) There is a qualified opponent who keeps pulling him down and treats him contemptuously. Meghana is inclined to the opponent since he is qualified. At the end, in a bid to tilt the scales towards him the opponent tells Meghana that Arup plays games in office and lets out the Strider identity. Upon which Meghana decides that it is the strategic capability of Strider that she wants on the project!

Option-4: Humorous take. Arup wants in on Meghana’s task force and Meghana does not respect him. He tries his best to impress her in various ways and fails. At the last, he tells her that he might as well get back to leading his clan to war on the game than sit around her office trying to impress her. Whereupon Meghana puts him in her task-force because she needs Strider’s capabilities!

Any takers? Just for the fun of it!

Narrating a story

What does one mean when one talks of a narrative in the context of writing fiction? I would like to share my perceptions about what a narrative means – particularly in the context of the exercise that we have just completed.

Good language is an essential prerequisite of narration. When the language is bad one loses reader interest very easily and may even be incapable of communicating what we wished to communicate. In the current context of writing in English, one can use Hinglish or Hindi when we have characters talking but it is best to write proper English when we are writing descriptively. Likewise using SMS lingo (hv etc.) when we are writing in emails/messages/SMSes in the story is fine but not in the narrative or dialogues.

Language, however, is not sufficient to qualify a narrative as good. A good narrative needs to get and hold reader interest, etch the characters and get the reader interested in what happens to them. A great narrative would leave the characters lingering in the minds of the readers long after the story has been read.

When we conceptualize a plot we normally find that the plot is conceived along with a narrative line. What, then, is the need for learning the craft of writing? All of us may not be geniuses at writing and may have to work at our writing in order to polish it. Sometimes, the first flow of narrative may run on too long and may fail the test of Publishers, who may have set word limits for taking up manuscripts. Without knowledge of the essentials of narration, it may become very difficult for us to edit our works to meet these requirements.

The first thing, in my mind, in deciding upon a narrative is the sequencing of events. Events may happen chronologically in a certain manner but the narrative need not necessarily follow that chronology. In the current exercise, a chronological sequencing may be suitable if the idea is to spring the identity of Strider as a surprise. Even here, you may start with a scene in the game or in the office. If it is the former, you run the risk of letting down the reader since he will be expecting a medieval story and you end up showing modern life – much like seeing a fast-paced action sequence and then have the movie-maker tell you that it was all a dream!

If, however, you choose to concentrate on how the change of mind occurred you could start with Meghana suspecting the truth of Strider’s identity, go back to the past about her contemptuous interaction with him, then cut to the present to follow her thought process on the suspicion, back to a scene where she respects Strider in the game, cut to the present to what started her suspicions and finally the confirmation of the identity and her reassessment of how she values people. The manipulation of the sequence of events can materially change the sort of story you end up writing.

Next for me is the choice of Point-of-View (POV) character. You could end up writing as a non-involved narrator (Let me tell you a story about two people type), from Meghana’s point of view, from Arup’s point of view or even a common friend’s point-of-view. You could even move from one point of view to another provided it is clear as to whose point of view is being presented at any point of time. The choice of which POV you choose depends on the story you want to write in the first place and on your comfort level thereafter.

We, then, come to the whether you use first person narrative or third person narrative. (Second person has been tried rarely and is near-impossible to do decently). Of course, first person can be adopted only if you do not prefer a non-involved narrator’s point of view. When you, say, write from Meghana’s point of view a third person narrative – “She thought….” etc. – would be like you were sitting in her mind and recording her view of what was happening. If you used “I thought…” it would mean that Meghana herself was doing the narrating. Here, by and large, the choice would be more a matter of personal comfort level.

Most stories also lend themselves to different emotional tones. If you are writing specific emotion-based genres like horror, humor etc. the emotional tone of the tale is pre-decided. When, however, it is genres like Relationships, Chick-Lit, Fantasy and SF etc. you have a choice of tones – it can be light-hearted, moody or matter-of-fact for example. Well! Actually, though there may be a palette of choices, any given author may not actually be able to do more than one type of mood. The narrative also can set the mood for the tale and most good narratives actually do set an emotional tone that resonates in the reader’s minds. The choice of emotional tone can also decide the POV character. If you choose a light-hearted tone maybe you cannot do it from Meghana’s POV – and, certainly, not using first person – since she seems to be the sort to take herself too seriously to set a light-hearted tone to the tale.

The last thing I intend discussing here is how you establish the characteristics of the persona in your tale. You could just describe your characters in so many words like “Meghana was very intelligent. She had little respect for IT support staff.” You could do a more elegant type of description like “Her eyes were sharp with intelligence. She had a faint look of contempt on her face for those less intellectually endowed, which perceptibly deepened when she came in contact with the IT support staff - whom she held in absolute disdain”.

