Sky was the limit for Aditya when he graduated his MBA and landed a lucrative job "reserved" for the cream of the management students. After a short vacation with his friends, he found himself driving on his way to his job. But he had taken his new wake of life quite gracefully. He had all the qualities of being a sucessful entrepreneur one day. He soon realized that he would rather command people and get productive work done than work for a monthly wage.
As determined, he left his job one day and ventured off to start his own consulting firm. Excellent academics and key experience proved instrumental in setting up his dream. Ruthlessly competitive by nature, Aditya saw to it that the growth of the firm got his utmost attention. Soon the efforts bore their fruit and his consultancy took off splendidly.
Amidst the shooting career, Aditya got married to his childhood friend Smita. It took him ten years to understand why Smita looked at him that way ever since they turned sixteen. Smita had always loved him and now Aditya knew who actually sent him those anonymous letters every valentine for the past few years. They soon were blessed with a baby boy. The couple were at the zenith of their happiness. And little Rahul was enjoying all the attention.
The personal life was beautiful beyond their phathom, but the graph of professional achievement was getting steeper as years went by and soon time came for Smita to understand the importance of Aditya's work. She did understand or so she said. Rahul was growing fast under the care of his mother and generous gifts by his father on his birthdays every year. Though Rahul was delighted, Smita knew that is was just another bribe for not being on time, forgetting the party at home which might be just a little more important than some five star dine to please a client.
As Aditya continued his crusade clenching every milestone he set ahead, he could not wait to get home that day. It was Rahul's tenth birthday. Aditya remembered that and also got a big gift for Rahul. After the guests had left, Aditya broke the news he had been dying to tell his family. He had grabbed the best deal of his life. Something that guarunteed to make his mark amongst the elite in the business. He was awarded the consulting contract after thoughtful consideration over twenty other potentials. Smita tried not to react, but Rahul made an innocent comment. "Whats the use dad? You will come home even more late and exhausted. I will never find time to see you."
That innocence said it all. Was the son so busy that he could not find time see his dad? Reality crashed upon Aditya when he realised the loss his account books never showed when making profit entries as years went by. He was stunned by the harsh reality, his success at profession had proved to be his failure when it came to family. And in moments to follow, he soon understood all that Smita wanted to say. He had failed her too. He was up all night, trying to sum up the aftermath. He gazed at the coffee mug with "Worlds greatest dad" painted on it, a dear gift from worlds greatest son, and wondered had he really lost the chance to be one.
The next day he was in bed longer than usual. Smita reminded him that didnt he have some work to do. "I am coming", said Aditya and picked up his phone to make some calls. Business as usual. He got down for breakfast where the trio slilently had their sandwich and juice, until Aditya broke the silence. "Hurry up you two. We are getting late." Smita was more than surprised,"Where else is anyone going except you!". "Well, not just me, we all are going ... on a month long vacation" Aditya cleared the suspense. "Hurray, I have the best dad in the world". Rahul was jumping with joy.
Just a few phone calls is what it took for Aditya to tell the client that he had decided to take a break for a while and the contract be given to the next bidder. Deep down somewhere Aditya felt, this must be the best deal he could have ever clenched. All he needed was to strike that perfect balance between work and family to stop his success from becoming the laying stone for his failure.
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