The Company

 

The meeting was finally over after seven continuous hours of discussions and negotiations. The Rudolf India Cloth company’s majority shares was transferred to Patel cloth manufacturers. The owner of Patel Cloth manufacturers, Hemant Bhai, finally had a smile on his face. The entire transaction had finally concluded after months of planning and negotiations. The Patel Cloth Manufactures now held 65% of shareholding in Rudolf India Cloth Company.

Back then, during the latter part of the nineteenth century, in the year 1883, a small cotton cloth manufacturing unit had been started in the town of Surat, a town located in western India. Surat, at that point of time was a town which fell under the jurisdiction of the Bombay Presidency Municipality.

 The small cloth manufacturing unit was founded by a person named Janaklal Patel. Initially, the unit manufactured cloth material and distributed within the local market, but as time passed by and the news about the good quality of the cloth spread, orders had started to come from the other provinces of Calcutta and Madras Presidencies.

 Within a period of two years, the unit made handsome profits and with more investments from third parties, it turned into a professionally managed company by the name of “National Cotton Company.” Janaklal was a visionary and his vision was to expand the operations to the foreign lands.

 It was during that time when the second phase of Industrial Revolution was on its peak in Europe. Having already had its impact on the European market, the Industrial Revolution had changed the manner of manufacturing all over Europe. An Industry which had been impacted the most was the cloth manufacturing industry. Due to increased usage of new machinery, the cost of cloth manufactured in Europe and London had gone up which resulted in increased imports from other countries where in the cost was lower due to low labor cost. Janaklal with the help of one of his acquaintances had got hold of some orders to be exported to Great Britain. This changed the fortune of the company to unbelievable levels.

 Within the next five years National Cotton Company prospered to newer levels. Janaklal also involved his son, Madhav in his business. As years went by, Janaklal backed out from daily operations and Madhav took over. By 1920, Janaklal had passed away due to an epidemic which had impacted the whole of the city.  Madhav now was the sole holder of the company. No matter how diligent he had been, Madhav lacked the business skills of his father. Over the next ten years, as the Indian Independence movement got into its strongest phase, orders dried up. It was during this time, when an England based business man had visited India on a pleasure trip.

 Through his friends in Bombay, he had come to know of the National Cotton Company. It had been the same company which supplied the cloth to his father’s cotton company in England. He travelled to Surat where the main office was located. Over the next three weeks, he sealed the deal to purchase the loss-making company and make it an India unit for his England based company. The company purchased was renamed as Rudolf India Cloth Company in 1942. Madhav and his family shifted base to Bombay and started their own small shop of trading materials.

 Back to the present, Hemant Bhai who had just turned Forty-five was a very satisfied man. He had made his most ambitious purchase until then. Purchasing an Indian Unit of an England based company in 1972 was no joke. Sipping his of tea and looking over the Arabian Sea from his plush office cabin, Hemant Bhai looked back into his journey from his college days.

 Hemant Bhai had always been an intelligent negotiator since his college days. Whether it would be a household item or any item, he had excellent negotiating skills which people around him had experienced. Since his college days, he had been inclined to be a businessman rather than being in service. Along with his friends, he had founded a small-scale manufacturing unit at Masjid Bunder locality in Bombay in 1949 at the young age of twenty-two. Though the start had been difficult, due to the fact that India had attained independence just two years ago, he had an advantage of low local competition.

 Through his local contacts, orders were secured slowly and steadily and profits were made. With the help of few of his relatives and acquaintances, he had managed to obtain loans from some of the well-known banks. The business flourished and Hemant Bhai got rich. The Companies Act was introduced in 1956 and the Income Tax Act was introduced in 1961. The entire company was turned into a professionally managed enterprise which complied with all laws and regulations. The good returns ensured that the bankers would be happy and would increase their working capital finance. By the time Hemant Bhai turned Forty, he made a calculation that it was time for some acquisitions which would bring in the enhanced synergy effect into his company.

