Tracy returned with the key in her hand and said, “Here is the spare key to H-975”.
“Thank you very much,” Venkatesh said. He collected the key from her.
“You are welcome,” Tracy reciprocated.
Niranjan was surprised at the way Tracy interacted with her customer. He appreciated her quick response to Venkatesh’s request.
Tracy never asked Venkatesh to wait even though she was in the middle of her work and gave him what he wanted.
They walked back to the car, and left the apartment premises to join the 'Route One South'. The scenic beauty with lush greenery on the ‘Route One South’ soothed Niranjan's eyes. They travelled for about half hour and Niranjan noticed a board ‘Summit Software Solutions’ on an office suite building. Venkatesh parked his car in front of it and they walked inside the office suite.
Chapter 05 Summit Software, New Jersey
It's lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believed in myself - Muhammad Ali
Niranjan entered into the office suites building where Summit Software Solutions was located. A list of various offices and their suite numbers were displayed near the entrance in the ground floor. He reached to the second floor along with Venkatesh through the elevator and walked towards the right side to reach the office.
He followed Venkatesh, who pushed open the door to enter into the lobby. He noticed an American origin woman receptionist busy on the phone. She saw them near the desk, and hung up the phone.
'Good Morning Venkatesh, how are you doing?’ receptionist asked.
‘I am doing well; this is Niranjan from India, and yesterday he has come to New Jersey. We would like to meet Vivek’.
‘Okay, welcome to the USA. Vivek will be here any time soon, and till then you can wait inside the office,’ receptionist said while she gazed at Niranjan.
They walked inside towards Vivek’s office. Niranjan made himself comfortable in front of the large table with many chairs around it. They waited for several minutes before Vivek entered inside.
"Good morning guys, how are you doing?" Vivek said. He kept his briefcase on the table and straightened his office chair.
"Good morning. Niranjan is here today," Venkatesh said.
Niranjan shook hand while Vivek made himself comfortable.
"Welcome to the USA. How was the journey?" Vivek asked. He loosened his tie a bit.
"Well, I enjoyed the journey, and Venkatesh picked me up from the airport," Niranjan answered. He kept his hands on the table in front.
"That's great; are you staying with him right now?" Vivek asked.
"Yes, we are staying together," Niranjan replied.
Meanwhile Venkatesh picked his bag and said, "I need to go to the client place, it is already late."
"Well, your plane tickets will arrive next week. You can wrap up your work at the client as early as possible," Vivek said.
"Yes, Project work is almost completed. I need to transfer the project details to another employee," Venkatesh said while he stood up to leave the hall.
"That's great. I'll let you know when I receive the plane ticket," Vivek said.
"All right," Venkatesh said, and walked out of the office.
Venkatesh desired to return to India and had completed two years of work at General Electric. He did not opt to extend his stay even though client was interested to have him for their future projects.
Niranjan spoke with Vivek leisurely and discussed about the interview procedure followed in the USA. He showed his resume to Vivek and explained about his project work back in India. He mentioned his hard work in the previous project, and his Project Manager’s interest in sending him to the USA. Niranjan expressed his keen interest to join a client as early as possible to gain good project experience.
"Well, I think you are more competitive and skilled engineer to work in this country. If the client has a requirement for their project work, they definitely hire you," Vivek said with a smile.
"Okay and when can I expect a client interview?" Niranjan asked with anxious tone.
"Let me send a copy of your resume to our esteemed clients in New Jersey today. I will let you know once I hear from them. It may not take more than a week if your resume matches with the client requirements,” Vivek said.
“All right, let’s keep our fingers crossed,” Niranjan said.
“Yes, and meanwhile you can update yourself with the latest technology trends in the software field,” Vivek suggested.
Niranjan was told by Vivek to be seated in the room, adjacent to his office.
Niranjan came out of Vivek’s office and opened the door of the adjoining room to enter inside. He saw few technical books piled on the table for reference. Few computers were kept facing the rear side of the room. He made himself comfortable and picked one of the books from the table.
######
Niranjan spent most of the day reading and browsing the internet. Evening at four o clock, he saw Vivek approaching towards him.
"You have good news," Vivek said. He had a pleasant smile on his face.
“Wow, really? Let me know it then,” Niranjan said with curious voice.
“One of our clients, General Electric, would like to speak with you tomorrow,” Vivek said.
“Wow, that’s great. We got response from them so early”.
“Yes, and your skill sets are quite demanding in the market. Tomorrow before noon, one of the hiring Managers will interview you. You please be prepared for it,” Vivek said with a stern voice.
“Sure, I will try my level best to perform well in the interview,” Niranjan said with the straightened posture.
“All right,” Vivek said.
I am lucky to have interview with General Electric, and I never expected it so soon. I should grab this opportunity without fail.
