Page 201 of 12 Years
‘You didn’t have to come to the airport yourself, Neeraj,’ I said, ‘that too so late.’
Mudit and I were in Neeraj’s BMW on our way from the Mumbai airport to the St. Regis Hotel in Lower Parel.
‘That’s not a problem, guys,’ Neeraj said. ‘We’re all so excited for the closing night. The Crayon Club idea was a real winner. Everyone loved it.’
‘I just felt it would be different,’ Mudit said.
‘Yes, in fact, we’ve merged our annual Blackwater Family Day with the event,’ Neeraj said.
‘Family day?’ I said, watching the road outside as the car zipped through the Western Express Highway in the middle of the night.
‘Yes, we have an annual bring-your-family-to-work day at Blackwater. CloudX has it as well. We just combined it with this event.’
‘Okay,’ I said. ‘So?’
‘So, we thought why not have some people from Blackwater and CloudX bring their families to this dinner? They’ll have fun and also see what a deal closing looks like.’
‘Families? At a deal closing?’ Mudit said.
‘Only a few select senior people from Blackwater and CloudX can bring them. You see, it’ll help with the press,’ Neeraj said.
‘How?’ I said. ‘And why do you even need the press?’
‘Blackwater and other private equity firms have this negative, cold, capitalist image. We don’t want that when the public, media or the government thinks of us. We want to show everyone that the people who work in firms like ours are humans too.’
‘Are you though?’ Mudit said.
Neeraj laughed. The car turned onto the Bandra–Worli Sea Link.
‘What about confidential information?’ I said.
‘There’s none. The deal is public. We’re mainly inviting business media. As I told you earlier, it’s a PR event,’ Neeraj said. ‘But you sound concerned. All okay?’
‘Yeah, am fine,’ I said. ‘I just thought I’ll do a little stand-up act. Now with families coming in, I don’t know …’
‘Why? Please do it,’ Neeraj said. ‘It’ll be a hit. We also have a music band performing later. It’ll be a chill evening, trust me. Just come and have fun.’
‘Let me think about it,’ I said, looking out of the window. ‘Wow, Mumbai has changed. What’s that bridge?’
‘That’s the new connector to the coastal road. It can take you to South Mumbai in minutes,’ Neeraj said.
‘Why were you getting so hassled, bro?’ Mudit said to me in the lift as he and I went up to our rooms at the St. Regis.
‘About what?’
‘About the dinner.’
‘What’s with this family-day business they’ve combined the event with?’
‘It’s okay. Our deal is the most high-profile one they’ve ever done. They want to flex a little. Anyway, so what if some families are there? We’re just here to have fun, right?’
‘I’d finally decided to do a small comedy set. Prepared for it also.’
‘So? Do it. Who cares?’
‘You do know who’ll be there, right?’
‘Who?’ Mudit said.
