Javed naam hai mera phir se

Chapter 8

- But, Mr. Samza, listen to me! We can't use back tie for this blouse! It's a classic pattern, more of a day-t-day saree, it's not supposed to be complicated, its beauty is in its simplicity! Let's just change it to leaf design blouse and leave it at that…

It wasn't that easy to fight this little man in big round glasses who looked like an own. First – because he was well-known designer and Anjali wasn't. Second – because he was a man and felt entitled to be correct in any given discussion especially about his bread and butter aka saree design. But Anjali was not going to give up so easily because this man was eager to turn every piece of fabric into very expensive piece of designer's saree – and that was not what AR Design was about. Sure, Anjali appreciated fine artwork of masterfully crafted saree as much as any other women… but she also had a warm spot for simpler, more affordable clothing for everybody… and that is where she and Mr. Samza could not find a common ground.

Owl-man looked at her sheepishly and said:

- Be it your way, take away the tie, but I'm telling you – if you keep simplifying all my designs I may to reconsider fabric… add more lace or zardozi work…

- Oh no, - Anjali groaned softly, - not again…

Seriously, there was no way to agree with this man – he always took an opportunity to add intricate details, colourful embroidery or chic fabric to their new designs for pret-a-porter collection. Mr. Samza did not understand the concept of "subtle and dignified" they had for this collection, and – as luck would have it – it was Anjali's assignment to keep him on track. An assignment she would gladly trade for playing tug-of-war with mule…

…

The discussion kept going and going… They had to relocate to conference room because there was the only table big enough to display all their materials: design sketches, fabric catalogs, budget estimates and the rest of the boring stuff that went into creating fashion.

Luckily for Anjali the conference room was spacious, well lit through big French windows and green with flowers which made being there with Mr. Samza more bearable. She liked this conference room, sometimes Anjali used it as a hideout from her noisy and demanding job… There was this little corner separated from the rest of the room by overgrown pipal bush – during the meetings it was used for serving refreshments but otherwise it was a small hidden place with only one lounge chair and a bookstall where Anjali liked to spend her lunch breaks away from the humming office.

She eyed the familiar bush with longing and even considered making a run for it from annoying Mr. Samza… but Anjali couldn't abandon her work just like that. She had to see it through.

…

It took few more hours for Mr. Samza to drive Anjali to the point of collapsing. Was it a mental torture or her physical inability to tolerate this pompous little owl – she didn't know… but she was anticipating her blackout as a form of escape from him and his nerve-wrecking speeches.

At first he simply disagreed with most of her ideas to simplify the designs to meet budget and format demands for their collection. Then he went on to lecture her on necessity of experience in their line of work heavily implying that Anjali haven't had enough experience to even make him tea – let alone give him advises. And then he ended up suggesting that she would start looking for a more suitable position in some other company since it's unlikely that her services would be required here any longer. All in a span of four hours!

Yes, Mr. Samza did not know Anjali co-owned a company he was going to fire her from. She had made sure that nobody knew who she was which was easy since Anjali worked at the new office with new people and Mr. Sharma agreed to keep her secret. Obviously there was a chance co-workers would recognize her from some media pictures… but Anjali was never all that public and her identity managed to stay unknown for long enough for her to relax on this matter.