Amishi got out of the cab, paid the driver, and walked towards the office building. She opened the glass door and walked towards the stairs, when a security guard called out to her,
"Yes madam? Can I help you?"
"I am just going upstairs." Amishi replied.
"But there is no one there, madam. It's all locked." the guard replied.
"No one there?" Amishi said, checking her watch in surprise. It was just 4 pm. Very unusual for an office to be completely empty at this time.
"Yes, everyone has gone for the party." he said.
"Party?" she asked.
"The farewell party for Mr. Bose. He is leaving the company, you know? They are having a party for him at a resort in Lonavala." the guard said.
"Oh, I did not know that. Which resort is it at, do you know?" Amishi asked.
"Yes, the Orchid Resort." he replied. "You can go there if you want. All employees, clients, suppliers are going to be there."
"Alright, thank you." said Amishi and left the building.
Amishi decided she should go to the party. What better way to meet everyone than at a party, she thought. Maybe Mr. Bose could introduce her to everyone and unofficially pass the baton, so to say. Because Amishi had come to Bombay to replace Mr. Bose as the head of the company's Bombay branch.
The company, a medium sized outsourcing firm, was owned by Amishi's father, Mr. Dayal. The company was headquartered in Gurgaon and had branches in Bombay and Bangalore. Mr. Bose had headed the Bombay branch right from the day it was started eight years ago. And now, he was about to leave the company and join a big multinational services firm as a vice-President.
Mr. Dayal had many businesses, ranging construction, manufacturing, hospitality to outsourcing. He had three sons, all of them heading one of the other businesses, and one daughter - Amishi, whom he had decided to groom to head the outsourcing business. Mr. Bose's resignation gave Mr. Dayal an ideal opportunity to give Amishi some hands on experience.
Amishi Dayal, 28 years old, had just returned from the United States. She had been living in the US since she was 18, when she had gone there for her bachelor's degree. After college, Mr. Dayal wanted his daughter to come back and join the family business. But Amishi wanted to stay on in the US for a few more years, and try working and living there as just a regular person, not a millionaire-owner's daughter. She wanted to rise up the ladder on the basis of her ability, and not because of who her father was. And rise she did. Started at entry level in a Fortune 500 IT services firm, she had worked hard, impressed her colleagues and superiors, and in a mere six years had become a senior manager in the firm, the youngest in that division's history.
Having achieved such success on her own dint, Amishi finally decided to agree to her father's pestering and decided to join the family business. Her father, delighted at her success in the big American firm, decided to have her head the Bombay branch of their outsourcing business, and eventually handle the business nationwide. She was actually supposed to start her work in the office a week from now, but her father suggested that she go from Delhi to Bombay early unannounced, and meet all the senior executives so that the day Mr. Bose officially handed the reins to her, she would know everyone.
So it was a confident and enthusiastic Amishi that walked into the Orchid Resort in Lonavala two hours later. The resort staff directed her to the poolside restaurant and lawn area where a party was in full swing.
The sheer number of people there surprised Amishi. She knew that the Bombay office had about 1000 employees, but just hearing the number is one thing and actually seeing a thousand people gathered in a small place is another thing. She felt lost and confused, unsure of whom to talk to. And suddenly, the enormity of the responsibility she was about to inherit dawned upon her. Even as a senior manager in her previous job, she had not supervised more than 20-25 people. And here suddenly, she was supposed to run a branch of a 1000 people? Would they obey her, respect her? She was just a 28-year old woman about to replace a 50-year old veteran. How could she command the kind of professional conduct and dedication from her employees? Had she bitten off more than she could chew? Amishi suddenly felt nervous and felt the confidence seep out of her.
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As she was staring at the crowd around her, a waiter approached her with a tray of drinks. She absent-mindedly picked up a glass of orange liquid and sipped it. She winced at how strongly alcoholic the drink was. But maybe a strong drink was exactly what she needed to calm her frayed nerves. She sipped it faster than usual, surveying the scene around her.
