October’ 2003,
GCP, Nassau County, NY.

It had been a month since the time they dwelled into the project. Lots of enthusiasm coupled with full throttled energy accorded a semi-finished product. They did keep up with the deadlines inside the project. A massive boost to the group by the presence of commendable workers with incredible intelligence. Each member of the crew had eclipsed on the expectations from the job. The way they took a new lease of life by themselves to latch on to their job in a short time on the by and by assignment was truly impeccable for the heads. At such a young age they were inspirational to several other students in the college. It did start to change the dynamics of the team and with the college. They had assembled at the conference room in the early evenings as part of their regular meetings.

“It’s been thirty odd days,” Malcolm recalled, “Let’s do a recap and understand what our learnings so far were”, Malcolm asked.

“It is harder to build simple things than to build complex ones”, Kevin Said, “I mean, it is pretty much easy to build a heavier car with a quite complexity but to decrease the weight of it while building to gain the power to weight ratio, that was challenging indeed”

“You must keep things simple and light weighted in order to be competitive”, Aryan added to the findings of Kevin, “Simplicity is under rated and yet it is the hardest thing to achieve because it requires a mechanic to be more thoughtful in design and planning iterations.”

“True that,” Robert added, “speaking from the non-technical front, when car is supposed to weigh less, it should probably have fewer spare parts installed on it. This will certainly pay off for the racer while minimizing the total number of installed parts”.

“Yes, I must agree with Robert”, Sean joined the conversation, “more parts on the car is gonna take more time in installing them. On the other side, the other day while I was watching a competition on the TV. I’ve noticed, a team had dismantled a portion of the rear end suspension system in the middle of their race. Although, they are allowed to continue in the race, they took a lot of time in order to fix the portion of the car and get it back in shape. They worked on fixing lots of bolts, nuts and brackets.”

“In addition, smallest part is going to consume lots of time during its installation”, Mathew, the head spoke, “the Chassis, Engine, Fuel tank, Exhaust and radiator, Suspension are going to take more time compared to the installation of parts like Pedals, differential, firewall, seat, rod ends, shock absorbers, disk brakes air intake manifold steering wheel, and car body. Time must be documented with this in mind. Well integrated systems and components would reward our efforts.” He concluded.

The discussion had taken an hour before they winded it up. Several questions with supporting answers. The progress had been clearly tracked down by every person on board. They put themselves upfront in taking up the challenges from the coming up tasks. Everybody has got their work assigned for the next month before they could see the model coming to live.

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“I am happy and never in my wildest dreams had I imagined I would see my students endorsing the project with such an immense pleasure”, Malcolm said as he walked with Aryan towards the car in the lot after the meeting. Aryan continued to drive the cab but only for Malcolm. He was assured of a stipend for working with the project. So, He was making enough that could accommodate the living of the Hadars.

“I am happy too Professor”, He said in response, “I could not thank you enough for what you have given me” and they started to drive back to their homes.

“Never mention! Young man. I have to thank you for all that you have done to me and the college”, he said smiling genuinely through his eyes, “I am fortunate to have met with you, in fact you are the reason for everything that is taking place right now. All those students would be indebted to you than me for the knowledge and experienced you shared with them”

“Sir, please don’t say so”, Aryan replied momentarily, “You have seen a lot more life in the field, your experience is far superior to that of my knowledge. I am fully convinced that they should be indebted to you more than the college for leading their lives into propitious phase. I am sure they would have seen themselves by now where would they be after six or seven years down the line”

“I am sure they did”, he endorsed Aryan’s statement, “they are smart enough to understand their efforts they are putting into and the rewards they are to receive at the early phase of their life.”

“Very true”, Aryan complied with Malcolm.

“By the by. You had only told me about your Mama and Shalini but we never talked about your educational background” he asked hesitatingly, “in fact, we never found some time to talk over it. You may want to do it now?”

