The times of crisis always changes the world. Great Individuals and Organisations lead this change and mediocre one’s perish. The crisis is always the best time to introspect. Focus should be inwards. What it actually gives, is time to make necessary, but neglected changes. This is true for both individuals & organisations. This looks a very obvious step but where people majorly fail is in implementation / action.
Having said that let me help you in charting this course / steps : What are these changes? How can one find what changes are needed? What to be done to implement the changes?
Let’s Dive in:
How can you find what changes are needed?
The most important aspect to change is to accept that change is required. Many individuals and organisations are always on negation mode. We always feel that we are doing the best we can and there is nothing to improve or nothing to change. So the following steps are very important:
Accept that there is always scope of improvement in the process / efficiency.
Find the bottle necks / areas where there is always a hand to mouth situation.
Find areas that are always part of discussions –
INDIVIDUAL: I cannot find time / I cannot read so much / I do not get motivated / etc. ORGANISATIONS: we have less people / we have older machines / we have less time for the same.
In short – List the NEGATIVE comments that are commonly discussed, find solutions for the same.
Examples are better teachers & easy for understanding the concept:
INDIVIDUAL: I never get time for reading books / exercise, is it only me? I am sure its with all of us. Use this Crisis to change that. How? You have been working from home – so you are saving time on travelling to office / to customers. Utilise this time for reading & exercise. You can best do alternate day and do both the activities. Take control of your time.
ORGANISATIONS: Setting processes correct is always a neglected issue when the sales is going good. Organisations have least priority on the same & rightly so, Sales is the first priority as it generate revenue / resources are overloaded. Now, the crisis is best time, as in here resources are not overloaded. Use this opportunity to set correct processes to increase overall efficiency.
How can we implement the change?
Once you have identified the task half the battle is won. You can only make progress if you take actions on the same.
Have a brain storming session with stake holders to understand what are the pain points & how they can be eliminated.
List out the highest priority pain points, elimination of which will significantly increase efficiency.
Put a clear action plan with roles and responsibilities.
Keep tracking the progress and make changes in line with the plan.
So to sum up following steps can make Crisis as a stepping stone instead of a showstopper.
Identify the bottlenecks / pain points.
Create a plan for resolution / elimination of the same with clear responsibility.
Track progress and guide way to final achievement – Increase in efficiency.
I can confidently say that this will surely help in bouncing back better and managing costs to the “Tee”.
I would also like to know your ideas to increase efficiency, please share the same in comments.
As the name suggests you might get to read a few things where there is more than it actually meets the eye & that too from a vantage point that is beyond obvious.
Hope you enjoy this blog & I am able to satiate the thirst of you readers. JUMP IN.
Strategy by definition means: A plan of action designed to achieve a long term or overall aim.
Every organisation defines there strategy for business and while some fail many succeed at it. So what is the difference? Difference is highlighted in below Quote perfectly:
Above all, Success in business requires two things: a winning competitive strategy & superb organisational execution
Stephen Covey
In this article I will take you through the examples and details of some strategies but first let’s just simplify the Strategy into 5 broad categories:
Product based: In this the Product is the centre of strategy.
Customer based: Customer Experience / requirements at the centre.
Idea / Concept based: Basically a Gap in Supply – Demand / Demand creation is at the centre of strategy.
Demographics based: A certain region / class / age etc. is being focused in this Strategy.
Competition: Targeting competition and its products to highlight your products / offerings.
Now lets dive in to details in each of these categories:
PRODUCT BASED:
This is for both the Product & Service. Here the main focus is on developing the Product or Service that bridges the gap between the demand and supply to make a strong business case.
Let’s talk about IKEA – there moto has been to create a better every day life for masses. They have variety of quality products which are functional, budget priced, stylish. So they managed to find a niche for themselves and developed a product / brand to serve and monetise.
On service front, we all know a lot of apps in this category – food delivery, shared cabs, radio cabs, logo design, etc.
To discuss about an innovative idea is a small company Dunzo. In layman’s language they are the local courier, minus the disadvantage of dropping the package at the courier shop. They found the pain point and provided an end – to – end solution. Pick-up and Drop packages and that too at a reasonable cost. My daughters school book set was delivered by Dunzo during the last phase of lock-down. They not only deliver documents but cakes as well.