And then Amishi noticed something else. Everyone was dressed very casually, in shorts, t-shirts, tank tops, sarongs, flip-flops. And she was dressed in a black formal pantsuit. Her business attire seemed comically out of place at this fun party, and sure enough, she noticed some people giving her strange looks. And she realized - at her first ever interaction with her employees, she would be overdressed. That only added to her nervousness, and she gulped the whole drink down.
A waiter appeared at once, taking the empty glass from her hand, and giving her a full one. She looked at the drink in the glass. It was brown, and seemed to be cola. But one sip, and she realized that it was Long Island Iced Tea. The drink is usually very strong, but this one was particularly potent. She started sipping it, still unable to decide whom to talk to. And that's when she heard someone pointedly clear their throat behind her.
"Hello." a young man said, with a wide smile on her face.
"Hi." Amishi responded a tad too cheerfully, feeling a little buzzed from the drinks.
"You've come from Delhi, right?" he asked.
"Yes, I have." Amishi replied, surprised that she had been recognized. Having been in the US for close to ten years, she had never had any contact with anyone who worked for her father. Since she worked for another company, her picture had never been published in the company's reports or brochures either, although her father's and brothers' pictures were always present."
"Well, come with me then. Mr. Bose and the other senior guys are in a suite." the young man said, turned around and started walking.
Amishi followed him as they walked out of the poolside lawn area and through a corridor.
"Excuse me, but you are?" she asked.
"Oh, I am Dilip. I am an executive assistant to Mr. Bose. I am the one who called up your people in Delhi, and they described you, so I knew how to recognize you." he replied.
Amishi was surprised to hear this. Her father had been the one who had insisted that this week-early visit be unannounced, so that she could see all aspects of the business as they usually were. When employees knew that a new boss was coming, they usually did their best to hide the flaws and the problems. Unannounced visits, Mr. Dayal always maintained, were essential to keep your employees on their toes. So as far as she knew, no one apart from her father, mother and her brothers knew that she was coming to Bombay.
"OK, what did they tell you exactly? And who talked to you?" Amishi asked.
"It was a Ms. Priya who I talked to I think." Dilip said.
Priya? That was the name of her father's secretary. Stupid woman must have blabbed about her visit. Amishi decided to call her father later and ask him to scold Priya for spoiling the whole point behind her unannounced visit.
"She told me you were the one coming." Dilip continued. "And she described you perfectly - tall, slim, straight shiny hair, grey eyes. Nice outfit by the way."
"Oh, thank you." Amishi said taking another sip from the glass in her hand. "I was actually just thinking I felt quite out of place in it. Overdressed for the occasion."
"Oh, nonsense. Actually, the pantsuit is perfect for the occasion. Gives you a very corporate executive look. As for being overdressed, well, in your line of work, it is better to be overdressed, at least initially." Dilip said, leading her up a flight of stairs.
Amishi remembered that her father had told her the exact same thing. In her old company in the US, the culture was to dress casually. Even the CEO rarely wore suits. But her father said that won't work in India. At least for the first few weeks, he told her, dress very formally. Conveys professionalism and authority. Later on, you can dress a bit more casually if you like.
"Yes, my father says the same thing." Amishi said.
"Your father???" Dilip asked with a look of incredulity on his face. "Your father gives you advice about your....work?"
"Yes, why shouldn't he?" Amishi asked, surprised at Dilip's surprise, "He knows this business better than anyone else I think."
"If you say so." Dilip said, and walked on silently.
As they walked through a corridor, Amishi noticed a tray table, and put her empty glass on it. She realized that she had downed two strong drinks much faster than she usually did. Finally, Dilip came to a stop. He led her inside a big suite, and asked her to sit on the couch in the suite's living room. The door to the next room was closed.
"Just a second, I'll let them know you are here." Dilip said, and knocked on the door.
The door opened and a middle aged man's bald head poked out. Dilip whispered something to him, and he whispered back, looking at Amishi. They spoke in whispers like that for a few seconds, and the bald head went back inside and the door was shut.