#######
Next day, Niranjan waited for the call from General Electric and spent time in updating himself with technical details. He received the call couple of hours later and spoke with the client Manager, Frank, from General Electric. Niranjan was asked several technical questions, followed by personal details. He answered all the questions with the confidence and conveyed his interest to work with them, given an opportunity.
Soon after the interview, he saw Vivek approaching towards him inside the room.
“Congratulations! Frank is interested to hire you for two years for one of their upcoming projects. He is pleased with the way you answered his questions and he is very much impressed,” Vivek said.
“Oh, I am glad to hear such good news from you. Frank gave his decision immediately”.
“Yes, and because your colleague Venkatesh is already with them, Frank had received good feedback from him about you.”
“Wow, that’s great, I'm thankful to Venkatesh,” Niranjan said with smile.
“Tomorrow, you can go with him directly to the General Electric and report to Frank. I'm sure you can keep up the good work a
nd you if have any problems please contact me,” Vivek said.
“Oh sure, I will.”
Vivek walked back to his office room.
Wow, I work for General Electric from Tomorrow! I am so lucky and it happened so quickly. They have hired me for two years and after completion, I can return back to India. I am thankful to almighty for giving me this opportunity.
######
Niranjan reached the General Electric office building, along with Venkatesh in the morning. The office building was built in a huge space which included a large parking area and a small garden with manicured grass. The walls of the building were covered with tinted glasses. The entire building was coated with white paint. Neatly cut bushes were grown across the basement wall, near the entrance. The entrance was made up of a thick and tall glass door of ten feet height and General Electric logo was embedded on it.
Niranjan climbed the steps leading to the main entrance and followed Venkatesh who pushed open the door to enter inside.
A male receptionist was seated on the desk and said, “Good Morning”.
“Good Morning. He is Niranjan and is here to report to Frank today,” Venkatesh said.
“Okay, let me inform Frank, please be seated,” receptionist said.
Niranjan heard receptionist speaking to Frank, and she informed Niranjan soon after, that Frank will be here in few minutes. He was later escorted by Frank to his office and they had discussion about the current team and its members. He was introduced to his team members and they had a short meeting together. Later, he was shown his desk from where he would begin his project work.
Chapter 6 Jennifer and Andrea
A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down - Arnold H. Glasow
The bright sunlight provided the needed warmth during a chilly winter afternoon, and the icy snow slowly melted to become water after exposure to the warm sunlight. The trickling sound of water out of the melting snow dripped from the roof of the house, and disturbed the otherwise calm atmosphere. Leaves of pine trees turned to dark green colour, which were earlier masked with white snowflakes. Shiny water droplets on the tip of the grass and edge of the leaves reflected the sunlight forming a rainbow.
Jennifer made herself comfortable on a recliner with a novel in her hand. She had taken a lot of interest in the novel since last few days, and had decided to finish it before the weekend. She heard her cell phone, kept on the small table, ringing and she closed the novel with the bookmark. She tiptoed towards the table to receive the call.
“How are you, Jane?” Andrea asked with a cheerful tone.
“I am doing well, what’s up?” Jennifer answered.
“Well, are you free now? I am planning for a movie,” Andrea said with a hurried tone.
"Okay, I can spend some time with you this evening," Jennifer said. She came back towards the recliner.
"Okay, sounds good. We will go to the Quaker Bridge Mall and shop there at Macy’s. We will watch a movie there before we come back," Andrea said with a stern voice.
"That’s a perfect plan, and do you mind coming over here?" Jennifer asked. She sat again on the recliner.
"Okay dear, I will be there in next half hour," Andrea said.
"All right," Jennifer said, and disconnected the phone. She paused for few moments and continued reading her novel
Andrea's invitation pleased Jennifer as she had spent most of the week alone, reading the novel and helping her Mom in the kitchen. She decided to spend good time with Andrea on that Friday evening.
About half hour later, Jennifer heard Andrea speaking with her mother at downstairs. She waited in her room till Andrea came to her place.
"What’s up, are you busy reading?" asked Andrea while she entered inside the room.
‘Well, I thought of finishing it today,’ Jennifer said, and kept the book on the table.
‘Let’s go, it is getting late. You can read later,’ Andrea said in a hurried voice.
“Okay, please wait for few minutes,” Jennifer said and opened her closet and pulled a dress from inside.
Jennifer dressed herself, and informed her mother about their visit to the Quaker Bridge Mall. She decided to drive the Beetle and walked towards the garage. Andrea made herself comfortable beside her in the Beetle. Jennifer drove outside towards the main gate to join the Route One North to go to the Mall.
“Okay, are we first watching the movie? How about shopping at Macy’s?” Jennifer asked while she passed a moving car ahead.
