“Two of a kind”-24 September 2013

Kiran Prakash came to the company as a hot favourite to lead a Division. For the present, however, he was a probationary officer who would head a Division at the end of his probation. Obviously, there was no one of his calibre or two dare him to the post. Moreover, Kiran Prakash was the son of a close friend of the CEO — all credentials right. His MBA from an American university gave Kiran an extra edge.

A few months afterwards, the company saw the entry of another young man — Aadhar — with all the right credentials. Aadhar came from a socially non-descript background. Son of a small land-holding farmer from a remote village, Aadhar had completed his Masters in Management with exceptional grades. As a probationary officer, he also looked forward to heading a Division.
The problem was that by the time these two officers completed their probationary period, there would be only one Division whose head had retired just then. So, the situation had all the inputs of a corporate power-play between two equals and opposites.
And what happens in movies happened in this case as well. For, both — Kiran Prakash and Aadhar — completed their probationary periods and were inducted into the officer cadre of the company. And they had only one Division. So, when the race to top the Division head position gets over, one of them would be left with nothing while the winner would have everything going for him.
The race, thus, became very interesting and intense. Both the young men also had attracted a lot of well wishers whose non-official was to keep fanning the rivalry between the two young men. Each of the hangers on had only one task — to tell the young men how the other one was just not good enough in comparison.
The rivalry rose to such an extent as to make the two young men to stop talking to each other. During official meetings, too, they would not exchange even simple courtesies.
However, one senior executive who had come close to retirement caught hold of Aadhar and asked him bluntly if he hated Kiran Prakash. Aadhar responded with a wane smile and said, “Yes, I don’t like him, but I don’t hate at all”.
That is exactly what Kiran Prakash also said the other day. He said, he does not hate you at all since he realises that you are a man of tremendous potential. He added, if at all, he felt that Aadhar was a good man in bad company.
Aadhar was shocked to hear this. In fact, he also never liked the situation in which they had not spoken even a word in months with each other. If Kiran, too, feels similarly, then our rivalry has no value. We must bring to end all the fight without cause.
So, the next evening after the day’s work was over, Aadhar went straight to meet Kiran Prakash at his home. Kiran was shocked to see him there. ‘Why has he come?’ — he wondered.
However, Aadhar came to the subject rightaway: “Look Kiran, I believe that there is no reason for two good people to fight without reason. So, I have come to extend my hand of friendship to you. Let us bury our fight. If you get promoted to head a Division, I will congratulate you. If I win, you do that to me. But let us be friends. Life will always have a lot of opportunities for both of us. It is nonsensical to keep fighting without reason.” He then hugged Kiran Prakash.
Naturally, that meeting ended up in good cheer. From the next day on, both the young officers were seen talking to each other at coffee shops or club. Eventually, Kiran Prakash got transferred to another venue in the company, and Aadhar got to head the Division whose boss had just retired.
Some time later when Kiran and Aadhar met, both of them had risen to good height in their respective careers. And the one question in their mind was: Why did we indulge in bitterness earlier?
This may appear to be an oversimplified version. However, such stories are plenty that teaches an important lesson in work behaviour: Many in-house corporate fights have little meaning, but the actors in the high drama do not realise that.