"Another notice from the electricity department for the unpaid bill. The landlord has already threatened to throw us out if we don't pay the dues by the 15th", Sushma was rambling aloud sitting at her desk and going through the pile of papers in front of her. Sitting halfway across from her, and nodding, was Ravi, the only salaried employee of SudoTU. SudoTU was an acronym for "Sudama (Sudo as he was popoularly called)'s Technolgoy tools for You",and was founded by Sudama Sharma.
Leaving behind a materially rewarding career with a famous IT services company, Sudo was now trying to establish his own company to take the technology to masses and to common people, with a genuine desire to improve their lives, in whatever little and big things it could. It was a very novel idea and he had many who wanted his services but unfortunately, most of them couldn't afford to pay him or pay him enough to keep the business very flourishing. He was trying to help the common man, the ordinary citizen by trying to use technology and information to solve their everytday troubles at a very low cost. He was a very intelligent and kind man but he wasn't exactly fond of capitalism and believed that money should only be the means, not the objective. He believed that if the service can help better people's lives, eventually revenue will catch up. But he knew that in this fast paced world, it was hard to convince people with words like "eventually" in your statements. All business models were judged on how quickly they could bring the return back. Words like "faith" and "trust" had little meaning.
Sushma, his wife, and his business partner, truly loved him but was frustrated with his idealism. She also knew that she couldn't convince Sudo to charge more or change the model of business. And then love is blind anyways, so she supported him by all she could do to keep the operations together. Ravi, a close friend of both of them, acted as their lawyer, tax consultant and every other piece of professional expertise he could bring in, and charged a minimum fee for his services. Together they had survived for last so many years but with every year, the going was getting tougher.
"Are you listening to what I am saying?", Sushma hollered again. Sudo was busy reading the website "IndianAchieversInUSA.com". It had featured an arcitle on Krishan Kumar, one of the many bright and talented technology professionals who made it really big in the USA. His company, KrisTech was about to launch its operations in India and that's what the article was all about.
"How many times are you going to read about him? Isn't it enough that you have been cyber-stalking him for past so many years", Sushma said standing behind Sudo's chair.
"Oh c'mon Sush, he was my best buddy in my college days".
"Well, so why are you not in touch with him.? why doesn't he call you or write to you?", Ravi asked in a rhetoric tone.
"It's been more than 20 years, since he left for the US. I have told you so many times. And back then, emails were not so accessible. Calling across countries wasn't easy. So we just couldn't stay in touch and then well, he became a big guy. So naturally..." Sudo explained with an apologetic expression on his face, as if he was defending his friend.
"Whatever.." came from Sushma.
"So... what's the news from VCs. ? Anyone interested in putting money on us?", Sudo asked trying to change the subject and the question was answered in a unison of "No" from Ravi and Sushma.
"No VC would give money for 'not-for-profit' organizations. Either we show them a stronger return or we get a recommendation from a big guy, like this Krihshan Kumar of yours and considering he is your "best" friend, he should give us one, right?" Ravi said with a touch of sarcasm in his tone. "Now only if you would spend less time contributing to the open and free source communities or only if you charged for all the tools and utilities you donate, we might have had a better balance sheets for VCs.".
"Oh c'mon Ravi. Software implies freedom , technology and art. As a technology, it can immensely benefit our society to uplift itself. And as the art, the joys of it should not be restricted to those with money and "..
"ok..ok..stop..I have heard all this many times" Ravi interrupted, "Do what you enjoy but keep in mind, money is also needed for survival".
Later in the evening, When they were on the bus heading home, Sush was catching a nap resting her head on Sudo's shoulder and he was travelling down the memory lane to a time 22 years ago, when he and Krish had met in their engineering college. Despite their poles apart differences of their financial backgrounds, they had developed a strong bond of friendship. A bond built over constant arguements and analysis of any and everything under the sun. Why things were the way they were? What could be done to improve them? How could they make a difference to make the world a better place? From politics to obscure philosophical ideas, they discussed, analysed and often disagreed on everything. But they developed a strong sense of respect for each other's point of view. It was like a challenge, a validation of their individual analyses. And then there was the common love for computers, programming, hacking all the usual geeky stuff. When most of the other guys in their hostel would sneak in a rented VCR and some porn movies to watch it over night, they would sneak to the computer center, try to hack into the system to watch free porn over the internet. Their passion was writing complex code to solve simple problems and writing simple code to solve complex problems. Sudo often said that anyone could write a complex software to do a complex job but it takes art to write a simple program to did the same complex job. At the end of their four years of engineering, Krish went on to do his masters at University of California, Santa Barbara. Althoug Sudo could have got the admission too but there was no way his family could afford the living expenses. And more importantly Sudo strongly believed that if all educated people go to USA because it offered better living and working conditions, then the living and working conditions of this country could never improve.
