Chapter 34

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“By the way, do we have Internet access here?” Arjun asked eagerly

“Oh yes. Every team has one connection to internet. The computer in that corner is connected to a modem that will help you access internet. We are supposed to get 9.8 kbps connection. But often the connection sucks. If you are working late in the evening you may get a better connection.”

“Do you have an email account?” Arjun aske

“I have got myself an account in Hotmail which is a site allowing free email account. Earlier we had to use the email service of Sprint. They used to charge one Rups per mail for both receiving and sending with a max cap of 100 kb per mail. If you sent some heavy mail, you had it. Once we tried to send a 2 mb word file to our head office and we got a bill of Rs 20,000. The worse thing is that the file never reached our HO”

“My God! How expensive is Hotmail?”

“Oh it is free.”

“Really, I have never used it. When I read about it recently I really did not believe it. I felt that there was some catch.”

“As of now there is no catch. May be this is a promotional offer and they will charge sometime in future. Till then, enjoy”

“Do you use internet quite often?”

“I browse around a bit. Sometime I get some useful stuff relating to our work”

“How do you figure out what is available over the net? Do you go to some specific sites put up by specific institutions?”

“There are some nice utilities like Gopher that would help track down relevant documents. But with increasing adoption of www using HTTP and launch of “Yahoo” has changed the way we use Internet. Yahoo has made available a large compilation of links organised in an orderly fashion that help to search and track a large collection of relevant information.”

“That is great. When we were in the institute we used computer room for games and assignments. We hardly used internet for any meaningful research”

“Come let us go for lunch. We get a fabulous lunch in our cafeteria. It is even free”

“Ya, We need to eat. After that I have to meet up with JS” Arjun said aloud

They walked together to the café.

“Wow the Café is really impressive and the buffet appears quite elaborate. How much do they charge?” Arjun observed

“Oh the charge is really nominal. It is only Rups 10 per meal” Praveen replied

Together they walked towards the buffet table.

Arjun picked up some salad and very little rice. He preferred to have larger portion of the non-veg dishes that were available.

“Looks like you are an absolute carnivorous” Praveen commented

“I don’t waste my stomach space with grass” Arjun laughed

Praveen walked towards a table that was occupied only by one girl. She was quite a looker. Arjun followed Praveen. Praveen took the chair adjacent to the girl and Arjun took the opposite chair to Praveen and not to the girl. There was element of shyness in Arjun when it comes to girls when he meets them for the first time.

“Lekha, meet Arjun our new colleague at SDAP. Arjun meet Lekha our legal whiz kid”

“You mean Lekha Kurup?” Arjun asked as he wanted to be sure

“Exactly, This is she” Praveen replied with a laugh

“How did you know my name?” Lekha asked

“Oh Praveen was explaining his project and he mentioned about you” Arjun replied

“Hope that is all he said” Lekha replied with a mock seriousness

“Did you expect him say anything more? Like a daring adventure or a juicy scandal.” Arjun responded with a naughty smile

“Praveen loves to sensationalize anything. So just for impact he would make up stories. Though he means no harm and will ensure that they don’t end up being rumours.” Lekha replied with a smile. Her eyes darted towards Praveen and Praveen gave an acknowledging nod. To Arjun there appeared to be a connect among the two.

“Lekha is a law graduate from Harvard Law School. She joined DI in USA from campus and agreed to take a posting to Indrapuram office. As she is a US citizen and has relocated to Indrapuram, she even get a distress allowance” Praveen said

“Don’t be jealous Praveen” Lekha responded

“I am not jealous my sweet heart. I am just explaining your pedigree to our new friend”
There was quite a lot of banter at the table and they finished their lunch in 20 minutes

“Arjun, How about joining me for a smoke?” Praveen asked

“I was wondering if there would be a smoking partner. Good where do we smoke?” Arjun asked

“We can smoke in the office. There is no restriction. But I prefer to walk down for a smoke after lunch” Praveen replied

“I was wondering. The restriction on smoking is increasing these days. The year we joined IMI, smoking was banned in the class. I remember oru Eco prof announcing it on the first day of his class. ‘Guys as per the new rules, not smoking in the class. I will adhere to this rule and I hope you would do so too”

“I see. We could smoke in the class till we graduated” Praveen said.

“Ok a let us run along. I need to meet JS in 15 mts”

“That is true. You should go an mark your attendance with his secy at the specified time. When he gets free he will call you. Sometimes he will get caught in some discussion and you may end up waiting for quite some time”

They finished their smoke and walked back to their office. Praveen got busy in his work. Arjun walked over to JS’s room. 

Chapter 33

Arjun sat down at his seat and looked around. He felt proud about the plush environment.

“What a change of scene compared to office of Tridevpur Auto to  DI; but then it is a production house unlike DI which is a multinational consulting firm. I wonder what will be the future of Tridevpur Auto. It seemed to be frozen in past with no strategies to survive in future. May be DI could help them in formulating an innovative strategy for future” He mused

“Hi Praveen” Arjun called softly to catch Praveen’s attention.

