All the Chapters
Chapter 11
Shaan
had a hearty breakfast in the restaurant of the hotel where he put up. He had always
been admirer of an American breakfast consisting of fruit juice or some fruits,
eggs in the form one desired, some meat preparations, cereals, different types
of breads, fried potatoes, coffee or tea. It made almost a full meal. He needed
a good breakfast much more today than any other day. Kelly had indicated that
the meeting could go on for a long time and might overshoot the normal
lunchtime. Breakfast over; he got ready
to meet Kelly in ‘Super Soft Technologies’.
He
browsed through the email correspondence he had with Kelly and looked at the
directions Kelly gave him in order to reach her office.
As
suggested by Kelly he chose a hotel that was just outside the campus of ‘Super
Soft Technologies’. Kelly’s office was in building 4 of the company’s 130 odd
buildings. By any reckoning it was a huge organization. Luckily building 4 was
not too far. He decided to walk.
He
looked around. He saw gardens full of different flowers.
He
decided to revise his business presentation that he planned to make to Kelly
during the walk.
The meeting was scheduled at 10 AM. At sharp 10, as he was about to knock the door of Kelly’s cabin, he saw the door opening and Kelly was there to receive him.
She
checked by asking, “Shaan from India?”
“Yep.”
“You
seem to like punctuality.”
“And
you too.”
She
extended her hand and Shaan took her palm in his own. Though theirs was a brief
handshake, Shaan felt genuineness in Kelly’s body language and Kelly felt the
same way towards Shaan.
Without
wasting any time they got down to business.
“Hope,
you had a comfortable flight. Is your hotel alright?”
“I had
a comfortable flight. Thanks for suggesting this hotel. It’s pretty much OK.”
“So,
shoot.”
Shaan
got ready to give his business presentation.
Shaan
made a succinct presentation of his business proposal. He noticed that Kelly
was keenly following his presentation, jotting down a few notes and making
certain queries. She seemed to have got hooked up. It surely was a good sign
for Shaan. He was keen on associating with this company of highest repute in
the software industry.
He also
decided that he wanted to associate with Kelly.
The
meeting was over much ahead of what Kelly had expected. Kelly laughed and said,
“You have been more efficient than I estimated. Now what do we do before we
meet my boss? We will decide about your business association in a meeting with
him in the afternoon at 2 o’clock. How about lunch?”
“It’s
OK with me. My hotel?”
“No,
let us have a quick bite in our building’s cafeteria. Your hotel will take
longer. Hope you don’t mind a working lunch without any frills.”
“It’s
perfectly fine.”
They
walked down to cafeteria.
Lunch
was an ordinary affair. The conversation circled strictly around Shaan’s
business proposition. Kelly got some more clarifications on Shaan’s business
setup of India. By this time it was 2 PM- the time for meeting Kelly’s boss.
To
Shaan’s surprise Kelly’s boss turned out to be a man of Indian origin. Later he
found out that he had come to USA some ten years ago and got US citizenship
recently. A significant number of Indian professionals now worked in USA. Most
of them were highly educated and they were holding fairly important positions
in the organizations of repute.
Kelly
introduced Shaan to Srinivasan, “Srini, this is Shaan.”
Srinivasan
extended his hand for a handshake with Shaan and asked, “Can I address you as
Shaan? Any prefix or suffix?”
Shaan
smiled and replied, “No prefix or suffix, just Shaan.”
Then
the three of them got busy exchanging the required information.
When
the meeting logically came towards an end, Shrinivasan asked Kelly, “Hope we
covered all the ground? Any point missing?”
“We
have one more very important point. Shaan will need to open a small office here
in San Jose. This project requires constant interactions and Shaan’s presence
here with couple of his associates will be quite vital,” Kelly elaborated.
Srinivasan
turned to Shaan, “Hope you have made financial provisions for it.”
Shaan
spoke, “I had anticipated it and so I am prepared for it. I will request your
assistance in getting the required visa and other related documents.”
“That
will be our commitment to you,” Srinivasan accepted Shaan’s request.
Kelly
emphasized, “Shaan will need to give a kick start to this project within next
fortnight. In the mean time we will sign our formal business contract with his
firm ‘Soft Act’.”
The
meeting was dismissed.
Shaan
got busy organizing his office in San Jose and in completing the necessary
paper work. He was in touch with Kelly intermittently to seek her advice as
well as to report the progress. He also hired a small apartment for himself and
bought a second hand car.
A few
weeks passed. One evening when he was not doing anything in particular, he got
a call from Kelly, “Hey Shaan. Are you free this evening?”
“Yes, I
am not doing anything in particular. Why?”
“You
need a break. You have been working a lot last few days. Why don’t you break
the monotony? Also you need some socializing. I intend introducing you to some
interesting crowd this evening. OK with you?”
“OK
with me. Thanks a lot Kelly for the kind thought. I was looking forward to some
human contact outside of my professional work. Here is an opportunity and I wish
to grab it.”
“Be
ready at 6. I will pick you up then.”
Kelly
took the address of Shaan’s apartment.
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