Page 24 - #letter to son

#SangamNiti SUNRISE
After three days of this episode, spooling in my head in slow motion
now, our senior partner came up and asked me for a progress report.
“But they haven’t even given me the papers till now,” I whimpered. My
senior looked up in shock disbelief. “Why haven’t you asked for them,”
he bellowed. I mustered all my courage and told him of my routine.
I told him I wanted to quit the assignment and leave the menagerie
– I just couldn’t handle the pressure anymore. I thought my senior
colleague would explode, but all of a sudden he became Zen-like. As if
he understood.

He told me I could escape and someone else would take up my place and
it would not make an inch of a difference either to the audit firm where
I worked, nor to the client company. However, running away from a
difficult assignment would prove I was somebody who scooted from
tough situations. It would also leave me exposed to a poor reputation
that would eventually erode my credibility. So, he said, there’s no escape
button and I would have to use my imagination to deal with people
and situations. One look at him and I could see his steely gaze cutting
through my doubts just like the overhead fan’s rusted blades cut through
the dusty air.

Ordered back to the chair by my senior, I engaged in some creative
thinking. I started observing people, their behavior, penchants and
oddities. It was as if I was in an anthropology class. “Isn’t it all about
people,” I wondered. Soon, I was segregating those who I felt would
cooperate and those who would be difficult to deal with. For the first
lot I could manage. But with the second I knew I had to use charm
offensive. So I went up to them. I told them they were central to my
articleship success. I said I was from a small town and was yet to become
familiar with the workings of a big company. I drafted their help as vital
to my career’s progress. I enlisted their assistance as crucial to my life’s
success. It was as if this gave them wings. I could see documents flying
to my table. I could feel urgency in their heels. I could spot a new energy
buzzing in the corridors. Within 72 hours, my audit was done. Musical
Chairs was officially over.

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