Their last moment together was on platform 4 of "Canntt. Railway station" in Varanasi, outside the Kashi Vishwanath Express when Krish had come to see Sudo off (he had a flight to Mumbai the same evening) and with teary eyes they bade each other good-bye.
After a few years of helping his father wind down the family business post his graduation, Sudo became a part of the upcoming Information Technology revolution in the country. He took a job with SoSoSoft, a leading IT services company in India and one that was considered as the flag bearer company for India's leap into Information Technology. Spending a few years there, Sudo realised that the company had little to do with information or technology and was purely a sweat shop that supplied human bodies for the jobs that seemingly looked technical but, in his opinion, were nothing more than "cleaning the crap that costed much more in the west". What frustrated him further was that the only way to rise in the organization was to give up your technical creativity to become a lead of one kind or the other (a project lead or a module lead or a team lead) and then restrict your job to managing spread sheets for resource allocation and billing("Why would you need engineers for that?", he often wondered), constantly asking for status updates on things you yourself had no clue on and making statements full of complicated words like "strategic paradigm shift" or "bottom line vs top line" or "big picture" to somehow appear important. What was more suprising was that this kind of mindset was increasingly spreading in all the people around him leaving him the odd one out, who wanted to go up the value chain by focussing on the technical content in the job. When his attempts at trying to convince his boss for a product development failed, ("Oh Sudo, its a great idea but the risks are too high, the investment required is too high and then there is easy money in services") he decided it was time to liberate himself. The decision hadn't paid off materially but he was happy that with what he was doing and he hoped one day he will get there.
Krish finished his masters and Ph.D. with a gold medal. His research project of consumer profiling based on their internet usage pattern gathered enough interest in the Venture capitalist community of the west coast. Strong recommendations from his father's contacts lowered the entry barriers for him and very soon he had his own company which did its IPO within 5 years of its launch. It was around that time that he acquired a celebrity status and was the blue eyed boy of the media. The newspapers and websites back home as well as in the US carried plethora of articles on him as the shining face of the upcoming tech industry. The Indian media glorified his accomplishments as a victory for India. At that time, Sudo got Krish's mail id from his company's website and sent a mail of congratulations but never got a reply.
"Green Park", the conductor announced the next bus stop and the announcement shook Sudo out of his reveries. Very gently he woke Sushma up and told her that they were nearing home. While walking to their home from the bus stop Sush asked Sudo "Are you planning to go and meet Krish?, I mean, he will be in Delhi tomorrow, Right?".
Sudo pondered for a moment and said "I am not so sure Sush. I mean, I miss our friendship and all, but its been a long time. I don't know if he still remembers me. I don't know if he'd recognize me. I don't even know if I can get to meet him. Twenty years is a long time. People change. Situations change and then what if he thinks that I am their for some favor or something like that. I wouldn't want that".
"Sudo, I think you are unnecssary thinking a lot. He is just an old friend who happens to be in the town. And the way you describe your friendship, I am sure he will welcome you. But hey, I leave it to you, don't do it if it makes you uncomfortable and hurts your "dignity". BTW, I just read, he is holding a press conference at Taj Man Singh at 7:00 PM tomorrow. You know, just in case". Sushma said with a sheepish smile. Sudo gave her an admiring look and thought to himself about how well could she read him. He felt glad to have some someone like her as his life partner.
The whole of the next day had been a day of internal struggle for Sudo between "Should I" and "Shouldn't I". Finally he boarded the bus number 502 and decided to get a sneak peak at the press conference in the hotel. Walking from Shahjahan Road bus stop to Taj Maan Singh, he still wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing. More so, it was a five star hotel. Not that he was dressed shabbily but by no stretch was he in a classy business attire as well. He had a casual shirt and a trouser that looked a little crumpled because of the bus journey. His socks had holes in them but then the shoes covered it although the shoes weren't at their shiney best. It wasn't easy to enter the hotel lobby as the conference was about to feature many prominent faces of the business and political world. There was an after-party which was expected to be attended by who's who of the city. Somehow Sudo managed to get in the hotel lobby but there was no way he could make to the business center hosting the conference. He hung around for a while in the hope of getting glimpse of his old time buddy but in vain. Finally he realised it was not a good decision to be here and he started to head out that he saw the conference being broadcasted on the television set in the lobby. There he was, seated in the center of the dias sharing space with ministers and other dignitaries. While Krishan was explaining his plans to expand his operations in India, Sudo was admiringly watching him and thinking "Doesn't look very different from the pictures on website. Hasn't changed a lot. Lost some hair and gained some weight but still talks in a very impressive way. And ofcourse the acquired american accent with the use of "mult-i" and "sem-i" instead of multi and semi". After the business questions were over, a journalist asked Krishan on where his inspiration came from. Krishan faced the camera and it looked to Sudo as if Krishan was looking in to his eyes and talking directly to him thru the screen.
