Monday, February 21, 2005

Day of Reckoning

He was not very comfortable getting into the meeting. he had played around with the numbers and done a last minute damage control exercise, which , though helped him to meet his targets, was not going to go down well with the others in the meeting. Not that he hadnt done it before, but each time he had done something like it, he had faced a lot of flak. he was,understandably nervous.
the meeting began, and as all the other guys mechanically began describing achievements/development work and other parameters in the overall appraisal, he wondered how bad he would look in front of his peers and superiors. finally it was his turn.
as he was explaining his facts and figures, he could feel they were in no way convinced. finally one of the top guys held up a hand. "there are a lot of things that we require clarifications on, that wont be covered in your presentation. it would be better if you answered a few questions."
"okay", he said, closing his laptop.
"it has been seen that you are trying to hard sell yourself, when our policy has always been for our target audience to get comfortable with our concept and therefore make decisions accordingly."
" that has been primarily because i feel now, that it would take too long for them to arrive at a conclusion in favour of us, and during that while, there might be a whole bunch of losses,which i feel is avoidable.", he replied.
" i think we can afford the delay, and the losses cant be greater than what your actions seem to be achieving now"
he kept silent.
" also, it has been seen that you have a preferential treatment for a particular niche within our target population."
" i feel they are intellectually much more advanced and therefore would relate to our concept much faster than others", he said.
" your judgements of intellectual capacity leave a lot to be desired"
he was silent again. he felt the tones of a distinct powerplay to oust him from his position.
"and how could you come up with an idea of using natural disasters to achieve targets. i am referring specifically to the recent geo activity in the asian region. do you know the kind of negative impact it could have?"
"with all due respect, sir, i have met my targets and created a distinct recall phenomenon for our concept", he replied.
" the means are also important. by the way what is with this fancy name you have gotten your niche audience to call you?"
" i felt that for the value proposition we give, a name would make the audience connect better with me and therefore the concept"
" let me assure you that a concept like ours does not need a name to back it up. we are not pleased with your performance and the next review will be your last chance. and meanwhile, stop getting your favourite audience to call you God. the concept, of faith in a greater power,is quite strong by itself"
until next time, never play god..

18 comments:

Ink Spill said...

Another fab one!

I start interpreting the moment I read your first line, and the more I read, the higher is the number of possible ends that strike me, till I am in serious danger of tipping over into lunacy.

I just want to confess that I've started reading your posts beginning with the last line, you torturer!

The Bard said...

fantastic!!....had a divine pleasure reading it;)

Pallavi said...

many do love to play god that way :) quaint eh :)

Anonymous said...

Echo Inkspills, tipping into insanity indeed :D

Elixir said...

this is liek my fifth attempt at posting a comment..if it doesnt happen now...ill weep!!!!
well it sure wud b fun in tryin to interpret da endings...or da context...but then 2 me it aint fun...makes u think....when da ending is like sum lines away :P id rather wait 4 da mystery 2 unfold by itself :P:P:P

loved da God thingy...made me visualise da chitragupt scenario frm sum crappy filum id seen :P

Stone said...

{* after reading it for the fourth time decides*}...its marvellous man!!!!

manuscrypts said...

inkz: then i think i shd get out of the genre for sometime..:)

la devil: U can have that?? ;)

manuscrypts said...

pallavi: sadly so

ash: uhoh , dangerous

manuscrypts said...

elixir: agree with u.. thats the way i meant it to be... but if u know theres going to be some twist, u might like to have a preview earlier too .. so to each their own...

stone: :(.. took you four times to do that ??...lol ;)

NoHairBrain said...

I thought DOG .. but I was close :))

Rapunzel said...

keep goin and u just mite turn out to be the desi o.henry;-)

manuscrypts said...

NHB: DOG!! presentations!! i hope not..:)

rapunzel: naah... like i said, this is just a phase, already getting out of it.. :)

Anonymous said...

seems i havent been here for sometime. things have changed to become complicated :)

Anonymous said...

:-) Kewl one!!!!!!!!!!

manuscrypts said...

blokes:gas was what we used to answer to theory questions in engg.. :)

aqua: complicated.. ;(.. have always been a KISS guy..hehe

manuscrypts said...

maria: thx :)

Aekta said...

I'd left a comment here but I dont see it now :-((

I had said I don't agree with you!!!

manuscrypts said...

aekta: has nothing to do with beliefs, its purely a 'what if' story :)