Twelve month wonder

That was a really weird dream”, thought Sanket. “ Maybe because I felt asleep reading that strange book. Talking of the book, I seem to strongly remember taking the book out when I was here the first time. “ But the book had been back on the table by the bed when Sanket had returned the second time. This was the 12th successive month he had come to this cabin in the woods on the full moon day. Somehow he had instinctively known that the cabin would be visible only on full moon nights. The cabin seemed to have a strange charm that seemed to attract him every full moon nights.

But he was not complaining. Ever since he had started visiting the cabin, his entire life had changed. From an unknown employee in an IT company, one of a quarter million employees, he had become one of the most powerful men in the country. All thanks to the magic of the cabin. All his dreams had come true. He was not interested in solving the mystery of the cabin. He belonged to the school of thought that believed ‘Let sleeping dogs lie’. He was not going to do anything to upset his extreme good luck. He never met Hanif ever again. He kept his visits to the cabin a secret from all his friends and even his wife.


As he lay on the bed he reflected how every visit to the cabin had improved his fortunes. After the first visit, he got a chance to make client presentations for the first time. Apoorva, the one who was the one who usually presented had had a minor mishap, but a costly one it had turned out for him but a fortuitous one for Sanket.

Usually one would take 2-3 years to become a client relationship manager. But then when George had to be removed from the company for his sales practices that went against the company values, Sanket was the only one who had sufficient relationship with the client to take up the role. Sanket had to thank himself for taking interest in the junior members of the team and educating them on the importance of company values. The whistle blower had apparently learnt the lesson very well.

And Sanket was not the first choice for the client relationship manager for the company’s most prestigious account – one of the country’s largest industrial conglomerate. But when the most preferred choice suddenly decided to resign to serve the society, Sanket was the only one available at such a short notice to fill in. So it came about that Sanket was rewarded for the noble thoughts he had awakened in the mind of his senior colleague. After all don’t good happen to those who do good to others?

A key to a succesful relationship is putting the interest of the other person before your own. And Sanket had been a very good relationship manager – he had put the client’s interests above his company’s. So much so that client realized that with an efficient IT manager, they could themselves hire engineers and get IT solutions implemented much more cost effectively? And who better than Sanket for the role of the IT manager?

Maybe the chairman of the group was genuinely impressed with Sanket’s initiative or drive or maybe he believed in the dictum ‘Keep your friends close, your enemies closer’. But whatever be the reason, Sanket soon found himself the executive assistant to the chairman.

In addition to giving an overview of the entire business, the position afforded Sanket an opportunity to interact with the chairman Mr. Agarwal on a personal level as well. This included getting to know his wife and only daughter Vaishaka as well. And Sanket the good Samaritan always willing to help others had made it his business to find out about her fiancé’s dalliances with other woman and apprised her of the same. The match had broken and Vaishaka was left heartbroken. But then Sanket was at hand to fill the void in the heart of the damsel in distress. And so it came about that before long he found himself the heir-in-law to the country’s largest business fortunes.

As good begets good, evil begets evil. So it happened that Mr. Agarwal soon got his deserts at the hands of disgruntled workers of his tea estate. The poor tea estate workers had silently borne the exploitation for years. But luckily they had been awakened to their rights and the person who had reminded them of their rights was none other than their chairman’s son-in-law. Once the idea got into their minds they soon organized themselves and one day decided to approach the chairman to ask for a raise in their wages. Mr. Agarwal had got scared seeing the huge mob approach him. But luckily his son-in-law ever concerned about his safety had warned him to always have his revolver handy. His act of brandishing the revolver at them,  tipped the the angry workers over the edge and in their anger and fear, they had set the car on fire and burned Mr. Agarwal alive inside his car. And so it came about that responsibility of the country’s largest business empire fell on Sanket's young shoulders.

And to the cabin he owed all his good fortune. Sanket was always able to think clearly when he was in the cabin. He always got brainwaves after a good night’s sleep in the cabin, some kind of a divine inspiration it seemed like. And every one of these ideas had contributed to his advancement.

It was time for Sanket to return to the city. He had a very important meeting with members of the country’s biggest political party. He still had a long way to go. Though all time measuring devices stopped working within the cabin, Sanket always knew when it was time to leave.

Previous Episode: Return
Next Episode : To be Continued

4 comments:

The Fool said...

Thanks a lot for your encouragment, Rumya. I am hoping to finish this story soon - will be trying to turn around a episode onde a week atleast and finish in next 3-4 episodes.

Ritu Lalit said...

Its a fascinating tale. Loved it uptil now. Eagerly waiting for more

The Fool said...

Thanks Ritu. I am glad you like the story. Nice of you to take time out to read my story. I was a bit fearful people might not read it once I start running the story independent of Blog-a-ton.

Rumya said...

Almost missed this part but now I've caught up with it. It's getting interesting. Waiting for more always...

Post a Comment

Kind words of appreciation/feedback

For whom the bell tolls

A book of faces