Swapna opened the laptop. It was time for the video call with Anup. Last two hours she was preparing for the call. She went through the objective of their organization with the new Centre in Trivandrum. She understood the main objective of the Trivandrum centre was to expand their consulting practice to Middle East as Kerala was known to have good connection with countries like Dubai, Kuwait, Bahrain etc. She then went through the clients of Stratix who were having their branches in Middle East or were planning to expand their foot prints in Middle East. She knew these are the clients she should be targetting discussing with the marketing and sales department." Hello Miss Swapna" she came back to the present as she heard Anup's voice addressing her. She gave a smile and returned the courtesy. " Swapna I am not sure whether you have gone through the business objective of the org.., started Anup and Swapna cut him" Anup I have gone through the business objective as well as I have gone through the profile of the clients in the middle east and its my opinion that we should be looking at retail clients first."Anup struggled hard to hide his irriatation. As expected Swapna was not only a thorough professional but she had done her homework better than him and he didnt want to admit it. He wanted to prove her wrong and for that he decided to question her" Swapna why do you think we need to target retail first. With my experience I feel we should be going for the energy and utilites sector in Middle East. We all know Middle East is the energy hub of the world. The largest petroleum producer. Obviously they will love to optimize their production and distribution to maximise the profit." " Anup I agree to your point Middle East is the hub of energy and utilities. But think practically about it. Isnt it good we establish our footprint in middle east through our exisiting clients and then go for the new clients. In retail we have several of our clients from Singapore and Malaysia wanting to expand their footprint in middle east like Carro. Carro have big plans for Middle East and if we submit proposals we will get contract also and Carro will help us in a big way to establish our footprint."Anup had to grudgingly agree she was right. Still he didnt want to immediately agree to it. So he replied he felt Kayda energy service was a better choice and they have even put a request for proposal and they should apply for it. For the next one hour Swapna and Anup discussed on the pros and cons of their choice both firm on their individual choices and the discussion almost reached a point where Anup would have shouted at Swapna if not for Anju. Anju came barging into the room signalling to Anup that their father had woken up and was refusing to take medicines. Anup turned back to Swapna who was fidgeting with her dupatta impatiently. He knew he wanted to end the call and that has to be done professionally. " Miss Swapna I feel both of us are not in the right frame of mind to come at a decision now. So let us keep both the proposals open and think about it impartially an when we meet in the office tomorrow we can take a sensible decision.Swapna had to agree to what he was saying as she knew if the call continued she will blast Anup for trying to control her views. The call was cut and as Swapna shut down her lap top she went through the entire conversation that happened between her and Anup. Her blood was boiling. She was feeling Anup was treating her a sub ordinate a dumb head who didnt knew A,B, C of consulting. His arguments were weak and she was sure he had not prepared and his ego was affected when he knew she had come well prepared. Typical man who wants to boss around a lady. Maybe he was able to get support of his lady colleagues earlier with his charms but he has to know Swapna Menon was made of different material and was not going to bow down to him. Her attention was diverted as she heard her mother calling her downstairs. Fuming she went down. " Swapna why didnt you take tea before your call. See I have boiled it again," told Premlatha as she made her daughter sit. As she poured tea for Swapna she gently asked what was the issue and if she tell her maybe she can offer help." Mother you cant offer any help for me. Still I will tell. My new colleague Anup is one misgynosit," then she went on to explain the entire call in between letting out her frustrations on Anup and his behaviour.Once her rant was over Premlatha gently kept a hand on her shoulder and as she looked up she saw her mother smiling." Swapna keep aside all your personal views for Anup. Think professionally. What is wrong in submitting a business proposal to Kayda energy service. Meanwhile ask him to submit for Carro also. See dear you need to work with him only for six months. Keep aside your emotions. Accept he is also a top performer like you. Give him the professional credit. It will make your job easier. If you try to take everything about him personally then you wont be able to work with him my child."Swapna looked at her mother. She had to admit her mother was right. Professionally there was no harm in agreeing for submitting a proposal for Kayda. She decided to drop a mail to Anup.Anup was tired as he walked to his room. For the past three hours he was trying to calm his father and make him eat food. But that day was one of those days where his mother's memory had come back to haunt his father. Finally they had to call the doctor and he had to give him injection to make him calm and then he had to be force fed. Now his father was asleep. Anup too wanted to lie down but as he took his mobile he saw a mail from Swapna in this official mail. He was irritated.Most probably she would have put the points of her idea and sent it to their Manager keeping him in loop. That's what girls like her do. Always want to take the limelgiht. He opened the mail with anger and as he read it not only his anger melted but he was ashamed of himself for suspecting Swapna's professionalism. She had written she had delibrated on their conversation and she wanted to go ahead with proposal for Carro. However she felt since Kayda had already floated a request for proposal there was no harm in submitting a proposal for them also. Unknowingly Anup smiled as he drafted the reply. He too had to be professional. Swapna's argument was perfect and in no way they should miss a chance to submit a proposal to Carro. More than his personal difference his objective should be the benefit of Stratix. Swapna had shown the way to put aside his ego and he has to follow suit.Swapna had just switched off the lights in her room when her mobile beaped. She went and took it and she saw Anup's mail agreeing to her idea of Carro and she jumped jubilantly. She thought her mother was naive and gullible but at times it was her mother's ideas that worked.Chapter 