Chapter 3 The Red Hats

After forty-six minutes Darwin came out of the room. It was my turn now. I entered the room with a fake smile on my face asking to get in.

Get in, get in....sit down.

There were two gentlemen and one lady sitting in front of me. Mr. Nova the CEO was sitting right in front of me. A thickly bearded man with handlebar mustaches. He was the man of personality.

The lady asked me to tell something about myself. As I started, my name is...

"It's all in your resume, tell us which is not here. How can you be an asset to my company? Why would I hire you? Mr. Nova interrupted me.

So, here was my well-prepared readymade answer "Sir, I am multi-tasking and with minimal errors; can present you my work within a given time frame."

"Minimal errors? That means you want us to take a person who makes errors and wastes the precious time of my company?"

Sir, I may make errors but I will correct them and will provide you the best codes ever.

"You mean to say that you will make mistakes," Mr. Nova asked me

Sir, it is true that nobody is perfect in this world and we all make mistakes, but one should accept that he is at the wrong edge and should minimize them.

The lady in purple shirt asked," that means, we who are taking your interview also make mistakes."

Now I was trapped. What to say?

I said," ma'am expectations are always there, but nobody is perfect. To err is human."

The Gentleman sitting right of Mr. Nova said," you are too frank for this profession. I have never seen such a candidate who says even to his interviewers that you make mistakes. We can not make one more mistake. We have to say sorry to you."

The lady said, " he doesn't know what to say and what not to."

I was silent outside but a storm of questions was in my mind.

They have not asked anything about software, language, or coding, and judging me. I had prepared a lot for this and everything is going out like sand in the feast.

"I am sorry if I had disappointed you, I am as I am," I said.

"We know you are brilliant in developing, your academics are good, you have secured good grades in written examination, your demo was perfect. Before calling you for an interview, we already knew that you are an excellent software developer. This interview was just to dig inside you, to see if you can work with a team. We want to know you inside out, we were checking your forbearance. You are a straightforward man. And gentleman, I am pleased to welcome you to the Red Hats. Your joining letter will be mailed to you by tomorrow " Mr. Nova said.

I took a breath of happiness and was jumping inside my mind.

Thank you, sir. I will not disappoint you.

Two other interviewers also congratulated me.

"Thank you, sir, thank you, ma'am" I replied with a true smile on my face and left the room.

Van-da-Darwin was waiting for me in the corridor. As I saw him, shook my hand in a winning posture, and he did the same. We both were shortlisted for the Red Hats. It was dream come true.

It was 6 pm, Moon was trying to take over from the Sun. We decided to celebrate and eat outside. While walking towards the bus stop we checked out many beautiful faces who might work with us in the same office. We were very hopeful.

"Let's go to casinos tonight," Darwin said.

In these clothes? I asked

Why not? We are Red Hats now.

Ok! Done I said.

At 7 we were in the Royal Casino. For the first time, we took premium entry passes.

Two large whiskies on the rocks. The order was repeated thrice in the next thirty minutes.

"Why this bar is shaking? Why everyone is behaving like a drunk? Why this stage is dancing? Why everybody is running here and there?" Darwin murmured rubbing his eyes.

"I was going to ask the same. I think we should stop drinking now" I said.