In here the Product Idea is in front of every ones eyes, but the main aspect is finding the Gap and then executing the delivery strategy that is most important.
CUSTOMER BASED:
On a regular basis we find companies launching products, competing in markets, beating the competition & winning the sales – this is typical Product based strategy. Another strategy is Customer Based (I call this a copy-cat strategy). You do not need to be innovative, you just need to have money power to buyout or a strong team to replicate the product.
Microsoft has pioneered this game by far, than any other brand. Its simple for them, let some one do the effort of product launch, testing the market, troubleshooting, etc. Once the product is established, MS will either buyout the company / launch a similar product.
Right in the start they bagged a order from IBM for the operating system, then acquired a small company Quick & Dirty Operating Systems (QDOS), modified there OS to make MS-DOS.
Excel was influenced by VisiCalc & Lotus 1-2-3. Word was heavily similar to a popular software Word Perfect. Powerpoint was acquired from a small San-Fransico company.
To dethrone a popular browser – Netscape, they licensed a browser from Spyglass.
X-Box – Sony Playstation / Nintendo.
There are many such examples. Currently they are focusing on Google with MS team sitting right in Bay Area, in backyards of google.
With its base product the Windows ruling the PC market – they have a strong platform for cross selling. Look at MS Team’s a competitive product to Webex, they are offering it with MS Office as a bundle deal.
IDEA / CONCEPT BASED:
Japan has been predominantly as Tea drinking country, in 1970’s Nestle wanted to push coffee to this tea drinking nation. They hired a psychologist Clotaire Rapaille who mentioned that Japan has no connect with coffee and they will not accept the same, he suggested Nestle to add coffee flavours in there sweets. This made the young Japanese people accept the taste of coffee from a very young age. This brought about an amazing benefit to Nestle.
From nil coffee sales in 1970 – Today Japan is 3rd Largest Importer of Coffee in the world. In the instant coffee segment Nestle leads the market.
So the example is self-explanatory on how an idea / concept based strategy is implemented, driven and can create a huge first mover advantage in the target markets.
The key to this strategy is knowing the pulse of the market. Understand the culture, create an emotional bonding for your product / service.
DEMOGRAPHICS BASED:
In India people are very innovative and they can sell any product on the demographic base. Will the comb be different for men & women? Does the soap need to be different? razor / toothpaste / shampoos / cars / etc.
But day in day out we see this happening on our TV. Toothpaste with a Cartoon character – targeted to your kids, with pink, floral design at your wife and regular targeted at you. So a family of 3 buys 3 toothpastes.
Recently you would have seen a health drink Women’s Horlicks, Different versions of Shampoos are being targeted at Men & Women, even Face wash are being differentiated between Men and Women.
Above may seem and intelligent idea but these are not so good examples.
Let’s again look at Nestle. When they launched the famous Kit Kat in japan they slightly changed the brand name to “Kitto Katto”. This was a runaway success due to its similarity to the famous phrase “Kitto Katsu” which means “never fail” / “you will win”. So Kit Kat also became a famous gift product.
Another such example is of the ITC’s Engage Pocket Perfume. They absolutely created a market niche with this innovative product packaging – Pocket Perfumes. Engage (ITC Brand) was first to put perfume in a small pocket friendly packaging. They targeted the teenagers, who would always want to be ready and are always on the go. It wasn’t easy to carry heavy bottles of perfume everywhere, so they created this niche and all other players had to follow.
COMPETITION BASED:
We have all seen a lot of Rivalries & competition targeting, Cola Vs Pepsi, Kingfisher Vs Jet, Microsoft Vs Apple. Main motive here in, is always to highlight what rival misses and take a pot shot at competition.
Let’s look at a little know rivalry which went on to edge of the wire. Dunkin Donuts Vs Starbucks in USA.
Dunkin was a regular Donuts & fast food joint until around 2000. Then they decided to enter the coffee market, launched a variety of espresso’s, latte’s & cappuccino’s in 2003. Around 2006 they started punching above their weight at Starbucks the by far a market leader.