“Yes my friend” Praveen replied and rolled his chair towards Arjun.

“I thought I could get to know you a bit if you are free” Arjun said hesitantly with a smile.

“Cool. I have been at this since morning and I don’t mind a break” Praveen replied

“What are you working on?” Arjun asked

“DI has been engaged by a consortium of bankers to develop a rehabilitation package for a cement company. I am a part of the team.”

“OH. But that would require engineering expertise too. Isn’t it?” Arjun asked

“Yes you are correct. We are working on it as a consortium with an engineering consulting firm. We are handling the financial and legal restructuring. I am handling the finance side and we have Lekha Kurup handling the legal side. I will introduce her one of these days. She also lives in the guest house.” Praveen replied

“How about you? Where do you stay?” Arjun asked

“I stay at the guest house too. All unmarried officers without a family here in Indrapuram are free to live in the guest house as long as they want” Praveen replied

“Oh that is great. I did not know about this. I thought this will be only a temp arrangement for newcomers like me.”

“Now you know.” Praveen smiled with a wink

“OH coming back to your assignment, tell me more.”

“Coming back to One of my assignments!” He stressed the word “One” in his reply

“Do you handle multiple assignments at a time”  Arjun asked

“That is the beauty of consulting. In our business we sell our time and what we do in this time is the output that our client buys. If I look at it cynically we are like whores and our bosses ie partners are like pimps selling our time.” Praveen said with a laugh

“We have to ensure that at our levels at least 85% of our time is in billable assignments. That means we are not supposed to have free time! Therefore we could be booked in multiple assignments and we could be spending 12 to 14 hours in office or client site.” Praveen continued

“But if you are expected to do 85% utilisation then why are you working 150% time.” Arjun asked

“”To finish the work you are supposed to finish with 85% utilisation often we will need twice the time.”

“This means that you are either working on poor efficiency or you have underestimated effort”

“Now you are learning. To be competitive you have to quote your prices competitively. We manage this by underestimating numbers instead of discounting our rates. This means that you have to sweat it out extra in the evening and on holidays to finish you work. We are in the business of making money. When we are paying you a nice salary, we own you my dear son”

“I think you are being cynical”

“You have just started out. When you complete six months we will discuss this again”

“Ok. Now come back to your rehabilitation story. Why is this company sick? Most cement companies are making money; especially with the government policy of controlling cement production and sale. I still remember the pains I had to go through to get cement few years ago when we were building a small house. We had to jump through multiple hoops of approvals and had to visit the government office a number of times to get our allocation. Finally when our allocated cement was over and we had to get few more sacks to finish our work, we had to buy from the black market at three times the stated price ” Arjun remarked with surprise.

“You are right. But many promoters have multiple tricks to make more money which is a standard operating procedure in case of most of the industrial investments in Indraprasta where everything is controlled by the Government. The promoter as in the case of most industrial investments, first managed to get his license through his political connections. Then he approached banks for project funding. As per the project report he submitted to the banks the project cost was five billion Indraprasta Rups whereas the real cost is only 4 billion Rups. Again with the right connections he managed a loan of 70%.This means that in reality he had to contribute only 0.5 billion. Later when the goods were sold he used to skim a certain part of the sales value as cash in his name. So he recovered more than he spent.” Praveen explained

“Oh that is smart. But how come the company is in a loss”

“The implementation and running of the plant was also not efficient because he used to divert significant funds and let the real expenditure needed in the plant to suffer. Eventually losses mounted and he is out of funds for the day-to-day running of the company. Now he has approached the lending banks with a request to reschedule the loan. He wants to bankroll his inefficiency by bank loans. He has already managed to get an unsecured loan for working capital from the banks. The bankers are in a soup. They now want to figure out how bring this company back in track so that they recover their money. For this they will have to save the company from the clutches of the promoter and get some semblance of professional management with proper financial controls in place”

“What will happen to the founder?”

“He will enjoy the funds he has diverted. He has a tidy sum that he has squirrelled away in Switzerland through over invoicing of imports. He is trying hard not to get caught in a bind which will force him to return the monies he has siphoned off”

“How come the bank gave un-secured loans?”

“If you borrow from the bank money to buy a bike and you delay payment, they will come after you and confiscate your bike. But if you are a big businessman borrowing 5 billion and you mess up they will come begging to you”

“What are we doing in this case?”

“We, in consortium with an Engineering Consulting firm, are developing the total rehab package. The engineering consulting firm will recommend the modifications and additions to extract the full efficiency of the plant. We will suggest changes required in the management processes and the financial controls required that need to be established” Praveen explained

“Brilliant. I hope that the new government that has come in will do something about reforming the economy; like bringing more competition and better discipline in corporate governance”

“I hope so too” 

Chapter 32

Arjun was asked to report to DI headquarters in Indrapuram. After graduating he took a two months break. As planned,  he along with his friends went for a trip around southern cost of Indraprasta for two weeks of sightseeing. Then he went back to Tridevpur for a month

The holiday was over and Arjun was back in Indrapuram to join his new assignment. He took a cab and went straight to DI guest house. It was early in the morning and he had just enough time to take a bath and have breakfast before he could start for his first day in the office.