“I have finished my high schooling from a local public school, but I flunked in enough of the subjects”, He lied for several reasons, “I had enrolled in a public university. I continued to study for two years but again I flunked few courses except those fell under automobile engineering”.

“Ha ha ha”, Malcolm laughed out loud and Aryan complied with him.

“Mr. Malcolm, it might look funny to you but that was a tough job to scrape through other courses. It was hard for me to accrue interest in those uninterested subjects “, Aryan voiced out, “I could not get stipend from the university as my grades were not up to the threshold. I worked as car mechanic back then since high school so that I did some money for home. That’s how I had passion for cars and I learnt a lot through the service that I rendered for the customers at the car shed. This helped me clearing those core subjects under my department.”

“You have an interesting character young man”, he said, “I like you for many reasons. It doesn’t matter if you flunk at the tests. They are never any barriers for success. You are good at something and you are having your life now”.

“Hopefully,” Aryan replied and continued, “Fortunately JAPMI was lenient with academics and were focused in recruiting students with interest, knowledge and experience as interns. That’s how I had an opportunity to work for the industry. Thereafter life has become more of mechanical, the university fee was doubled for no reason in my third year. I didn’t had enough money to pay the tuition and fees. I was having no choice but to stop going to college and work as a full time cab driver to make money; a few months later I happened to meet with you”

“Quite an interesting phase of life is yours”, Malcolm patted on his shoulder, “I appreciate your interest and courage; for what you are as a person at the young age. You have gained my respect young man” he said.

“That means a lot to me Sir,” said Aryan casting his eyes on Malcolm, “I appreciate your backing and concern towards me”

“Well you will have them forever”, he said and Aryan had to cut the street corner as they neared Malcolm house.

“Ok, young man. Will catch up tomorrow,” he said and got down the car, “drive safe, good night” he bid bye.

Aryan did lie but also he had deep respect for him because of the help he had offered and for that, he would be forever indebted. He just didn’t want him to know about his past. The day he left the city, he had decided to let his past perish. Yet it kept haunting him.

Your past is something you are born with, it doesn’t easily evanesces, reverberated in Aryan’s ears every single time he recollected his past. It occurred to Aryan then that it was going to stay with him for the rest of his life; he made his mind up to evade when he encounters it and that was what he had been trying to do. Ain’t making a mistake by doing so because I am living for my mama and Shalu. I would like to make them happy as long as I can by continuing to work to the best of my abilities and to do it, I will have to lie about my past He thought for a while and stopped the car abruptly. He reminded himself, Malcolm now know about my stint at JAPMI and the supervisor as Justin. Justin doesn’t know of my whereabouts; he is only aware that I left the city with mama. Huh! Good god! He cleared his mind on the issue and fired the engine to drive back to his home.

September’ 2003,
GCP, Nassau County, NY.

“This project demands apparently two thousand five hundred productive working hours”, Aryan voiced out leaning forward by placing both his fists on the Kennedy and Coe table, “you are eight in number, working six hours a day can guarantee us the product in couple of months”, he said and proceeded to his seating.

He looked over the captain for the Project, “I believe the computer-aided design is done long before. Do you have the results from the simulated environment? Mathew,” asked Aryan.

“Oh yeah! Here they are”, he handed over the record of design and analysis of the entire model.

“The stress and suspension analysis looks interesting”, Aryan said, “Let’s freeze the dimensions because they also tend to match with the chassis I modelled last year at the JAPMI. Everything looks great, I hope we could start building a mock-up using plastic materials to ensure that the design is achievable in reality. We do have sponsors but this is your first product with no prior experience. It is essential to proceed with mock-up modelling to minimize the overall cost”.

