“Sir, is politics strategy too?” a student asks the professor.
“Absolutely. In today’s world, politics is the biggest and most complex playground for strategy. Look at Tony Blair; do you know that after his tenure as Prime Minister of the UK he ran an advisory consultancy? So who were his clients?”
After a long period of silence Arjun responds, “Countries.”
“Right Arjun… countries … like Afghanistan. A consultancy to provide much-needed advice to emerging nations on diplomatic and geo-political strategy. Also take an example closer to home. Dr. Kalam’s book on India 2020 … a great call to arms, a vision for the growth of an entire nation to rise in the GDP rungs among the leading nations of the world. So my friends, what do you need to create a winning strategy?”
Riya responds again.
“A vision, sir… such as the one that Chanakya had for our nation, or to take an example from Indian mythology, the one that Krishna had in the Mahabharata. If we ignore Krishna’s Godly status, and treat him as a mortal, he made the vision statement, and also assisted the Pandavas in its execution.”
Riya cannot help but look at Arjun, who smiles and chuckles, as if complimenting her on her response.
“Exactly. Strategy needs vision. And eventually it’s all about execution… that requires the best leadership brains. CEOs and politicians can provide that leadership and direction. But it’s the executives in a company who actually implement the strategy at the ground level. And the person formulating the strategy should communicate the vision with such clarity that the person executing it should feel that he is the one doing everything on his own! But often in reality, everything has been meticulously planned, with each piece precisely placed in the right position by a clever strategist, who has done the planning beforehand for those pieces to be picked up in the right order by the executive implementing that strategy. Planning is absolutely critical to such an execution.”
The school bell rings at that moment. Professor Ramachandran quickly wraps up. “Another stream of literature states that ‘Execution is strategy’. After all, execution is what really matters to deliver that competitive advantage…that ‘X factor’. Formulation, as people argue, is often the easy part. In my view, it’s a blend of both. CEOs and leaders formulate a strategy, put in place a vision and a meticulous plan but eventual execution is what matters at the end of the day. That’s all for today, students; we will continue tomorrow. Thank you, everyone.”
The class gradually disperses.
Later in the afternoon, Riya and a few of her friends are in the gardens of the school, chatting whilst seated on the grass. Suddenly, Riya sees Arjun in a corridor of the school, exchanging money with a suspicious character. The guy offers Arjun a small white packet. Arjun first smells it and then puts a tiny bit of the powder on his tongue. They nod, and start walking. Riya is intrigued. She excuses herself from her friends and starts to follow Arjun.
“Arjun!” Riya calls, but Arjun is too far away to hear her. She rushes through the corridor to catch up with him, but soon the guys disappear round the corner. She tries calling Arjun’s mobile but there is no response. She texts to him instead- “Arjun, where are you? Who are you with?”
Again, there’s no response. Riya starts walking faster and after going round the corner, spots Arjun and the guy again far ahead, as they are walking towards the slums behind the school campus.
“Arjun! Arjun!” Riya shouts at the top of her voice, but in vain. She takes her heeled sandals off in her hands to try and run faster. But the heat of the road and the pebbles halt her progress, so she has to put her heels back on. Next, Riya fiddles with her mobile again, trying to call Arjun. No response again. As she is about to rush again, her mobile beeps. The SMS message reads- ‘I am tied up with something. Please go back home and I’ll speak to you later. Arjun.’
Riya ignores the message and continues following Arjun. The trail leads her into the lanes of the slum areas just behind the school. Riya is rushing to keep pace with Arjun as he walks faster, with the suspicious character alongside. Riya makes a call on her phone again, speaks to someone for a minute and continues walking as briskly as she can. Arjun is conscious that he is being followed and moves swiftly as well.
After walking through several narrow twisting and turning lanes in the slum, Riya sees weird characters emerge on the scene. It’s getting dark already; the sun has set and it is now early evening. Riya notices a few scantily dressed girls, standing in the doorways, backlit with bright lights, with Bollywood music playing in the background.