5Swapna opened the laptop. It was time for the video call with Anup. Last two hours she was preparing for the call. She went through the objective of their organization with the new Centre in Trivandrum. She understood the main objective of the Trivandrum centre was to expand their consulting practice to Middle East as Kerala was known to have good connection with countries like Dubai, Kuwait, Bahrain etc. She then went through the clients of Stratix who were having their branches in Middle East or were planning to expand their foot prints in Middle East. She knew these are the clients she should be targetting discussing with the marketing and sales department." Hello Miss Swapna" she came back to the present as she heard Anup's voice addressing her. She gave a smile and returned the courtesy. " Swapna I am not sure whether you have gone through the business objective of the org.., started Anup and Swapna cut him" Anup I have gone through the business objective as well as I have gone through the profile of the clients in the middle east and its my opinion that we should be looking at retail clients first."Anup struggled hard to hide his irriatation. As expected Swapna was not only a thorough professional but she had done her homework better than him and he didnt want to admit it. He wanted to prove her wrong and for that he decided to question her" Swapna why do you think we need to target retail first. With my experience I feel we should be going for the energy and utilites sector in Middle East. We all know Middle East is the energy hub of the world. The largest petroleum producer. Obviously they will love to optimize their production and distribution to maximise the profit." " Anup I agree to your point Middle East is the hub of energy and utilities. But think practically about it. Isnt it good we establish our footprint in middle east through our exisiting clients and then go for the new clients. In retail we have several of our clients from Singapore and Malaysia wanting to expand their footprint in middle east like Carro. Carro have big plans for Middle East and if we submit proposals we will get contract also and Carro will help us in a big way to establish our footprint."Anup had to grudgingly agree she was right. Still he didnt want to immediately agree to it. So he replied he felt Kayda energy service was a better choice and they have even put a request for proposal and they should apply for it. For the next one hour Swapna and Anup discussed on the pros and cons of their choice both firm on their individual choices and the discussion almost reached a point where Anup would have shouted at Swapna if not for Anju. Anju came barging into the room signalling to Anup that their father had woken up and was refusing to take medicines. Anup turned back to Swapna who was fidgeting with her dupatta impatiently. He knew he wanted to end the call and that has to be done professionally. " Miss Swapna I feel both of us are not in the right frame of mind to come at a decision now. So let us keep both the proposals open and think about it impartially an when we meet in the office tomorrow we can take a sensible decision.Swapna had to agree to what he was saying as she knew if the call continued she will blast Anup for trying to control her views. The call was cut and as Swapna shut down her lap top she went through the entire conversation that happened between her and Anup. Her blood was boiling. She was feeling Anup was treating her a sub ordinate a dumb head who didnt knew A,B, C of consulting. His arguments were weak and she was sure he had not prepared and his ego was affected when he knew she had come well prepared. Typical man who wants to boss around a lady. Maybe he was able to get support of his lady colleagues earlier with his charms but he has to know Swapna Menon was made of different material and was not going to bow down to him. Her attention was diverted as she heard her mother calling her downstairs. Fuming she went down. " Swapna why didnt you take tea before your call. See I have boiled it again," told Premlatha as she made her daughter sit. As she poured tea for Swapna she gently asked what was the issue and if she tell her maybe she can offer help." Mother you cant offer any help for me. Still I will tell. My new colleague Anup is one misgynosit," then she went on to explain the entire call in between letting out her frustrations on Anup and his behaviour.Once her rant was over Premlatha gently kept a hand on her shoulder and as she looked up she saw her mother smiling." Swapna keep aside all your personal views for Anup. Think professionally. What is wrong in submitting a business proposal to Kayda energy service. Meanwhile ask him to submit for Carro also. See dear you need to work with him only for six months. Keep aside your emotions. Accept he is also a top performer like you. Give him the professional credit. It will make your job easier. If you try to take everything about him personally then you wont be able to work with him my child."Swapna looked at her mother. She had to admit her mother was right. Professionally there was no harm in agreeing for submitting a proposal for Kayda. She decided to drop a mail to Anup.Anup was tired as he walked to his room. For the past three hours he was trying to calm his father and make him eat food. But that day was one of those days where his mother's memory had come back to haunt his father. Finally they had to call the doctor and he had to give him injection to make him calm and then he had to be force fed. Now his father was asleep. Anup too wanted to lie down but as he took his mobile he saw a mail from Swapna in this official mail. He was irritated.Most probably she would have put the points of her idea and sent it to their Manager keeping him in loop. That's what girls like her do. Always want to take the limelgiht. He opened the mail with anger and as he read it not only his anger melted but he was ashamed of himself for suspecting Swapna's professionalism. She had written she had delibrated on their conversation and she wanted to go ahead with proposal for Carro. However she felt since Kayda had already floated a request for proposal there was no harm in submitting a proposal for them also. Unknowingly Anup smiled as he drafted the reply. He too had to be professional. Swapna's argument was perfect and in no way they should miss a chance to submit a proposal to Carro. More than his personal difference his objective should be the benefit of Stratix. Swapna had shown the way to put aside his ego and he has to follow suit.Swapna had just switched off the lights in her room when her mobile beaped. She went and took it and she saw Anup's mail agreeing to her idea of Carro and she jumped jubilantly. She thought her mother was naive and gullible but at times it was her mother's ideas that worked.