Read Online Sorting Out Sid by Yashodra Lal - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Yashodra Lal
Tags: Fiction
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watching him whispering what were clearly sweet nothings into the phone, Sid had hit upon his new theory for Akash’s entry into the company. There had to be some sort of ‘secret sports quota’ or something. He resolved to ask Meenakshi about it now that she was all friendly with him.
But now this idiot had invited Akash into the scriptpresentation. Sid grit his teeth. He would deal with Ravi later, probably send him for all the upcoming in-house product researches. Sid recalled that during his induction he had been forced to watch product demonstrations of how Kollinex worked its magic on all kinds of toilet stains in Indian as well as Western-style toilets. It had been a nauseating experience – although of course he had later gushed about how extremely interesting and educational it had been. Yes, that’s what Ravi deserved, except that given how ‘enthu’ Ravi was, he would probably enjoy it, cheerfully chalking it up as a brilliant learning experience, and even mean it – little twit!
Sid slammed his way into the conference room and took one of the seats. Akash would naturally expect to sit at the head of the table although he would come in and make a bad joke about why it had been left empty for him when these young guys from Sid’s team were the bosses!
Sid tapped his fingers on the table for a while in a pensive mood. Finally, the door swung open and Ravi ushered in the agency team along with a couple of other brand managers. The first person to enter was Murali, the head of the agency. He burst in with his usual boisterous confidence and flourishing moustache, booming, ‘How are you, Sid?’ and extended his hand.
‘Fine, FINE,’ said Sid in a loud and deep voice that came pretty close to matching Murali’s in terms of pitch, allowing his hand to be pumped in Murali’s death grip. They had never really liked each other. Sid thought Murali was a condescending gasbag, and he had always felt Murali resented dealing with a client so much younger than himself. They stood there smiling affably at one another. ‘Take a seat, Murali, so good to see you. Coffee?’
‘Sure, would love one,’ said Murali, and plonked himself heavily on one of the chairs as the rest of his team piled in. Sid greeted each one and noted with a heavy heart that it was a crowd today – about ten people? His heart sank. This was bad news; he knew this only happened when there was a particularly horrendous script idea, and thus the need for reinforcements. Right now in the room, Sid noted, were people from the servicing team, the copy team, the creative head, the account director and one small fellow whom Sid hadn’t seen before, and vaguely suspected to be the office tea boy. Still, one would hear them out – one hardly had a choice.
Once everyone had settled down and the pleasantries about the weather were out of the way, Sid cleared his throat and said, ‘So, can we start?’
Murali opened his mouth to speak, but Ravi piped in, ‘Sid, Akash said he would join us, should we wait for him?’ Sid gave Ravi a withering look which had absolutely no impact on the young man. He was about to say that there was no need to wait, and that Akash would pick up the threads, when the door opened and Akash came in, bustling with self-importance. Murali stood up to greet Akash as did the rest of the agency. Sid cringed inwardly. Whenever Murali and Akash met, the conversation between them was always extended and jovial, with entirely senseless rambling. It was to be no different this time. After ten minutes more of poor jokes, meaningless reminiscing and comments about the weather, a lull in the conversation indicated it was finally time to start the script presentation. Sid looked at his watch – 11.30 a.m., already! And not one useful task had yet been accomplished all morning.
Murali put on his serious business face and turned to Akash. ‘Akash, we have something brilliant for you today, you’re goingto love it. It’s brilliant,
But now this idiot had invited Akash into the scriptpresentation. Sid grit his teeth. He would deal with Ravi later, probably send him for all the upcoming in-house product researches. Sid recalled that during his induction he had been forced to watch product demonstrations of how Kollinex worked its magic on all kinds of toilet stains in Indian as well as Western-style toilets. It had been a nauseating experience – although of course he had later gushed about how extremely interesting and educational it had been. Yes, that’s what Ravi deserved, except that given how ‘enthu’ Ravi was, he would probably enjoy it, cheerfully chalking it up as a brilliant learning experience, and even mean it – little twit!
Sid slammed his way into the conference room and took one of the seats. Akash would naturally expect to sit at the head of the table although he would come in and make a bad joke about why it had been left empty for him when these young guys from Sid’s team were the bosses!
Sid tapped his fingers on the table for a while in a pensive mood. Finally, the door swung open and Ravi ushered in the agency team along with a couple of other brand managers. The first person to enter was Murali, the head of the agency. He burst in with his usual boisterous confidence and flourishing moustache, booming, ‘How are you, Sid?’ and extended his hand.
‘Fine, FINE,’ said Sid in a loud and deep voice that came pretty close to matching Murali’s in terms of pitch, allowing his hand to be pumped in Murali’s death grip. They had never really liked each other. Sid thought Murali was a condescending gasbag, and he had always felt Murali resented dealing with a client so much younger than himself. They stood there smiling affably at one another. ‘Take a seat, Murali, so good to see you. Coffee?’
‘Sure, would love one,’ said Murali, and plonked himself heavily on one of the chairs as the rest of his team piled in. Sid greeted each one and noted with a heavy heart that it was a crowd today – about ten people? His heart sank. This was bad news; he knew this only happened when there was a particularly horrendous script idea, and thus the need for reinforcements. Right now in the room, Sid noted, were people from the servicing team, the copy team, the creative head, the account director and one small fellow whom Sid hadn’t seen before, and vaguely suspected to be the office tea boy. Still, one would hear them out – one hardly had a choice.
Once everyone had settled down and the pleasantries about the weather were out of the way, Sid cleared his throat and said, ‘So, can we start?’
Murali opened his mouth to speak, but Ravi piped in, ‘Sid, Akash said he would join us, should we wait for him?’ Sid gave Ravi a withering look which had absolutely no impact on the young man. He was about to say that there was no need to wait, and that Akash would pick up the threads, when the door opened and Akash came in, bustling with self-importance. Murali stood up to greet Akash as did the rest of the agency. Sid cringed inwardly. Whenever Murali and Akash met, the conversation between them was always extended and jovial, with entirely senseless rambling. It was to be no different this time. After ten minutes more of poor jokes, meaningless reminiscing and comments about the weather, a lull in the conversation indicated it was finally time to start the script presentation. Sid looked at his watch – 11.30 a.m., already! And not one useful task had yet been accomplished all morning.
Murali put on his serious business face and turned to Akash. ‘Akash, we have something brilliant for you today, you’re goingto love it. It’s brilliant,
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