INTERVIEW ?

I met Sriram about a year ago – in August 2008 - when I joined his Cuban salsa course. My sister Princy, was his fellow instructor and I was promised free classes. I had recently quit being a doctor and was listlessly drifting through life.

I wasn’t complaining though.

Sriram bounded in – late, as usual – like an energizer-bunny and started class.

Things I noticed about Sriram off-the-bat:-

- he talked a lot [a lot more than any man I’ve ever known]

- had way too much energy than he knew what to do with

- was built like a truck

- he was firm without being strict and made sure everyone KNEW the steps before they left class – and I mean EVERYONE.

- and he had a bad back

He lay down on the ground after class, groaning like T-rex, complaining about his back-ache. ‘What do you think I should do doc?’

So we have an impromptu consultation and then he asked me what I’d been doing to keep myself occupied.

Princy jumped in with, “She likes to write. She writes all the time”

He looked up at me perched on the window-sill, from where he lay on the dance-floor, like a vanquished wrestler and said, “You know what? I may have something for you. I have a web-tech company and we’re launching this search engine that’s centered on India and India’s needs. It’s called 'Yo Monk'.”

He went on to explain 'Yo Monk' to me in great detail and I actually understood little bits and pieces of it, here and there. Mostly I just nodded sagely and he assumed I knew a lot more than I actually did.

As we walked-out to the elevator, Sriram said, “We should have coffee sometime next week and we’ll discuss your pay and your work in greater detail”

(Eh? Did I just get a job?)

A couple of weeks later, Sriram walked into the Coffee house – late – and launched into another soliloquy about 'Yo Monk'. I’d had 2 weeks to get used to the whole ‘I’m employed again feeling’, even though I had no clue what I would do, or how I would do, that which I didn’t understand fully.

He illustrated on a piece of paper - till it shreaded - and punched the air with his pen and talked passionately, for almost an hour.

I was completely over-whelmed.

I have no computer back-ground, no technical knowledge, no ambition and would hate to mess this up.

(Oh help!!!!)

“You can work from home or you can come to our Synamen (OUR SYNAMEN?!?) office. That’s entirely up to you. We can e-mail you the content we need modifying and you can e-mail the finished product back to us.”

(Oh help!!!!)

I nodded – not knowing fully what I was nodding to.

“Great! That’s settled then” (It is?) “Now about your pay. An editor (I’m an EDITOR?!?) in a regular company usually takes home about 30 grand a month Edel. We can’t afford that. What we can pay you is X and when we grow – and I guarantee you we will, one way or other – you will get what’s your due.” (My due? I have a ‘due’?)

“Er … okay.” I mumbled like an idiot.

“Look Edel, it’s like this. I have no clue if what Synamen’s about to do will work or not. If it does, GREAT! If it doesn’t, we’ll shrug, smile stupidly and walk away knowing that at least we tried. But at the end of the day, we would have tried and that’s what will differentiate us from the 85% who never will.”

Sriram walked out saying he was – surprise, surprise – late for another meeting and I mulled over what he’d just said.

Maybe ……………