"It all comes from the days I spent during my engineering. I had the fortune to have spent that time with some of the finest and most intelligent college mates, who always made me stretch myself in order to be able to prove my point", Krishan said with a nostalgic look.
Sudo felt a joy of triumph and a little wet on the corners of his eyes. He felt coming to see Krishan had been worthwhile even if he did not get to meet in person. The conference was getting over and everyone was leaving the business center for the party hall. In order to get into the party hall, you had to be on the guest list or be famous enough that the security at the entrance wouldn't dare stop you. Sudo had neither. But it didn't matter. He had seen Krish so closely and that was enough. He decided to leave for home after a quick stop to the men's room. After washing his hands, he splashed some water on his face and just when he was wiping it off, in the mirror he saw the door to the men's room open and he couldn't believe but Krish just walked in. Sudo's face was half covered with the towel when Krish's eyes met with his in his mirror image. With a gentle courteous social nod, Krish proceeded to finish what he came in here for. Sudo was feeling weak in his knees and in his stomach. Obviously Krish hadn't recognized him. Should he talk to him? Should he not? His mind and his pulse were racing so hard that he feared Krish could hear it. Krish washed his hands and as he was proceeding out of the men's room he heard a voice from the back "Krish?". He turned to look at the only other man in the room. The face looked vaguely familiar but he wasn't too sure. Trying to strain his memory he said "Er, Hi."
"Well, I didn't realize it would be so hard for you to recognize me", Sudo said with a smile, whiling wiping his glasses and putting them on.
"Sudo?? Is it you?? Oh my god..Oh man...I don't believe this. Holy cow. How are you?", Krish exclaimed ecstatically. "Man, you've changed a lot but the glasses and the smile, that gave it away. I really can't believe it. Its such a pleasant surprise. I had no clue you were in Delhi. Last I heard you were working in Bangalore but I couldn't get any contact information. How have you been?. Give me a goddamn hug you son of a bitch", Krish said while walking towards Sudo.
The friends tightly hugged each other. Sudo was speechless and Krish just wouldn't stop talking. Nearly 10 minutes later Krish suggested that they go to his room, order the finest single malt scotch and then catch on past 2 decades. Sudo said "Sure, but don't you have to get back to your party?".
"Oh ya. Bummer. You know what, wait for me in the lobby. I will come there in 5 minutes", Krish said and ran out of the men's room.
Sudo walked towards the lobbby and called Sush and told her all about it. Sush was excited more than he was and then she said "Sudo, you don't excatly sound very excited. Is anything bothering you?" He mentioned how he felt a bit disappointed when Krish asked him to go the lobby instead of accompanying him to the party. I mean he didn't think it would hurt his status to be seen with a no body like Sudo, did he? Or did he fear that Sudo wouldn't know how to behave. Sushma chastised him again saying he is unncessary thinking a lot. True to his words, Krish came back immmediately and they left for his room. He had a special penthouse suite. He said to Sudo "I hope you still like Whiskey" to which Sudo nodded and then ordered a bottle of "GlenFiddich Single Malt 30 years" to celebrate the reunion with his long lost friend. He called his secertary to suspend all his meetings for the evening and that he not be disturbed for the day.
"Cheers", they both said to each other as the glasses clinked and the ice cubes in them them tinked. It didn't take very long for them to catch up on the missed 20 years and it seemed so effortless to pick it up from where they left so easily. Krish told about all his entrepreneurial adventures and all the exotic places he had been to and Sudo told about his journeys in and out of coporate world.