"They are all in a meeting. Let's wait here for a while. I've told him to let the others know that you are here, so they'll try to wrap up the meeting soon.
"Yes madam? Can I help you?"
"I am just going upstairs." Amishi replied.
"But there is no one there, madam. It's all locked." the guard replied.
"No one there?" Amishi said, checking her watch in surprise. It was just 4 pm. Very unusual for an office to be completely empty at this time.
"Yes, everyone has gone for the party." he said.
"Party?" she asked.
"The farewell party for Mr. Bose. He is leaving the company, you know? They are having a party for him at a resort in Lonavala." the guard said.
"Oh, I did not know that. Which resort is it at, do you know?" Amishi asked.
"Yes, the Orchid Resort." he replied. "You can go there if you want. All employees, clients, suppliers are going to be there."
"Alright, thank you." said Amishi and left the building.
Amishi decided she should go to the party. What better way to meet everyone than at a party, she thought. Maybe Mr. Bose could introduce her to everyone and unofficially pass the baton, so to say. Because Amishi had come to Bombay to replace Mr. Bose as the head of the company's Bombay branch.
The company, a medium sized outsourcing firm, was owned by Amishi's father, Mr. Dayal. The company was headquartered in Gurgaon and had branches in Bombay and Bangalore. Mr. Bose had headed the Bombay branch right from the day it was started eight years ago. And now, he was about to leave the company and join a big multinational services firm as a vice-President.
Mr. Dayal had many businesses, ranging construction, manufacturing, hospitality to outsourcing. He had three sons, all of them heading one of the other businesses, and one daughter - Amishi, whom he had decided to groom to head the outsourcing business. Mr. Bose's resignation gave Mr. Dayal an ideal opportunity to give Amishi some hands on experience.
Amishi Dayal, 28 years old, had just returned from the United States. She had been living in the US since she was 18, when she had gone there for her bachelor's degree. After college, Mr. Dayal wanted his daughter to come back and join the family business. But Amishi wanted to stay on in the US for a few more years, and try working and living there as just a regular person, not a millionaire-owner's daughter. She wanted to rise up the ladder on the basis of her ability, and not because of who her father was. And rise she did. Started at entry level in a Fortune 500 IT services firm, she had worked hard, impressed her colleagues and superiors, and in a mere six years had become a senior manager in the firm, the youngest in that division's history.
Having achieved such success on her own dint, Amishi finally decided to agree to her father's pestering and decided to join the family business. Her father, delighted at her success in the big American firm, decided to have her head the Bombay branch of their outsourcing business, and eventually handle the business nationwide. She was actually supposed to start her work in the office a week from now, but her father suggested that she go from Delhi to Bombay early unannounced, and meet all the senior executives so that the day Mr. Bose officially handed the reins to her, she would know everyone.
So it was a confident and enthusiastic Amishi that walked into the Orchid Resort in Lonavala two hours later. The resort staff directed her to the poolside restaurant and lawn area where a party was in full swing.
The sheer number of people there surprised Amishi. She knew that the Bombay office had about 1000 employees, but just hearing the number is one thing and actually seeing a thousand people gathered in a small place is another thing. She felt lost and confused, unsure of whom to talk to. And suddenly, the enormity of the responsibility she was about to inherit dawned upon her. Even as a senior manager in her previous job, she had not supervised more than 20-25 people. And here suddenly, she was supposed to run a branch of a 1000 people? Would they obey her, respect her? She was just a 28-year old woman about to replace a 50-year old veteran. How could she command the kind of professional conduct and dedication from her employees? Had she bitten off more than she could chew? Amishi suddenly felt nervous and felt the confidence seep out of her.
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As she was staring at the crowd around her, a waiter approached her with a tray of drinks. She absent-mindedly picked up a glass of orange liquid and sipped it. She winced at how strongly alcoholic the drink was. But maybe a strong drink was exactly what she needed to calm her frayed nerves. She sipped it faster than usual, surveying the scene around her.
