84 Ishaan Naidu

A few processed Rainbow trouts sizzled as they were fried in two pans turning their exterior into beautiful golden brown texture while Aditya made the gravy in another frying pan. He added everything as per the recipe of a famous Indian Michelin Star chef's cookbook which he had read recently. The gravy contained all kinds of ingredients like grounded cumin, coriander, onion, tomato and potato along with the tandoori paste. Masala would be added at the end.

Everything that Aditya needed was already prepared beforehand. Most of the ingredients were procured directly from farm produce as one of the employees had a farm outside of Bangalore and he was given the task to grow all the required vegetables organically. Of course, the office would compensate him. There was a huge '526 litres built-in french door' refrigerator which was used to store things like frozen peas, sauces, vinegar, ice creams and other things.

Aditya did not allow beverages in his office, even if they were soft drinks, to be stored in the kitchen as he encouraged his employees to drink blends of fruits or green leafy vegetables like wheatgrass, spinach etc. This was complained about sometimes as most of the other companies served hot beverages also but Aditya did not give in. A diverse range of coffee beans like Coffee robusta, Coffee Arabica, Dark Sumatra Mandheling beans etc was displayed in a corner of the open kitchen along with all the coffee related equipment which became a haven for javaphiles.

As Aditya was interested with knives since he started learning the Filipino Kali martial art, he had spent a little extra to get himself the best set Miyabi Kaisen Japanese knives which were famous for their sharpness. The knife in his hand would vanish and turn into a blur whenever he started slicing onion and tomatoes but the consistency and uniformity of the pieces would never differ from the required size. The manner in which Aditya cooked was in itself a splendid show which many employees like to watch as they become immersed in a mysterious feeling. He was also able to cook very fast that thirty minutes was all he needed to cook for his employees.

When Aditya did not come, most of the people preferred to cook for themselves and others, but some people would visit the common cafeteria in the building from time to time. But when Aditya came, the afternoon lunch hour would become a food fest filled with all kinds of aromas, smells of savoury spices and sounds of laughter, gossiping as well as the clatter of cutlery. Aditya had hired four persons to clean up after everything and take care of hygiene and cleanliness of the whole office.

All of these people had their own preferred tastes, some simply liked burgers and sandwiches while some liked Chinese cuisine. Some liked continental while some liked North Indian cuisine. Aditya strongly felt that if not for his abilities, he would have found it very hard to impress each and every one of them. But, right now, he was pretty relaxed as his hands multi-tasked from one item to another and many dishes were sent out one after the other in a short time.

Gagan had turned into a waiter as he brought everything that Fenny needed as he did not allow her to move around too much. Among the twenty people, there were eight women in which two were middle-aged and married while the rest were below thirty. Among them, two were married while two were committed leaving two women who were young and single. These two beautiful and single women for obvious reasons set their sights on Aditya and would flirt with him from time to time.

Aditya did not mind their teasing as long as they reached his expectations in their work. If not, he did not mind replacing them. Many of the men in their office had tried to pursue them but when they came to know that these two women set their sights on their boss, they gave up. It was not that they were afraid of Aditya but they genuinely felt that they could not compete with their boss either in his looks, physique or in his skills and talent.

One needed to know that not one of these twenty employees were normal. Each and every one of them had their strong points. Though Aditya did not select them only based on their skills set, they all were from highly reputed colleges.

Most of them hailed from IITs (Indian Institute of Technology, these institutes have been training the cream layer of Indian engineers since many decades). Especially the two single women were from the same batch of IIT Madras (best among all IITs). So, Aditya was very satisfied with their quality of work and would chat with them from time to time. These two women would automatically offer to become his aides when he cooked.

"Jagvi, pass this trout to Sister Fenny," Aditya said as he poured the gravy over the fried trout in an exquisite design and passed it to the woman beside him who was arranging the cutlery. The woman smilingly nodded as she took the plate. Aditya looked at the woman who was supposed to be making flatbread (Parata). He frowned a little as he said, "Charita, just add a little more oil and I am sure the US would invade the pan." The flatbread was practically floating in the oil which was totally not necessary.

The woman who looked like she was in her early twenties smiled awkwardly as she looked piteously at Aditya with bright eyes, "Ishaan, didn't you say that I should add more oil last time I made them." Although Aditya did not restrict his employees from calling by his name, only these two women actually addressed him by his name. Everyone else either called him boss or big brother.

Aditya shook his head as he said, "Fine, go and check if Jagvi requires any help." He started making flatbread while Charita ran away towards Jagvi while pouting her lips. These two women were as close to each other as real siblings.

