My first employment (Chapter 1)
by innuswami @ 08/06/05 - 19:05:32
I started to work for a living at the age of 23 as a supervisor in a cotton-spinning mill in Mumbai, which was Bombay in those days. This was over forty years ago and the monthly salary, which I started on, was less than one-third the average daily salary my daughter started on in a foreign Bank in 1997! Unimaginable for the present youngsters, but that is true.
I remember only hazily my experiences of those supervisory days. One thing that comes to mind is the gloominess that grips you during night shifts, and stays with you during the day when you try to sleep and not able to sleep due to noise and disturbances from others in the lodging where I was staying. My lodging was a small cubicle about 6ft by 6ft in size with one cot, a small writing table and chair and nothing else. The walls and door were made of plywood and there was a window between two cubicles, so that each cubicle has one half of a window overlooking ancient tiled roofs of dilapidated single storied and two storied buildings. Several such fabricated cubicles were made inside one large hall and the plywood walls were of height about 7 ft. So people living in different cubicles could converse with each other with ease, as if they were chatting across a table.
The lodge was run by a Gujarati family who was occupying a couple of cubicles at the far end of the large hall. There were two small toilets and bathrooms for the inmates of the eight cubicles in the hall. The Gujarati family had another bathroom and a kitchen at the other end, which I never saw. About the Gujarati family, all I remember is the elderly mother who came to each cubicle every morning with a cup the size of a large teaspoon filled with piping hot concoction called cardamom tea sweetened like honey. I sip of the concoction would send you reeling. Then there were her two sons who managed all the other matters.
Every day I had to travel about 12 kilometres by bus to the mill. I was lucky to be living in south Bombay, which is the end point of the island city and therefore my commuting by bus to the mill, and back to the lodge was always against the peak-time traffic. The morning shift starts at 6 A.M. So I had to start from the lodging by 5 A.M. I used to have all my meals except dinner in the mill canteen. During shift duty in the mill one is always on his feet and by the end of the day I used to be dead tired. After the shift is over there would be production meetings making entries in the log book regarding the days happenings and handing over charge to the new shift supervisors. Most days there would long discussions with the production manager or the quality assurance manager after the shift time thereby delaying departure. Most days I used to reach back the lodge only after dinner just in time to fall into the bed and sleep.
The loud laughter and shouts and merry making by the other lodgers who kept awake till almost 2 A.M always disturbed my sleep. On a couple of occasions I got up in sleep at 2.30 or 3 A.M, thinking that I was already late, got ready to leave quickly and rushed to the bus stop and then realised that I was two hours too early.
In those days leisure was hard to come by. On the Sundays it is mostly recovering from the stress and strain of the week, lying in bed till almost lunchtime.
Work of a sales and service engineer
Soon I realised that the millwork is rather boring and I may not be suitable for it. After about a year or so I managed to get a job with a Textile machinery manufacturer, which had a factory in Madhya Pradesh. I was sent there for training in the assembly of looms so that I could be placed as a sales engineer in one of the regional offices. I worked in the assembly and inspection sections of the company for about a year and then I was transferred to Mumbai office as sales engineer.
The sales manager did the selling of the looms and I was in charge of erecting the looms in the mills. The automatic looms were sent from the factory in assembled condition in huge crates while the plain looms were despatched in knocked down condition. Though the automatic looms were supposed to be fully inspected before despatch, most of the parts had to be dismantled and refitted after filing etc. A battery of fitters who were experts in the job did this kind of work. Even carpenters were sent from the factory to align the slay of the loom. It would take several days to install a loom after all these modifications, which would not have been necessary if the looms were properly assembled and fitted in the factory before despatch. But that never happened in our factory. Many parts would also be short supplied. My company was able to sell the looms only because of low price. Our competitors were supplying technologically much more advanced looms manufactured and assembled with precision, which could be installed and run soon after they reach the mills. Obviously, our company’s reputation in the textile mill circles was not very high and we the employees, were always at the receiving end trying to pacify the customers for the poor quality of the product and most unprofessional manner in which we were dealing with their complaints. Except for a few stalwarts, most of the employees wanted to leave the company for better prospects. I was also constantly in search of an opening elsewhere.