And then Amishi noticed something else. Everyone was dressed very casually, in shorts, t-shirts, tank tops, sarongs, flip-flops. And she was dressed in a black formal pantsuit. Her business attire seemed comically out of place at this fun party, and sure enough, she noticed some people giving her strange looks. And she realized - at her first ever interaction with her employees, she would be overdressed. That only added to her nervousness, and she gulped the whole drink down.
A waiter appeared at once, taking the empty glass from her hand, and giving her a full one. She looked at the drink in the glass. It was brown, and seemed to be cola. But one sip, and she realized that it was Long Island Iced Tea. The drink is usually very strong, but this one was particularly potent. She started sipping it, still unable to decide whom to talk to. And that's when she heard someone pointedly clear their throat behind her.
"Hello." a young man said, with a wide smile on her face.
"Hi." Amishi responded a tad too cheerfully, feeling a little buzzed from the drinks.
"You've come from Delhi, right?" he asked.
"Yes, I have." Amishi replied, surprised that she had been recognized. Having been in the US for close to ten years, she had never had any contact with anyone who worked for her father. Since she worked for another company, her picture had never been published in the company's reports or brochures either, although her father's and brothers' pictures were always present."
"Well, come with me then. Mr. Bose and the other senior guys are in a suite." the young man said, turned around and started walking.
Amishi followed him as they walked out of the poolside lawn area and through a corridor.
"Excuse me, but you are?" she asked.
"Oh, I am Dilip. I am an executive assistant to Mr. Bose. I am the one who called up your people in Delhi, and they described you, so I knew how to recognize you." he replied.
Amishi was surprised to hear this. Her father had been the one who had insisted that this week-early visit be unannounced, so that she could see all aspects of the business as they usually were. When employees knew that a new boss was coming, they usually did their best to hide the flaws and the problems. Unannounced visits, Mr. Dayal always maintained, were essential to keep your employees on their toes. So as far as she knew, no one apart from her father, mother and her brothers knew that she was coming to Bombay.
"OK, what did they tell you exactly? And who talked to you?" Amishi asked.
"It was a Ms. Priya who I talked to I think." Dilip said.
Priya? That was the name of her father's secretary. Stupid woman must have blabbed about her visit. Amishi decided to call her father later and ask him to scold Priya for spoiling the whole point behind her unannounced visit.
"She told me you were the one coming." Dilip continued. "And she described you perfectly - tall, slim, straight shiny hair, grey eyes. Nice outfit by the way."
"Oh, thank you." Amishi said taking another sip from the glass in her hand. "I was actually just thinking I felt quite out of place in it. Overdressed for the occasion."
"Oh, nonsense. Actually, the pantsuit is perfect for the occasion. Gives you a very corporate executive look. As for being overdressed, well, in your line of work, it is better to be overdressed, at least initially." Dilip said, leading her up a flight of stairs.
Amishi remembered that her father had told her the exact same thing. In her old company in the US, the culture was to dress casually. Even the CEO rarely wore suits. But her father said that won't work in India. At least for the first few weeks, he told her, dress very formally. Conveys professionalism and authority. Later on, you can dress a bit more casually if you like.
"Yes, my father says the same thing." Amishi said.
"Your father???" Dilip asked with a look of incredulity on his face. "Your father gives you advice about your....work?"
"Yes, why shouldn't he?" Amishi asked, surprised at Dilip's surprise, "He knows this business better than anyone else I think."
"If you say so." Dilip said, and walked on silently.
As they walked through a corridor, Amishi noticed a tray table, and put her empty glass on it. She realized that she had downed two strong drinks much faster than she usually did. Finally, Dilip came to a stop. He led her inside a big suite, and asked her to sit on the couch in the suite's living room. The door to the next room was closed.
"Just a second, I'll let them know you are here." Dilip said, and knocked on the door.
The door opened and a middle aged man's bald head poked out. Dilip whispered something to him, and he whispered back, looking at Amishi. They spoke in whispers like that for a few seconds, and the bald head went back inside and the door was shut.
"They are all in a meeting. Let's wait here for a while. I've told him to let the others know that you are here, so they'll try to wrap up the meeting soon.