‘SSWC?’ I asked nervously as Vijay added some custom animation that would make the words on the slide glow and grow progressively larger before exploding like fireworks across the screen. ‘How many cups of coffee have you had today, Tau?’

‘Shoot Shit with Confidence,’ Vijay said with a manic gleam in his eye as the slide he was previewing exploded like a bomb thanks to the custom animation. ‘That’s what these presentations are meant for. Your presentation is going to be a killer, Megha—just you watch. They don’t call me PPT King for nothing!’

‘Umm, are you saying my presentation is shitty?’ I asked, little beads of perspiration forming on my brow. ‘Because it’s day after tomorrow, you know. I can still change it, of course, if I put in an all-nighter today…’

‘Metaphor, metaphor!’ Vijay clicked his tongue impatiently and added a few more exclamation marks to the slide. ‘My words were a reflection of life’s larger philosophy, you know. Basically, the work that we do all year round is the real stuff. These presentations are full of shit, just created to show off to people—create an impact. Perception is reality and all that bullshit. All presentations are shit. So it’s up to us to present this shit in the best way possible. Get it?’

‘Umm, whatever!’ I mumbled silently, resolving not to let Vijay have any more coffee that night. He nodded wisely at me before turning around to peer feverishly at the laptop again and added a crackling sound effect to the slide.

His efforts seemed to pay off though, because when I reviewed the presentation in the comfort of my own room later that night, it did look impressively jazzed up. I went to sleep soon after, tired but excited about the upcoming conference, and had vivid dreams about my presentation exploding in the sky like a giant fireworks display, lighting up the night as the audience cheered.

I had a massive headache the next morning as I slouched over my laptop with a mug of extra-strong coffee in place of my customary chai. I had reached office at 7 a.m. to go through my presentation one last time. I had a meeting with Shiv and Varun at 8 a.m. to take them through the presentation. That would be followed by my final year-end appraisal which, again, would be conducted by both Shiv and Varun. We would be done by lunchtime in all probability, which would give me the rest of the day to incorporate any changes Shiv wanted in the presentation and rehearse for the final presentation the day after.

‘Shiv’s room, now,’ Varun snarled in my ear as he walked past forty-five minutes later, giving me a nasty start. I sighed. I really would breathe a lot easier without Vile Varun’s barracuda-like presence in my life. I was nervous to begin with and Varun and his customary melodrama weren’t really helping matters.