You could have the characters described by dialogues or actions of others. For example, “Meghana has a problem with her email? The Ice Queen? She treats us IT guys like dirt. Why don’t you send Mr.Helpful Arup to her? Let us see if he can satisfy her” You could etch the characters by their own thoughts, words or deeds. For example - “These IT guys!! They can’t even get the mail working dependably” said Meghana, disdainfully.

In the normal course, the first option is frowned upon by publishers and literary agents. The second can find favor if done well. The third and the fourth option are better bets for establishing character. The idea is to let the reader discover for himself what sort of characters these people are rather than spoon-feeding them.

There is a lot more to narrative than language. A great plot alone cannot make a great story unless it is married to a great narrative as well.

Mega learns her ABC...

Author: Arvind Passey

Author intro:  Words fascinate me. Spent my years in the OGs, then in sales and then heading corporate communications... and now discovering myself through blogging. Words, obviously, have always mattered everywhere -- yes, even in the Army, where even a firing command needs words spoken loud and clear and from the head! However, my journey is now taking me into a different world where words get written but emerge from the heart. I don't know yet if they do visit the head before tumbling out to disperse themselves into the dustbin of eternity.

Story:

Her parents called her Meghana. Her friends shortened it to Mega. Was there any reason to it? Yes. They tell everyone who cared to listen that once in class, the teacher asked, “I need only two volunteers to help me set the new PCs in the lab. Up went Meghana’s hands… yes, both her hands… and she shouted, ‘A mega yes, Ma’am’… and as there were no other volunteers, she was asked to go. She went and single-handedly set up all the PCs in the lab.” 

“Some job,” most listeners tend to mutter, and then add, “a puny, short girl who wears glasses did this. A mega job done indeed!” 

Her friends add hurriedly that this wasn’t the complete story. “There was a time when the principal wanted the opinion of the House Captains on how to deal with truancy,” they are grim as they tell this story, “Most said, ‘They are kids, Ma’am, given them another chance.’ But Meghana just spoke with a firm resolution, ‘A mega no for the suggestion. Punish them and set the right precedence.’ The principal did what she said and the school has had less truancy ever since.” 

The listeners had no choice but to nod their head in agreement and quietly resolve to fall in queue of people who called her Mega. She was indeed a mega success wherever she was. 

After completing her degree in metallurgy, she decided to get into software development as all through her student years she had been the uncrowned queen of the computer department. She was the one who was called whenever there was a problem with both hardware and software. In her room, she always had one eye on her subject books while the other eye roved restlessly on the PC screen where she would invariably be trying to find her way around software issues and solutions. 

Thus Mega became a mega source of inspiration to the CS students. When it was time for the placement interviews, she simply walked in the CS department, and asked to be allowed to be interviewed by the top companies there. the company executives were not told anything but were mildly surprised to find a metallurgy student barging into a software interview… but her answers made them sit back with a respectful awe. She got into a top job with an MNC into a technology that would be all geeky Greek to anyone not a part of them! 

In less than five years, she had proved that strategy was oozing out of her in wholesome quantity. One day she walked in the room of the CMD and said, “I’ve cracked CAT and will be joining IBS here in this city of Paradise biryanis and Karachi biscuits, sir. But I need to keep this job as well.” 

With an expression of mild tolerance, the CMD asked, “How can that be managed? You’re good, we’ll hire you back when you’ve completed your MBA. Don’t worry.” 

“I’ll be here for six hours every evening and on Saturdays as well as Sundays,” she insisted, and went on, “Can’t afford to let my mind be without the issues that it needs and can’t afford to study in peace without the salary. Try this system and you will see that my productivity will only increase.” 

Now, the best part about a sound professional company is that sound professional ideas are never summarily executed. She was permitted to follow her dreams. She did and was soon the VP in the development section and hurtling ahead in full speed… well, she was moving fast in age too and was in her thirties by the time she was able to have a plush cabin of her own. 

Mega was known as the person who did two things with two eyes… you see, she had kept her job and also completed her MBA… and now she had this uncontrollable urge to follow this logic even in her evenings. She had one eye on the multi-player online game that she was fond of playing and the other eye was always on some or the other book of poems. Her daytime was full of harsh management decision-making and tough software strategic thinking… and her evenings had gaming and poetry. It was strategy and romanticism converging seamlessly after a day of blunt and point-blank rasping of instructions, orders, and warnings! 

One of her team members in the organisation was Arup Balakrishna Chopsey. His friends thought they will get away by calling him chopsuey but he was always smart enough and never ordered one, saying, “I prefer having something Indian than Chinese.” Then he went on to tell them all about the merits and demerits of ajinomoto and the other ingredients, and added, “Healthy food is what will make you stay active longer. Junk food can make things quite messy and unmanageable.” And then seeing everyone go quiet with some unseen apprehension, he generally smiled and said, “Don’t worry though. ABC is here and will make sure that you get the best care!” 