By 730 am he was at the dining room of guest hous. The buffet was set and there were few others in the dining room. He took a table near the large glass window from which he could have a panoramic view of the city as the dining room was in the 8^th floor.

He was out at 8 am and took a taxi to the office. Taxi dropped Arjun at Capital Sheraton Hotel. DI operated out of Capital Sheraton. As he entered the lobby he felt proud and privileged to work out of this hotel. Then he walked into the reception are DI.

He looked around. The reception was impressive. There was a leather sofa set on one side. The centre table near the sofa had variety of magazines organised elegantly; Economist, Time, Fortune and so on. The side table had a beautiful fresh flower arrangement.

He walked up to the receptionist.

“I am Arjun. I have come to join today”

“Oh welcome. Please take a seat. I will inform HR department”

He went over to the sofa and took a seat.

“Hello. Arjun, I am Johnson from HR. Welcome to DI” A smartly dressed young man came over the Arjun and extended his hand

Arjun got up and shook the hand that has been extended.

“Thanks. It is pleasure to be here” Arjun replied

“Great. First I will help you complete the joining formalities. That will take up your morning half. After lunch you have an appointment with Dr John Smith our Country Director. He prefers to be addressed JS; he will tell you that himself. You are lucky that you can start here with a meeting with JS who can help you see the big picture of DI worldwide and DI Indraprasta. Then tomorrow you can meet other key members of DI. ” Johnson said

“I hope you are comfortable at the Batchelor accommodation we have arranged for you.” Johnson asked

“Oh yes the guest house is quite nice and comfortable. I reached their at 5.30 am. The staff has been very friendly and helpful” Arjun replied.

“DI treats all our employees with respect and care. We want you to feel at home with us” Johnson remarked.

“The first experience has been very pleasant” Arjun replied with a pleasant smile.

Johnson took Arjun to the HR department and helped him with all the joining formalities.

“Come let me take you to your department and introduce you to your team”

“That will be great.”

They walked back to the reception area and walked to the door on the other side.

They entered large office area. Arjun looked around. The work stations were spacious and each work station had a desk top computer and the four workstations grouped together in a sort of cubicle had a dot matrix printer in one corner. Next to it was a small side table with a potted plant.

They walked into one such cubicle. There was one seat that was vacant and the desk was empty except for the computer. Although the other three seats appeared already taken only one had an occupant.

“Meet Praveen Kumar the hero of the Strategic Diversification Advisory Practice.” Johnson pointed to the lone occupant of the cubicle”

“Praveen, Meet Arjun fresh out of IMI, joining your team”

“Welcome Arjun, Praveen got up and extended his hands”

“This is your seat.” Johnson pointed to the empty seat.

“Praveen. Please help him to understand how to survive here. I have asked the admin guys to give him the stationary and the IT support guys to assign him a PC. If it get delayed, please help him with a bit of follow up.” Johnson requested.

“I will teach Arjun how to kick few asses to get the support guys to move” said Praveen

“Praveen will be the best guide you can have here. He will teach you how to get anything done at double speed here. BTW don’t get carried away by Praveen’s cynical dialogues. He loves taking other people’s trip” Johnson added with a smile

“I just call a spade a spade. Unlike these HR guys who make hooo haaa about everything and embellish anything they talk with jargon” Praveen replied with a smirk.

“It is about lunch time. Take him to the cafeteria get him a lunch. At 2 30 he has meeting with JS. I understand that your partner Suman Sharma will be in tomorrow. Please introduce Arjun to him. Then tomorrow afternoon he has to join a team of new entrants for their induction program at the conference room. Arjun I forgot to ask you. Do you have your passport with you?

“I don’t have it with me just now. It is at the guest house” He replied

“Ok bring it tomorrow. We need to take a visa for your trip to the Netherlands next week. You have to attend a weeklong training starting a week from now.”

Arjun was excited. “Wow a week in Amsterdam” He thought to himself.

 “OK Let me go back to my department Praveen will take care of you in the afternoon. If you have any concerns or clarifications please feel free to give me a call. My intercom number is 4672. After your meeting with Suman tomorrow please do come over to my seat. I will link you up for your induction program” Johnson tapped Arjun’s shoulder and moved away.

Chapter 31

It was a Wednesday afternoon in the second month in to the final trimester. Arjun was sitting his room and trying to read a book. He could not concentrate. In the morning he had his placement interview with this English Consulting firm called “Development International” He did not want to be rejected. Not that he was excessively keen about a consulting career. But he did not the idea of a failure. He was really tensed.

“Arjun get out of the room. Let us go and get drunk.” It was Udhi outside his room.