They targeted Starbucks for there menu, lined up with Italian styled names on it. They advertised with customers having difficulty to order there brew. Though Starbucks did not indulge in this verbal battle, they insisted that quality of their coffee beans is way better than a fast food joint coffee seller.
Dunkin then launched a campaign “America runs on Dunkin” & there CEO also highlighted that they are a beverage company.
Today 60+ % of the coffee market in US is dominated by these 2 players. Around 40% by Starbucks and 20% by Dunkin.
What Dunkin did was by targeting a market leader in coffee segment they made a space for themselves. They created a alternate name in customer minds. So a coffee drinker searches for Starbucks / Dunkin.
So to conclude: It solely depends on organisations and there managements on which strategy they want to play in the markets. its also possible that at one time – multiple strategies could be played in for same products / different products.
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Companies should wake up to ever changing dynamics in market and focus on there spear head resource the Sales & Marketing departments to keep there edge in market.
In this video I highlight some of the key benefits that S & M team can drive for the organisations. This is First of the Six video series where I take you through detailed account of how to S&M teams should function and pull the customers towards there products / services.
In this video I take you through the above mentioned 3 Disruptions EV, 3D Printing & Digitisation and scale with which they will hit us in coming 3 to 5 Years.
Disruptions that will hit us in 3~5 Years.
Also visit the following blogs to know more the Sales & Marketing subject.
I just went through the book “One up on wall street by Peter Lynch. Though its a old book but i felt that the Lessons are very much prevalent to today’s / even future context. Its about the Investing Habits and Behaviours.
Though many people have summarised / made videos / info-graphics on the same, this is my attempt to make it simple while keeping the core intact.
We all like stories and we all love strong leaders – let me take you through some very interesting examples.
Lets start with Satya Nadella & Microsoft:
“Longevity in this business is about being able to reinvent yourself or invent the future.”
Satya Nadela
He joined Microsoft in 1992, has since been associated with Bill Gates, Bill gates, to remind you has an authoritarian style of leadership, yet Satya has been retaining his own style. The that makes him Satya.
He was working on “AZURE” a Cloud platform on Microsoft. When he took over as CEO, Microsoft was struggling to find its feet in the world now dominated by Apple, Android & Amazon’s like new breed. Windows 8 had crashed, Android was in dominating position, Bing wasn’t able to get the juice out of google. Come Today – Microsoft is steady and doing good.
So how did Satya achieve this:
Employee Trust: He wrote a letter to employees making them feel they were similar & the crux was “Family, Curiosity & Hunger for knowledge all define me.”
Courage: Accepting the Rival OS Linux on Azure Cloud. MS Office for Apple iPad.
Embracing the Change: He released Apps like MS Outlook & Office for Android & iOs.
Innovative: He released first Microsoft Laptop – the Surface book, the Holographic Goggles – Holo lens.
Vision: To put Microsoft where the customers are.
So to sum up the Qualities I think he displayed – Teamwork, Vision, Courage, calculated Risks, Embracing the change – in strategy, thinking, execution.
Let’s come to the Dada of Indian Cricket – Sourav Ganguly as we all know – the most aggressive of Indian Captains. Indians were never presumably so animatedly aggressive on the field till this man arrived on the scene as a captain. Who can forget the iconic swing of his shirt on Lord’s in 2002 Natwest Series. the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack ranked him the sixth greatest ODI batsman of all time, next to Viv Richards, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Dean Jones and Michael Bevan.
He took the center stage when Indian Team was in rough waters over the match fixing scandals of 2000, from scratch on he built a team with young players like – Harbhajan Singh, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Mohammad Kaif, Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Dhoni, etc. along with seasoned – Sachin Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Kumble, Srinath, etc. He lead this team to WC 2003 Final first time after 1986.
But what set him apart were following things:
Building a Team: Pick & guide the young team mates to collaborate towards one Vision World Cup.
Lead from the Front: May it be his aggression on the field, his fighting attitude, He had always lead from the front.