Although it looked like Aditya was talking with these women or busy cooking, the fact was that Aditya had activated his 'Sensifull' ability as he observed every movement, expression, lip movements and gesture of all the employees. Everyone's thoughts were as plain as a white paper in front of this ability as Aditya observed their body language.

Aditya placed high importance on these people that he could not allow any mole to enter in this batch. He had already observed a few people who showed disdain and sneered at him when they glanced at him from time to time. They seemed to be planning something behind his back as they exchanged looks between themselves. They should be spies or moles from their rival start-ups or some MNCs (Multi-National Companies) eyeing their projects. He knew that all people could not be perfect so Aditya was always vigilant.

"Boss, could you cook Chinese chicken wings for me?" a bespectacled youth with cleanly shaved face and combed hair came as he asked Aditya hopefully. Aditya looked at him as he asked, "Abhiram, is the Data Flow Design for the Social Bookmarking App ready?"

"Nope, but I will finish it by evening."

"Then, come for your chicken wings tomorrow." an indifferent reply was heard.

"Boss..."

Abhiram dragged his feet back with a dull face as Jagvi gave him a trout dish. Aditya smiled a little as he saw Abhiram took a piece, placed it in his mouth. His eyes instantly lit up as he started digging into the dish.

Aditya turned his head to see a man who was lanky as he ate a micro greens salad while chatting with other colleagues. Aditya asked, "Virat, how is 'Web 3.0' coming along?"

Web 3.0 was the product that most of his employees were working together to develop. It was software based on Augmented Reality. The main concept of this app was converting 2D images (normal camera pictures) into 3D models. If this was successfully developed, E-commerce shopping would evolve as all the products could be clearly seen by the consumers in 3D which would give a more realistic experience to them.

Virat stood up as he reported with a serious face, "Boss, the 3D Reconstruction model is possible with Multi-view object reconstruction through Visible overlap of physical points which requires Epipolar geometry and a fundamental matrix. We are currently working on a triangulation algorithm which could automatically identify the corresponding points of a 2D image. If we could succeed in achieving that, we would be able to reduce a lot of hassle for the e-commerce sites. Otherwise, they would have to take many pictures of the same product from different angles and construct a fundamental matrix for each of them to create an accurate 3D model."

Aditya nodded his head satisfactorily as he took a USB drive from his pocket and tossed it at Virat, "I wrote an algorithm called the 'Sixteen point Algorithm'. See if it works out." This was the reason that Aditya did not sleep the last night. He was sure it would work out as he was confident with his capabilities but for his software to be applied successfully, the camera had to be adjusted to some special settings. It was not an unworkable solution. Aditya was sure that this product would produce quakes in the AR market once it was released. This would be his company's first step in it's rise to fame.

Virat's face showed awe when he caught the drive, he knew the skills of his boss too well. He was already celebrating inside that their boss took care of the most tricky obstacle. The faces of Charita and Jagvi also lit up as they were also in the same team as Virat, working on 3D reconstruction.

Just as Aditya was about to give some pointers to Virat and others, he saw Kapil entering the office. This middle-aged person possessed the same calm and seriousness as he did when he taught in the school but every student knew that he was one of the most lenient teachers who empathized with them the most. Aditya also respected him which was the main reason that he employed him even before checking if he was competent. But Kapil proved that he could be entrusted with heavy responsibility with the efficient handling of his duties.

Aditya had pushed all the financial matters of this startup on Kapil which he managed beautifully. Aditya was very pleased with how smooth the office was running even though it had only been three weeks since the office started and he, as the boss, was absent most of the time. Gagan and Fenny were another reason for this achievement which was recognized by Aditya in his heart.

Aditya washed his hands and wiped them dry. He removed his apron as he walked towards Kapil and handed him a drink, "Mr Kapil, have some buttermilk, it will cool your body."

Even though every employee was used to the respect shown by their boss to Kapil, it still amazed them a little that the person who usually looked as untameable as a wild bull would suddenly become meek in their financial manager's presence.

They also realized that it was genuine respect and was not like their boss actually feared Kapil. They all felt that both these people had some history. Jagvi and Charita's eyes glowed when they saw their boss acting in this way as they looked at each other.

"Boss, why do you have to bring this personally?" Kapil smiled bitterly as he took the drink from Aditya's hand. It was a mystery to him as well as to why his boss acted this way. He drank a little as he passed a packet of documents to Aditya, "Boss, the Induslnd Freedom Startup account has been approved, it is the best Startup current account available with key features like Zero Balance account,..."

Aditya listened attentively as he checked the related material in his hand. He felt his heart become steadfast when he saw the amount of money in his account and his name as 'Ishaan Naidu' printed on the Cheque book, he felt that his foundation as 'Ishaan' was laid down finally.