“No I am not in a mood to go out today” Arjun shouted back

“Anyway you open the door” Udhi was knocking at his door

Arjun got up and opened the door

“I know you are tensed about your DI interview” Udhi commented

“I know you are not tensed about interviews as you have already managed your Harvard admission. So you can afford to be indifferent. I remember your tension when you were waiting for your admission results” Arjun replied

“Ok then you can stop worrying. You have been selected by DI. Congratulations” Udhi extended his hand

“Thanks” Arjun smiled. He felt the a weight has been removed from his head. The anxiety in his eyes vanished.

He got up and said “ Yes let us get drunk. I want to unwind”

The background he came from left a mark of insecurity in the back of the mind. Though he knew his self-worth often the nagging feeling of insecurity showed deep in his heart, especially in situations like this. Now that he got accepted by a Multinational firm like DI, he felt more confident.

Both of them walked out of the hostel towards the bar that was outside their campus.

“I am going to have a rum and coke. What are you having “ Udhi asked

“I will have the same” Arjun replied

“Beta get us two rum and cokes and a plate of peanut masala. After sometime get a plate of chilli chicken too” Udhi shouted his instruction to the waiter as he turned towards them. He appeared to be in a hurry to down some spirit.

“Two years have just went by as in in a jiffy. It is time to go back to the real world” Arjun commented

“I vividly remember the first day we met when we came to join IMI.” Udhi replied.

“We used to be shit scared how we would sustain in this place. Especially me as this was the first experience of relative grading and the rule that if we didn’t get an average CGPA of 3 in the first year, we would be chucked out without a second chance. You were not that bothered as you came from IIT which had similar concept of CGPA”

“But coming from engineering background the diverse courses like economics to finance to Indraprasta Society intimidated me too” Udhi replied

The drinks came.

“Cheers to DI” Udhi raised his glass

“Cheers to Harvard” Arjun raised his glass too.

Udhi took two large gulps and then lit a cigarette. Arjun looked a bit quizzically

“What is your plan after the final exam.? Are you flying to Jakarta?” Arjun asked

“Of course I will. But before that we should plan our visit to Tridevpur your home town as we planned. I have asked Raghav, Neel and Joshi. They are all excited about. Naturally Anita will join too.” Udhi replied

“Good. We should plan. As you predicted Raghav and Anita now seemed to have set on each other. Ruchika is out of the window. In fact she called me up one day from US and asked me about this. She appeared fully aware and wanted my confirmation. I did not know what to say. She was quite distressed.”

“I can understand her feelings” Udhi replied

“Get me a refill” Udhi shouted at the waiter as he gulped his drink down

“Udhi what is bothering you? You are behaving a bit strange.” Arjun asked

“Oh I am a bit perturbed” Udhi replied

“About what.?”

“I am in a quagmire. I love Salomi so much. I can’t live without her”

“Ok that is fine. What has happened now to feel so despondent? I remember that you were very happy after your last trip to Jakarta and you have been writing to each other so often and also having telephone calls”

“Ya that is true. The last trip to S E Asia was really great. We had a great trip across many cities of Indonesia. We visited Medan in east, Bali in the centre and then Manado in North West. We had some of the best dives in the earth in Manado.  We were into each other. We had adventure by the day and night. Exploring the Mother Nature in the day and exploring each other by night. There is truly a connect between us. I know she cares for me and I love her too much.” Udhi was opening up his heart

“I can’t understand why you are so despondent. To me everything appears fine. You love her and she loves you. You got admission to Harvard and you are sure the get a job with the bank and you can be with her”

“Last week I send her a letter in which I had broached the idea of marriage. I have not got any response on this”

“May be she has not got the letter.” Arjun was trying to help

“No she has got the letter. I got a reply after that. He has responded to many things in that letter except about the marriage” Udhi was sounding really upset

“Son you won’t get an answer so fast from a girl. Give her time. Anyway she respects you and knows that you are doing everything possible to make her comfortable in the relationship including your plan to get a job in the bank with a posting in Jakarta”

“I have a strange feeling that though she loves me she is not comfortable about the idea of marriage. May be because deep down in her she is not sure about inter-cultural marriage”

“Has she said no to you?” Arjun asked

“No”

“That is a good sign. You go as per the plan. After our Tridevpur trip go to Jakarta once again as planned. It will give a chance to cement your relation once again. Then go to Harvard, get into the bank, get a posting in Jakarta. Take life one step at a time”

“Hope it us smooth as this. But there is a strange feeling of doom in my heart”

“This is called falling head over heels! The mighty Udhi has fallen” Arjun laughed

“You laugh bloody asshole” udhi retorted in mock anger.

“Get me one more drink” Udhi ordered

“I thought we were celebrating my DI and your Harvard. But looks like we are mourning” Arjun tried to change the subject.

“No man. We are celebrating. Just that yours truly has lost his balance a bit. Forget it. Tell me when are you joining DI?”