Courage: He pushed a classic and successful middle order batsman like Sehwag to open for India & Indian cricket got its most explosive opening batsman. Took a lot of chances with Harbhajan & Irfan Pathan. Cancelled the IPL Opening Ceremony calling it waste of money.
Innovative: Asking Dravid to keep wickets or Tendulkar to bowl in one dayers, just so that one extra spot can be created for a specialist.
Dynamism: When he rejected to be part of Ravi Shastri’s Videoconferencing Interview to choose Anil Kumble for India Coach, Answering all the sledgers on & off the field, Pushing his young team to potential. He was dynamic from the word go.
So to sum up the Qualities I think he displayed –Vision, Courage, calculated Risks, Team building & Lead from the front.
We are aware that Infosys is a golden goose of the Indian IT Industry, our own Garage to Great company. Let’s learn how Mr. Narayan Murthy made what Infy is today.
The sheer passion, group collaboration, fair & transparent management:
Lead from the front: Mr. Murthy has always been on forefront to take Infy out of any issues may it be the Sexual Harassment case on Phaneesh Murthy in late 90’s or recent issues with Infy Books being cooked.
Team Care: Infy distributed the stocks worth INR. 50,000 Cr to its employees after the IPO. Care for people and they will make you great.
Integrity: We all know his favorite statement “In god we trust, every one else should bring data to the table”. He has been making decisions all and all data driven.
Restructure: In 90’s when Infy was dependent on General Electric as a single biggest customer, he planned to diversify the customer base to protect profitability and reduce dependability on one customer.
Merit Leadership: When we see nepotism in all Industrial, Government, Film Industry & Businesses, he made a rule that no founder to continue in Infy after 65 Years & no founders kids work at Infy to avoid nepotism. He has even kept the requests from influential people at bay with Hire on Merit policy only.
So to sum up the Qualities I think he displayed –Vision, Integrity, Courage, Team, & Merit Importance.
In the India of late 70’s & Early 80’s, which was not so focused on equal opportunity & when women entrepreneurs were not so common. There was this one name which challenged the status quo – Kiran Mazumdar Shaw. She started Biocon in 1978 in collaboration with Biocon Biochemicals Ltd. Ireland in her own home garage. A JV with 70% ownership of Mrs. Shaw. She faced a lot of struggles due to her age, gender, etc. No Banks wanted to finance her, but she managed. From a enzyme manufacturer for Food Packaging, brewing & Textile to a Bio-Pharma stalwart taking full control of the company in 1998.
Dynamism: From a father who was a brew master to being rejected jobs of Brew Master for being a female and entering into enzyme Business & then into Bop-Pharma.
Persistence: In a male dominated society & field she faced a lot of challenges to make her organization the only Second Company to cross $ 1 Billion mark on First day of listing.
Lead from the front:There is a incidence while Biocon was cracking a deal with Novozymes, her husband was detected with cancerous lump & yet she along with her domestic responsibilities went on to win the deal.
Innovative: whether it’s the field she chose, business models, focus on R&D – innovative approach has been the forte for her.
Emotional Quotient: All along the growth that Biocon has been scaling, she has been talking and contributing back to the society through Aarogya Raksha Yojana, Mazumdar – Shaw Medical Foundation, on Education & Infra. She is a strong crusader for betterment of Bangalore and India.
So to sum up the Qualities I think she displayed –Dynamism, Persistence, Courage, Innovative, & Emotional Quotient.
We can go on and on with individual leaders, but as my blog is named beyond obvious I bring to you a leadership example of a corporation. What best suits than the market leader in Passenger Vehicle segment – Maruti Suzuki.
MSIL started in 1981, merged with Suzuki in 1982. Currently its 52%+ owned by Suzuki Japan. MSIL hold 53%+ market share of the Indian Passenger car market. So, why do I consider it worthy to be mentioned in this Leadership example line up?
Its no joke that an organization holds 50+% market share in the country since its inception for close to 40 Years, against international competition for last at least 20~25 Years. Mind you, they are not the cheapest, not the best, not the most wanted products & yet they rule. So what are they doing Right and How? Let’s see.
