Kavya was completely lost in her work. A major release has been planned for the end of the day and as if to test her, the testing team identified a major issue that morning. Code freeze has happened and the deployment scripts have been kept ready and this particular issue has come out of nowhere. Her client manager was so very angry when he came to know about this issue. Not just Kavya, the entire team was disturbed by this sudden turn of events. Everyone had been very confident about the release. As usual though younger among the lot, Kavya volunteered to fix the issue. But still they had to break the process to change the code and scripts at the last moment. Kavya analyzed the issue and found that the fix would require change in a single file. So she suggested that they should go ahead and update the file and update the frozen code block.
Dinakaran reached the development area while the discussion was going on. He studied the worried look in the faces of the entire team. He understood that something is wrong. On a normal day, he would have got tensed too but today he was in a different mood. So he looked at the team manager and asked,
"What’s wrong Kamal? Why are you guys looking so worried?"
Kamal knew Dinakaran well, so he understood what’s coming up too! He made himself prepared for the lambasting and explained the situation to him. Dinakaran heard the problem calmly and also heard Kavya’s suggestion. Dinakaran’s attention turned towards Kavya. Kamal wanted to safe guard Kavya and hence added,
"Though it’s not her mistake, she has volunteered to find a solution for the issue sir..."
Dinakaran looked at Kamal and smiled! Kamal was absolutely shocked... He was expecting some harsh words from Dinakaran.
"So Kavya, if we go with your suggestion, then you have to own the issues that arise because of releasing untested code, are you fine with that too?" asked Dinakaran looking straight at Kavya.
"Yes sir, I understand that but if we don’t fix it we will miss the release date...’
"If the final product is not ready why should we release it?"
"But sir, that will make all our effort go in vain..."
"So you want to release the product with this major issue?"
"Hmm... sir, the issue identified is major but as per my analysis, this particular code doesn’t have any other major functionality, so if we fix the current issue and release it, even if there are any other issues, they will not be major in nature. Most probably they will be minor issues... And if there are no surprises then there should be no defects coming up too..."
"Hmm...."
"Also sir, this particular code is not related to finance, security or front end. It’s just processing of data. Hence even in the worst case scenario if there are issues, we can manually fix them through our support team..."
"And this support team is from your company right?" asked Dinakaran with a smile.
Kavya too smiled and nodded her head in acceptance.
Dinakaran now turned his attention towards his other senior employees and asked for their suggestions. Most of them accepted Kavya’s views but also suggested that pushing the release further by few more hours will give them some time to actually test the final code. Dinakaran accepted it and asked them to release the new version of the code little later. When he was just about to leave, he saw the worried look in Kavya’s face. He went near her and asked,
"What’s up Kavya? Why are you worried? You don’t want to take up the responsibility now?"
"Oh! No sir, nothing about the task. I don’t have any direct bus to my place after 7PM but the release is scheduled for 9PM. Even if everything goes on fine, the release will take atleast one hour and then..."
Dinakaran understood her problem.
"But don’t you have a laptop? Go home and work from there..."
"No sir... I am a junior member you see..." Kavya replied hesitantly. Many times, she herself has felt that a laptop while working at a client location will help her a lot. But she didn’t want to say something bad about her own employer.
Dinakaran looked at Kavya keenly. He understood the reason for the hesitancy in her voice. He appreciated her courage, sincerity and analytical skills. He turned towards Kamal, spoke something to him and left the place. Within few minutes, a laptop was given to Kavya with all required accessories to access the hotel’s development servers. Kavya was so very excited to receive it.
‘Thank you, sir!’
"You earned it Kavya! You got it directly from the CEO of this company! Congratulations... But you do have internet connection in your home right?"
"Yes sir, I do have internet in my home. And without your support, encouragement and motivation, I wouldn’t have been able to work and share my thoughts freely... Thank you sir..."
"You know how to talk and flatter people Kavya, you go girl!"