“I will take break for couple of months. Then I will join  DI. Want to see the world around a bit. Eventually I would want to be part of something that really tries to make a difference to the world we live in” Arjun declared

“The idealism of the temple priest is lurking somewhere still” udhi commented

“May be. But I am not ashamed of it” Arjun responded with a little irritation

“Boss don’t get upset. I did not mean to insult you. I am proud of your sense of purpose” Udhi clarified immediately

“Come on brother, we have had too much let us go back to the hostel.” Arjun got up.

“Waiter, get us the bill.” Udhi shouted. While you are at it, get me one more small”

They settled the bill and walked out.

“Let us have one more smoke before we sleep” Udhi suggested

Chapter 30

                                                                                                                                                      

It was a Sunday evening. The first trimester exam of the second year had got over the previous Friday. The Saturday was celebration after the exams. The whole gang had gone for a late night show and came back at 1130 in the night. Then they were chatting till 2 am. Arjun had woken up at around 8 am in the morning had breakfast and came back to his room. In the previous evening he had picked up from the library “Moon and Six Pence” by Somerset Maugham who was his favourite author. He wanted to immerse himself in this book. He was waiting for his exam to get over. He was so engrossed in the book so much that he had even missed his lunch. Then sometime along he had fallen asleep with the book on his side.

“Hi Arjun Are you joining me for a coffee at Aunties?” Udhi knocked at Arjun’s room and shouted.

Arjun woke up with a start when he heard Udhi shouting.

“Ok. I heard you. I will come out in a minute. I just got up.”

“Open the door you idiot. Unless you slept with nothing on.” Udhi could not help make a naughty comment. He loved being blunt to shock his audience

“I am not like you. I don’t sleep naked” Arjun replied as he opened his door.

He brushed his hair slipped into a sandal and was out.

They walked together through the garden.

“What were you doing the whole day? Didn’t see you at all” Udhi asked

“Oh I was reading” Arjun replied

“I see. You had gone into one your reading binge!” Udhi replied

Arjun laughed

“Where was Raghav yesterday? He did not join us for the movie or dinner” Arjun asked

“Oh he was out the whole day with Anita. He was helping her with her shopping” Udhi replied

“Oh I see.” Arjun replied

“Son, the way it is going I am sure you can forget about the promise you made to Ruchika” Udhi  added

“I felt that way too. What you told us when we were back from our summer is true. When the context and environment change old relationships could wither away and new relations will build up. That is the nature of life” Arjun replied philosophically

“These days they are always together. Both in the day and in the night” Udhi added

“They are getting to know each other better” Arjun replied with a smile

“In all senses of the word” Udhi quipped

“By the way what is news about  Rohini?” Udhi asked

“I hope what happened to Raghav does not happen to you and Rohini. When Chandy your old pal visited us last month, he was very sure that this is not going anywhere”

“He was always sceptical about us. In fact he has made a bet with me that Rohini and I will not get married.”

“He has promised to shave his head to attend our wedding if we get married ever.” Arjun laughed

“I don’t rule out the possibility of the outcome Chandy has predicted.”

“Which prediction? That he would have to shave his head?”

“No, you will not go ahead with this relationship”

“Let us see. BTW she may visit us at IMI one of these days” Arjun replied

“That is interesting. So you are truly cementing the relationship.”

.“Let her come here. We can do a review of how we are going and how we feel about each other”

“I thought you wrote a letter to each other every day. That should tell you how you feel about each other”

“Not every day. But very often. When we see and talk to each other in a different setting, it may also help us assess if there is any change”

“Not a bad idea.” Udhi replied

“Auntie make us two strong coffees and give us two cigarettes” Udhi said loudly as they reached Aunties coffee joint.

They lit a cigarette and sat down. Auntie came with two coffees for them.

“How is your romance going on with Salomi? I see that you are getting letters from Singapore on and off” Arjun asked

"There appears to be s strong connect. Let us see how it works out. After the second trimester I plan to visit Singapore and together we are planning for a dive trip again. This time we may go the Manado. I have to find a way to get into the bank. It may give me an opportunity to be with her more often.”

“Oh man you have really fallen.”

“Fallen or not. I feel I plan to give a serious try in taking this relationship forward. I plan to go to Harvard for a one year course in International finance. Then it may be easy to get into the bank”

“Great Idea. Anyway Harvard is worth the investment” Arjun replied

They finished their coffee and walked back to their room.

“Man another two more trimesters and we are through with our sojourn in IMI” Arjun reflected

“Ya that is another six months. By the time we reach 6^th trimester, we will have our campus placements. And then the exams and graduation.” Udhi added

“We should all plan for a trip down south to my province. It is a beautiful place. I can take you to places where tourists would never reach”

“That is a great idea. We should pull in Raghav and whoever he is steady at that time, Neel and Joshi. Joshi will bring along his guitar and we will have good entertainment in the evenings.”

“How about your Finance tutorials going one.? I don’t see Chitra these days for the classes.”