Out of the list which was presented to Hemant Bhai, he chose a Company named Rudolf India Cloth Company. Rudolf India Cloth Company, though being reasonably cash rich, of late were running into losses for the last five years. Due to the same, the foreign office at London, was looking for a party to which it could sell. Thus, over a period of five years the negotiations and discussions took place and finally the sixty five percent transfer was concluded in 1972. Now, Patel Cloth Manufacturer were the majority shareholders of Rudolf India Cloth Company.

 In the last of the forms which he had to sign that day, there was a column for his and his father’s name to which he wrote “Hemant Madhav Patel” and father’s name as “Madhav Janaklal Patel.”

 It had been years since he had seen the very building which his father and grandfather had made out of their sweat. It was time to go back to the company which was once known as “National Cotton Company”.

 It was time to go home.

The Jewellery Box - The Detective Boys: Short Story 7

 

The Monsoon of 1997 had arrived and Kolkata was receiving a good rainfall. The climate had become pleasant. Indeed, people were very happy and the overall mood of the city was good considering that the good monsoon had brought relief from the extreme heat. Dhakuria and in particular the Babu Bagan Lane was no different. Water was flowing down the lanes in and around the Babu Bagan Lane. It was water all around but the drains were working efficiently and there was no water logging on any side of the Babu Bagan Lane, except near the Dhakuria Girl’s High School.

The neighborhood was surprised to see some water getting accumulated on that side of the drain which generally worked well in draining the rain water. It seemed as if there was some obstruction in the drain line. By afternoon the problem escalated and water started to get accumulated on the corner of the road.

By the evening the rains had stopped but the water near the school remained still and the drain seemed to have been obstructed by some heavy items of garbage. The rains arrived by late evening again.

It was sometime around mid-night twelve thirty, when two men holding an umbrella walked towards the spot of dispute. It was drizzling so they didn’t find it difficult to walk towards the drain. At the same moment, an old man from the house nearby watched outside on the road in surprise. He didn’t raise any alarm but watched closely. He was unable to watch the face of two men but they seemed to be mid heighted around five feet five inches.  The old man observed that one of the two jumped into the drain and removed a rectangular box which seemed to be made of steel due to its shine. Once they collected the box, both left. The old man kept looking through the window until the men disappeared into oblivion.

To the surprise of the neighborhood, when it rained heavily next morning there was no more accumulation at the spot of dispute. The old man who had seen the events of last night understood that the blockage was due to the steel box which was removed last night, but the question remained what did the steel box contain.

The phone rang at Ritwick’s house and his grandfather picked it up. Upon hearing the call, he had only one thing to say, “Ritwick, it seems there is a new case for you.”

That evening the old man who was a witness to the removal of the steel box explained in detail what he had observed.

“Surprising, isn’t it?” commented Deep Das.

Ritwick could understand that the steel box surely would have contained something valuable. He and Deep Das inspected the spot of dispute. There was no obstruction at that time and the drain seemed to be clear of any heavy material.

It was only later he was informed about an event which had occurred on the night day before yesterday i.e. the day before one on which the heavy rainfall took place.  Ms. Banerjee who was coming from a late night movie had watched the event from her car which had just entered her house’s parking lot.

“Two men had been running furiously with a box of steel while three more had been chasing them. While on the run, it seemed as if they just threw the steel box inside the drain near the high school on the left side.” Said Ms. Banerjee.

“I was thinking for the last two days about the box but couldn’t gather the guts to go near the drain on that side to see it.” She continued.

Ritwick listened to her with utmost interest.

“Did you see their face?”

“No, I couldn’t as I was on one side and was just getting out of the garage area.”

“And what about the ones chasing them?”

“They seemed to be the ones who have a general store near the station.”

Next morning, Ritwick and Deep Das made a visit to all general stores located near the Dhakuria Railway station, both on west side and east side. It was the fourth shop, named Janata general stores, where they found what they wanted.

“Yes, we were chasing those two.” Replied the owner whose name was Naresh Kumar.

“Those two were working at our shop for the last two months. They had come to Kolkata from some distant suburb. That night as I was about to close the shop, I observed that my steel box in which I stored my family Jewellery was missing. When I started to look for it, my eyes went over the   duo who were about to run out of shop. I screamed but they ran and behind them I and two others from nearby shop ran. We couldn’t catch them and neither did we get the steel box back.”