“Ehhh chikni… New around here?” One of those scantily dressed girls asks Riya. Riya ignores her and keeps walking.
“Hey, tell me sweetie, do you need some stuff?” Riya looks at her but ignores her again. “Hey, why are you so dry, darling? Need a customer do you? I can you get you a fat one…”
Riya ignores her and rushes away hastily. The scantily clad girl waves her hand in disgust and lets her go. As Riya continues to follow Arjun, she walks through one narrow lane after another. Each lane is bounded by dilapidated houses, some with multiple floors, on either side. Finally, Arjun and the sleazy guy arrive at one such house and quickly climb the stairs.
Riya, who is struggling to keep up with them, comes to the same location but does not know where to go next. Weird characters are still lounging around and staring at her. One of them comes over to speak to Riya.
“Eh madam, what do you want? Are you from the school as well?”
“School? What do you mean?”
“MBA school,” he responds, “I mean the hero who came just now. You want the same stuff as well?”
Riya nods yes, confused.
The guy smiles and looks at his partner, a dwarfed obnoxious looking guy next to him. “That’s wonderful! What a lovely business we get from the school. It’s the new thing in fashion, shorty! All the girls and guys want it… You want it for a party as well?”
Riya nods, as she understands what he is talking about.
“See, no party in Mumbai is complete without the stuff… The kids of all the Mumbai millionaires want it whenever they party around. Ha ha! Good business for us! Come this way.” Riya hesitates, as the guy leads her on, “Yeah come on… Don’t be shy.”
Riya walks up the stairs to the building. They walk past numerous narrow corridors and eventually arrive at a large space divided into crisscrossing smaller cabins. She could see several workers in the cabins; they were busy wrapping white powder in plastic bags and cartons. On the far end, there was a balcony overlooking a wide backyard, perhaps an unused playground that was concealed discreetly from all sides, as it lay between the crowded houses of the slum. Riya spots Arjun at the far end with the same guy with whom she had seen him earlier.
“There you go; there’s your hero from school.” They guy leading Riya tells her. “C’mon madam, this way!”
They walk across the space. Arjun is frustrated Riya has managed to reach him. He gestures to her with his eyes to go away just as they reach him.
“Ae hero! Look, I’ve brought one more girl from your school. Do you know her?”
“No.” Arjun responds gravely. Riya is stunned to hear Arjun’s response.
“Really? This madam says she knows you. She said you study in the same school.”
“The school has over 2000 students,” Arjun tries to extricate himself with a dry and disinterested response.
The guy looks at both of them and chuckles. “Never mind! What do I care? Anyway, what do you want madam? Same stuff like him?”
Riya again nods, feeling increasingly confused, stares at Arjun with pleading eyes, demanding a lot of explanations.
“OK. How much? Our hero here has a big party. Actually the biggest order this month! Bhai will have to come for such an order. The good thing is he is scheduled to be here anyway today. So lucky for you, hero!”
The broker then turns to Riya, “So madam how much?” Riya does not know what to say, so he helps her
out. “OK, how much money do you have?”
Riya sighs and responds nervously, “Umm… twenty thousand rupees.”
“Hey, what will you get in twenty madam? I can give you at most two packets. OK?” Riya nods. “All right; come with me this way then.”
Riya and her broker walk to the other end of the space, while Arjun is still at the far end. The guy next to Arjun offers the packet to Arjun, who tastes a pinch of the powder. Riya looks on intently, increasingly perturbed. She is interrupted by her guide.
“Here you go madam. Absolutely fresh! Go on; try a snuff if you want.”
Riya is confused; she realizes immediately that a transaction in this part of the world inevitably requires the customer to taste the stuff before buying it. She sees Arjun at the far end, his eyes now fixed upon her, as he slowly shakes his head as if asking her not to taste the white powder. Riya takes the packet that her broker gave her. She pauses and is about to put a pinch on to her tongue, when she clumsily drops it, bumps into a pile of packages on the desk behind her, knocking off a whole carton of packets down to the ground. The man behind the desk rushes to grab any more packets falling to the ground.