Well, this is how Arup came to be called ABC… and he did know his basics well, though he was only a diploma holder in CS. Almost like Mega, ABC too had shuffled his way through a maze of recruitment rules and was now at a supervisory level in the organisation despite his diploma. His mates were all degree holders though much younger. The general buzz was always, “ABC is the walking encyclopaedia around. Ask him if you can’t find it all in the books!” ABC also loved to hop from one desk to another, helping people sort out their problems. 

ABC also played the same strategy game in his evenings… and progressed up because he strategized his movements by including empathy, compassion, sharing, and teamwork. He always seemed to stride confidently into strange worlds… therefore even he wasn’t surprised to find himself choosing the name ‘outlander’ for himself once he was inside the game. 

That morning began in a rather usual note. Mega strode in taking short, fast, and sure steps. Everyone was on their alert. ABC, however, was standing right in the centre of the aisle in some deep thoughts. Mega came close, stopped, and asked, “Waiting for you job to get completed on its own?” There was a very slight cynical smile on her face as she said this. This cynical posture could have been more severe had it been someone else, But Mega knew that ABC had a mind of his own and was quite capable. But the way she had moulded herself all these years always manifested themselves, though immensely controlled when confronting ABC. 

“I have a thought that needs some discussion,” he said calmly. 

“Come with me.” 

They entered her cabin and the hall buzzed normally again. “Yes, what is it that needs a discussion?” asked Mega as she sat on her chair and waved him to sit opposite. 

“We’re including all the logic parameters in the software we’re developing. What it needs is an extra dimension,” said ABC. 

“An extra dimension?” asked Mega, thinking frantically about something crucial that she may have either overlooked or forgotten to include, and finding nothing of relevance coming to her, added, “tell me about this and I’ll think if it can be included or not.” 

ABC stood quietly for a while as if arranging his thoughts and words, which he was actually doing, and began, “People seldom do what they believe in. They do what is convenient, then repent. This is why we need to have warning pop-ups at ten critical spots that I have spotted…” 

“Wait,” said Mega, “Do you know you’ve just quoted Bob Dylan when you said ’People seldom do what they believe in. They do what is convenient, then repent.’ You like his music?” 

ABC blinked at her and said, “I don’t know Bon Dylan. I don’t listen to his music. But these words were what I read yesterday. You see I play this strategy game where people celebrate their entry into a stage by writing their thoughts. I was the second one to reach the socio-political stage and read what the first person had written.” 

“Right,” said Mega, suddenly going weak in her knees, but managed to control her impulses, listened to what Outlander… Oops! ABC had to say, and then sat down slowly, thinking, “I was the one who reached the socio-political stage first and I was the one who quoted Bob Dylan there. I am the one who admires the help-them-all and plod-together strategy of ‘Outlander’ even though I myself generally move faster with my think-hard-and-think-without-emotions approach. So ABC is Outlander?” 

She looked down on her table and opened the day’s newspaper and read this headline: 

Will it be a take-a-decision-and-move or a debate-and-wait approach? The nation waits for the ruling party’s decision.

Untitled Again

Author: Pramod Lohia

Story:

 This story is about Meghana Assefotida, who, always looked forward in life, addressing super challenging tasks with iron fist, and a quaint strangulating smile that baffled the entire staff in the Mega Corporate circle. There was no looking back for her, always striding ahead in leaps. Her intellect and outwit nature had landed her in the most sought after post of Vice-President at the Mega Corporate, with direct accountability to the C.E.O. surpassing the most competitive candidate Mr. Arup.

The challenges were met by her with strong resolve, and the contender Mr. Arup, who had been left at the lower rung, always facilitated her at crucial times. She often wondered at the versatile ability of Mr.Arup. 

They both were in their thirties, and both unmarried. Arun had family issues to cope with, so he couldn’t even think on those lines, and for Meghana the goal was just her career. 

Her favorite pass time game was an online multi player complex strategically designed game, requiring complex brain cells in full action. She played under an anonymous pseudonym of “Maggu” and none could stand anywhere near her on the battlefield, let alone another anonymous player “Strider”.

Her strategic moves were often countered by Strider and she often imagined who that benevolent man was, the callous strides always forcing her brain to think moves further than 50 moves before striking. 

She had started adoring strider in her heart, slowly giving way to his dynamic thinking acumen. 

Today she was in deep thinking, for hours together. All work was pending at desk.

She couldn’t believe her eyes. Strider was none other, Arup himself. The image of Arup found a much higher stature in her heart, whom she had thought of just another common colleague. She was in a dilemma of sorts. The talent always finds the place it deserves, she thought. How clever of him to have maintained the decorum, along with his tasks. Her mind was fully shaken. With the strong resolve, she lost no time in coming up to the decision with brain and heart in unison. She got up and moved towards the cabin of Mr. Arup, alias Strider to put forward her discreet proposal. The emptiness had to be filled, and sooner the better.