Dynamism: From the first 3 Box design in Maruti 1000, to small Maruti 800, to luxurious Baleno (old design) to SUV Vitara (old design) they did it all & continued. Some of these products were failures and yet they brought new ones.
Connect: They currently have the best connect – with customer / dealers / workshops / garages. It’s the biggest USP for MSIL. You are never far from a MSIL Service Station.
Innovative: They have been quite innovative on there approach, may it be launching products on continuous basis / venturing into complete new segments e.g. Carry (1 Tn Load carrier) or Ertiga (Light Utility Vehicle) / NEXA – Premium Cars separated from basic dealership / ARENA – Configure your car. This approach has been helping them keep there customers coming back to them.
Lead from Front: This has been a great forte for them in country like India – They iconized a few of there USP’s in such a way that they made it the culture. Be it the tag lines like “Kitna Deti Hain?” or “Kya kare papa ji petrol khatam hi nahin honda?” they are itched in peoples mind and they always kept there USP untouched – no one can beat the fuel efficiency of MSIL.
Vision: They planned a Battery Manufacturing Unit in there newly built Gujarat Facility in the wake of EV. Collaborated with Toyota for the Technology of EV’s. In the wake of BS6 announced they won’t launch a diesel engine. This hints that the company has vision on where they want to be in coming years.
So these were a few examples / stories of leaders and their leadership behaviours. Do Share & Like.
Another important aspect in leaders is Blindspot & I guess every one of us will have one, to elaborate
In his book Good to Great, wrote that the first job of a good leader is to;
“Get the right people on the bus (and the wrong people off the bus) before you figure out where to drive it.”
JIM COLLINS
The housing bubble, Enron, and Chernobyl are all great examples of things that were not accidents and were predictable for those that sought to look. Humans caused these things – humans making decisions and taking actions.
Keeping your antennae up regarding these sorts of predictable surprises is an important part of strategy and leadership.
Do share some more interesting stories you have in comments below. I would love to know.
Video on Disruptions that will hit us in coming 3 to 5 Years.
Many people around us think that the Changes happening around them are not going to Disrupt anything. That the Electric Vehicles are far away still Or that 3D printing can not disrupt manufacturing Or Digitisation is only for IT.
In this video I take you through the above mentioned 3 Disruptions and scale with which they will hit us in coming 3 to 5 Years.
Knowing is winning half the battle.
You would also like the following video on Sales & Marketing importance in today’s context
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I am Nilesh Shah. 17 years of wide experience of Marketing and Sales in Auto Components, Capital Equipment’s, Chemicals, etc.
Have been in various roles from leading business verticals / certain geographies to product management, from front line sales to marketing strategy.
I am also a vivid reader and short stories & personal finance are my major interests.
In this blog I will try to bring in some fresh perspectives to the already known facts. I will try to bring out the knowledge from the information available.
Hope you people enjoy this blog and keep visiting for some New Stuff every now and then.
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Best of Luck.
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An excellent mentor! Nilesh always has a practical perspective to everything and a beyond obvious way to deal with it! I’m thankful to have known him personally and I’m looking forward to learn more from him through this blog! All the best!
Ritu felt shocked to see Arjun. Arjun was calm neither excited nor worried to see Ritu and Varun. He came to their table and introduced himself as Ritu’s best friend. Varun was in such jovial mood for their anniversary that he invited Arjun to have dinner with them. Ritu did not want this but she refrained from letting her emotions out, covered with a fake smile. Arjun joined them and the chain of discussions from the distant past started unveiling. The chain, that Ritu had long-buried in the deepest corners of her heart. The memories that she never wished to have. Those days in Pune, S.P.College, Chatushrungi Temple, Tulshi Bag, etc. She was thinking that she had planned so much today and this happens.
Ritu had been busy all day planning a great evening with Varun for their anniversary. She planned a temple visit to seek blessings and a quiet candlelight dinner with Varun at his favorite restaurant. To enjoy this day with Varun she had also dropped their only son Krishna to her mother’s place.