At that moment, Riya notices a few cars and a long black Jaguar in particular that have moved into the playground behind the house, as seen through the balcony. A guy in an elegant black suit gets out of the Jaguar and walks to the house. Meanwhile, the mess Riya had created has been cleaned up and she is handed the open packet again to taste the stuff. Instead, she stares straight ahead at Arjun at the far end; a moment’s pause feels like a lifetime. Arjun, his eyes still on Riya, eventually ends the stalemate by raising his left wrist to his lips and speaking into the cuff of his sleeve.
“All units move in… Target is in town… (Louder) Move in … Now!”
Bullets start flying all around as special crime units swamp the area through the main door, through the windows and the playground below. All the special unit squads are wearing black bullet proof jackets and helmets as they attack the mafia, who are caught completely off guard. Arjun rushes towards Riya, grabs her and takes cover.
“Arjun, what the hell is this? What’s going on?”
“Trust me… Stay close… very close to me.” Arjun holds her hand tightly as he drags her along behind him. “And keep your eyes open!”
They both duck behind one of the desks as several bullets spray around all across. The members of the mafia are getting hit as they are no match for the special crime units. The guy who had come out of the car rushes back into it to retreat. A few other cars that had come in a few minutes ago are hurriedly reversing out of the playground. Riya and Arjun are right at the edge of the balcony overlooking the playground underneath.
Just then, Riya notices a man sneak out from the long black Jaguar. The man walks a couple of steps towards the house, facing her. At that moment, Arjun is busy taking a shot at another goon on the opposite side of the room. A fraction of a second later, he turns around to look at Riya, whose face reveals the shock and horror she feels at what she has just seen. The man who had walked a few steps out of the car fell to the ground, dead. His skull has been ripped open by a bullet from the back. Riya shrieks loudly; she had a clear view of the guy holding the gun in the car. The car window closes immediately as it speeds out amidst shooting from all around.
Whilst Riya is shell-shocked at the disturbing sight, almost motionless, Arjun notices a goon aiming at him, although Riya is in the way. Arjun jumps instantly to cover Riya and rolls over as the bullet hits his back. He immediately shoots in response, hitting the goon on his chest. Riya is still shrieking at the top of her lungs, thinking that Arjun has been hit.
“Riya! Calm down! Riya!” Arjun holds her face in his hands. Riya continues to shout in her high-pitched voice before realizing that Arjun is OK. Her shrill shrieks are overshadowed by the sounds of bullets being shot and exploding grenades. Arjun opens the top button of his shirt to reveal his black leather vest inside.
“Riya, I have a bullet proof vest… See.”
Riya is speechless, and looks blankly at him. She clasps him tightly around his neck, so tightly that it almost chokes him for a moment.
“It’s OK, Riya. Everything is fine!” Both get up gradually, Riya is naturally shaken and absolutely horrified by the proceedings. Police have gradually seized control over the area, having subdued the mafia and got them to surrender. A large stock of drugs, perhaps the largest in Mumbai’s history, is confiscated by the special crime unit. The police vans are filled with the goons who have laid down their arms.
Arjun walks across to speak to a few officers and gives further orders inaudibly over a walkie-talkie. A few female police officers, in the meantime, have been speaking to Riya. Arjun returns to her eventually. Riya is about to come over to hug him but stops as she senses a strange angry look on his face.
“Riya, are you crazy? Didn’t I tell you not to follow me? Why did you come after me?” Arjun shouts at her, “What if something had happened to you?”
The police Commissioner, a family friend, is walking towards them. Riya begins to feel self-conscious and notices that everyone is looking at them, especially Commissioner Pratap, who halts mid-way awkwardly. Arjun notices the Commissioner.
“Riya, Pratap uncle will drop you home. Will you please, Sir, if you don’t mind?”
“No, not at all son. I was in fact about to make that offer to Riya. Beti, are you all right? How did you end up here?”
