SERIAL : 30

INDIAN IN COWBOY COUNTRY

THE HUNT

“Well,” Satish said, “What favor were you talking about?”

“Even though you did not ask for a severance package, we are going to give you one. Billy has always liked you, and when you left his office, he insisted that I run after you and let you know that you have one,” Tim said.

Satish, his arms still crossed and his chair slightly tilted back, said, “So, what’s my severance package? Two weeks?”

Tim, who was perturbed that he and his good friend were on opposite sides of the table, said, “No, you get six months?”

He almost lost his balance on the tilted chair, “What? Six months? I thought that’s what people with employment contracts were given. Senior executives.”

Tim looked down at the table and whispered, “It does not end there, Satish.”

“We are also going to give you access to an outplacement service that will help you in your job search,” he added.

“Pour moi? For poor little Satish? What have I done to deserve this benevolence? Why the magnanimity, Tim?” he asked suspiciously.

Tim inhaled deeply. After a brief moment, he exhaled and intently watched the miniature cloud of smoke around him dissipate. He knew that this was Tim’s nervous habit when he needed a moment to think about a response to a question.

Tim dropped his cigarette to the floor and squashed the butt with his foot. He turned to him and asked, “Do you want the stated reason or the real reason?”

“Both,” was his immediate response.

“Well the stated reason is that you have contributed a lot to the company over the last ten years, and we value what you’ve done for us.”

“And the real reason?” he asked.

“The real reason is that they are scared shitless that you will bring in an attorney and charge racial discrimination, like you did nine years ago. Corporate memories die hard, and you get the additional benefit of this severance package because of it.” 

Satish went back to his cross-armed, titled-chair position. He thought for a moment and asked, “Does this mean I won’t get good references from Clark?”

“That won’t happen as long as I am here and responsible for human resources. We HR folks contact each other for references; I’ll make sure you are okay,” Tim said.

“Thanks, Tim. Appreciate the candor and all the help. Don’t know if I would have lasted this long at Clark without you running interference for me, especially in high places.” Satish got up from his chair and extended his hand to his friend.

Tim got up and clasped his friend’s hand in firm handshake and as the two left the cafeteria, he patted Satish on his shoulder and said, “Come, let me walk you to your car.” 

Satish was quite relaxed and relieved as he drove home. The last six months had been torturous at work, with weekly announcements of layoffs and the pressure of delivering results on schedule despite a constant reduction in people. It had reached a point where frustrated and deflated employees just threw their arms in the air and gave up, and around doing nothing, waiting to be led to the guillotine.

Satish’s project was a significant part of a revolutionary new technology that would have changed the way oil and gas companies produced from their reservoirs. Despite several engineering breakthroughs that significantly reduced the product’s development time, the team was not fast enough to avoid the inevitable downward cycle that afflicted this hyper-cyclical industry. He often compared himself to a surfer trying to ride the upward cyclical wave and staying on top of his board as long as he could. When a cycle came crashing down, he hoped to find a “tube” to course through for at least some time.

The six-month ride in this tube was harsh, ruthless, and draining; he was glad that it was over. He breathed easier when he drove up his driveway and parked his car in the garage. Monica and Seeta were pleased to see him home so early.

Seeta grabbed him at his knees and thighs, hugged him, and began singing, “Daddy’s home, daddy’s home.” He picked up his gleeful daughter and placed her on his lap as he sat at the breakfast table.

“You are home early,” Monica said. She went to the faucet for some water to brew his tea.

“It finally happened, Monica. They let me go,” he said. Seeta tugged at his tie and tried to catch his attention. Satish kissed her on her ample cheeks, which set off joyful laughter.

“They fired you after all these years of dedicated work?” she asked sternly from the direction of cooking range.

“Yes, they fired me, but they had no choice. They are going to shut down my division,” he tried to rationalize.

“So what do we do now?” she asked in a cool, matter-of-fact manner, her eyes focused on the leaves that were floating on the simmering water.