Aryan took a sip of water and continued, “We will be going with the fabricated chassis of mine. It is much easier that way, taking the existing set up and leveraging on what we have than to start from the scratch”, He glanced over all the attendants in the conference room, “I reckon people are good at vehicle dynamics, heat transfer, material sciences and solid mechanics in excess of what you guys required to get your degree because this project needs you to demonstrate your knowledge, understanding and reasoning. Why you had to do something in a specific way and why not the other, what was the thought process before arriving to a conclusion on a spare part, do you really understand what you have at stake and while utilising them? These are a few intuitions you should have asking yourself during the course of the development. Engineering is an art of choosing compromises that best solve the problems, as they say it. It is not only important to play with the advantages of one over the other but to know its limitations as well. This rule applies everywhere, even to our lives. It is necessary to do your thinking on the design decisions upfront. Conveying the best of your understanding to someone, who has experienced racing all of their lives or to an inexperienced car owner, is your job.” And he paused the talk.

“We should thank the young man for his lead on the investor”, Malcolm Intervened, “and it is now our responsibility to deliver what the sponsor is looking in return for their donations. They will be coming back in the years to come, if you show case your potentiality by bringing the product to live,” he enlightened the young kids, “Good luck with the assignment”, he said and concluded.

“Let’s roll up young men”, Aryan cheered the fledglings, “right from tomorrow morning”.

The crew dispersed from the conference room after the meet. The juveniles were in high spirits for their upcoming engagement but Aryan wondered if they would potentially keep up the spirits till the completion of the task. Though he had notions in a manner, they eventually proved him wrong.

September’ 2003,
Midtown, Manhattan borough, NY City, NY.

“What have you got?” Aryan asked opening the door of the cab. “Positive”, Malcolm looked at him with a smile conveying the scale of success on his face. He continued with the conversation while letting himself step inside the car, “We have not only managed to get us endowment for the project but also we’ve hit on something unexpected”.

“Woah, is it?” Aryan asked him in a great surprise. “Mr. Justin Amell agreed to sign an MOU with our university. He is going to visit us soon. This would create opportunities in internships for students, supporting them to showcase their skills and if they are successful with this short stint they might eventually get a chance to continue their professional career in the company with a PPO.” He explained.

“That sounds amazing, great news for the students,” Aryan cheered. “Yes, it is. Such a nice guy,” he praised Justin, “when I first read the designation as head of automation on the visiting card, I was expecting to see an aged man in his close fifties. I stepped in to the chamber and abruptly, I find a young and dynamic personality. He is intelligent, you will see it for yourself by talking to him, an eloquent communicator.”

“Ah, I should have been there to witness the irie scene,” Aryan replied on a serious note. It may had occurred as blurt to Malcolm but Aryan meant what he said.

“Yep, you should have come along with me. So where did you go? Had you got any work in here?” He asked. It was a question in cursory but Aryan tried to lose the thread on the topic. “No, not really. I’ve just come to accompany you and look around in the city”, he kept it short.

“Did you had a chance to visit this city any time before?” he asked.

“No, this will be the first ever,” Aryan uttered.

“Alright, let’s drive across the streets in Times square. I bet you might never had seen such a place, it’s that beautiful”, Aryan smiled with his half-suppressed amusement while he managed to compose the innocence. Aryan recollected his strolls over the roads past the Broadway theatres, his trips through grand central station and Rockefeller Centre to the great white way. Malcolm spoke on the attractions that they came across but Aryan only remained tacit as he was engaged in reliving in the moments when the Broadway shows drew his attention in the vicinity of Marriott Marquis along with his visits to Duffy square and Shubert alley. His treasured experience was when he went to Ripley’s Times Square in the 42nd Street with Rekha. “Don’t you think this an exceptional spot for a hangout,” Aryan was intercepted by him. “Yep Professor, it definitely is a great place for the purpose,” he said.

They didn’t spend much time wandering in the streets. They started the ride back to the hometown after spending just more than a couple of hours with a forty minute luncheon.

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He took out the evening newspaper lying in the back seat. “Yet again, a swindle in a company,” he read out, “Filthy idiots. They knew someday they would end up getting caught and they still do it.”

“What’s the matter? Anything sober?” Aryan enquired. “Kinda but it’s nothing with us,” he replied, “The company, Exantico solutions has cheated three hundred employees.”