Riya responds with a mumble, not knowing what to say. She gazes awkwardly at Arjun and then at the Commissioner.
“Go on, Riya; go home and I’ll see you later. Thanks again, Sir.”
“No problem.” Commissioner Pratap extends his hand that Arjun shakes vigorously, “Great job son!”
The hubbub of police activity continues for another couple of hours, as they scavenge the slums, nabbing the mafia and seizing a massive cache of drugs. It’s been a day of immense achievement for the special crimes unit.
However, Arjun knows this is just the beginning!
The Revelation
Later that night, both families are waiting eagerly for Arjun. He walks into the room with his family members and friends staring at him with surprise and astonishment. Riya is seated on the couch next to Kamla—from their reddened eyes, it is obvious both women have been weeping. Arjun walks into the room, pauses first to look at everyone. A full house!
They stare back at Arjun, silently, expecting a good explanation. Arjun walks up and sits next to his dad.
“Maa, Uncle Aunty…I have to share something… that I haven’t told you before. I work for the Indian government.”
Murmurs and faint queries crop up but Arjun carries on.
“I cannot reveal the exact details. Recently, we received an intelligence report about a massive drugs deal. And all this was happening in the backyard of the most prestigious management school of the country. Today, the spoilt brats of Mumbai’s millionaires are using drugs in every party that they throw. So this was our lead and that’s why I decided to join the MBA school.”
“Beta, why didn’t you tell us earlier?” Mr. Sinha interrupts Arjun, “I don’t know what to say… (Pauses) What Commissioner Pratap told us…Whatever Riya is saying… is that true?”
Riya speaks up passionately, but in a somber tone of voice, “Yes uncle, you cannot imagine what has been happening there! So many police officers… bullets flying all around! … And… Arjun tasted those drugs… he did!” She gets up in despair.
“Riya, I had to!” Arjun responds in a frustrated tone, “You don’t need to make a big fuss about it.” He raises his voice, to defend himself. “Why did you follow me in the first instance? I had asked you not to! Do you realize the entire mission could have fallen apart because of your foolishness?” He carries on shouting at Riya, “And what if something had happened to you, did you ever think about that?”
This unexpected response from Arjun gets Riya defensive.
“Right, s
o it’s all my fault now!” She mumbles in a hoarse voice, “I know I shouldn’t have gone there but how would I know… I mean…”
Riya grinds her teeth…tears are now right at the edge of her eyes. She continues in an inaudible, feeble tone that only Kamla could hear, sitting next to her. “And you tasted drugs, that means nothing?... And scolding me instead!”
She is now right on the verge of crying but Kamla intervenes and hugs her.
“No, my beti! … Arjun, what is all this?” Kamla chides Arjun.
Arjun walks across to Kamla to sit beside her and Riya.
“I’m sorry mama… Riya I didn’t mean to…” Arjun is not able to complete his sentence as Riya continues in her inaudible voice, still dazed, and confused. “I saw people kill each other! My God! A head ripped apart… as if I was in a zombie movie!”
Arjun is suddenly intrigued.
“Did you see the person who shot the victim Riya? There has been only one casualty so far, a RAW agent. But he was not part of the operation and so was not wearing a vest. So we are still investigating how he got there. Several goons of the mafia were shot, and are now being treated at the hospital.”
Riya continues, speaking to herself in a mumble, “Huh… Don’t know what he thinks of himself!”
Now, Arjun walks past Kamla and kneels in front of Riya to talk to her directly.
“Riya, I am asking you something!” Arjun says loudly.
“Arjun!” Kamla responds, looking angrily at him, and very offended now.
“Mama, please this is important!” Arjun continues in a softer and more appeasing tone, “Riya please, listen. I am sorry! I know I have been harsh to you… I am really sorry! But please listen to me. Tell me, did you see who took the shot?” He holds her hand to try to calm her down.
Riya regains her composure eventually and responds with a deep sigh. “There was a guy wearing a black suit… he came out of a long black car….”
Cold Love Page 3
