Operation Camouflage Read online

  ‘While this is extremely good, but at the same time difficult to believe, that a corporation can function in such a manner’ was the person’s next reaction.

  ‘I understand where you are coming from’ replied Aadi. ‘This is not possible elsewhere. But the situation here is completely different. Knowing the team for eight years, we all can vouch for each other that none will ever misuse this or any other benefit. A team that has not just worked without money, but when needed has contributed from their personal savings can very well be entrusted upon with regards to such a benefit. There are 4 stages of motivation

  Motivated ineffective,

  Motivated effective,

  Demotivated effective and

  Demotivated ineffective

  Here all of us are at the 2nd stage of Motivated Effective and it’s important that they always remain there.’

  ‘And on a lighter note,’ continued Aakash, ‘It just saves us the time for package revisions, pre and post discussions.’

  ‘Haaa…Haaa…Haaa,’ the crowd broke into a laughter.

  ‘Would this apply to all the employees? The ones working with different companies that would now come under the GALAXY banner?’ came the immediate next question.

  ‘No. The team here cannot be compared with other employees. This team has toiled hard SELFLESSLY for more than five years before this benefit could be extended to them. Other employees will continue to get their regular salary.’

  Another gentleman asked the next question ‘Why did anyone else or the government not think of treating the water in this manner? So far government has spent more than 7000 Cr on Clean Ganga? ‘

  ‘That’s the difference between doing and showing to be doing. When you try to stop those causing pollution, a group of human rights activists stands up and starts questioning the governing authority on the livelihood of those people and the government has to take into consideration their interests for the sake of votes, which leads to the government striking a balance between the two. So, the solution provided is let them continue to pollute, but less than before. That can never stop the pollution. To stop it completely you have to take hard measures which unfortunately the government cannot take.’

  ‘And are there any measures that GALAXY has taken regarding their livelihoods?’ was the follow up question but from another person.

  ‘They have been provided financial and infrastructure support by one of our funded NGO’s to convert their facilities into leatherette units i.e. artificial leather units which prevents slaughtering of animals as well as drastically reduces pollution,’ replied Aadi.

  ‘As you are working towards nature conservation, how come you are using so much water for the spiritual bath?’ was the next question by a lady.

  ‘If a person takes a normal shower, he uses 50- 75 litres of water, if he uses a bucket instead, he uses 20- 25 litres of water. The multiple showers here put together in the entire bathing cycle use 33 litres of water as they are all fit with aerators to reduce water flow. And most importantly 93% of the water is recycled and reused in the showers itself. 2-3% goes towards cooling of generators, so ultimately it gets converted to steam and mixes in the atmosphere and the balance is used for watering plants,’ clarified Aadi.

  ‘You use generators that run on diesel?’ was the next question by the lady.

  ‘Good to see your concerns about the environment. Being concerned is the first step towards bringing about a change. Appreciate your attitude. Keep it up,’ said Aadi ‘To answer your question, we do run generators. Keeping the safety requirement in mind we cannot rely on a single source of electricity. We use solar, wind and hydro electric energy for power generation and also have traditional gensets for backup, but they run on biofuel. To keep them in working condition we run the entire facility on gensets for an hour every week.’

  One gentleman got up and asked ‘If your identity was revealed’…followed by a pause and then with some hesitation he continued further, ‘W… why were we all rushed to this place so urgently? Are we in some sort of d..da..danger?’

  Aadi took a moment’s pause before replying ‘Hmmm…Yes. I do not deny the possibility of some danger to your lives. If the enemies have attacked us, there is a possibility that they can reach out for you as well…just to try to interrupt our activities or to cause us pain. Tomorrow if something were to happen to any of you, at least you should know the reason behind it.’

  The gentleman continued, ‘But why would our life be in danger? Our soldiers fight for our nation, but their families are safe. Enemy does not target them. So why would these enemies target us?’

  This time Aadi responded instantaneously, ‘There are over a million soldiers, but we are less than hundred. The enemy there is outside the country and cannot reach the families of soldiers easily. Here the enemy is not just outside but also within the country. So we need to take our precautions. A robotic security guard would be accompanying each one of you 24*7 henceforth. The robot will be invisible but with you all the time. In case of any security threat, it will ensure your safety. You can continue to live a normal life. After knowing this, it could be difficult for initial few days, but slowly you will get used to it and come back to your normal life.’

  Aadi spoke again, ‘Now if we are done with the questions, we will proceed to the puja or prayer room. Any further questions that you may have, you may ask your family member tonight. Till the outside situation becomes normal, you all will be staying here with us. The spiritual sanitizing bath that you had earlier is a pre-requisite to enter the Puja room. If the bath was astonishing, the prayer is going to be even more grandiose. Experience the same and feel like having become one with the universe.’

  On hearing this everyone was awestruck. The spiritual sanitizing bath itself had left them spellbound. The revelations after that had made their minds completely blank. Never in their wildest dreams had anyone imagined someone aspiring to become one of the most powerful persons… only to do selfless service. They had seen corporates spending 2% of their profits on CSR, but somebody building a business to spend 100% of its profit to fund a purpose was unheard of. And to add to it, if the makers themselves boasted about the prayer experience being even more grandiose than the bath…it definitely made everyone look forward in anticipation to the same.