Work of a sales engineer.....(Chapter 2)
by innuswami @ 01/07/05 - 11:46:11
Sales Engineer had hardly anything to do with sales. The Sales manager who had only very little knowledge of the technical aspects of the loom, was the one who met the top brass of the Mills and negotiated the sales. The sales Engineer was hardly involved at any stage of negotiations and hardly ever knew what was going on in the office. Sometimes, as the Sales Manager’s sidekick I used to sit with him and give technical explanations if the need arose. The Sales Manager was known to be a “fixer”. He was apparently able to convince the Mill managements that by opting for an inexpensive loom they would be able to recover the investments much faster. Mill Managers and top technicians were in very friendly terms with him.
All the employees feared and respected the Sales Manager because he was thought to be very close with the MD, but we, in the sales office, knew that the Sales Manager’s relations with the MD was far from close. The Sales Manager would shiver if he were alone in the presence of the MD. The Sales Manager had to serve him hand and foot like a personal valet when he visited Mumbai and for this he used to practically shift his quarters to the lounge of the MD’s hotel. I have seen the sales manager running out to buy “paan” for the MD. That is the relation. Like a schoolboy, the Sales Manager would obey the MD’s orders implicitly. If not, he knew that he would loose his job.
Sales of the company’s products depended on the kickbacks the Sales Manager could arrange for the top brass of the Mills. It turned out that the MD, with the help of the Sales Manager, would appropriate a good percentage of such commissions for himself! In short the sales job in this company was a very complicated matter, which could be handled only by a few trusted stalwarts of the company. There were many such stalwarts like the Sales Manager, in other departments too, all contributing for the MD’s welfare.
Work as a Sales engineer for looms!(Chapter 3)
by innuswami @ 15/07/05 - 10:09:12
As I wrote last, there were many stalwarts in the company who were the trusted few of the management. They were the eyes and ears of the company – they wielded a lot of power and carried tales regularly to the top management about who did what in the company. The very existence of the company seemed to depend on these people. If one unwittingly displeased one of these powerful thugs, he could be sure to encounter the displeasure of the management. These men were ageless and permanent fixtures in the company and secure in their jobs, they spoilt many young careers.
Under these circumstances all the youngsters were constantly looking for openings in other firms to escape from the dirty atmosphere of the company. After some altercation one day with my boss, the Sales Manager, I submitted my resignation. This happened even before I had found another job and thus I became another unemployed man on the Bombay streets! I was hardly 28 years old and I needed a job badly if I had to continue living in Bombay, because in my five years of working I had not saved anything and it was difficult to live in Bombay for even one month without a job. However, my parents were always helpful and I could always count on their support till I found another job.
I approached several firms and many people promised me that they would help. But help was needed immediately and this was not happening fast. One of my acquaintances who was employed as Sales Manager in a multinational company dealing in Textile machinery also promised help since there were a few vacancies in his company. This gentleman felt obliged to help me because he knew me well personally and he was also closely connected with many of my close relatives in Trivandrum, but from the beginning I was not sure if he really wanted to employ me in his company as his assistant! At his instance I had an interview with the Managing Director of the company (an European), and soon I received the appointment letter also.
The next step was to appear for a medical examination before the company doctor. On the appointed day I presented myself before the doctor, a Parsi gentleman who examined me thoroughly and declared that I was fit as a horse, and could join the London police if I wanted to! The good doctor then told me that he had made a detailed examination because the Sales Manager visited him the previous day and made a personal request to disqualify me on medical grounds and he decided that he was not going to oblige him! There were two more candidates selected and the doctor found that one of them was not really very fit. This upset the sales manager (to be short and sweet I shall refer to him as Puke from here onwards) and he told the doctor that his job would not be too strenuous and that his condition was not really important. Later I found out that Puke wanted the medically unfit person to be employed for certain personal reasons and he did not want me in.
Thus I joined a very reputed multinational company dealing in highly specialised engineering products including textile machinery and accessories and stayed in the job for the next twenty-six years. Those twenty six years were the most momentous years of my life during which I got married to an exceptional woman who became my guide and advisor, bore two daughters and brought them up to become smart highly educated and accomplished women!
(to continue later.......)
Work as a sales engineer in an MNC (Chapter 4)
by innuswami @ 28/07/05 - 19:06:48
(Continued from last posting of 15/7/05)
Soon after joining the company I was sent to the factory to familiarise with the company’s products, which had a very high reputation in the Textile Machinery field. The difference between the loom manufacturer for whom I worked earlier and the present one was remarkable. In every aspect there was marked difference. For example we, the sales engineers were supposed to wear neckties while on official work. We were given brief cases with company logo printed on them for carrying samples papers etc. We had to fill in itinerary forms, advance allowance forms, ticket requisition forms etc. before we go on sales tours. After every visit we were to make a call report. Then fill in a weekly call report and a monthly call report. Though there were no computers in those days, customers had specific numbers. All these systems were new to me.