“She is too busy with Kiran these days”

“I see that you have taken a liking for Organisational behaviour” Arjun asked Udhi when he noticed the journal that fell down from Udhi’s hand

“I always liked to learn about human mind. Therefore intent to audit all OB/ psychology related courses. Course I had taken with Dr Roy last Trimester has reinforced my liking for this topic”

“I thought he was a mad cap” Arjun commented

“Man, his insight to human minds is amazing. The “Hot Seat” session he conducted with us helped us in deep introspection and to have a better idea of ourselves. It was quite and intense session.”

“How does it work?” Arjun asked

“He spent quite a few sessions on Transactional Analysis. Then using this framework on a set of parameters all of us were asked to rate ourselves and our colleagues. Then one by one each of us had to take the hot seat. When you are in the hot seat you along with the whole team dissect you. It really threw up many of our on fears, helped us to understand how some of our actions were perceived by others, what the impression others had about us, and what impressions we carried about others and how they were formed and so on. Some of us in the group could not take it. Some even cried and ran out of the seat” Udhi explained briefly

“Interesting. I would love to participate in some of these experiments”

           

As they reached hostel they retired to their respective rooms.

Chapter 29

“We woke up early morning got ready and went to the beach. Our coach was there and getting the equipment ready” Udhi continued with the story</

“This is the advantage of diving in Indonesia unlike in Europe or US. When I was studying in US I used to accompany my friends for diving. It was such a hard labour getting the dive gear ready. So I never took the trouble. Here we have assistants for everything” Salomi commented

“Guys get into your dive suites.  Test your regulator and the cylinder.” The coach directed. “Each of you please be responsible for your equipment”

“All of us climbed up onto the boat. It was a small motorized fishing boat. The sea was quite rough. We were being tossed around. The weather was not bad. There was a strong breeze. The sound of the waves was music to the ears. The water appeared clean and clear. Salomi sat next to me on the board. Devi was on the board facing us. We were all filled with anticipation. Devi and I started discussing our project. Salomi was silent. She just leaned against me with her head on my shoulder and she closed her eyes for nap. Devi looked at me with a quizzical smile. I just shrugged.” Udhi continued

“Guys, we are reaching the jump point in two minutes. Tie up your tanks” The coach shouted as the boat slowed down not far away from an island.

“Salomi woke up from her sleep. I helped her with the tank. Salomi looked at me affectionately and gave a sweet smile”

“Oh. Oh There appears to be new twist” Devi commented “The strong and independent Salami now appears a little vulnerable”

“When we meet someone special, enjoy the moment” Salomi said with a laugh.

“Guys time for your dip” Coach interrupted

“Each of us sat on the side of the boat with our leg in the boat and back facing the sea. The tank and the flippers were on. We tied the weight around us. I had to have 5 kilos around me to take me down. We inflated the BCD a bit and wore our goggles and tipped backward one by one with the regulator in the mouth. ‘Plonk’ we sank a bit and with the BCD inflated, we floated back up.”

“With the waves we were being tossed like coconuts floating in the water”

“Both of you stick with me. Gradually release the air in the BCD and start sinking” Coach gave direction shouting above the noise of the sea”

“All of us were a bit nervous.”

“Coach, what happens if we get lost” I took out regulator out and asked

“No need to worry. For three of you we have three experts hovering around you” Coach re-assured”

“Then put the regulator back into our mouth and we let gradually released the air in the BCD. We started sinking. Salomi held on to my hand. Devi was clinging onto the coach. Suddenly the sea around was calm. All the waves and turbulence were only at the surface. We looked around and down. The water was quite clear. The sun rays were penetrating quite deep. We were around ten feet down and we could see the sea bottom few feet down. The bottom was slanting downwards at a sharp angle and was getting deeper and deeper away from the island. ”

“Oh man the sight around was mesmerizing. There were variety of colourful fishes dancing around. The marine life was awesome. Vibrant soft corals were dancing with the mild flow of water and Colourful clown fishes were playing hide and seek among the corals. The diversity and brilliance of colours around was breath taking. The coach started move forward and downward slowly. There was still a bit of nervousness in my heart. But now I was getting confident. I could feel the same change in Devi and Salomi. Salomi released my hand. Each of us were exploring around. When I saw something exciting I wanted to call out. Then I remembered; we are in the water. So we had to reach across to the other person and nudge. “

“With some trial and error, I got my neutral buoyancy right and drifted forward. The feeling of weightlessness with perfect buoyancy gave a heady feeling. I stopped being hassled and started feeling snug and secure in this new surroundings. I started experimenting with this new freedom of multi-directional mobility; up, down, right, left, vertical, horizontal; a near approximation to zero G. Wow! Now that I was sure that I could survive and not too conscious about the apparatus that was strapped around me, I looked around to cherish the dazzling colours and varied shapes dancing, prancing and serenading around me, offering one of the best private performances; a one of a kind choreography of life that bring more variations than any maestro can dream of.”