  Chapter 6

  THE PRAYER ROOM

  8th May’ 2015, 6:00 pm

  Led by the GALAXY warriors, everybody moved towards the Puja room. After navigating their way through the maze like structure and going a couple of floors down further, they reached in front of a huge gate. Like many other areas this room to was completely locked and opened only after the command from Jivika.

  The doors almost forty feet high and twenty feet wide opened with a rumbling sound. They resembled the doors of ancient forts of ‘Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj,’ one of the greatest warrior kings that the world has ever seen. In fact they had been installed at the entrance of the puja room as a tribute to the great king whose guerrilla warfare techniques had helped them extensively in their mission. Inside was a huge open area, round at the base and tapering towards the top like an inverted cone. The floor could easily accommodate five thousand people. The area was completely empty, dimly lit, no deity statue anywhere in sight. It seemed as if one was looking out towards the jungle, trees and animals visible in their natural habitat. Only on touching, one could realize that they were actually walls of the room adorned with 3D paintings, depth of which was visible, even to the naked eye.

  At the centre of the area were a few concentric circles. Everyone was instructed to stay outside the outermost circle. The people spread across the boundary of the circle. Once everyone had settled, Jivika activated the controls and to the astonishment of everyone, the chamber filled with sunlight. And it was not some artificial light, it was sunlight, that entered the chamber through a series of reflectors. The people could feel the warmth of the sunrays, akin to taking a walk outside in the open under the morning sun. This was follo
wed by the gentle flow of a cool breeze that came from the sides of the walls of the conical structure. The paintings came to life, with the sunrays falling on it and the swaying of the breeze giving the motion effect to the leaves. It felt as if the person was actually standing in the middle of the jungle.

  After this, the centre of the circular area started sliding, resembling the opening of a bud. What surprised the visitors was no lines or joints of any sort were visible inside the circles. To them it looked like a continuous floor with circles painted on it. And they could see the flooring like the petals of the flower open in front of them to reveal another surprise. The entire area beneath had a flowing stream of crystal clear spring water with a depth of not more than two feet. The surface beneath the water, the soil, the pebbles were clearly visible. Finally the roof over their heads started opening to reveal the vast expanse of sky. The Puja room was an embodiment of the ‘Pancha Maha Bhoot’ or the five elements, which form the basis of cosmic creation. Everybody was instructed to step forward, enter the water, sit down and look upwards with open eyes. This completed establishing a connection with all the elements. The sunrays and wind touching the face, the body connecting with the earth and water and eyes looking towards the vast open sky.

  This enabled activation of various chakras in the body giving the worshipers positive vibes and a burst of energy.

  The wow quotient did not end there. Worshipers heard the ringing of a huge bell. The entire surrounding vibrated in a manner that one could feel the vibes reaching the heart. At the centre of the hall, a glass like globe structure started appearing from the ground and with each ringing of the bell; the globe started glowing till it became bright like the sun. The atmosphere filled with a fine floral fragrance and sprinkling of water droplets. The droplets fell onto the tongue, tasted sweet like nectar and provided a cooling sensation on contact with the skin. The sound of the bell, the sight of the Sun, the smell of floral fragrance, taste of nectar and touch of the Water droplets completed activation of all 5 senses… simultaneously.

  It was a divine feeling leaving everyone mesmerized and transporting them into a different world.

  At the moment mind of worshipers was devoid of all thoughts and had gone into a stage of meditation. Those who practised meditation could relate to it and for those who didn’t it was a unique experience difficult to describe. The control over one’s thoughts that is required to bring the mind in a state of meditation had been achieved without the individuals having to practise self-restraint. They had no sense of time for how long they had been in that state. Only when slowly the sounds of drums started diminishing, the shower of water droplets reducing and the glow of the globe gently decreasing… The individuals started returning to their normal state and became aware of the surroundings.

  They heard Jivika’s voice ‘Mind is completely relaxed immediately after meditation and hence concentration is at its highest. Any task done during this stage, yields the maximum result. Hence we offer our prayers and thank our Lords during this stage. In complete silence we will close our eyes and offer prayers in our mind for the next five minutes. While we at GALAXY worship the Panch Maha Bhoot, the five elements of Nature, Surya i.e. Sun, Vayu i.e. Wind, Prithvi i.e. Earth, Jal i.e. Water and Aakash i.e. Sky, You may choose to offer prayers to your Lord or Spiritual Guru or just remain in a state of silence.’

  The hall filled with complete silence for the next five minutes. One could even hear the breathing of the person next to them. After five minutes they heard Jivika’s voice once again, ‘You may now slowly open your eyes. Maintaining silence, you may get up, turn around and start moving towards the gates which are now opening and slowly make an exit.’

  While they were passing through the gates, the blowers at the sides dried their wet clothes, with a blast of warm air.