It was 11:45 AM after finishing the chores she went on the checklist for her wannabe perfect dinner date – Table booked – check, special instructions to the live band – check, Gift – check, her evening dress – check…
She wanted this to be a memorable 10th anniversary. So she just about had her lunch and was looking at the gift wrapping and what struck her was an open corner on wrapping paper. She felt an immediate urge to make it right, she knew, how fussy Varun always was about things being perfect. It opened the door of the old memory: she had bought a small gift for Varun when they were dating and in a hurry, the wrapping paper was not tucked properly. Varun did not say a word but his discomfort was showing all over his face. Ritu kept on asking what was wrong and he pretended to be happy. The secret got revealed later after they got married. This brought a smile to Ritu’s face and she got stuck in the world of memories. One after the other, memories came like she was pulling the handkerchief from the magician’s pocket and the same never ended.
She remembered how romantic those dating days were, they used to talk in gardens for hours, watch movies, had great dinners, walked hand in hand on lonely streets in sweet winters. There were a few issues in their marriage Varun’s parents did not approve of Ritu but he was adamant and went against all to marry her. Ritu being an orphan never really had a family but Varun had always been with her. It was not all rosy even after marriage they had there shares of struggle. When she was pregnant with Krishna and was asked to take the bed rest, Varun had taken such good care of her that she all most cried every time he used to feed her. Not only this but when Krishna was born and detected with jaundice she had all the most lost faith in his survival but Varun had been a strong support and Krishna survived the ordeal.
It was not all Varun but when a few years back Varun lost his job, Ritu took on the responsibility of the family and started working, it was not easy and she had to manage a lot of stuff, Varun had become a little skeptic, Krishna was just about starting to go to school, but Ritu took full onus and kept her calm to stabilize their families rocking boat. Those two years were the worst for them. She used to get very tired and frustrated at times, but she held her nerve and Varun landed into a good job as a legal counsellor, she had a small breather and then she also joined an MNC, her talent in finance was strong enough to make her climb the corporate ladder and she was now heading the Finance department in a reputed organisation.
In these 10 years, they had been through a lot of good, bad and ugly moments and both had complemented each other perfectly to make their relationship and their lives a great place to be in.
The doorbell rang and Ritu came again to her senses. It was 4:30 PM and her housemaid was home. She realised that Varun would be home in some time and she had to get ready now. Thinking of being blessed to have such a great life and wishing the same luck she went on to instruct the maid and getting ready.
At 5:30 PM Varun came home and he looked a bit tired but Ritu pushed him to get ready and both went on to the temple, after spending some good time and with blessings, they moved to Varun’s favourite restaurant and it was crowded and Varun was annoyed at the first sight, but when he came to know that Ritu had already booked a table for them, he suddenly got excited and realised that he is in for a good evening. He realised that Ritu had planned this. Once they were seated and comfortable, Ritu made a small gesture and the live band started playing his favourite songs. Varun was floored he looked at Ritu and his eyes were sparkling. Ritu was happy to see that look on his face. He held her hand in his and lovingly thanked her for all that she has done and is doing. Ritu calmly handed a small box to Varun, now he was excited, he looked in detail and found the gift perfectly made and was happy, he opened it and it was a wristwatch, the same which he had wished to have some months back. He almost jumped with joy like a kid. He was happy that Ritu bought him this gift but he was happier that she remembered. They ordered their dinner and just when the waiter was about to serve, Ritu saw Arjun. She tried to ignore him but he came straight to their table. That entire evening Varun kept on chatting with Arjun and Ritu was disturbed maintaining a fake smile on her face.
At night Varun went to bed and slept being tired. Ritu also slept wishing, the day could have ended better without Arjun.
The next day she found Arjun near her house, he also followed her to office. He tried to befriend her colleagues, talk to them, and get information. Ritu neglected the whole scene, but remained disturbed.
Varun was unable to understand the reason of Ritu’s irritation that night but he left her alone to settle down and went on with Krishna to sleep. She was unable to cope up with this turn of events. She remembered those old days when Arjun used to follow her everywhere. She never approved off him due to his bad habits and inclinations. He however was madly in love with her. He even had threatened to harm her and her parents if she did not accept him.
Another day as usual Ritu made the tiffin’s and all 3 of them started for their work. Varun dropped Krishna to school and went to his office.