“Did you file police complain?” asked Deep Das.

“No,”

Ritwick was surprised but didn’t show his reaction.

“Do you have any photographs of the two people?”

“Not actually. We trusted them so didn’t bother for the legal formalities.”

Ritwick and Deep Das inquired with the nearby shops about the two bandits who had run away. That evening Ritwick took Ms Banerjee to Janata General Stores and informed her about theft at the shop. Ms Banerjee seemed puzzled looking at the shop.

“What happened Ms. Banerjee?”

Ms Banerjee informed Ritwick about her concerns. Ritwick finally had a smile on his face.

Like always, Ritwick informed his grandfather about all the events and the likely outcome of the case. His grandfather was quick getting in touch with the local police head.

It was indeed a puzzle and would have remained if Ms Banerjee wouldn’t have made an important observation that night.

That night when she was coming out of the garage, she had seen Naresh Kumar standing at a corner of the lane where the two robbers were running towards. The three of them who were chasing had given up the chase and went back while the two thieves went straight to Naresh Kumar and informed him about the events. The time when the robbery had taken place, Naresh Kumar was not at the shop but was at the Babu Bagan Lane entrance. He had lied to Ritwick and Deep Das about his whereabouts on the day of the theft.

Ritwick figured out that the next day after the robbery, while it was raining all day, they couldn’t have collected the box so they returned that night and took it back and gave it to Naresh Kumar.

“Why would Naresh Kumar steal his own Jewellery?

“That way he wouldn’t have to share it with his brothers and that was the reason he didn’t make an official complaint.”

“How did you know that Naresh Kumar was involved?” asked an even more perplexed Deep Das.

“Firstly. Ms Banerjee had identified him of being near the spot of the dispute and it seemed too coincidental of him being there, other than being an active participant in the plan. Secondly, he didn’t give us much information about the two thieves and also the fact that when I inquired with the nearby shops, they had informed me that on the evening of robbery, Naresh Kumar and the two thieves were in deep discussion, perhaps discussing the plan.”

Deep Das could only compliment Ritwick’s sharpness and associating skills.

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The Manager and the Recruit : The Office Shorts #1

 

The continuous ringing of the desk phone irritated Meghna to an unbearable level. For the past fifteen minutes she was trying to conclude the report on analysis of the variation in operating expenses in between actual and budgeted for the half year ended. In her previous company it would only take her perhaps one or two days to complete the same task but here at the MNC, she had taken the whole week to complete and now when the conclusion was almost reached, she was having doubts over her own work. A new recruit coming in from a mid-sized Technology developing company to the new Multinational Life Insurance Company, she had had a nightmare in her first five months since induction.  Being a part of the team, which was handling expense variation analysis of the large sized MNC, she often got nervous, stressed out and of course warned upon by her manager for her inefficiency at various occasions.

In her previous company, she had been part of the team which was one of best performers. However, the manager at her present company couldn’t see much of the promise which was evident during the hiring process. Only one month was left for completing her probation period and she had a fair idea that she was surely going to have a difficult time to keep her job intact.

The present manager, Rajinder Awasthi, had given a hint that her performance wasn’t up to mark and the seniors were watching. Inability to meet deadlines and frequent errors in data workings were getting repetitive. In the cut throat competition in which she had entered the company, she couldn’t keep up with the pace with which work happened in the MNC scenario. Meghna’s team was headed by two mid –level managers, Rajinder Awasthi and Shridhar Iyer, who were reporting to the senior manager. Both the managers were working with the company for more than five years. Both of them had tried to help Meghna in most of situations but the stress factor and the fear of failure often erased the benefits of the manager’s help. The managers would often solve her doubts in person and also ensured their support at any time of the day. Meghna was asked by the managers to bring the constraints to them so that they would help her solve the same. However, things weren’t working out. It was at this time when one of the managers, Rajinder Awasthi had to take an emergency leave. In his place, a temporary manager, Alisha Gujral, was transferred to head Meghna and team. Alisha was associated with the company for more than seven years and had worked in various verticals. She had started as an Executive and risen to the level deputy manager in no time.

