CHAPTER 43 - First Signs of the Satyam Apocalypse - I

The future of our beloved roaming division was in limbo. And it was kind of hard to reconcile to.

GG Howdy made sure he poached some of us folks to work for his newly established company called Cow-Labs his CEO friend had incorporated recently soon after he evicted himself from one of the high-high positions of directorship at Satyam.

As I see it, the roaming division’s loss to Cow-Labs was in a way Satyam’s first debacle as less than 7 years later in 2008 the software behemoth went down under. Back in the late last decade, precisely in the year 2008/9, when CEO of Satyam, no less, conceded his crime of non-existent cash reserves, cooked up profit statements, botched-up account books, and whatnot, Arinvan Maliek was found himself thinking that the ‘taking away’ of the roaming division in the year 2001/2 surely had contributed to the disaster of 2008 leading up to the shocking confession of its CEO; that’s when the soul-spirit of the slowly degrading company Satyam Computers, so to speak, was hurt beyond repair. Those pushy, aggressive acts of business bungling were… Unforgivable! Unpardonable!

Nevertheless, the CEO had the courage to confess his terrible mistake, albeit having no other choice but to give himself up and resign to a gory fate he thought he was never entitled to in the first place!

To be able to come to terms with this mean bunch of people who brought the whole house down was hard work to get used to. Arinvan’s angst – or for that matter whoever he knew has always professed his/her love for working at Satyam just as he did – against these mean-spirited bunch did not easily die away. It was in the year 2001/2 our beloved roaming division was ‘taken away’ and life has never been the same again ever since. Arinvan had seen it written somewhere that “Mistakes are always forgivable if one has the courage to admit them.” And who said that? Bruce Lee it is.

But there’d not be a word or a phrase written anywhere to justify the mortifying shame of someone perpetrating a disgraceful, law-breaking crime of tragic proportions such as Satyam. If GG Howdy was born-again Bruce Lee, then the CEO of Satyam was 'Fuse Lee'! The plain human fact is that it pulverizes you no end to survive this baleful saga of Satyam and act as if ‘Oh bloody hell! These things happen!’ and one is ought to get used to hearing it more often these days.

First Blood: First Man Gone

Manpreet Singh was the first man to get pulled in by GG Howdy’s false appeal and the promise of more perks. With that acquisition GG had cast the first stone at us, drawing first blood so to speak. ‘Gutkha’ Raju was next; his GG-worshipping tail tugged tightly doggy-like between the legs as his greasy, road roller-like hands colliding in a hasty namaste: “GG mai baap! Guru garu…Chichcha garu!”

The Financial couple ‘Truck Driver’ Suraj and Sexy Devee were the next in line GG wanted to desperately poach but remained unsuccessful. Thankfully, Arinvan Maliek wasn’t asked for it. He made sure that he threw the baby with the bathwater! GG’s doesn’t make any difference when it has got to do with resigning from Satyam. It was never a surprising thing for Arinvan as he knew exceptionally well that GG wouldn’t ask him to join his new organization. He heaved a major sigh of relief as he thought he'd figured out how to alienate or distance GG from him a bit and he, after all, wouldn’t get asked by him. Bingo! Arinvan’s supplication to God worked. It worked. After a nasty experience of GG’s dictatorial management of the roaming division, it was enough, at least for Arinvan, to steer himself clear of GG’s crafty ways of working. Wouldn't you say it is truly more peaceful when you are better off not working under a culturally-handicapped mentally-deranged boss?

It was important for Arinvan that GG Howdy felt unable to take him. Frankly speaking, he would never commit the senseless error of joining GG’s decrepit Cow-Labs even if he was asked in person by him. No chance. Once bitten twice shy. For hell’s sake…He’d have declined it outright. OK OK not outright, but yes after agreeing for a round of discussion with that cunning old man he would have been plainly unresponsive about his job offer. For Arinvan, GG’s torment had been enough to deal with (at Satyam) and he didn’t want another 'hound' of rampant insubordination and filthy disrespect in his (GG’s) new avatar as ‘Head of something’ in his new harem of a company. Arinvan, Sexy Devee Prachad, TD Suraj, Shiv Charan Joey Prashad, and Dilnawaz Khan decided to happily retain their Satyam identifications and disown the measly perks that GG darted around till he was black and blue in the face to offer. Talk about a tense tormenter on the brink of losing his swinging marbles!

Be that as it may, but one of their Satyam colleagues, after two and a half years of happy Satyam life, Manpreet had other ideas. He went for it like a dear old lad and somehow survived for another 2 nasty years under the screwy Gaddafi regime of Cow-Labs before thinking wise to leave it for good and join another company. About time, Manpreet, about time. Whatever!

That’s how some people are; they seem to have no 'emotional connect' to anything beautiful that they may have been experienced or to unpractical things such as ‘memories’ or ‘for old times’ sake.’ When a job is in question, no one seems to have anything else to think through, aside from obtaining it and getting to be happy. Instant Nirvana! 

That’s how individuals like Manpreet Singh worked, preferring to go solo. Being perpetually aloof to other people’s idea to his heart’s content. Some people get what they want solely on the premise that whatever is available should be good enough and grabbed forthwith, with both hands; and more often than not such quests of theirs turn out not bad but, luckily, pretty good! All that matters is – as it has always been so – that if you have a job or not. If you have a job then – whether you like it or not doesn’t make a darn difference – it’s the theory of “saat khoon maaf!” that plays out in full gusto, and often everything else can suck up to the bowels of hell and rot there. Forgotten, like forever.

Manpreet and ‘Gutkha’ Raju decided to move out of Satyam and join Cow-Labs. With that, GG had made his first kill. And it was also the ‘The End’ of the godforsaken GG affair.

END OF PART I OF "CHAPTER 43 - First Signs of the Satyam Apocalypse - I".

(To be continued...)

By Arindam Moulick

Click here to go to Part II of the story.

Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction. All incidences, places, and characters portrayed in the story are fictional and entirely imaginary. Any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental. No similarity to any person either living or dead is intended or should be inferred.