The Strange Case of the Strider and Warrior Princess Xana

Author: Mahesh Ramani

Story:

Meghana stared at the mirror – she pouted her lips and then smiled. She was 32 but she did not look a day older than 25. Hazel eyes, luscious jet-black hair, she was stunningly beautiful. Aggressive, ambitious and fiercely independent, she was an electronics engineer with an MBA in International Business from IIM-A. She was the vice-president of Integra Solutions a leading player in the Indian I.T. sector with offices across the globe.

Meghana’s no-nonsense approach was treated as haughtiness by many and there was perhaps a shade of truth in it. Meghana had no friends at work as she believed that work and pleasure did not mix. Her only pressure-reliever was the MMORPG – ‘Invasion’. There she was – Warrior Princess Xana and was part of an elite group of warriors headed by the enigmatic shadow warrior Strider! If only she could find someone like the Strider in real life?

Meghana reported directly to the CEO and treated her colleagues with careless disdain it was part of her demeanour – her philosophy was – ‘Come what may! Work must get done!’ Her attitude had won her many enemies over the years, people who could not bear the rise of the young college beauty; as she rose from one post to the other with ruthless ease.

Arup was Integra’s ‘Network Support Engineer’ a simple affable guy, always ready to help anyone with a smile. Arup understood the meaning of ‘dignity of labour,’ his had been a story of hard work, determination and perseverance. His father’s business had crumbled and unable to bear the loss he had committed suicide; with two younger siblings and his mother to take care of – Arup had dropped out of college and started at Integra as an office-boy.

The hunger to succeed and the willingness to learn propelled Arup onwards; he assembled and dismantled discarded computer systems and became a self-taught IT-specialist. Seeing his skills the IT head Mr. Dasgupta had recommended the HR Manager – Mr. Niladri to promote Arup! It had been a wise decision – Arup always thanked Mr. Dasgupta for his generosity and when Mr. Dasgupta left to the USA to work at the Rochester office; Arup was given Mr. Dasgupta’s role at the Indian office.  

Meghana walked into the conference room 20 minutes ahead of schedule; it was a big day for her as well as Integra. The firm was on the verge of a US$ 70 million deal with Markos Entertainment to create five animation movies over the course of the next seven years. She had made a presentation with ideas for a few of the animation movies and if the honchos from Markos loved the concepts the deal would be signed!

She removed her Dell Inspiron laptop and attempted to start it; the laptop refused to start as the power-indicator would glow for a second and then switch-off. She attempted again as a sense of panic slowly began to build and a mild throbbing started in her temples.

‘I cannot be defeated today! Today I stand at the footsteps of glory – this deal has to go through – you infernal piece of metal and processors and plastic start at my command!’

Unfortunately this was not the MMORPG world of ‘Invasion’ where warrior princess Xana would be guided by the Strider. This was a real-world real-time problem and if it did not get solved in the next 10 minutes, she might probably lose her job!

Meghana called IT Support on 222 and she was greeted by ‘Hi this is Arup, how can I help you?’ – She retorted in her trademark cold-hearted voice ‘This is the VP here I need you to reach the conference room on level-6 right away; my laptop is not starting!’ With that she slammed the phone down!

Arup left his desk and went to the conference room; Meghana looked at him and said ‘Stop staring at me this is the laptop – fix it!’ Arup quickly dismantled the rear cover and took the battery out; he wiped it clean with a soft cloth then he cleaned the battery-compartment and put the battery in and replaced the rear cover.

He powered the laptop on – voila it worked! Meghana grudgingly said thanks – Arup smiled and said ‘No worries madam I am always at your service.’ He gave a mock bow and walked out. She smiled and this time with genuine warmth!

The meeting went well and two of her four ideas caught the fancy of the honchos from Markos Entertainment! The deal went through and a memorandum of understanding was also signed!

All in all it was a successful day for Meghana!

Meghana reached home; showered, cooked up some pasta and then proceeded to become Xana. It was a critical night the rival faction had eaten into the defences of Strider’s troops and the hill-fort could be taken over. The internal messenger flashed – Strider calling all troops – Xana you take the western flank, Vyom you handle the south. I will handle the frontal attackers!

Then followed a mesmerizing Chakravyuh of attacking warfare as Strider lured the enemies and slaughtered them with a vigorous assault marshalling his troops admirably and with able support from Xana and Vyom.

Meghana who could not help marvelling at the brilliance of the Strider and his knowledge of game-play and strategizing. Who would Strider be in real life? A man or a woman or some 15-year old kid who was a gaming freak!