"You should have never joined SoSoSoft in the first place. That place is not for you. You should be developing products or doing a valued added consulting", Krish said. "Yes, but its not so easy in India", Sudo clarified his position. "Then come to USA", Krish said but instantly realized that the statement wouldn't go very well with Sudo. The look on Sudo's face confirmed it. He immediately changed the topic and then they discussed families and then reminisced on old times and then exchanged their phone numbers. Sudo described what his company did and how he was trying to make a difference in his own unique little manner by taking technology to masses. Krish had nothing but loads of praise to offer on that. "Its great Sudo, I mean, it may sound silly but now I feel I really havn't achieved anytihng. You are the one who is making a real difference with your skills and knowledge, or atleast trying to, when rest all of us have succumbed to conventional norms of success", Krish said.
Sudo laughed at the comment and replied, "Its the scotch talking Krish. You are way more successful than I ever would be. Investors line up after your ideas to fund your business and I couldn't even convince my family members to invest."
"I will tell you one thing Sudo. If anyone crushes creativity and free thought in this business worlds, its the investors. All they care about is money. Trust me you are well off without them. I have learnt it after mistakes and now I try to avoid them as much as possible", Krish said and it seemed he genuinely meant it.
"It's easy for you to say", Sudo thought but then decided against speaking his mind out and simply nodded. After a few more drinks and long lasting discussions, Sudo realized it was nearing mid-night. He completely forgot that he should have called Sush. She would have gone to sleep by now as she gets up early for office, he thought. He invited Krish to his house but Krish told that he was leaving the same night. He promised to come for sure the next time. "Now we are in touch again, and I am not losing you this time", he said with a smile. Getting to know that Sudo had to take a bus back home, Krish just wouldn't listen to anything and forced Sudo into a taxi that he had the hotel management arrange. They shook hands and promised to stay in touch. As the taxi was driving down Prithivi Raj Road, Sudo was feeling relaxed and pleasant. He met his old time buddy and there were no awkward moments of Krish offering any help or Sudo asking for any. Ravi and Sush probably will not like the fact that Sudo didn't even ask Krish for any recommendations but then Sudo felt that having done so would have tainted their freindship and he was glad it was left immaculate.
By the time Sudo reached home it was way past midnite. Sushma was sleeping in the bedroom. He carefully waded thru the bedroom making as minimal a noise as possible in order not to disturb Sush and then changed and slept off. He was pretty high on all that scotch and it didn't take long before he was sleeping to glory.
"Bzzz..Bzzz", Sushma woke up to the vibrating alert of a text message on her phone that she kept next to the pillow. It was from Ravi. All it said was "Reach office as soon as possible. Urgent". She checked the watch and it was barely 8:00 AM. Though she left early for work but 8:00 AM was still earlier. Ravi usually didn't show up till 9:00. She tried calling him back but he didn't pick the phone. Sudo was sleeping next to her and she figured that he would have come in late. She decided not to wake him up and got ready to get to work.
A few hours later, Sudo woke up with a heavy head due to all the drinking last night. He was not suprised to find Sush not there and thought with a smile "Someone has to be disciplined at SudoTU". He checked his cell phone. It had 4 missed calls and 2 text messages from Sush urgning him to reach at the earliest. It was not unusual for Sush to get hyper over little things so he didn't pay much attention to those messages. There was a "good luck, good bye and hope to see you soon" message from Krish. "Must have sent from the flight", Sudo thought and somehow Krish's message seemed to made his day.
He got ready and reached office and as he was walking towards the building, he was a bit surprised to see a long line of expensive cars parked outside his office building. As he stepped into the office, Sush came running towards him with a bright smile on her face. "Sudo, you are not gonna believe this. Here, let me you introduce you to Mr Jindal. His company invests heavily in the upcoming technology start-ups and he wants to invest with us, and guess what, they do not have *any* conditions to our revenue model or how we do things here", she was speaking so fast that words were barely legible to her own self.
"That's right Sudo. I have read and re-read the agreement and it has nothing against your principles. As a matter of fact, the only condition they have is that we continue to do what we do (or you do) without losing our focus and they believe that in the long run, their investment will pay off. Money, now, will never be a problem for us Sudo", Ravi confirmed and he couldn't hide his happiness either.
"But how/why?", Sudo had a pleasant yet puzzling look on his face.
"Let me explain, Mr Sudama", Jindal intervend. "One of our senior partners, who wish not to be named, called us this morning and said they have gone thru your business model, its robustness, the difference it is making and the long term vision it has, and he convinced the rest of the board to do the deal with you as soon as possible, before someone else does. Here is the agreement faxed by him", Jindal showed him a legal paper that at the bottom had a signature scribbled on it against the title "Senior Partner - SriKrishna Ventures". For most part it was not easy to extract the name from the signature but Sudo could distinctly see the "K" in the begining of it.