“We swam away from the shore and now the sea bottom was a like vertical wall downwards. It looked like the bottom just dropped down to infinity. I felt scared to move beyond the shelf. The shelf few feet below us down had given some false sense of security. I could see Devi and Salomi also hesitating. The coach swam ahead and turned back towards us. He signaled us to come ahead. He knew how we felt. Then he pointed his fingers towards the beautiful coral formation on the wall. That caught our attention. We moved ahead and started dropping down along the wall.  My God, the site was unbelievable."

 “I kept looking at the pressure gauge every now and then. I was worried how long the air wuld last although the coach had told us that it would last for more than an hour.”

“We went down to about 60 ft and hung around.  The fishes appeared not at all bothered with us around, except when we tried to reach across and touch them.”

“We moved along and the sight around was really beautiful. The rock structure around the island which at times formed meandering passages with rocky sidewalls was quite impressive; and offered a feeling of adventure. The fishes did not appear to be scared but were happy to move out of the way. Then came an angel fish to the centre stage like a prima donna; absolutely unconcerned about the human company (or was she performing for the humans?). She did an awesome dance, flipping and flopping against the granite background that I was convinced that she had witnessed the shooting for “Splash” down under and watched the models in action!”

We saw a variety of fishes including Moray Eel, Parrot Fish, Snappers, Trigger Fish, Angel Fish, Butterfly Fish, Trevally and Puffer Fish. All these names and species were Greek and Latin for me before; but the coach had given me a crash course on nature appreciation the previous day.”

“One hour went by so fast. It was time for us to be back in the boat.”

“All of us had an excited and dazed look when we were back in the boat. We could not help narrating how each of us felt under water. The coach had arranged for some cold drinks and biscuits that we had before the next dive in the afternoon.”

“After an hour of rest we were ready for the next dive. This time we were much more confident.”

“Guys now that you are comfortable I want you to do some exercises in the water before we go exploring.” The coach reminded us that as a part of certification we are required to demonstrate our comfort handling some emergencies.

“All of us agreed. We were willing and confident to take any challenge. We wore new tanks put on the flippers and jumped into the water one by one. The coach signalled to do the exercises. First we had to take off the oxygen tube, let it drift and then put it back. Then we had to take off the goggle and put it back. While we put it back we had to blow into the goggle to remove the water in such a way that it sealed around out face without water getting into it. If water get in the goggles then the vision will not be clear. Then was the more difficult exercise we had to take the complete gear including  the tank out and put it back. I struggled a bit. Both Salomi and Devi also managed.”

“After we finished the exercises we swam in the other direction. The sights were equally exciting and enchanting. Then we returned back to our boat.”

“We were tired and exhausted. We sat silently staring at the setting son. Salomi was huddling next to me. We held each other’s hands. Devi had her head in head in her hands and she slept.”

“We reached the resort. WE decided to go and crash immediately.”

“Oh I am sure you guys were tired with exhaustion and excitement.” Arjun remarked

“One more evening wasted” Neel said with a smirk

“Next day we completed two more dives. We were much more relaxed; both with the excitement under water and our Paddy certification. We were back at the resort by about 6 pm. We ordered for a bottle of vine and some fried shrimps. We had lots of stories to tell. One bottle was over. We ordered one more. We asked for some fried fish too. Then Devi got up and went back to her room. Salomi and I decided to go for a walk along the beach. We walked hands in hands. Then both of us stopped. We turned to each other and then we kissed. There really was a connect. Then we walked back. This time to my room”

“I knew Udhi was irresistible” Arjun said laughingly.

“Common then what happened?” Neel wanted details.

“The rest is left to your imagination son” Udhi replied.

“Let us go back. Enough of stories.” Udhi got up

“I am coming too.” Arjun got up too.

“Don’t strain your hands too much. Neel ” Udhi shouted as he walked back.

“Bastard.” Neel muttered under his breath. 

Chapter 28

“Indonesia is an Archipelago with around 16000 islands give or take few hundred depending on whether it is high tide or low tide. Most of them are not inhabited. The larger ones being Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan, Papua and Sulawesi. Jakarta is in Java Island. As this is situated at eh convergence point of South China Sea Indonesian and Pacific Ocean, it has the highest variety of Marine Life in compared to any other part of the world. You can say it is the epicentre of bio-diversity. It is said that there are around 3000 types of fishes in this region. The multi-coloured coral reefs with scintillating hard and soft corals are diver’s dream.” Udhi started

“When did you become an expert on Indonesian Geography” Neel asked.

“I was there for a month and I decided to get to know the place”

“It is also one the most economical place to learn diving” Udhi continued

“You mean scuba diving?” Raghav asked

“Yes sire. You can’t see coral while sky diving” Udhi replied with a naughty laughter.

“Ok my bloomer” Raghav replied with his hands held high

“I registered for a dive course. It cost me only 300 USD. At this price they there was one theory class, four equipment trainings in swimming pool and four supervised dives and the written test. At the end I got Paddy certificate.”