The night’s gaming was done the enemy had been annihilated!

Meghana reached office the next day with a sense of accomplishment her curiosity was kindled and she was now obsessed on finding the identity of the Strider! She had skipped her breakfast and was feeling hungry; she decided to go down to the cafeteria to grab a bite.

As she grabbed her sandwiches and cold coffee on her tray; she decided to find a table to sit and eat. As she turned she noticed a familiar blue logo on a laptop screen. It was the ‘Invasion’ logo! Meghana could not suppress a smile; would this be her lucky day. She noticed a man huddled on to the chair focussing on the gaming screen and handling the control-pads with ease.

She walked up slowly and stared at the screen in surprise it was indeed the Strider! She tapped him on the shoulder gently saying ‘Hi’.

He turned around with a smile and Meghana was shocked to see Arup!

Meghana introduced herself sheepishly – ‘Strider, I am Warrior Princess Xana!’

Arup replied with an impish grin – ‘The pleasure is mine my dear princess!’

JUDGING BY THE COVER

Author: Leo

Author Introduction: What I am by profession doesn't matter, for I'm a writer, and a poet by choice, and by interest. Here breathes my passion, my hope, my dreams, and my world. Here I am fondly called by many as Leo, the poet, and my verses and occasional fictions spark at my blog, I Rhyme Without Reason. 

Story:

The sunlight fell through the open window behind her as she twirled the pencil in her hand absentmindedly.  Her eyes were closed, and a silhouette swam through her imagination. She saw him take the lead, and command her. She felt a rush as he directed her movements, and she knew he was right. She opened her eyes, smiling. It was unlike her to be distracted, that too at the office, but she couldn’t help it.

“Who are you? What do you look like? Where are you now?” Meghana whispered, hoping the answers would come from the silence surrounding her.

**********

Meghana wasn’t surprised when she looked at the clock. She had burned the midnight oil yet again, but there was no tiredness about her mind. On the contrary, she felt empowered, and felt she could accomplish anything she put her mind to. Yes, that was it.

As she changed to her night clothes, she recollected her quest. She had been at her deceptive best. Under her command, her faction had moved seamlessly, and surrounded the enemy camp. Once they were tricked by the impression that her team was going to attack from one direction, she had ordered the charge from the other, and overthrown them with relative ease.

Once again it was the same plan that had brought her the sweet scent of victory. It astonished her no doubt that her rivals never saw it coming.

“Amateurs, that’s what they are. No strategy at all in this world, they wouldn’t even have the push to reach to the top in their real life personas. I’m waiting. Soon it’s going to be all over. The world shall bow to the mind of the fabulous Fox,” she thought to herself.

The next time, she would be joining up with her clan. A battle would ensue, and she was sure victory would be theirs. She would be one of the leaders. She lay down on her bed, and continued staring at the ceiling, her feet tapping the mattress, eager to get back into the virtual world and dominate yet again.

**********

“Fifteen minutes? Do you think I have that kind of time? Oh no, you are sending someone over now,” she screamed into the phone, and slammed it down.

Five minutes later, one of the technicians knocked on the door, and entered. She looked at him, and got up from her chair. “He must be the new person,” she thought to herself.

“The system has stalled. I’ve tried accessing the task manager, but it’s no use. It just doesn’t open at all,” she told him.

He nodded, and checked the system quickly.

“Your C drive is having very little space. I’ll shift the documents that aren’t necessary to be in this drive to the other. Even the desktop is cluttered with too many icons and documents. Some free space for C drive should do the trick,” he told, continuing to work as he talked.

She let him finish, and gave him a courtesy nod as he made to leave.

“A ‘thanks’ wouldn’t hurt,” he whispered slowly, but quickly told “Nothing” when she enquired.

His file was on her desk, and she glanced through his resume once he had left the room.

“Arup Desai… interesting… from an office boy, to an IT technician… he’s worked his ass off I think. But he doesn’t have the skill set for further rise I think. The past will come to haunt him. Discontinuing his studies, big mistake… very big mistake,” she thought to herself.

Her mobile beeped, indicating a reminder.

“Fox going to be on fire tonight,” she read, and smiled. Yes, she was going to be the cynosure of the medieval world yet again. She was going to make it happen. And she couldn’t wait.

**********

“Spread out on the south side, the trap has been laid, the opposition has fallen for it,” she called out.

“Yes Fox,” her team responded, one by one.

She smiled. “Amateurs,” she told herself again.

When she reached her team, she was shocked. Their rivals had outsmarted them. They had stayed behind in large numbers and met her team, who were doing their best to hold their rivals off. But she knew they would soon be overwhelmed, and began to think of ways out.

“Fox, we need a new plan, please respond,” her team asked of her. But she was beginning to panic, and nothing flashed her mind at that moment. As she watched, her team was being cut one by one.