Ritu on her way back from the office went on to pick Krishna and was shocked again, she found that Arjun was with Krishna and they were both chatting. She became very furious and lost her control. She went directly to Arjun and asked him the reason he was with Krishna. He replied in a rather annoying tone that it was not her prerogative to question him and he can be anywhere he wishes to be. The spat turned a little ugly and after a heated argument and ultimatum to stay away from her and her family, Ritu picked up Krishna and left the school.
She was hit by the old memory of the annual function where one of Ritu’s friend proposed her; she quietly turned down the proposal. This news went to Arjun and he beat the poor guy black and blue that night, the poor guy lost his life and Arjun was jailed for 5 Yrs.
This was really scaring her. Ritu was not able to believe how the destiny turns – the best planned day has suddenly turned into the worst nightmare. She was confused as this past was never shared with Varun and she did not know how he would react. To end this and get out of the situation once and for all, she went on to meet Arjun privately at his residence.
During that meeting, she tried to explain to him that she was never interested in him. It was never going to work between them. She pleaded him to leave all and get out of her life. But he took her initiative wrongly and tried to force himself on her. She was in shock and was trembling, she never expected any of this, she tried to get out of his grasp, but he was strong and pinned her down. She moved her hand and found something; bang she hit him on the head, the blow was so bad that he instantly fell off the bed and was immovable; she checked and found that he was dead. She was terrified and ran out of there. Then suddenly she realised no one knew she was with him and she wanted to keep it like that. So she went and carefully eliminated all the signs which could link her visit to Arjun and left.
The next day the news was all over, police tried to investigate but due to his bad background, no relatives and no major proof the case did not go any further. Varun was shocked and asked Ritu, but she responded with a sad face and matter was over. After several days she was content that the matter has settled and she had been out of a huge problem rather easily, but she was again underestimating the turn of events.
As usual, she went to the office and the day was going normal, post-lunch she was feeling sleepy, so she went on with her friend for a coffee. They had a small chat and were refreshed and came back. Ritu was unaware of the surprise waiting for her in email inbox.
She stared at the email message on her computer, her mind was racing so fast that the words blurred together and no longer made any sense. Just three lines, but enough to make her life–the life she’d worked so hard and sacrificed so much to build–begin to crumble around her.
The email read as follows:
“I saw him die.
I have a video.
I will call you”
Ritu could not believe her eyes and destiny. Her mind was racing to figure out who could this be? How could someone video shoot that? Is this real/fake? She went on from one horrifying thought to another, unable to link the dots and unable to think of a solution.
She went home but her mind was still in the email, she was not in her senses. Varun tried to understand what could be the issue, but she shrugged it off saying she was tired. A few days went by but the call did not come. She thought somebody would have joked with her and went on with the day.
In the evening when she came home she received a photo where she was entering Arjun’s building and the time punched at the lower right corner. The timing matched the time slot of his murder. She was again terrified, her mind was disturbed, she was trying to figure out who could this be? And she realized that this could only be available to the security guard of the building and he would be trying to get financial benefit from this. The cat was out of the box. She now decided to tell Varun all since this was out of her hands now.
That night she explained every detail of the past and the happenings of her visit to Arujn’s place and about the email and the photo. Initially, Varun did not believe on what he was hearing and he felt sad that she did not share this ordeal earlier, but gathering his senses and his lawyer mind, he thoroughly analyzed the situation and said that all the shreds of evidence are circumstantial and she cannot be proven guilty on the photo as she is visiting only the building and not Arjun’s flat. There is no other evidence, but he said let’s check with the blackmailer and then decide further.
Ritu felt relived and when the person called she asked him to meet her at her place. He was the security guard of that building. Varun had set a camera in their hall and had the meeting. When Varun was sure that there was no other proof than the lobby videotape he intimidated the guard and showed him the recording where the guard tried to blackmail them. This put the guard on the back foot and he handed the CD to Varun and left. Varun also ensured that he will not trouble them again by taking in writing from him that he was doing all this for money.
That night both sat for several hours on the terrace watching stars and reliving the good old and haunted memories, hand in hand.
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