The first aspect that Alisha did was to study the performance evaluation reports of all the team members and as expected, Meghna’s evaluation caught her attention as it was a concern for her as a manager. she observed that Meghna had only one month left for completing her probation period. Over the next three days, Alisha observed the recruit with respect to daily reporting, communications, contribution to the team and of course quality of reports and workings. One evening, out of the blue, Alisha invited Meghna for a coffee at the company’s cafeteria to have one on one causal chat.

“I have gone through your recruitment paper. You do have good experience backing you.  So tell me, how was it working in your old company?”

Meghna took a sip of coffee and gave a thought about the things she would be speaking. For the next twenty minutes, Alisha just listened. she observed that Meghna was smiling and was excited and of course happy to share her happy days at his earlier office.

“That’s great. It seems really interesting. So, tell me, how do you find your new company?”

Meghna took another sip.

“It’s good and nice. Lots to learn.”

“Only Good? We thought we are an MNC.” Replied Alisha in a casual tone.

Meghna forced a smile on her face.

“Okay tell me now, what was your most challenging project till date which many would have told to be impossible but you had successfully done it?”

Meghna got confident smile on her face as she got ready to narrate his most challenging project which she had completed at his previous job.

“That’s incredible.” Replied Alisha upon hearing,

“Really, do you really thing it was incredible?”

“Yes, of course, if you can crack something like that so confidently, I am very sure that you are in for a great time ahead. If you have the belief or shall I say, the thought that you are going to do great, you are going to give your hundred percent, you will not be negative, then I think that no one can stop you from performing great.”

For the first time since joining the company, Meghna felt relaxed. Hardly did she know that it was already forty-five talking with Alisha.

“So, what do you say?” asked Alisha.

Meghna had a confident look on her face. A look that Alisha hadn’t seen in the previous three days.

They took their own ways from the cafeteria and one month later, Meghna got confirmed as a permanent employee. In the last month, the Meghna had performed very well way above the expectations and all the managers had noted her improvement and were satisfied with her work.

 In the lift one day, the manager who had gone on an emergency leave, Rajinder Awasthi, met Alisha who had handled Meghna in his absence.

“You know that recruit, Meghna, who was facing a lot of issues. She got confirmed yesterday. Her performance had improved by double in the last one month. I just wanted to know, what did you do? How did you manage?

Alisha gave a charming smile looking at him.

“I didn’t! I just motivated her and the rest was done by her. You see, motivation is the best medicine for any human at any point of time.”

As the lift door opened up,

“So, what were we doing?” asked Rajinder.

“I guess, baby-sitting!”

 

The Mystery of the closed shop - The Detective Boys - Short Story 6

 

Winter was just setting its foot within the precincts of the city of Kolkata. Dhakuria felt the chill more due to the presence of the famous lake within its confines. The early morning chill encouraged the fitness freaks of the area to take a jog and walk around the lake and the nearby lanes. Among them would also be Vimal Babu, along with his forty-year-old group of friends. The group often referred to as the “Happy old Group”, would be seen strolling around the foggy lanes of Dhakuria. That morning they were busy discussing something important that had occurred the previous night.

“Yes, I heard it right. There were some sounds coming in from that shop”, said an overly excited Vimal babu.

Last night, while Vimal babu had just finished reading his daily quota of research material, there were some sounds from the shop which was just opposite to his house. Initially he had ignored them, but as the sounds got repetitive, he couldn’t control the urge to take peak outside. The shop was closed and there were no lights coming from inside. The sounds had also stopped. Looking through his reading room window down the lane, there was no sign of any form of life on the lanes in and around his home. What baffled Vimal Babu more than anything was the fact that, the shop in question had been shut down from last few years, perhaps more than five years. So, was this a case of burglary or was it something else? A question which didn’t let Vimal Babu sleep that night.

Mukul General Stores was a daily provisional store which was located just opposite to Vimal Babu’s house. It had been one of the most frequented shops by the residents of the Babu Bagan Lane. However, the shop closed down some five years age. The owner, Debanta Roy, was last seen on a monsoon evening of the year 1989. After that day, neither did anyone hear about him nor did anyone saw the shop open.