"First we shop at the Macy’s and then watch the movie,” Andrea replied.
Jennifer negotiated a hair pin bend to take an exit from the Route One to go to the Quaker Bridge Mall and drove straight to the huge parking lot, where several cars were parked. She parked her Beetle in front of the Macy’s and the Sears’s shopping outlet, and they walked towards the main entrance of the Mall.
They entered into the shopping outlet, which had a huge collection of shopping items including jewellery and leather.
“What are you interested to buy in here?” Jennifer asked while she strode past the counter section along with Andrea.
‘”I am looking for a couple of sweaters to wear in the winter,” Andrea replied.
“Well, you can take a look at the Cashmere sweaters, which are soft and keeps you warm,” Jennifer said and walked along side Andrea.
Jennifer walked towards the women’s clothing section and saw a collection of sweaters. Branded sweaters of Charter Club and Alex Evening were kept on a shelf, with a different colour range.
Jennifer selected few Cashmere sweaters and showed them to Andrea.
“What is the special about these ones?” Andrea asked. She held a sweater in her hand.
“Well, Cashmere sweaters are known for the light weight and the softness. They are made from wool out of cashmere goat from India,” Jennifer said while she squeezed one of the Cashmere sweaters.
Andrea too squeezed the sweater held in her hand and said, “Yes, I can feel it; it’s really soft and light. I will buy these ones.”
“I will buy one for me,” Jennifer said. She selected the pink and white ones with the checked pattern.
They walked towards the counter to pay the bill, and stepped out of the Macy’s, towards the centre of the Mall.
The Claire’s fashion store, Cohen’s Optical, Dakota Watch Company, Dollar Shop and many more outlets were lined up inside the mall. Metallic flower pots were kept at the corners of the path way with different plants in them, and it enhanced the beauty of the shining floor of the Mall. Jennifer and Andrea came to the centre of the Mall where the elevator was made available to go to the first floor of the mall. The theatre was built in the first floor along with the other shopping outlets.
"Are we late?" asked Jennifer while she looked at the movie listing.
"No, show starts in few minutes," Andrea said.
Andrea purchased the tickets at the counter, and they entered into the cinema hall.
######
Outside the Quaker Bridge Mall, the
sun was set with complete darkness spread everywhere in the sky. Milky white light from halogen lamps had lit the entire parking area, where many visitors parked their cars. The cold breeze made everyone to feel fresh and passionate to stay outside for longer time.
Jennifer and Andrea walked out of the mall, after watching the movie and walked towards the car parking place.
"Are we heading directly to home?" Andrea asked while she stood beside the Beetle.
‘We can have the dinner on the way as it is already late,’ Jennifer said.
Andrea paused for a moment and asked, ‘Where shall we dine?’
“How about dining in TGI Friday’s at the Market Fair Mall? It is on the way to our way back home,” Jennifer said.
‘All right, let’s go,’ Andrea said and walked towards the car door.
Jennifer pulled the car from the parking slot and drove past the Mall area to join the Route One North to go to the Market Fair Mall.
Chapter 7 Niranjan and Jennifer
Basic human contact - the meeting of eyes, the exchanging of words - is to the psyche what oxygen is to the brain. If you're feeling abandoned by the world, interact with anyone you can - Martha Beck
The sun was set with the darkness spread all around the sky, which blinked to the earth through the twinkling stars. Sounds of airplanes and moving cars once in a while disturbed the otherwise calm atmosphere of the Deer Creek Apartments. Halogen Lights in the apartment premises were on, and illuminated the entire parking area with milky white radiance.
It was a Friday evening and Americans were leaving out of their home for a week end delight. Some were seen going with their partner while others walked alone towards the parking area. Cold breeze made everyone feel romantic and forced them to come out of their residence.
Having completed one week of hard work at General Electric, Niranjan was relaxing with Venkatesh in the balcony of his home. He got tempted to go outside for a long drive to enjoy the pleasant weather.
“Why don’t we roam around tonight and have dinner outside? The weather is quite pleasant out there,” Niranjan asked.
“Sure, I was about to ask you the same. People are going out of the apartment one by one in their car as it is the Friday evening,” Venkatesh said.
“Yes and where shall we go? Shall we go to a Mall?” Niranjan asked.
"Yes, we will go to the Market Fair Mall in Princeton, and it is just five miles away from here. We can visit Barnes and Noble book store, and other shopping outlets," Venkatesh suggested.
“Okay, let’s go”.
Both Niranjan and Venkatesh walked inside and dressed themselves with casual wear. Niranjan wore navy blue trouser and blue checked shirt while Venkatesh put on blue jeans and white t-shirt. Niranjan seated inside the car while Venkatesh drove towards the Deer Creek Drive and took the right turn to join the Route One South.