“Oh, how and why?” Aryan asked with an increasing curiosity. “The MD promised the employees with full time jobs but only after an employee deposits an amount of $2000 and undergoes a training of six months with a $300 stipend,” he said.

“So, the MD disappeared after collecting the money?” Aryan voiced out his notion, “Exactly,” he said tapping his hand on the head rest of the front seat, “He disappeared but when he was apprehended he had no answers for the swindle. What kind of an MD is he? an Intelligent or a fool. He bluffed the employees and the owner of the building rented for running the company operations. What I cannot comprehend is How he managed to build the trust and setup such an expensive infrastructure?” he questioned himself after reading further on the news in the paper, “gosh!” he said puffing out air as he was flabbergasted after acknowledging the after effects.

“But Mr. Malcolm, why would they dare to do it?” Aryan looked for an answer. “We never knew, everyone has their own reasons,” he replied folding the paper and placing it back where it belonged.

Malcolm was too tired after the meet with Justin and a saunter across the streets in Time square; he lay down to catch a nap and the rest of the journey was silent except the noises from the outside environment. After an hour of drive by Aryan, the hackney almost entered into the Garden City Park and Malcolm was awakened by the huge traffic and sirens on the main roads inside the city. He cleared his eyes and grabbed a few gulps of water from tumbler. He checked on his clothes and then the conversation began. This time it was an unexpected discussion.

“So young man,” he adjusted his handcuffs and said, “It just came on top of my mind. Mr. Justin was talking about an adolescent, an incredibly talented individual in automobile engineering,” Aryan stepped in, “are you planning for a support in your project?”, he asked.

“That’s what I feel,” he replied. “Did you happen to meet with the boy or should we be driving to the city for one more time?” asked Aryan.

“There’s the problem. Justin isn’t sure of his current whereabouts but he believes that the boy left the city for education,” Malcolm uttered with a chuckle. No sooner Malcolm finished on his lines than Aryan applied the brakes. Malcolm looked out and realized he reached his house.

He got out of the car and stood at the other end of the front door of the cab. Aryan looked at him, “What’s so funny about it? Why a laugh?” Aryan enquired.

“Take this,” he said and handed him over a photograph. His eyes blurred but he cleared them like a bat out of hell to have a true life of the picture. It sent a quaver to his vocals and quiver down his spine. His palpitated heart stupefied him. “Where did you find the picture?” Aryan asked rapidly getting out of the cab after looking at it, “I found it in his room. I was unable to believe what my eyes had seen. I looked at the photograph and slide it into my pocket to talk on it later with you. But beforehand Justin talked and described about that adolescent,” Aryan stood by his side and Malcolm continued, “Aryan, my dear. Every time Justin mentioned the intelligent boy’s name, intuitions directed my mind to that boy in the picture,” Malcolm pointed out to the person on the photograph, “This person,” he said and looked over Aryan, “whom I have been calling him a young man,” He caught hold of his hand and continued, “Justin is still unaware of your whereabouts. From what Justin talked, all I know is you had interned at JAPMI under his supervision for a few months, is it so?” he asked.

Aryan was in dubiety if Malcolm found out his true identity. It seemed unlikely to Aryan after his confab with Malcolm. He only knows of my internship details and nothing about my relation with the JAPMI. Leaving himself from the thoughts, he agreed to what he has to say and decided not to speak more of it.

Malcolm bid bye to him and Aryan returned to his driving seat to ride back home. After walking a few steps, “Young man,” Malcolm called out, “So, I think I found that missing adolescent,” he grinned from ear to ear, “You mean,” Before Aryan went on to ask him Malcolm discerned on his intentions and in a split second he replied, “Will start to work on the project. I will talk with the management; we will discuss things later on Monday,” he said and walked into his house. Aryan called the picture of himself with Jenny and Justin taken on the last day of the intern at JAPMI back to his mind, “Thank you Professor Malcolm,” he uttered in an undertone and accelerated his hackney.