Vikram and the Smiling Man

By Madhu Kiran R

When you are lost in a world of unanswered questions that your mind repeats incessantly, there comes a point of time when you think of giving up. But what will happen if a savior comes to save you at that very moment? Will you be able to find all your answers? Will you be able to put your heart at ease? Will you forget the regrets of your life?

• Language: English
• Publisher: 24by7 Publishing
• Release date: May 17, 2019
• ISBN: 9789388479011

Book preview

VIKRAM

AND THE

SMILING MAN

MADHU KIRAN R

Powered by

24by7Publishing.com

This book Vikram and the Smiling Man by Madhu Kiran R is

self-published by the author.

All the printing & distribution process of the book

is powered by

24by7 Publishing

13 New Road, Kolkata - 51, India

https://www.24by7Publishing.com

[e-mail]

[phone]

[phone]

Copyright © 2019 Madhu Kiran R

Cover Design by Chandra Mondal

Copyright © cover design by 24by7 Publishing

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted or stored

in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, electronic,

mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,

without the prior permission of the publisher.

This book is sold subject to the conditions that it shall not, by way of

trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated

without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of

binding or cover other than that

in which it is published.

First Published in May, 2019

Version 1.00

ISBN: 978-93-88479-01-1

Powered by

24-new-logo-BnW.jpg

24by7Publishing.com

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to my courageous wife, who have chosen me as her life partner; to my wonderful son, who keeps wondering about his father’s intelligence; and to my ever praying parents who always worried as to ‘kya hoga is bacche ka’ when I was growing up.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I sincerely thank all those who stood beside me all these years wondering have they done the right thing by taking my side.

Thanks are also due to the entire team of 24by7 Publishing, who had to put up with all the irritating shenanigans of a rookie writer like me.

May, 2019 Madhu Kiran R

PREFACE

Vikram and the Smiling Man is a story loosely based on one of the most famous Indian Fable of all times – Vikram and Betaal. The stories of this duo are known by all in the subcontinent of India and even travel across the world. Through this narration, I intend to present the story of a middle-aged man, first-time entrepreneur, Vikram, who successfully starts a business and, unlike many startup stories, goes on to make a good amount of money by selling his company to a bigger competitor.

Like any Indian middle-class family, our protagonist too has many aunts, uncles, friends, and other family members who know about everything from Earth’s Evolution to the Big Bang Theory. They portray typical Indian relatives who never leave a single chance to criticize and gossip. These people come up with every possible excuses and reasons as to explain what Vikram has done is wrong and how they could have done it better. This leads Vikram to question his very act and puts him in a quandary.

When he was about to lose all his composure and was feeling completely lost, that is when he meets up with the wise smiling man who seems to have all the answers to his unanswered questions. He is the one who comes up with ready answers for the questions that Vikram’s family members have. He will answer every query that was haunting Vikram tirelessly.

Through their conversation and discussions, I have tried capturing invaluable management lessons for all aspiring startup warriors and tried to help them in their quest for success. The plot has a relatable side to it and I tried to write it according to life’s perspective of a typical middle-class individual. I have tried chalk out a vivid path which a capable individual has to follow to reach the height of success. The story is enveloped in a mesh of emotions that can either build a man or can bring about his ruin. The protagonist goes through a vibrant process of Bildungsroman and the readers can experience Vikram’s psychological and moral growth as they flip through the pages. After reaching the end, a tingling taste will remain in everybody’s mouth and will make you ponder about the difficult choices of life.

The book is a mixture of some real-life incidents and some fictional narrations in a satirical form and an aura of dark humor. I hope you will enjoy reading my first-time experiment with writing a novel.

Happy Reading!

Madhu Kiran R

CONTENTS

Prologue

The Undercurrents

Story 1: The Crossroad

Story 2: Stagnancy Is Too Close to Stability

Story 3: Chase the Dream, Not the Silhouette of Your Dreams

Story 4: Not Only Cut the Coat but Chopped the Pocket As Well

Story 5: Fire Up Your Passion

Story 6: You Are The Pilot Of Your Plane

Story 7: Retaining Kingdom Is Harder than Being the King

Story 8: Once You Are Gratified, You Are Perished

Story 9: Torn Between Expanding ­Business or Being Part of a ­Bigger Business

Story 10: The Conclusion: Days of Doom

PROLOGUE

It was four in the evening. The departing sun tried to find its way to the West through the layer of black smoke oozed by the tall chimneys, veiling the entire cityscape forcefully like the unwanted embrace of a rapist. The birds flew by in search of some virgin trees yet to be exploited by the ever-prospering mankind. Is it the winter that summons the darkness so fast or is it the way it should be with the humans as they run amuck for so-called prosperity and development? Vikram chuckled to himself.

