Chapter 44

Last night's debacle was still fresh in my mind; I was contemplating whether to skip office or stay at home when I decided the former out of desperation. I had still not wrapped my head around what happened with Manto and now I had landed myself into more trouble. My parents had no clue about the recommendation from Jaideep and now with him as the big boss, things were calling trouble for me from all ends.

Jigar wanted to meet me after office but it was difficult to come home late every day on the pretext of work.

My agenda for today was simple: avoid Agam, stay out of Jaideep's way and keep to your business. Everything was supposed to be fine if I continued to follow my prescribed rule.

The buzz at the office was electric. People were hovering around making arrangements for Jaideep's arrival and his smooth transition into office. The interns amongst all of them were the least affected, chilling with no work.

"Hey," Pooja spoke hushedly but I could not miss the excitement in her voice to narrate the latest office gossip.

"The new Editor-in-chief will be working from the Mumbai office. Did you hear that?"

"Yeah, just heard it from the horse's mouth," I replied listlessly.

"Everyone is freaking out about the new rules and changes he might bring. Plus everyone is saying he is a tough taskmaster."

"Hmm...he has a reputation to live up to."

Prashant who was listening to our conversation was intrigued by my observation.

"You must know him?"

"Me?" I shrieked in response.

"He is from Kolkata." He said it as a matter of fact.

"Do I know all the six crore people who live in Kolkata? No, I suppose."

Jaideep's arrival put every conversation to rest. The man walked in style in his trademark suit and Louis Vuitton shoes which could not be missed by anyone familiar with his style. The scowl was permanently etched on his face. Agam walked behind him with his editor in tow.

Rohit and Rasik greeted him courteously. He shook hands with Rohit and others, warmly making introductions with everyone. However, he gave a royal snub to Rasik who looked baffled. It was odd and interesting to see Rasik of no importance on the scene. Prashant gaped in amazement while the rest of us were bewildered for most of it.

Rohit took the lead in introducing and later left the floor for Jaideep to speak.

"Good afternoon, I am sorry I am holding you all in your lunchtime. But this is important before we resume work and go back to our busy schedules. I wouldn't disrupt much and won't cause you any inconveniences, barring a few to make the channel more inclusive in its offerings and also help each one of us to learn more from each other and not feel restricted or limited in our scopes."

Everyone listened to him carefully like a hawk.

"I am Jaideep Sahani, acting Editor-in-Chief of FMN & FBN for the interim period till my friend Anurag Kanwal will be back from his sabbatical. Meanwhile, certain rules will be tweaked while most things will function as same as before.

Every week beginning today, all reporters will sit with me to pitch their feature story ideas. Please run through me the current stories you are taking up, any follow-ups, interviews...I don't mean to stifle your freedom or individuality in the story selection process, but this will regulate and help me understand the process better. I like to be organised and keep others organized too. Any questions?"

People were in awe of his speech and would have thought twice before going against his authority. Since there were no questions, he was more than happy to continue.

"Good. The beats remain the same for most of you, however, the decision to choose interns to help you would not be entirely yours. Starting today each intern will be assigned to a reporter for a week. They will be shadowing them. This will ensure each intern gets a chance to learn everything and also realise where they stand concerning their passion for pursuing this profession."

I don't know what most of them thought but this was altogether good news.

"And now for the major announcement that you have all been waiting for, FBN and FMN are collaborating for a story for which reporters have already been assigned, the intern selection process will happen as of now.

Hrehan from FMN will be leading the team and Binodini is the intern assigned to him."

No surprises there for anyone.

"The standby reporter for this story would be Mansi and she will be assisted by Prashant. From FBN we have Agam and the reporter assigned to him is Abhilasha."

Pooja nudged me to acknowledge Jaideep's announcement. I was in shock to react or digest the piece of news immediately. Mansi, Bini, Swati...all eyes were collectively on me. Wait for what?

"You need to move towards the conference room for the briefing..." Pooja whispered in my ears. She pushed me when I could not seem to walk on my own. This was perhaps the worst roller coaster ride I had ever taken. Everything seemed to be turning upside down and I had no clue how to make things stop.

The conference room was quiet. Each one of us stared at each other, then soon went back to scribbling, whispering or texting each other under the table. Prashant and I were constantly trying to figure out what this project was all about. We came up with the most bizarre to the most plausible situations to investigate.

Jaideep entered alone and though it was not surprising, it spoke volumes about the leadership and the working in the office for coming days.

"Before I begin about the project, few guidelines!" He announced. "Whatever we discuss should not go out from here. It's confidential. I don't wish to make you sign NDAs because I trust my teammates."

He then turned to Agam, who stood up and began explaining the story in detail.

"Last week while working on the Chetna Pandit case we went through the bank's numerous loan papers and other significant details in court. During one such document, we came across transactions that spell discrepancy in bold.

On digging deeper we found that transactions took place from one shell company to another with no particular real owner in sight. Our primary investigation reveals an organized crime that spans multiple banks, nations, and takes place at the hands of multiple politicians and businessmen.

Agam stopped as it was a cue for Hrehan to take this forward.

"My theory is the black money is routed through various channels to be turned into white, which is ultimately pumped back to our country to thrive our democracy. However, all this happens after passing the hands of multiple agencies in between which could be legitimate as well as illegitimate.

Our motto here is to dig deeper and find out the connection between the black money and the various owners, agencies and also find out how it is being utilised to commit a crime and weaken our democratic process."

Jaideep now confidently addressed the rest of us. "The task at hand is huge and the findings will perhaps shake the very foundation of our democracy. Therefore, nothing should leave the confines of this room. No one will be added or removed from this team above and beyond already chosen after today. The interns have been entrusted with responsibility so huge for primary two reasons, your unknown face and your fresh perspective.

Mansi standby does not mean standing as a bystander. We will need your expertise and contacts to navigate through the world of entertainment and their deep connection with the mafia and subsequently understand their role in this."

Mansi was spellbound, only nodding her head when asked to. She could not even squeak a yes in response.

Jaideep continued, "You guys will report to me directly on this and I may assign new responsibilities specifically over and above this project. Our meeting for this story is the first and last that has happened during office hours. New timings for this will be conveyed separately and not through the official channel. No communication will take place through official mail addresses or personal, messengers or calls. A separate burner app will be installed for you on your phone and a new number provided. You are to utilise it for all means of communication related to this project. Is this clear? Any Questions?"

Jaideep waited for thirty seconds more before ending the meeting on the note,

" For your teammates outside you are working on a feature documentary on economic scams and frauds in India which is mind-boggling and requires deep research work. Thank you."

And he left, leaving some of us to sit and chew a lot of things.