“Fox, take out the leader. Forget the others for now; look for the leader and take the player out,” Strider’s message came across. He was the leader of the clan, and she responded immediately. Looking for the rival’s leader, she entered the battle and began to fight valiantly.

Just as she took out the leader of her rivals, Strider and the other factions of the clan reached the village, and evened out the numbers. After the fall of their leader, the rivals strategy and morale seemed to have dipped, and though they fought with all their heart, their effort had decreased.

Fox saw that Strider’s calmness brought out the best in his troops, and after a long battle, the clan had won.

“Well done. Cheers to a successful quest,” he messaged.

Her respect and adoration for Strider had increased. As Fox signed out, she chided herself for losing her calm when her team needed her the most.

“Who are you, Strider? What do you look like? Where are you now?” she whispered again.

**********

It had happened again. Meghana stormed out of her room, and approached the new technician who had “fixed” the computer problem three days before.

“Mr. Desai, I am not having time to waste. I thought I made that clear to your reporting officer. My computer has got stalled again. If you would get it fixed properly this time, I’ll be kind not to report you. Come on. Hang up that damn phone call, and get it done. Now,” she barked at him.

Shaking his head, and keeping his composure, Arup told, “Chief AFP, be back in a while”, and hung up.

When he examined Meghana’s computer, the C drive was once again nearing full capacity.

“Ma’am, please listen to me. The problem will repeat as long as you keep using this drive for all your work. Documents, presentations, videos, music… all such things, please store it in the other drives, so this won’t get to full capacity”, he told her.

She didn’t hear him completely.

“What is AFP? I know AFK is away from keyboard,” she asked him.

“You are a gamer? Surprising to hear that, ma’am,” he told. “AFP is Away from Phone. It’s just a casual expression my friend and I made up.”

“I see. I think you are a new player. If you need some tips on strategy, I can guide. I’m the leader of my faction,” she volunteered, eager to show her high position in that world too.

“Oh. That’s good. I’m not new though. I’m the leader of a clan. What faction do you lead?” he countered, not masking his delight at putting her down in some world finally.

“That’s not important now. You lead a clan? Which one? What’s your screen name?” she asked, stunned that this technician was on a higher level than her.

“I’m known as Strider in the medieval world, ma’am. May I know yours?” he smiled, “I’ve transferred unwanted files to the other drive. You’re set.”

“Oh thanks, now I can get this presentation done. For the afternoon’s meeting you know,” she said, and began browsing for the file.

As Arup walked out, she stopped pretending to search for the file, and looked at him walking away from the cabin.

“So the book can truly not be judged by the cover. Great gamers needn’t be above my skill set after all,” she thought to herself.

Picking up her glass of water, she raised a toast to the receding figure of Arup in the distance.

“Here’s to Strider, and more successful quests in his command,” she whispered and took a sip for the future.

*********************************

No Title Again

Author: Medha Kapoor

Author Introduction: The first thing you need to know about me is that I suck at

introductions. Second, I'm extremely lazy. So let's make a short affair of this. I am student of Civil Engineering ( not willingly, of course). I write simply becaue it makes me happy and it is the one thing I can do without feeling stressed. I love to read. Sound intense enough? No? Let me re-phrase it. I live to read. I am big fat

book-nerd. I am also shy and awkward. My inspiration for life is Dr.House of House, MD. I am obsessed with my dog. http://medhakapoor.blogspot.in

Story: Underneath the Skin: Paradoxes of Identity

‘The township of Ur is guarded by an army of a hundred and fifty goblins,
not only are we outnumbered, their strength will be no match to ours’,
cried Daenerys to the elders of the council. Several murmured their
approval.

’So suggest we lie low, build our strength and then come back to this when
we’re ready’, Daenerys finished, looking around the group confidently.

’If wars were to be one by numbers alone, nobody would bother turning up on
the field.’

Heads turned to locate where the calm, steady voice was coming from. It was
Strider. As always, nobody had noticed him join the group, but now that he
had spoken, every eye was fixed on him.

’Seizing Ur is the only chance we have of securing a path way to the heart
of the Kingdom. I believe that if every member of our clan plays his role
and plays it well, there will be no cause for failure.’

’But even if we put numbers aside, the strength of us mortals is nothing
compared to the magical goblins!’, retorted Daenerys, determined to
convince the council,’Waging a war in thees circumstances would spell doom.
Even if we won, we would not be able to hold the seat for too long, given
our depleted army.’

’At least, you’ve conceded we may win. I consider the job half done
already. Now, to the point of strength. Yes, the goblins have many magical
powers, but they also have an unusual weakness...I observed them, lying low
at Barty’s Diner...’,and so on went Strider, describing his strategy in
detail.

