Write and wrong choices
Book Extract
| Novel writing is a tricky business and not normally taught in management institutes. The author of this book, Mainak Dhar studied at IIM-Ahmedabad and though retains a day job that pays him enough money, by night he fancies himself to be a writer. And it is this ideas that has lead to the writing of his first work of fiction where the protagonist, like the author has studied management and wants to pursue creative writing. The conflict between holding down a well-paying job and taking up writing as a full-time career is central to this book. |
| Soon the men stopped and gently put me down on the ground. As I opened my eyes, I saw that I had been led into a room with padded walls and a single low table in the middle with two chairs around it. The words 'interrogation chamber' and 'mental asylum' came into my mind in quick succession, and I was on the verge of trying to make a break for it, when I heard a soothing voice. |
| 'Please sit down. There's no need to panic.' |
| I sat down uncertainly on one chair, as I saw the source of the voice enter the room. She was tall, probably several inches over six feet, and draped in a loose flowing purple robe. Her face was partially obscured by a purple veil, and all that was visible were her piercing, purple eyes. |
| 'As it must be obvious to you, there's been a mistake somewhere. I'd like to understand better what happened so we can set it right.' |
| By now, I was totally terrified out of my wits, and as she sat down opposite me, I began talking. It was a long, rambling tale, beginning with the party and ending with the accident, and how I had found myself in this strange place. I realized how convoluted my story must have sounded and added rather sheepishly, 'it sounds weird, but that's what happened.' |
| Her voice was sympathetic, even sad as she replied. |
| 'I believe you totally. What we need to do now is figure out whether you're meant to be here or not "" since you obviously didn't arrive through the proper channels. It's rare, but if you're here by mistake, yours wouldn't be the first case. When you run an operation as large as ours, such things do happen sometimes.' |
| The two men who had escorted me in and were currently standing by the door, seemed to snigger a bit at that one. The woman looked back at them sharply. |
| 'And such things would not happen if some of us did our jobs properly. You two can leave now. I expect a full report by evening on whether one of you messed up again.' |
| Suitably chastened, the two men walked out and closed the door behind them. Given that the woman seemed to be in charge, I decided to find out from her what the hell was happening to me. |
| 'I don't mean to sound rude, but I have no idea what's going on. You seem to know what this is all about. Where am I?' |
| By way of reply, the woman took out what looked like a palmtop computer and looked at it for a few seconds, shaking her head sadly as she read. |
| 'I'm afraid I have some good news and some bad news for you.' |
| 'Look, the last few hours, I've been run over by a car, found myself in a bizarre fast food outlet in the middle of nowhere, and accosted by all sorts of people calling me a Quality Incident. I think I can handle a bit more bad news. Shoot.' |
| 'Your being here seems to be a mistake,what some of our personnel call a Quality Incident. Your records indicate that you should not be here so soon. Don't worry though, we'll try and set it right.' |
| The woman's answer didn't help clear anything up, though it did raise my suspicions about whether she belonged in the loony bin as much as the old fogey who had been hitting me. |
| 'Not supposed to be here so soon? I'm sorry, I don't understand you.' |
| The woman continued, as if not wanting to answer my question directly. |
| 'The good news is that our calculations show that there may be a fifty per cent chance of getting you back.' |
| The Funda of Mix-ology What bartending teaches that IIM doesn't |
| Author Mainak Dhar Publisher Srishti Pages 100 |