“Well, on Monday, I’ll start looking for a new job. They gave me six months severance and the service of an outplacement firm,” he said.

“So, you’ll get a paycheck for six months while you are looking for a job?” she asked in disbelief.

“Yes,” he replied simply as he played with Seeta.

Monica placed a cup of tea on a coaster in front of him and asked, “Do you want Gluco biscuits? I just got some.”

“Sure,” he said. He took one from the opened packet that she placed on the table, dipped it in his tea for a split second, and turned to Monica and popped the soggy cookie into his mouth before it could collapse under its own weight.

“Daddy, can I’ve a biscuit? Please?” asked the daughter on his lap as she tried to grab a few for herself. He gave her one, and turned to Monica and said, “Yes, I will get a paycheck deposited directly into my bank account every pay period for six months.”

“That’s very magnanimous of them,” Monica said.

“Oh, I think it’s all Tim’s doing. He told me that the firm was afraid that I would take them to court, and that this was a peace offering. But I think Tim must have scared them into giving me this package. He’s good friend.”

“Did you really have any enemies at work, Satish?” Monica asked her husband. She knew that he was good with people and rarely did anything that would hurt anyone. The last six months of laying off his team had been excruciatingly painful. He had agonized over every person he let go, talking often with Monica about how much suffering he was unleashing on his people and their families.

“I don’t think so, Monica. I don’t think I have enemies.” He gave Seeta, who was still comfortable seated on his lap, another cookie to eat. As he reached to take first sip, Monica came over and picked her daughter out of harm’s way of the scalding hot tea.

“So, what are you going to do now?” she asked.

“Well, I thought about it on the way home, and I have decided that I am going to take the weekend off, relax a bit, and then go to the outplacement office on Monday to start a new adventure.”

“That’s it? Don’t we have to stop newspapers, reduce our expenses for the next six months or something?” she asked, bewildered that her husband was so blasé about not having a job after ten years of continuous employment.

“No. We live as we have so far. No change. I just lost my job. It is not the end of the world. Come, let’s take Seeta for a walk,” he said as he laid down his empty cup.

Satish pushed the stroller with Seeta seated in it while Monica walked alongside. The family walked quietly to their neighborhood park on a lake. He could tell from Monica’s unusual silence that the recent change was bothering her.

“Monica, you really shouldn’t be worried about my getting another job in the next six months,” he said. “All will be fine; just you wait and se.”

“Satish,” said his soft-spoken wife as she reached out for his hand on the stroller handle. “I have full confidence in your abilities, but the market is so bad. What if there are no jobs? What if it takes a little longer? Do we have enough savings for a long job hunt?”

“Monica, I cannot go job-hunting assuming that there are no jobs- that is self-defeating. I have already lost the game before I started playing it if I think that way. I can certainly assume that there are only a few jobs, and my challenge is to find one or more of them in the next six months,” he said.

“You know me by now,” he continued. “I need to have the right attitude in whatever I pursue, and usually I am successful at it. That has worked in the past, and I don’t see any reason why that attitude cannot be successful in the future.”

“I understand what you’re saying but this is so different than anything that I have experienced before. In India, I don’t think anybody in your family or my family ever lost their jobs and had to look for a new one. Your father retired from his first job; same for my father. This is all new to me,” she said.

“It’s new to me too, Monica, but with a big difference. I have seen how people recover from job losses in this country. People here are resilient, and I’ve seen how they do it. I am not entirely ignorant about how to go about it. Trust me, Monica. We will be fine. My goal is clear- a job in six months, come hell or high water.”

Monica held her husband’s hand tightly all the way to the park, where she watched the father take his daughter out of the stroller and place her on a swing. She made her way to the gazebo to get out of the mild spring sun and found a seat on a bench. From there she watched him stand behind his child and give her seat a slight push to begin the oscillations.

At Seeta’s urging, “Higher, Daddy, higher,” Satish complied, his hands pushing his daughter to newer heights and shriller shrieks of excitement. But his eyes were on his wife in the distance, whose morale had ebbed.