Daenerys, though frustrated with the way things were going, could not hide
her amazement at the brilliance of Strider’s plan. She wracked her brains
over it, but could not find anything wrong with his analysis.
’This man is a genius!’, she found herself thinking while voting in favor
of the plan along with the others.

.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................

*’...Don’t lose your grip on dreams of the past*
*You must fight to keep them alive *
*It’s the eye of the tiger*
*It’s the thrill of the fight...’*

Meghana rolled over and turned off the alarm. It could not be six thirty
already, she complained, looking at the alarm clock with a half open eye.
Grudgingly, she got out of bed and started getting ready for work. She’d
slept for only three hours and looked like a mess. She considered taking
the day off but then decided against it. ‘Boss needs me today’, she thought.

.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................

The offices of India One Solutions Pvt Ltd were located in the IT hub of
the city. They were tall and sleek, much like any other corporate building,
nothing special there.
The door to the third floor beeped open as Meghana Arora walked in. Her
sharp heels struck the floor with a clunk noise. Immediately the
passageway to her cabin cleared.
*clunk clunk clunk*
Ties straightened, shirts were tucked in, half-eaten lunch boxes were done
away with.
*clunk clunk clunk*
Individual cries of ‘Good Morning Ma’am’ replaced the gossip and chuckles
that had filled the office five minutes back.
*clunk clunk clunk*
Meghana was thirty one, smart and good-looking. She was riding the wave of
professional success. She walked in to work with an air of dominance. Her
black skirt fitted her form snugly but her hair were neatly tied in a bun.
She was a control freak. She abhorred disorderliness and indiscipline. This
was why she was the boss. This was why she didn’t have many friends. But,
let’s get to that later.
*clunk clunk clunk*
Meghana looked at the throng of faces around her, immersed in work. Buzzing
away like drone bees, making sweet honey for her. Honey that will take her
another step up the ladder. Take her closer to her goal, her destiny...
The office floor was transformed into a stretch of sand. She was riding a
horse. Her clan, her Khalasar followed behind. She had to build an army,
she had to go to war. I am the Khaleesi, the most powerful woman in the
world and the throne is my birth right.

A smile crossed her lips as she drew this analogy and it was with this
smile that she met Arup.

Arup worked with OIS as the IT technician. He had a small cubicle at the
corner where he lazed around all day, fixing minor issues with the staff
computers, so that they could work on bigger and more intense ones. In
short, he lead a glamorless existence. Not that he deserved it, though. His
only fault was that he was born on the wrong side of the town. But after
all the struggle he had faced, he was more than happy to lead a secure life
as a part of the OIS machinery.

Arup had ‘heard’ Meghana’s arrival and was now looking at her expectantly
as she made her way to his desk.

’Good Morning, Ma’am’

’Morning, Arup. See me in my cabin in an hour.’

’Yes, sure..’, he started to say, but Meghana had started walking towards
the CEO’s  cabin. Vinod, the CEO, was another swashbuckling product of a
top Business School, like Meghana. The other advantage of his profile was
that he was the only one who could exercise some control over her.

*(Note: Khalasar and Khaleesi are terms belonging to George Martin’s ‘A
Song of Ice and Fire’. Khalasar refers to a clan of warriors and Khaleesi
is the title given to their queen. I have picked up Daenerys from the book
too.) *
.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................

’Yes, Vinod, I get your point, but with the right strategy, we could take
on this project!Give me a chance..’

’Meghana, we do not have the workforce required for something as big as
this. I had hoped you would realize that.’

’But, Vinod, give me one chance to present my plan before the Board, I..’

’Save your breath, Meghana. The Board will never agree.’

Fuming, Meghana turned around and walked back to her cabin. The CEO’s stark
disapproval of her radical new scheme had wiped off whatever admiration she
had once held for him. She had expected him to be innovative and open, but
he was just another safe-player, going by the rules in the textbook. She
sat down at her desk and looked at her laptop screen. A smile lighted up
her face. A screenshot of last night’s successful war adorned her desktop.
Strider took centrestage, mounted on his dark horse, holding the Kingdom’s
sharpest blade.
Meghana recalled how, at every obstacle, they had turned to Strider and he
had never failed them. ‘What a thinker!’, thought Meghana, ‘I bet he has
never shied away from a task, no matter how daunting.’ She started
comparing his attitude and skills with Vinod’s. ‘He is a natural leader’,
she concluded, ‘how gratifying must it be to work under him, with him.’ She
started imagining him as a top executive somewhere, making aggressive
decisions and impressing everybody with his ability. Color rose to her
cheeks...

A knock on the door snapped her right out of her reverie. It was Arup. The
air of dominance returned to her demenaour as she asked him what he wanted.

’Uhh...you’d asked me to come by, remember?’, he stated meekly.

’Oh!Right!Come on in. There seems to be a problem with the LAN connection
in here’, she told him, hastily changing the desktop background.