In the earlier job there were no forms to be filled except for an advance for travelling. No itinerary forms, no daily call report forms etc. One would write a memo only when communicating to the factory requesting to send replacement parts or to give a detailed report on the nature of complaints. Mostly reporting is done personally and there would be no record of these discussions. The stalwarts of the production unit would also get offended if one wrote a memo because it was usually about product complaints. The stalwarts’ initial reaction would be to brush aside the complaints as rubbish and try to prove to the top bosses that the salesmen did not do their job properly. In most cases the top management is drawn into discussion and the sales engineer blamed for spoiling the reputation of the company and then the stalwart himself would make a visit to the branch office for discussions with the customer. The so-called experts neither have the capacity to understand the problems clearly nor the capacity to convince the customer, their points of view. They would blabber for some time and finally accept replacement of all the parts. These fellows are thrilled to visit Bombay from time to time for various enjoyments, which include womanising for some, shopping movies and restaurants for others. They go back and convince the bosses how efficiently they managed the show!
In my new job with the MNC one had to follow systems. And the bosses were very rigid about the systems being followed. Initially I thought that all this paper work was crap, but I had to follow the rules. In the factory also I found the work culture very different. The workers were doing a full day’s work without wasting time, there were standards fixed for all activities. Quality assurance was given top priority. Employees were not casual in discussions. Literally I was in for a cultural shock. But slowly I absorbed the new environment and adapted myself to the MNC culture, starting from wearing a necktie!
My boss Mr. Puke (I shall call him Puke), who recruited me (unwillingly) in the company was indifferent to me in the beginning and hoped that I would leave the company soon. However, I found the working environment in the company so nice I did not have the heart to leave though my boss would have liked me to leave at the earliest.
I have talked of company stalwarts, where I worked in the last job. Those stalwarts were buffoons. Swains without any educational qualifications, kept in key posts to act as per the dictates of the management, the kind of work decent people would not like to do. Mr. Puke was not in the same class as the “stalwarts”, but he had built up a certain reputation for himself as a super salesman of Textile Machinery. For the company the Textile Machinery business was one of several other products and the share of Textile Machinery business was only about a fifth of the total business in those days. Textile Machinery is a specialised subject about which, the MD and other European officers posted in India, were practically ignorant and the word of Mr. Puke was final. About five years before I joined the MNC he had appointed another assistant, who had absolutely no sales experience or communication skills. Many in our company and outside wondered why Puke chose such a candidate as this one! One thing that was clear to all was that this chap would never be able to challenge Puke or dream for his boss’s position and so he was a safe candidate for Puke to employ him as his assistant. Puke was a shrewd man!
Work of a sales engineer in an MNC.....(Chapter 5)
by innuswami @ 29/07/05 - 19:32:45
(continued from my last posting of 28/07/05)
I shall call him Duke. To make up for his lack of communication skills Duke would make elaborate gestures and kept on laughing loudly in between broken words while talking to Puke. His actions and laughter would increase in proportion to the degree of his inability to clearly express himself to Puke. Puke would all the time be nodding his head in understanding and wearing a sarcastic look on his face. Something which one would take ten seconds to communicate to another would take Duke almost ten minutes to explain to Puke, with a lot of histrionics! And Puke would be enjoying the fun all the while. At the height of excitement Duke would flap his folded hands in the air like a little bird about to take off on it’s first flight, while doing push ups with his body. This is not an exaggeration!
Duke was unable to pronounce many ordinary words correctly. He has travelled several times to Germany and mostly used to fly Lufthansa, but he could never pronounce “Lufthansa” correctly. The best he could say was Lufthanaaaa! Always failing to stop at the right end of the word!! Out of the three newly recruited sales engineers two of us were posted in Bombay and the one whom the doctor wanted to disqualify on medical grounds was posted to another branch office. Duke and we the two new recruits were put in a small cabin our tables almost touching. The pair of us (new recruits) had a good time, sharing the cabin with Duke who was senior to us and therefore commanded or demanded (!) respect from us. We were younger and were always making fun of Duke and laughing when he was away. When customers rang up for anything Duke was particular that he only spoke to them (because he was senior). In his shrill voice he would ask “ Whosh ish shpeaking?”- he could never say “Who is speaking?”