“That was a good deal” Neel said

“What do they teach in theory?” Raghav asked

“This included what equipment to use, what are the best practices to follow, how to take care of the risks of air embolism, nitrogen narcosis, oxygen narcosis, decompression sickness, and the discipline and etiquette under the sea. The trainer explained that we should go down as visitors and not as plunderers and the colourful artifacts are only to see and not to borrow for our sitting room.”

“Is there so much funda you need to learn if you are only doing this for fund once a while and not as a professional?” Neel asked

“Even if you are diving for fun you need to be aware of many things. For example the absorption of Nitrogen into blood is much higher when we are in deep waters ie when we are in a high pressure sorrounding. So when we come back up to normal atmosphere the nitrogen will suddenly bubble out of the blood. These bubbles could be quite dangerous and fatal. So if you have spent some time in deep waters then you should not come up quickly. You should plan your ascent slowly and spent some few minutes at regular intervals so that the nitrogen is released back in lung and come out as part of our breathing. Based on the duration you have spent under, the depth to which you went down, whether you had dived in the previous days etc there are tables that tells you how long and deep can be you next dive and how long it would take to clear your system.”

“Then he took us to a swimming pool and taught us how to handle the equipment and made us practice various exercises that we are expected to be familiar with to handle occasional emergencies; what to do if I run out of air, what to do if the air supply cable (the regulator) comes off, how to handle a cramp, how to take off and put on the total dive gear in the sea both at the surface and down under. He made us do this in the pool and told us that we should repeat this in the sea, for him to be convinced that we were good enough to be let loose in open water.”

“Wow sounds scary” Neel commented with an artificial shiver

“After these four sessions he took us to a nearby island resort called Kul-Kul-Kotok. It was a one hour journey by boat from Jakarta and is part of a small cluster of 128 Islands called Pulau Seribi. This litarally means 1000 islands. This is not the best of the dive spots of Indonesia. But it is the nearest to Jakarta. The boat ride was quite nice. The sea was calm and weather was refreshing. We sat on the deck discussing about diving. There were two other girls with us for the dive training. Devi was a colleague from the Jakarta Office of Insight and the other was her friend Salomi. We were all excited about the impending adventure”

“Wherever there is Udhi there would be girls following” Arjun commented with laughter

“Shut up you idiot” Udhi replied pretending to be angry.

“We reached at around noon and checked into the resort. This resort consisted of a number of cottages near the sea. The cottages we well spread out.  The Restaurant was also a cottage which was extending into the sea. “

“After dumping our stuff in the room we walked back to the restaurant. Suddenly Devi jumped up as if she saw a ghost. We looked in the direction she pointed. There were couple of large Monitor Lizards walking around. We were quite startled. They were quite large almost as big as a dog. The gardener who working in the vicinity reassured us. He explained that these are quite harmless and there was no need to worry”

“We gathered in the restaurant as the dive was planned only for the next day. We ordered for some chilled beer. The seafood options available were amazing. We ordered fried squid rings as starters. It was Amazing. Then we had prawns, fish, Kalamari and sticky rice for lunch. Man , it was awesome”

“”My mouth is watering hearing this” Arjun replied

“After lunch we lazed around in the couches in the restaurant. Then at around 430 in the evening all of us decided to take a dip in the sea. The water was cool and pleasant. There was wonderful coral formation even near the beach. We were a bit worried about the many sea urchins around”

“We finished by around seven and decided to have an early dinner as we had to get out early for our diving”

“The dinner was also outstanding. There was a wonderful spread available as buffet. There were a variety of dishes from diverse cuisines; Japanese, Thai and Indonesian style. I hogged on Sushi and Sashimi. I don’t want to describe more. You guys will dye of jealousy” Udhi teased

“After dinner Devi returned to her room. Salomi and I stayed back in the restaurant sipping our beer. She was originally from Malaysia. Completed her MBA from Wharton couple of years ago. Now she was part of the World Bank team posted at Jalarta.”

“Smart Chic” Arjun commented.

“She is quite smart and quite a sweet girl. We shared our stories laughed at our follies and discussed Indonesian markets. The banter was pleasing and the discussion was cerebral”

“The right combination for Udhi” Arjun said

Later we went for a stroll in the beach. The night was calm. There was moon light and we walked along the stretches of sand talking about inconsequential stuff. She reached her hand around my elbow and I put my hand around her shoulders. It was cozy. Then we sat at the beach holding each other’s hand. We felt  a unexplainable warmth and connection among each other. Then we got up and walked back to the resort to our respective rooms”

“RETURNED to respective rooms?” Neel asked with his eyebrows raised

“Yes you heard right” Udhi replied

“How disappointing” Raghav responded

“We were all tensed in anticipation of the dive the next day”

“Oh I see”

“As she opened the door to her room she turned her gaze back. At that point I also looked in that direction. Both of us laughed knowingly”

“I got into my room and crashed straightway without even changing. I slept like a child dreaming about corals and colourful schools of fish dancing around me”