The first time I met them to discuss a job in an unnamed magazine with an undecidedperiodicily they were sitting behind slapdash wooden tables in a musty room in dusty LodhiHotel like underworked private dicks in a Chandler story waiting for the stunning blondewith the mysterious " smile to ding open the door and kick-start them. It's difficultto imagine seedier beginnings for a magazine that has acquired a national clout m lessthan a year.
Accentuating the noir atmosphere in particular was Vinod.Deepak, evenamid peeling wails, frayed curtains and mouldering carpet contrived, with some success, tocommunicate the impression of a powerhouse media corporation-but Vinod, slumped in his sadcut-rate canvas chair from Panchknian, promised nothing and did not even pretend to knowany of the answers. Dutifully he would arrive every moming, collapse in his chair,and spend the day conscripting, with a vague air, a motley crew. This ship, itseemed, would need a great deal of tail wind.
In the event, the impression proved misplaced Vinod weDiscovered was not a collapsed sitter, but a stealthy walker. Many times a day he melts up the stairs from the first floor, where the editors sit, to stalk his domain. The second floor, that is the corerespondents and subs-in other words, the funplace-have had to learn to live with this lurking shadow in their midst. Over time most of them have developed a discernible tic, and can be recognized by theirtendency to glance over their shoulders
every few minutes.
But unlike the original Ghost Who Walks, Vinod does not lookfor trouble(nor has anyone known him to ever buy milk at a bar)unless it seeks him out, mostly in theform of delayed deadlines.Computer card games, addas, food tests (serious pursuit inOutlook) do not elicit his ire, though a searching look of inquiry does settle on hisface each time he spies some food whose provenance he does not know.
"Whatsthat?"
"Keema, Vinod."
Wheredyougetitfrom?"
"Gulnar, Vinod, nearby. Very nice place."
"Better watch out. This stuff can be dangerous."
And he slides away, the information filed away, certain to beused soon,given Vinod's reputation for gastronomic adventure.