During the initiation period, Duke took us to the mills, one at a time. We were to observe how he dealt with matters and in due course I was on my own attending to the customers. During the first year itself I was given the charge of the Northern region which was a vast territory and the customers were not clustered around few centres but spread all over a large area. I was placed in the supervisory cadre, which entitled me to travel only by train, in first class. No air travels. I had to travel long distances to reach places like Abohar near the Pakistan border or to Kathua in Jammu & Kashmir to meet mill customers. But Duke was very peeved because he was earlier travelling to these areas.
I did work hard and was able to break the strong hold of our competitors in these areas but my boss Puke never acknowledged the fact. Puke had his own ingenious methods of keeping all of us in a tight grip.
Work of a sales engineer.....(continued)- PART (6)
by innuswami @ 04/09/05 - 11:12:55
Continued from my last posting of 28/07/05
From the beginning I decided that I would not complain about Puke or Duke, but go on doing my job, whether they appreciated it or not. Though Puke never complimented me on the good work I was doing, slowly most of the serious work was being entrusted to me. Within about three years I was well established in the company and everything was going on smoothly. Puke had by then reached the age of fifty and the management wanted some one to be trained to take his place on his retirement which was in those days at 58 years. His immediate assistant, Duke, was never considered for the replacement and I can understand that, because if you put down ten qualities desirable for a sales man Duke did not possess even one. In Puke’s reckoning, the only quality Duke had was that he would never be considered by the management to replace him and Puke could go on lording over every one. This strategy worked beautifully until an Indian joined the company as the Marketing Director.
By then Puke has had a good time for over 15 years in the company. The company’s products were very popular and some German engineers were always stationed in India to attend to the servicing of products and Puke was just having a nice time touring the country with the Germans and throwing his weight around. However things changed a bit in the last few years after the Indian company started production and that is when Duke and the other sales engineers including me were employed later. Gradually the interest of the German parent company became less and less and we had to attend to all matters ourselves. In a few years time the German company behaved as though we were their competitors.
Hard work was never Puke’s strong point. He used to come to the office as and when he liked, mostly around 11 A.M and would promptly disappear for lunch sharp at 1PM. After lunch he would have his siesta and return to office by 4PM to sign the letters we sales engineers drafted and go home promptly at 5PM.
If at all the MD asked for Puke during his absence, the secretary was to give the standard reply, “visiting customers”. In my eighteen years of working with Puke, I can say with certainty that he has not visited more than ten textile mills in the country and probably that many machinery manufacturers. But the impression he had given to the top management was that he was constantly on the move, visiting customers! He was dutifully drawing allowances also for these imaginary visits!!
Before the new marketing Director was appointed, Puke was offered the job. But Puke did not accept it; saying that his continued contribution to the textile business is essential and that would get affected if he accepted the offer. In actual fact Puke knew fully well his capacity. If he accepted the general post as head of the entire sales operations of the company, he would have more responsibilities. He would have to deal with a lot more people in the company as well as a large customer base. He knew he was not up to that and being a wily fox, wisely slithered out of the situation!
When the new Indian Marketing Director joined the company Puke had to change his ways a bit. His new boss could not be hoodwinked as easily as he could the foreigners. I shall call the Indian Marketing Director, Panju. Panju took some pains to understand the specialised textile business even though Puke always tried to give evasive and vague replies to his queries. Puke never liked Panju’s interest in the Textile business, as he feared that if Panju understood the business well enough, Puke could loose his importance with the foreign bosses!!
But Panju was not an ordinary simple man. Though he was in his early thirties, he had deep understanding of human behaviour and knew how to handle people to the maximum advantage. He was a cool cat, extremely smart too!! He would ask for sales reports from Puke and have detailed discussions with him. He organised several management seminars for middle level managers and supervisory staff, which enabled him to get to know the qualities of all the staff members and also understand the intricacies of the business. We also got a chance to mingle with the top bosses during these meetings from which all of us benefited. This was a problem for Puke, because so far, the sales engineers etc never got to meet the top bosses and Puke would play the game the way he wanted. Now things were changing and Puke was getting restless and insecure!!