Coming back to the present, Vimal Babu was disturbed with the events of the last night. He couldn’t be wrong. He knew that people would shrug off his doubts, but not his grandson, Ritwick.

Ritwick was overly excited to hear the happenings which his grandfather narrated him. Residing in the same house, he hardly ever cared about the shop that had been closed down for so many years. From the first-floor balcony of their house, Ritwick took a look at the shop. The dust laden shutter looked very old and untouched. In the evening, on the pretext of taking a walk down the lane, Ritwick took a close look of the shop and the nearby spots. There was nothing in front of the shop which could have hinted at someone entering it recently. He walked behind and took a close look at the back yard of the shop. The back yard had a small wall beyond which stood a two-storey house which belonged to some Avinash Ray and Family. The backside of the shop was also completely closed in the form a landscape mode door.

That night, Ritwick along with friend Deep Das, took refuge on one of branches of the nearby tree from where they could take a close look at the shop. Ritwick had imagined that if some sounds would come from within the shop, then surely someone would enter the shop. Sometime around one past mid-night, both Ritwick and Deep could hear some sounds coming from inside the shop. Both were shocked as they didn’t see anyone entering the shop. The sound seemed of some hitting on the floor, as if someone was digging the ground inside the shop. The sounds continued for some one hour and then stopped. Both were shaken initially, but after giving it some thought Ritwick thought of revisiting the spot again the next night.

Over the next three days, Ritwick and Deep Das, both observed the shop from the branch of the tree nearby. There was nothing during the day or in the evening. But every night in between one and two, those sounds would again appear. The Mystery interested Ritwick to the greatest of length. It was a challenge for him to solve the curious mystery about the sounds.

On the fifth night, Ritwick and Deep Das did what they always loved to do. They jumped the wall and entered the backyard of the shop. It was dark set in. The sounds had started at around one in the night. It was 1.15 AM when they had entered the back yard. With a stone in hand, Ritwick hit the door hard and ran near a pillar and watched if anyone responded. There was no response but the sounds had stopped. This time Deep took a stone and hit on the door. There was still no response. They continued to hide behind the medium heighted pillar which supported a water tank. After about some time, a drain shed which was located just near the back yard door opened up. It took the living daylights out of Ritwick and Deep Das when they saw a living figure emerging out of the Drain. The figure had a blanket wrapped around the body. The face was not visible. The drain shed was closed and the figure walked near the backyard wall and jumped it. Ritwick and Deep Das watched the figure disappear. They were not sure about their next step. Ritwick thought they couldn’t get back after coming through so much.

They proceeded towards the Drain shed and opened it. They drain was dry. Slowly, they got into it. A small lane could be seen ahead below. They walked through it and came to open point. They climbed it and entered a room. Ritwick couldn’t actually believe what he saw. They were actually standing inside the shop which was closed down for so many years.

But what shocked Ritwick was a dug-out hole on the floor of the shop and a small tunnel like lane in progress. Ritwick could understand that the figure who had got out was in the process of digging a tunnel through the shop towards the structure on the other side of the road and when he thought what was on the other side of road, The National Bank branch, he had his trademark smirk on his face.

Ritwick could now understand the whole plan. The tunnel was dug to make an underground lane for an entry into the bank, perhaps for a robbery. Ritwick immediately asked Deep to go out and intimate his grandfather and call the nearby residents.

One hour later, the local police along with nearby natives had arrived at the spot outside the shop. Ritwick made them understand what they had seen and also informed about the person in the blanket. Everyone was shocked to know about the events that had been taking place inside the closed shop.

Next morning, the Police took control over the shop. The tunnel was closed down and the drain line and drain shed were locked up. Vimal Babu was proud of Ritwick. He and Deep Das had indeed become a dare devil super hero for the residents around the Babu Bagan Lane.

“Who could be that figure in the blanket whom we saw that night?” asked Deep as he looked out from the balcony towards the shop.

“He could be someone who knew about the infrastructure of the shop very well.” Ritwick said as he sipped his favourite evening milk drink.

“What do you mean? Debanta Roy? The person who had disappeared five years ago”

“You never know, Deep.”

 There were no more sounds from the shop below and Vimal Babu and Ritwick slept a fine sleep.