FEELINGS III - Part 4

" And also i took a house for lease for 3 years in Jayanagar",she said."I can use this as a temporary office too".
Aditya was now curious to see who the person was.Having wrapped a few minute works,he drove to meet Inchara and the
"mystery person"

As his car came to a halt near the proposed meeting place of CCD,Jayanagar,he could see a tall smart person sitting next
to Inchara through his Aviator glasses.As he went inside

"Hi Mr Software Engineer in an MNC",she said smilingly.Aditya had grown to love this welcome now.

"Hi Inchara and, this is?" he asked.

"He is Dhruv Panda ,CEO of Sketchy Zebra- its the no3 Marketing and Pr consultancy firm in India" she said eying Dhruv
as though she had got a prized catch for IHP.

"Hello" ,Aditya said with a bit of unease.

"Wait a minute are you the son of Jay Panda,the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry?" Aditya asked.

"Yes,I am,SZ was actually started by my brother Vineet,but you might have heard about the Air India crash two years back.
He passed away in that,the media was reporting on his death too" Dhruv said.

Aditya had no clue about Vineet but he had heard of the crash.He nodded as though he knew every detail of the crash.

"After that i was elected as CEo of SZ.Anyways Inchara had wrote to us through our online portal asking for help for IHP
on a pan-India level.We had asked all the startups to write to us if they needed help.We would be charging a lower price
for such companies,i had come down to Bangalore to meet a few of these entreprenuers here",he said.

Aditya was now a bit worried.Dhruv would be encroaching on his business space sooner than later.More importantly he was mad at
Inchara for having taken these decisions unilaterally without even informing him.

The three had a small chat on the road ahead and how they could synergize.Aditya participated very less in the discussion.

Aditya realized that Inchara had not told Dhruv that he too had a low cost marketing consultancy company.Dhruv only knew
that Aditya was a director in the company and was also a minority partner.

After he left,Inchara quipped - "I am stressed out,game for Amoeba?",she asked.

Aditya looked at her with disgust."How could you Inchara?",he asked

"How could I what?"

"You are making SZ your marketing agency and you are acting as though you are unaware of anything"
now his tone even angrier than before.

"I acted in the interest of the company Aditya,the next step for us was to have our products in stores across India,for
that we needed a company who had a pan India expertise in doing this for us.Your company Innovating Creativity as of now
has only expertise in Karnataka and now a bit in Hyderabad,we couldnt possibly wait for you to grow" she said tersely.

"But i am asking Dhruv to support us only in Northern India circles and Mumbai,South would still be with you" she said with a milder tone.

"Yeah South will be with me,do you think these national players will accept such kind of deals.They wont agree to be reduced to a regional player for any
client"


"As you know competition is increasing every day,we need to be moving fast" she said.

"But now if SZ comes in,you are virtually cutting my company to size" he said angrily.
"I dint expect this from you Inchara,while i agree you cant wait,you cant grow at the cost of IC",he said.
"What about the way we started 2 years back and our friendship?" he asked.

"Aditya you are mixing personal and professional things here.THis is Business,if we all keep letting emotions take
control of our decisions,then we are going to end up no where but down,"we are friends but thats at a personal level,i have
200 families to feed,so my decision will not be with respect to me alone,please try to understand Aditya"

"Hmmm ok,true THIS IS BUSINESS" he said and quietly walked away from there.Inchara dint want to hurt Aditya but in the
face of increased competition she had no choice.


Two days later Aditya attended a state level investors meet,the pass for which was got by his uncle.Many top industrialists,hoteliers,angel investors,
venture capitalists,entreprenuers etc were expected to attend this meet.

His uncle a top IAS officer in the government took this opportunity to introduce Aditya to new people,whom he thought could be beneficial for his business.

Sadanand Adiga,the proprietor of Adiga and Bros-the no 1 player in the South Indian markets in the ready to eat category had also come there.Aditya's uncle
always wanted him to work with the bigger and established players rather than a fringe player like IHP.He dint care whether IHP had gained a lot in the past
few months or not.

"Hello Sadanand!How are you doing?"

"I am fine Shankar,how are you?Btw what about the contract you were supposed to give from your association?" Sadanand said,with a smile that showed
signs of connivance.

"It will come,it will come,but you also have to make some effort" his uncle said.

This usually meant a underhand deal was supposed to happen.

"How is you diabetes by the way?" his uncle asked.

"Its fine,who is this young man?"

"He is my nephew Aditya,works as a software engineer in a top US company,also has his own consultancy firm,very hardworking boy Adiga,see if you can make use
of him" his uncle quipped.

"Hmmm what experience do you have young man?"

"I am basically into low cost marketing and consultancy,have a few clients like Inchara Home Products,Mocha etc",he said.

"Oh you are part of that IHP,its been making rapid strides,that young girl is doing really well" Adiga said.

Aditya could almost feel his ego kicking him from the back.He thought that he was primarily the reason IHP jumpstarted from a village endeavour to
being in stores across Karnataka,AP and also having a niche market mostly in the US.

"Well i was also responsible a bit,it was a small village venture,used my skills to get it to where it has" he said now authoritatively.

Sharks like Adiga who had been in the business for long could instantly sense something amiss.


He then called Aditya to his office two days later.

"Welcome Aditya,how have you been,please have a seat" he said when Aditya went to his office to meet him.The desk was folded dosa shaped
and the walls were adorned by all the awards Adiga had collected over the past 20 years.


Adiga thought IHP was a thorn in the flesh and was observing its steady rise despite the presence of other giants.

"Aditya i was thinking over the past couple of days,we need a young energetic company which can give us innovative ideas to market our
products to the young demography of 18-30 better,why dont you join us?" he said.

Adiga knew what he exactly wanted.Shrewdness was something he had mastered over the years and his rivals were weary of this quality of his.
He believed in getting anything by hook or crook,he had businesses in real estate and had figured in various shady deals.

He tried to make the deal a sweet one with Aditya,he knew money could make anyone dance,seduce them into doing something
which otherwise they wouldnt have.


Aditya felt this was the opportunity he couldnt let go,after all the returns were good.

"I am interested Adiga sir,its very kind of you to give me this chance" he said,now thinking his prospects had suddenly become good
after the heartburn of Inchara's meet.

"BUT i have a condition son,you cannot be a part of IHP anymore,anyways the returns you are getting here would be atleast
six times more than what you  are making there even as a partner.

Aditya saw the skyline of Bangalore and the lalbag gardens in between from Adiga's plush 1oth floor office.

His company would itself have not been founded had it been not for Inchara,the close friendship he had with her,but she also
dint even think twice before trying to isolate him in the company,yet his company would not have come to this position only
without the expertise he had got through IHP,6 times the money...his mind started playing games.The new condition meant he had to think twice.

He was in a dilemma,a slight drizzle had started and the city was wet,he made his decision.

"Mr Adiga .....