  Once everyone was outside the Puja room, Jivika spoke again, ‘We will now proceed towards the dining area for a delicious meal. I am sure you all must be hungry after this long day. After the meal your family members will accompany you to the residential quarters where you can rest. That quarter will be your bedroom, and this place your home for the next few days till we are ready to send you in the outside world.’

  Looking towards the business heads she continued, ‘Separate stay arrangement has been made for you in the guest rooms. While the rooms are equipped with essentials, you may visit the self-service complimentary store for any additional stuff that you may require.’

  The people caught hold of their family members to form their small group and asked them all kinds of questions. Amongst the many different questions, there was one question popping up in most of the small groups, ‘Is there something unique even about the meal and dining hall. Does a surprise await us even there?’ And to this question was a standard answer that each of the groups got from their family members, ‘Just wait and watch.’

  The family members started thinking ‘Surprises never seem to cease at this place.’

  Chapter 7

  THE DINING EXPERIENCE

  8th May’ 2015, 7:30 pm

  The dining hall was circular in shape and extremely huge with a seating capacity of a thousand people. A chord separated a portion of the circle, making room for the kitchen on the other side. Most of the places in the entire structure seemed to have rounded contours, which was probably because of the inverted conical shape of a mountain. The interiors were extremely classy and gave a feel of an upscale restaurant. Half of the hall was covered with luxurious tables and chairs and a partition separated the balance half which was empty. A portion of the boundary of the hall was lined with multiple serving counters, manned by robots.

  All the guests were with their respective family members and settled down on different tables. At other times the colleagues would have sat together but now they had a lot of questions to answers to their respective families. Each family needed its own space. But before they could start their individual conversations, they had to be briefed about the peculiarity of this place.

  Once everyone had settled down, Aakash, the HR Head who was also the Executive Chef at GALAXY started speaking, ‘Welcome to the dining hall. This is the place where we not only fulfil the nutritional requirement of our members and guests but also appease their taste buds with the most distinctive and extraordinary food. What makes the dining experience special here is the ingredients, the process and the service. Let me first start with the ingredients. All the staples used here are organic, grown in the natural way without the use of any chemical fertilizers and insecticides to preserve the taste and nutritional value. In addition to this what makes the food special here is the presence of fresh and exotic ingredients many of which are not available in any market or restaurant.’

  ‘These ingredients like roots, vegetables, fruits, herbs come from different forests and some ingredients are to be found in a particular forest and in a particular season itself. There is so much of unexplored vegetative wealth available in the forests that human civilization has not been able to explore yet, in its six thousand years of existence. Some of which we have been able to identify, we still feel are only the tip of the iceberg and the forests out there hold a gargantuan treasure.’

  ‘The process, well by now it would come as no surprise to you to know that the food is prepared entirely by the robots but what’s new is that we have come up with a technology that separates calories from food. This has been achieved through a combination of dissolution, filtration, distillation and centrifugation separation processes with slight variations for different ingredient-nutrient combinations.’

  ‘These separated calories can be added to dough and with different flavourings can be baked into nutritive, delicious, wholesome bread. This breakthrough is going to solve one of the biggest imbalance problems faced by mankind. At one side we have obesity, people wanting but not being able to lose weight as they find it difficult to control diet. And on the other hand, there are emaciated people who are fighting mal-nourishment due to lack of
food. We plan to bridge this gap. Very soon we will be launching this ready-to-eat low calorie food into the market for the weight watcher segment and supplying the enriched wholesome bread complimentary to the malnourished population. Weight loss without having to compromise on taste and quantity is going to be fun.’

  After the applause in the hall Aakash continued again, ‘And the last factor making the dining experience special is the service. We have a wide variety buffet spread here that you can enjoy without getting up from your seats. Our robots will serve you as per your requirement, right on your table. You can try the ala-carte menu as well but some other time as I am sure you would not want to miss out on any of the delicacies already present in today’s spread. You can pre-order from your rooms, using the wrist bands and have it delivered to your room or come and dine here.’

  ‘I know how difficult it is to control appetite when one is hungry and sitting in front of a delicious meal. Today’s entire meal has been prepared after calorie reduction; hence you can eat without the fear of piling up calories.’

  I have a question, asked a gentleman, ‘Doesn’t the extra food put pressure on the digestive system?’

  ‘No, because our body has a natural mechanism to control it. One can eat only up to stomach fill and nothing beyond that. After that the digestive system takes over and does its job at its own pace. Just because the input is more, does not speed up the process of digestion. You may eat to your heart’s content without the fear of side effects’ answered Aakash.

  ‘So, without coming any further between you and your meal, I take your leave to join my family and appease my hunger.’

  ‘Robots may please start serving.’

  On receiving the command from Aakash, close to five hundred robots sprang into action. With a 1:1 ratio of diners and servers, everyone was served within a minute with the first course of a mixed root soup and appetizers. Apart from the on demand display on the interactive wrist bands, there was a small rotating touch screen on the centre of the table that displayed the entire menu. Typical to a smart screen, touching any of the item name, displayed a description of the dish with the ingredients. Even here some of the rare and exotic ingredients were camouflaged under the alias of special ingredients, herbs and spices.