’Hmm...let me have a look..’, Arup went over to examine her connection.
’You look really tired today, Ma’am’, he said, glancing at the circles
beneath her eyes.

’Couldn’t catch much sleep last night’, she replied curtly.

’A hot cup of green tea with a dash of lemon in it always freshens me up!.’

’I wouldn’t even bother with the tea if all I had to do was look over some
wires’, Meghana thought to herself, yawning.

’There you go!As good as ever!’, exclaimed Arup.

Meghana gave him a thanks and a smile as he turned to go.

’Oh and one more thing Arup’, Meghana started, riding on a sudden
brainwave,’suppose there was this online role playing game...’

’MMORG, you mean?’

’Ah, yes. I was wondering if you could help me identify the identity of a
player’, she blurted, looking him in the eye.

Arup fought down a chuckle as he moved to her desk. ‘I haven’t tried this,
but I have heard of a couple of websites which may help you.’ He scribbled
down a list and handed it to her.

’Thank you. And Arup, this is strictly off the record,understood?’

’Of course, Ma’am.’

.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................

’Every person is important. It does not matter what you are, what your
position is on the leadership ladder...you all are a part of this and you
shall all do the best you possibly can.’

Meghana could have been sitting in a Corporate boardroom, listening to the
mandatory rumble of a chief executive.
But she was Daenerys, in the Castle of Ur, sitting with her people,
listening to Strider. Though she had heard this speech countless many times
before, she knew this one was different. She knew the speaker had the
ability to match the boldness of his words with sincere actions. She had
seen him accomplish that.

’I want each and every one of you to ravage the castle and pick up weapons
of your choice. I would then want you to practice with them. Remember, it
is not the number of weapons but the skill of the weapon bearer that
decides the fate of a battle. Come on now, let’s get going!’, he cried as
the crowd started to disperse.

Daenerys stood by a pillar, watching him make his way across the hall to
the dungeon. Now was the time to talk to him, but she found herself unable
to move. ‘He probably thinks I’m stupid’, Meghana conceded, doubting her
ability for the first time. She watched him disappear in the shadows and
sighed.

.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................

’Enter name of game....’, read the computer screen.
Meghana could barely conceal her excitement as she punched in the words.

*check*

’Enter ID and password’.

*check*

’Enter name of player to be tracked’.

*check*

Her heart was pounding so hard she was sure everybody on the office floor
could hear it.
’What’s wrong with you, girl!’, she chided herself.

The results loaded and she was disappointed to see no name turn up. There
was an IP address though, of the last place he had logged in from. Meghana
hurriedly noted it down. Then memorized it. But the problem was, how was
she going to track it down? She could go to Arup again, but that would hurt
her pride. Sighing, she folded the paper and put it in her drawer.
The phone rang.

’Meghana! In my office! Now!’, it was Vinod.

Meghana jumped up, straightened her jacket and was out the fdoor in a
second.

*clunk clunk clunk*

The sound woke many from slumber as others sat straighter up their chairs,
trying to look focused.

*clunk clunk clunk*

Meghana could see right through their act. ‘What a lazy bunch!’, she
thought. She saw Arup strolling down the corridor, a little ahead of her.
Taking in a deep breath, she called out to him.

’Yes Ma’am’, she turned to look at her, timid.

’Be at my cabin in twenty minutes!’, she commanded.

’Any problem with the websites?’, he ventured to mock.

An angry stare shut him up. He gulped.

’I will be there, Ma’am’.

’Phew! That was scary!’, he thought to himself as he watched her walk away.

.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................

’You must understand this is a huge risk for our company and we expect you
to deliver, Meghana’.

’Yes, Vinod, I will, most definitely’.

Meghana beamed. She was going to present her plan before the Board. She
knew what a huge step this was for her career. ‘This is my chance to prove
I can be as good as Strider’, she thought, smiling to herself.
She emerged from the Boss’ cabin looking happy and pleased with herself.
Her hurried march was now replaced by a confident stride as she crossed the
cublicles. A piece of yellow parchment caught her attention. It was stuck
on the desk of one of the employees.

’Every person is important. It doesn’t matter whether you play the violin,
the flute, the cello, or the drums, you’re still part of the orchestra.’
 -Victor Hugo

Meghana stopped dead in her tracks. The words were too familiar. Could it
be?
She guided her sweaty palms to the desktop and turned the screen around to
locate the sticker bearing it’s IP address.

’No, it can’t be!’

She glanced at the name plate and almost ran to her cabin. She rushed to
the drawer and pulled out the paper.

’Oh my god!’

She collapsed in the chair, reading and re-reading the number on the slip.

’Ma’am, may I come in?’

Meghana looked up, her face a burning scarlet.

’...Arup...would you, would you mind assisting me in a project we’re taking
on?’

.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................