Puke’s strategy to hang on to the job was to keep the gap between himself and his assistants as wide as possible and avoid recruitment of anyone who could make a claim for his job! Panju on the other hand was encouraging the lower staff to blossom and contribute more. For one reason or the other Puke was avoiding appointment of a senior person as his assistant and having sensed the game very well Panju suggested that someone from the existing staff be promoted. Duke was the first to put an application. Then Puke asked the medically unfit (!) sales engineer to apply. Puke also asked a couple of his close friends to apply for the job. Knowing Puke’s mind I did not even bother to put in an application. However, some one close to Panju asked me why I have not applied for the post. I told him plainly that both Duke and I were told by Puke that we were not good enough for the post and that the management has decided to take some one from outside. After that things moved fast and Puke told me that he has recommended my name for the post!!
(to be continued……….)
Work of a sales engineer in an MNC (Chapter 7)
by innuswami @ 26/09/05 - 18:52:19
Work of a sales engineer in an MNC (continued …..)
For several months after my boss, Puke told me that I was selected for the promotion to Asst. Sales Manager, nothing happened. In the mean time I had a trip to Europe thanks to Panju, the marketing Director. Duke told me that my mission abroad was to visit the International machinery Exhibition at Milan and to visit our technical collaborators in Germany for some training. However before my plans were finalised Panju called me and told me that I should visit as many places in Europe and UK as I would like and have a nice holiday before I returned. I was very thrilled because that was my first trip abroad. Puke was furious because originally he had planned to go, which Panju scuttled and then he let me go on a grand holiday! I made the best of the trip by visiting many cities in Italy, Switzerland, Germany, France, Netherlands and England. My wife joined me in Paris after I had finished my “official duties” and we travelled all these places for about three weeks. This was one grand Holiday I will not forget, though on a shoestring budget.
After my return from the tour abroad Puke started his tricks against me. I had mentioned earlier that though Puke was practically ignoring the good work I was doing I had not shown that it was bothering me in the least and I went about doing my work as ably as I could and after Panju joined our Company as the Marketing Director I did my work more enthusiastically because he always acknowledged me, with some nice words whenever we met.
We had a young Accounts Manager in our Company who was known to be very able in his work and not the type to suck up to the superiors. I was deputed to work with him to prepare a project for the manufacture of an item that was till then being imported from Germany. The project was prepared with some help and know-how from our production people in the factory and we were able to obtain a letter of intent and Industrial Licence from the Government. Now, the Accounts Manager got into some trouble with Panju on some matter and just like him he would not budge one bit from his declared position. The situation became all fouled up in a short period of time and the Accounts manager resigned from the company. The Accounts Manager praised highly my work for the project in his farewell speech, which was attended by Panju also, though I was away travelling. Since the Accounts Manager praised me so much I thought that my end has also come! On the contrary, Panju seemed quite pleased with me.
When the time came for performance appraisals and increments, Puke told me that for that year he could not recommend any increment for me because I had gone abroad on company expenses and also enjoyed a holiday. This he said was as per the wishes of the Marketing Director Panju. This was shocking because I did not bargain for a cut in the salary! Since I was told that I was selected for the promotion, which was being delayed by Puke for over a year now, I did not want to meekly submit to the wishes of Puke as I always did, and I challenged him. I told him that either I get the promised promotion with increased salary or I leave. I also told him that I was going to talk this over with Panju before I left.
Puke was shaken because he did not want a confrontation involving Panju. He made a somersault immediately and requested me not to get excited and that he would announce my promotion etc within the next month! After this incident Puke became more determined to harass me. Being the boss he had several ways to do that and I could do nothing about it. I knew that there was no point in fighting with the boss that too a wily boss who would go to any extent for his own benefit.
Ever since Panju joined the company, Puke felt extremely threatened and insecure because all his lies and show of strength would not wash with Panju. In fact Panju was constantly questioning Puke and he had to give minute details of the functioning of his department. Before Panju joined the company Puke was successfully fooling the foreign bosses and had got a fat salary packet for himself. But Panju did not budge and for the next fifteen years Puke was on the same salary!! No promotions, no increments. But that affected the others also. There was hardly any scope for growth for others like us in the company, with Puke sitting tight, and getting harassed by Panju.