Kavya concentrated on her work and fixed the issue on time. She handed over the code to testing team for them to test the code. Once the initial testing runs got over, she decided to leave so that she can reach home on time to get ready for the release. She informed the same to her reporting manager and reached the bus stop. While waiting for the bus, a car stopped near her and she was surprised to see Dinakaran in the back seat.
"Good evening sir! I started early because..."
"Come on Kavya, I am not your school teacher... I know why you started early, now come on, I will drop you in your home..."
Kavya hesitated for a few seconds, but she didn’t want to offend him too.
"Come fast Kavya, see we have traffic jam now..." saying this, Dinakaran opened the back door of the car and moved away as if to give room for her to sit.
Kavya accepted and entered the car. Kavya shared her address to the driver and then smiled at Dinakaran.
"Thank you sir... not just for this ride but also for the laptop..."
"No Kavya, you should thank your manager for this. He had already recommended a laptop for you but it was pending with me for the approval"
"Oh... but still..."
"Enough of all these thank you... Now, tell me, how you managed to get this analytical and decision making skills... You are so very advanced for your age."
"Thanks for the compliment sir... All the credit should go to my elder sister! I have learned a lot from her... Every time we faced a road block in our life, instead of sitting and crying she will always think about solving the problem... I am just trying to implement the same in my job..."
"Good! Good!"
Then they talked about the team, process etc for some time. Finally Dinakaran wanted to divert the topic from the official topic and hence asked,
"So when is your marriage Kavya?"
Kavya didn’t expect the question from Dinakaran. She just smiled shyly!
"So, your smile seems to convey some message... Do I smell some love in the air..." said Dinakaran teasingly.
But to his surprise, Kavya nodded and said,
"Yes sir, you are correct!"
Dinakaran hid his surprise and added,
"So when is the marriage? Pretty soon I expect!"
"No sir, there are so many complexities associated with it..."
"Like what?"
"Hmmm... I told you about my sister... She is not married yet and she wants me to get married first so that I can settle in my life, but then sir, how can I allow her to carry on this burden for ever..."
"Hmmm..."
"She wants to take care of my mother but how can I be happy when she is not happy?"
"Yeah... I can understand your concern Kavya..."
"So, that’s why sir, I need to first change her mind and find a suitable match for her..."
"Hmmm... ok... But, what about your man, is he ok to wait?"
"He has no problem about that sir, but there are other issues there too... But that’ a big story, I don’t want to make you feel bored with that... Here’s my flat... Please come in and have a cup of coffee sir..."
"No Kavya, may be next time..."
"Please sir... Please bless this poor girl’s home by visiting it and I promise you, you will not feel for it... My mom’s coffee and snacks tastes much better than the five star hotel dishes..."
Dinakaran smiled and accepted her invitation. Kavya also invited the driver to join them. Dinakaran signaled Vasanth also to join them. Vasanth as always politely agreed to his master and accepted the invitation.
Saradha opened the door and was surprised to see Kavya accompanied by couple of strangers. Kavya understood the expression on her mother’s face and quickly introduced them to her mother. Saradha was overwhelmed to know about Dinakaran and Vasanth. She cordially received them both and asked them to be seated. And then she went inside to prepare coffee for them. Kavya also excused herself and went inside to instruct her mother.
Dinakaran’s eyes rolled around the house. Though it was a small flat, it was very well maintained. He was also a bit surprised that Saradha treated both Vasanth and him alike. This family is full of surprises he thought to himself and turned his eyes towards the small showcase in the other side. There were small dolls and some photos. The one in the center with garland should be Kavya’s father thought Dinakaran and then the next photo caught his attention. The face in the photo looked so familiar to him. He got up and went near the shelf and took the photo in his hands.
Kavya and Saradha entered the room with cups and plates. Kavya saw the photo in Dinakaran’s hand and said,
"She is my sister Thulasi sir!"
To be continued...