He was having those incessant bouts of sneeze again. Excusing himself from the conference hall, he stepped away into the corridor. He stood with his hands on the steel railing that had been cleansed with oil only recently. The gleaming evocative grandeur of the railing reflected the spasmodic image of his face.
“Kumar, are you alright?” His Project Manager Srinivas closing the conference door behind him, scuttled towards him in a hurry. The fitful sneeze had by now given up on Kumar. Thumbing his blackberry in one hand, he laid his other hand, the hand of comfort, on Kumar. Below them, the security guard was watching them both intently. They had prepared well for the client visit. The entourage from client’s office was sitting behind the closed door with the senior project manager walking them over the relationship. It was the third year of the relationship and also third consecutive client visit since the day it all began.
Kumar was associated with the project since the beginning. He was an ordinary fellow, kept to himself; never really buoyant at the parties. Srinivas was a calm and placid lake of emotions. He never left his cubicle at work, never left the TV after work. Recently, the relationship between him and his wife at home was growing bitter with the oncoming of the baby. His wife Anupama was once a team member in Srinivas’ team. He was newly promoted to PM back then. Neither the curve of his spine nor the thinning hair was prominent at the time of their marriage. Since then, Srinivas had developed a paunch that bent his spine, hair on his head took vent on his chest making him unbearably repulsive to his wife who had loved him once. Not now, the closeness between the two at home became unbearable, Anupama found Srinivas encroaching into her personal space. It maddened her; she threw valuables that he bought her to show her resentment of him.
Srinivas spent more and more time in the office; left home late to face his embittered wife who was either tearful or vengeful. The situation at home allowed him leisure and peace in the office; when he was offered an onsite offer, he grabbed it as if a child was placated finally of his incessant cries, for his mum had bought it a can full of chocolates.
Kiran was the only resource working from offshore. Srinivas ran the show from onsite. The duo was left alone by the senior project manager, for Srinivas was judicious and was entrusted with critical tasks than these before. Both had bagged many awards during the three years on the current project. After a year of onsite, Srinivas returned home to find Anupama calm and melancholic. The baby had done the trick for them. That was a year ago. It was all going very fine for them. Until now; the onset of recession had the relationship strained to a point of collapse. Clients withdrew from the contract. But they flew in to India, stayed at the office to sort out contingency plans in the event of dramatic recoil of stability in the market.
Presently, the security guard gestured to the housekeeping staff standing by the reception who rushed to carry Kiran downstairs. He collapsed into Srinivas’ arms as if he were an infant seeking for support. Srinivas sitting Kiran on the sofa near reception area, thanked the housekeeping staff and proceeded to explain to Kiran that there was hope. But Srinivas knew it too, the meeting was over, team members slowly stepped outside, one after another. They knew it, they were all dispensable.
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