Soon Puke found various avenues for making money on the sly. He went on a spree of substitution of some steel parts with plastic materials because he had some friends who had plastic moulding machines and he could share profits with them. These manufacturers were already supplying some other moulded items to our company and so they were willing to invest in moulds, dies etc for the parts as suggested by Puke. They were not aware of the total technical ignorance and incompetence of Puke. Even if it was possible to substitute some parts with plastics, the design should be suitably altered to take the stress and strain depending on the application. But Puke did not think it necessary and ordered copying the metal parts to be made from plastic materials. He went about telling the customers that our company has decided to switch over to the plastic parts. All the customers objected but Puke steam rolled all objections saying that the customers must accept the new parts. However these parts were breaking in operation like biscuits and Puke had to withdraw huge quantities of these from the market. The suppliers bore the loss stoically because Puke was able to help them in others matters, like increased price for the other items supplied by them etc. More over he had cultivated the impression that he was all in all in these matters and had a halo over his head!
However I objected to the introduction of these plastic items, which infuriated Puke and open hostility, became evident. I had to undergo a lot of humiliation but I took it all and stayed put.
One thing about well established MNCs is that the company can travel on rough and bumpy roads without ever having major jolts. In about ten years or so the marketing Director Punj became very powerful in the hierarchy and became a board member of the parent company. He became a King Maker. Along with him several sidekicks also became powerful in the company and there was a virtual rule of the company affairs by a coterie of sycophants and hangers on. Puke was a small fry for him to bother about, and so Puke was left alone to do what he liked. Panju had much bigger things to attend to and stopped interfering with Puke. While Puke and Panju played their games of feathering their nests, the others in the company were extremely demoralised.
Our company, like all MNCs, over several years has evolved systems and standards for all operations and it does not take great ingenuity or leadership to run such a company for 5 to 10 years without losing out to competition. Panju managed the company well for about 8 years during which time he became very powerful and like every thing else the slide started for Panju also. Panju had amassed a huge fortune through underhand dealings which came to light and he had a lot explaining to do with the Government authorities. Without ceremony he was sacked by the foreign management.
Work of a sales engineer in an MNC (Chapter 8)
by innuswami @ 16/10/05 - 12:42:11
As soon as Panju was cornered by the tax authorities, he was disowned by the company management and given the boot. With him several of his sidekicks were also sent out. A new CEO (foreigner) was appointed by the parent company and work started moving as usual. Slowly more and more stories of Panju’s exploits were in the open and more of his confidants got sacked. The print media also carried detailed reports of Panju’s case. The taxmen unearthed several kilograms of solid gold, gold jewellery and precious stones and cash valued over several crores of Rupees from his bank lockers. Twenty years ago a crore of Rupees was considered a large amount. His total assets was assessed at over 12 crores and the joke was that he gave up 11 crores to wriggle out of the mess but he was still left with over one crore to start all over from scratch. He is today heading a very natty financial company and doing well too!
Until he was caught by the taxmen we never imagined that Panju would be involved in such scandalous activities. His fortunes started to slide when one ex-CEO (European) died in an accident in Europe while on holiday. It was rumoured that he committed suicide when someone in the European HQ unearthed some of his shady dealings involving Panju. After that, things started moving fast and Panju’s wings were being clipped. At least one of his lieutenants squealed against him and that is how finally Panju was caught in the tax net and ultimately sacked. What is really galling is the hypocrisy of the high and mighty. Panju had such an innocent and soft look and he was a picture of efficiency and vision. I never even doubted that he was capable of such deceit and loot. Though soft in speech and manner he had a reputation of punishing the wrong doer. There was this man in our Calcutta office who tried to start a staff union that Panju nipped in the bud itself. Panju had appointed an ex-army officer as the Personnel Manager who engineered sacking of that budding leader. He was an elderly person with over twenty years of service as an office assistant in the company. One fine morning the Personnel Manager told him that the management was pleased with his work and wanted to place him in the supervisory grade with a promotion and that he is being transferred to the HO in Bombay. The poor fool thought that his stars would now shine and accepted the offer. The Personnel Manager also offered him family accommodation in Bombay. However, after he joined the Bombay office all those promises were not met though he was given a double increment that year! Soon Panju’s scheming to oust the guy started. One of the dealers of the company befriended the man from Calcutta and started obtaining company secrets (not really a big deal) from him for some consideration and soon one day he was caught red handed and sacked by Panju. The sad part is that this guy had one son studying in Engineering College in Calcutta and another daughter in school and he could possibly not shift his family to Bombay in a hurry and because of this he needed more money and he was easily tempted by the dirty plans of Panju. He had to leave the company without a murmur and the staff union in the Calcutta office never took off. I wonder what his feelings were when he heard the news the fall of Panju who looted the company for a long time with immunity and at the same time sacked people by trapping them on minor issues. Such instances prove again and again that the meek and feeble will never get justice in this world.
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