After eight weeks of induction training, our batch of
forty new employees at HCL set off to various cities across India where we
would be posted for a few years.I was posted to Lucknow and two other freshmen along with me would make
up the front-line sales team, lead by a senior executive and a branch manager.
It was September 1986, just after the induction training, about six of us were asked to stay
back at the corporate office in New Delhi for two days to help with “grunt
work” for the impending Busybee II (an Intel 80286 based PC) launch. The task
at hand was simple - put together several hundred binders of technical and
sales material for the launch. It was mostly photocopying, punching and
binding. But there was a lot of it. We worked nonstop for twenty four hours,
racing against time. The launch was set for the 8th and the binders had to
reach all sales offices across the country, so sales teams could be trained
prior to the launch.
Half way through the grind, a couple of us decided to get
some food from a nearby food truck. It was past 11:00 pm. We took the rickety
elevator down five floors, only to find the exit doors locked, but thankfully there
were a couple of watchmen sitting on a cot nearby and one of then let us out.
We were back in about 15 minutes with Chow Mien and Chicken Manchurian. We could see
that the door had been locked again, so we jovially asked the watchmen to let us in.
There was silence from the bunch, but only for a few seconds, then a heavy
guttural voice said in a Haryanavi accent - What is going on here? Why are you
guys working at this time? The owner of the guttural voice was laying on the cot
and must have weighed over a hundred and fifty kilograms. He was rustic, huge and
menacing. Our explanations about ‘launch’ and ‘computer’ etc. in hinglish, all fell on deaf
ears. He was not interested in what we were saying. After several attempts in
vain we gave up trying to convince him. Self-doubt set in - we
were supposed to be ‘salesmen’ and had failed miserably at convincing the hulk
to let us into the building. Everything went quiet again, there was
an impasse. A minute later the junior watchman looked at me and signaled me to
get closer to his boss and sit on the cot. Weird and scary
thoughts crossed my mind but I complied meekly. I sat at the edge of the cot
where junior had pointed. It was the foot of the cot. Then junior said in an authoritative voice - "massage the bosses legs"! - I complied meekly. After a
few minutes I found myself massaging his other leg too. Then his back, arms and shoulders. What an ordeal. By contrast photocopying, punching and binding was really
cushy upstairs. After about fifteen minutes, my buddy mustered up some courage
to plead again to let us into the building, miraculously, the hulk relented, turned on his side, expelled a high decibel flatus and waved at his deputy to open the door and let us go. By
this time I needed a massage - of body and self esteem.
When morning broke , the general manager of marketing, came in early to work and was pleased with the progress we had
made. He picked up one binder and started leafing through it and abruptly
stopped. He flipped a few pages back and forward and then very calmly said -
‘guys stop’. A couple of chapters were out of sequence and would have to be
redone. The next twenty fours were back-breaking. We were not going chow mien shopping tonight. Thankfully, the GM arranged for catered food for the rest of the day. After forty eight hours of nonstop work and no sleep, we were half dead and ready to hit the sack.
But there was one small wrinkle, we were now one day behind
schedule and I was randomly picked from the group to get onto a flight and carry four large boxes of
binders with me as personal baggage and get to Bangalore as soon as possible,
the training was starting that morning in Bangalore. The GM had left the
previous evening. There were a couple of other minor hurdles to cross, I would
have to buy a ticket in cash at the airport and pay for the “excess
baggage” and of course I had no money. A resourceful office manager arranged
for an employee in the accounting department to meet me at the airport at 5 am
with enough cash for the flight ticket and the baggage. I landed in Bangalore
and hired a taxi but had no money for the fare. The training event was at a fancy
hotel, I gently cracked open the door into the large convention room, The GM was already on stage. He noticed the interruption, recognized me and waved me in. I entered the room , the four large boxes on a trolley being pushed by a bell-boy, we unloaded thee boxes at the front of the room, I went up the stage and quietly whispered to him - " I have no money for the taxi or hotel or return flight". He smiled, a few minutes later I was being accompanied by a staffer, the taxi-driver was instructed to take me to a nearby hotel, I was given enough money to pay the fare. Later that morning, someone form the Bangalore office showed up at the hotel with my return ticket, some cash and with a hand-written note - "get some rest and enjoy Bangalore for the next two days".
A few months later - when we were laughing about the whole experience, the GM said - "when you walked into the room at Bangalore, everyone thought you were the "Blue Dart" courier guy and your blue shirt added to the persona"
There were many firsts for me in this episode - "first time flying", "first paid vacation" "first time - courier" and not to forget "first time being a masseuse"
Gatekeepers are an unavoidable irritant in life, to get past them, you have to be skilled at massaging their ego and sometimes their backs!
I am sure you massaged the gate keeper boss well for him to pleased to let you on.
ReplyDeleteHNS - I may have a second career as a masseuse!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know this was part of your skill set Manbir. Hmm!! How little we know about our friends. Great narrative. I can imagine the Haryanvi boss. Actually you should have offered him the chowmein and he would have let you in and maybe even offered to massage your legs. Though allowing a Haryanvi full of chowmein to do it probably qualifies as a hazardous activity.
ReplyDeleteGreat experience you had in your starting.
ReplyDelete