The very stage was set for Vikram to plod down the memory lane, the old days from his childhood, when groups of nomadic street-dwellers used to sit around a fire in the evening – smiling and gossiping about hundreds of useless stuff. Yet, their eyes were expressive, they knew how to smile and they knew how to make others smile. But now, the uncanny chant of a monotonous tune of the nomads has been replaced by the triumphant roar of gigantic machines all around the city. The smoke that coils up towards the sky looks like the march of a greedy emperor, willing to invade anything that comes his way.

Yet Vikram was nonchalant to all these. Perhaps, the small adaptations that his forefathers had made to survive amidst the hostilities of urban complexity have resulted in a permanent evolutionary mutation where Vikram is less perceptive about the philosophies of life and more proactive to the mundane needs of daily life, to keep on winning bread.

Thus, he sat in the lobby of the 5-star hotel – numb to the backdrop of the city. The waterless swimming pool café, the trying to smile waiters running errands, the sullen-looking luxury of the lobby and Vikram – all melt in a picturesque shot, as if every living and non-living object conspired together to work in harmony to pose as the prop of the hotel.

It would be imprudent to conclude that our protagonist is a hapless young chap, found in handful numbers in every busy city of India.

He had a past – which pricked him every now and then, less to his conscience and more to his pocket. He pondered, getting sunk in one of the sullen-looking sofas of the lobby, about the ominous day when he sold his company to a global firm, which took over the company against a substantial amount of money. At the outset, the prospects looked great. But there must be some valid or invalid reason to drive the wise men to synthesize, Looks are deceptive.

The beginning was not far from being nice after five years of the inauguration of the company; Vikram sold it to the global firm hoping to get closer to a nicer position. But things went wrong, and the same persons who had said this boy is a genius retorted remorsefully this boy is a failure in no time. Even being deaf to the plea of Radha Masi to visit Bhange Baba for his blessings before signing the contract made Vikram feel guilty. Perhaps the ashirvaad could have propelled him towards the pinnacle of success which he could not achieve with all his earnest hard work.

Adding to the scary ride that life has gifted him for free in last few years, the painful bus-journey through the criss-crossing Silk Board junction flyover, E-City, Manyata Tech Park and other (in)famous hangout spots of Bangalore before settling in the sprawling lobby of a 5-star hotel, threw him to the verge of ultimate exhaustion. Vikram consoled his soul by thinking of the painful journey which had literally shattered him to the bones, mitigating pangs of the cursed memories.

After a while, a waiter approached him with a typical hospitality smile, which could signify anything – from it’s great to have you here to why the hell are you here! The waiter took Vikram’s luggage and walked towards the elevator with such confidence that Vikram thought he could have met this man five years ago to garner substantial amount of that mock seriousness.

As the duo got into the elevator, the waiter whispered to Vikram, hanging a bit low, with supreme authority in his voice, You will stay at room number 420. It’s a nice and spacious room. Vikram nodded gently to the remark. The waiter presumed that his client had problems decoding the English, and thus he persisted, Accha ghar hai!

The elevator stopped at the sixth floor. The waiter escorted Vikram to his room. Vikram said nothing to the waiter and the waiter left him alone, offering a wry smile as if he has got a deaf and dumb to cater to for the next few days. Vikram smiled at the slamming door. He had got used to look at the doors being slammed on his face in the last few months. Where he thought opportunity awaits, he found nothing but despair.

THE UNDERCURRENTS

Vikram pulled his trolley bag on the sofa and opened it. His clothes got crumpled as he had dumped them in a hurry before leaving for Bangalore. He has been doing everything in a hurry for the last five years and all of them look crumpled now. After a search through his ramshackle trolley, he chose a striped pyjama and a blue shirt. It’s not that cold inside the hotel. He changed quickly and sat on the edge of the fluffy bed. A few minutes passed to the eternity as he sat idle, pondering what should be done. Reminiscing on his past, he concluded that he is in no position to think what should be done. On the contrary, he should focus on what could be done.

The bee inside his bonnet started to fly around once again as he recapitulated things. He took a stroll around the room and stood by the window towards the road. The city looks so beautiful from the top – the resplendent avenues, the diverging headlights of the cars, the honking buses and the hustle and bustle of the crowd thronging in from various corners to the bus stop. Perhaps, life is smoother when seen from the top; things fall in perfect harmony.

He saw a lanky guy running to the bus stop and as he was about to take a leap to get a hold of the rod of the departing bus, another guy leapt. The lanky guy got cornered and almost toppled over the road, but somehow he managed to cling to his destiny. All the noise and abuses audible from a close quarter, Vikram reflected, could have destroyed the symphonic excellence of the episode seen from the top shot.

All of a sudden, as if he had been owned by some spirit, he turned to the mirror. A man with all his physical traits appeared in the mirror. The same height, 5 feet 7 inches, and the same bulging belly, and the same stubs on his cheeks and the same looks in his eyes looked straight at him from the mirror. Vikram took a few steps backward and the man in the mirror mocked him. The man kept on aping him and all his nuances ceremoniously – without faltering an inch. Vikram indulged himself in the game for a while, and finding no respite from