Ankush was an event manager for one of the renowned software firms in the world which had expanded it's business in India in last few years. The company now had more then 5 working offices in different cities of India. It did not boast a huge workforce as compared to some other Indian counterparts , but it was famous for its good employee care. The company earlier used to get its work done using Indian software vendors, but in recent years it seemed to have realized that opening its own centers and having its own employees will be a much more beneficial option in terms of business. Now, having removed the vendor companies from the chain, it could afford to offer better compensations and facilities to its employees and thus, had recruited some of the best students from the top Engineering and B-schools of India and some experienced managers from some of the other top companies.
Ankush had joined the company around two years back, having worked for some five years earlier for another major MNC. He was an MBA from one of the private colleges. He was not one with very good grades in school and college , but once in job; he had shown tremendous efficiency and capabilities. In the first five years of his job, he had washed away his shortcomings due to not having studied in any of the top institutes and now was a familiar name in his own circuit. He was offered a handsome package and hence changed his job to join this company. Although, the profile was a bit different here from his previous job, he started enjoying it after few days and excelled here as well. His bosses loved him and his subordinates adored him. His professional life was zooming.
As the company was looking for more growth both in terms of business and workforce, there was heavy workload on Ankush as there were lots of parties and events organized. A number of delegates visited almost every week and a lot of employee care activities had to be arranged monthly.
Ankush was raised in various cities of India as his father was a BSF officer. He had spent most of his childhood in the beautiful landscapes and hills of Assam. He had been in Punjab and Kashmir too until he came for his higher education to New Delhi. His father had been an honest man and like every middle class Indian family boy, he was raised with high hopes and expectations. His father saved for his higher studies all his life and never had spent too much on any kind of luxuries all his life. Ankush now felt it was his duty to prove himself in his profession and go as high as possible in his career to justify his parents' sacrifices. He used to hold his job and work very high in his priorities of life and could sacrifice anything to avoid any kind of risk to his career.
He used to have a good circle of friends in his MBA days, but now that his work and profession had taken over his other passions, he was left with very few friends. Most of the people he mixed with were his office colleagues. Being an event manager, he was used to parties and over time had got so used to them that fancy dresses, loud music and unlimited amount of food and booze did not excite him anymore.In his free time, he liked to be alone in his apartment reading some novels or watching movies on his Television. He liked to stay fit and so he was a regular visitor of the gym. He used to believe that there must be a right girl for him somewhere and he wanted to devote all his love and affection to her whenever he would come across her. He never flirted with women at his workplace and hadn't dated anyone since long.
Life was going on well and his bank balance was increasing rapidly. He was obsessed with his work and never felt the need of his old friends. He used to keep in touch with some close ones until last few years through occasional phone calls and social networking sites , but over time even that had reduced. Most of his friends had got busy in their own lives too so as usual none bothered making an attempt to remain in touch. All was going fine, until one day he received a call. He had come from office early and was in a mood to resign to bed early after dinner when his cellphone rang.
"Hello, is that Ankush?" The voice seemed known and very familiar although he was sure he was hearing the voice after long. It took a moment for Ankush to browse through the layers of his memory from yesteryear and he recognized the voice as that of Mohit's. Mohit was a friend from his college. He was a rich guy and used to throw a lot of parties those days, he was always surrounded by girls and booze , a rare combination , but then money always talks. Mohit was good looking, a charming personality and having fun was the only agenda of his life. Ankush had been a member of his booze parties in quite a few occasions but he had no idea as to what happened to Mohit after college. He would have thought that Mohit had joined his family business after completion of his MBA.
" Do you remember me buddy? Its Mohit , we were friends in our college days".
It was a surprise for Ankush to receive his call , and not a very pleasant one. Yet he suppressed his displeasure and responded - "yeah Mohit, of course I remember you. Long time, buddy, how have you been? where are you these days? ".
