Durban - While some of the core group members served their notice period with previous employers or waited for their visas, Arun, Uday, Karun Shawney - head of production - and I left for Johannesburg on 2 June 2013 and arrived on the 3rd.
We were received at OR Tambo airport by Siddharth Rutiya, an accounts manager with Infinity Media.
I was surprised to find out that he was barely 24 years old.
He was a chartered accountant and the son of a close business associate of Laxmi.
This was his second job, and he seemed a little nervous when he met us at the airport.
Our luggage was put into the back of a Toyota Innova and another sedan with 'The New Age' printed on it.
Arun and I were to stay at the Infinity Media guest house at Erand Gardens and Karun at the Sahara Computers guest house in Vorna Valley.
The guest house at Erand Gardens was where YP had been staying and the only one that was rented by Essel Media at that time.
Uday had already decided to move into the apartment that Siddharth, Jayosh and Roger had rented recently near the Cotswold Mall.
The guest house was a sparse apartment in a dull neighbourhood.
Krishna Prasad, the skinny Nepalese housekeeper, came to help us carry the luggage up to the second-floor apartment.
The guest house was a mess.
The living room had washing lines strung across it with an assortment of towels, underwear and shirts hanging to dry.
The first things you saw upon entering were the kitchen counter, the stove and oven.
The living room had two beds, a worn-down couch that could seat three and a fat television set with a satellite television decoder.
“This is depressing,” Arun whispered into my ear as soon as we got in. “Is this where we will stay, Siddharth?” I asked.
“Yes, sir, your room is to the right here, and Arun ji will stay in the room just next to the living room,” Siddharth said, pointing to the rooms. Arun and I went to inspect the rooms. They were tiny without any wardrobes or tables, just one small bed each.
“You will have to share this bathroom,” Siddharth said.
I went to inspect the bathroom and was shocked by what I saw. The bathtub was full of unwashed clothes; a bucket stood in the middle of the bathroom with more clothes soaking in soapy water.
There was a wash basin and a dirty mirror.
We were working on a R166-million project.
Arun and I were shocked at where the head of business and the editor were being made to stay.
While we sat in the living room, Krishna made some tea and pakodas for us.
After serving us tea, Krishna started making dinner for the three people at the guest house and the 15 Indian labourers and contractors at the (ANN7 office construction) site.
He was expected to make four meals a day for these people and also buy all the provisions as well as do all the other work at the guest house.
YP came to the guest house at about nine that evening. He looked tired and disturbed. We told him we would be starting work the next day and asked him about the status of construction at the site.
“See, the civil work takes its own time, and Atul Gupta is not a man who has too much patience. He wants everything now. Local labour is hard to source, and they work no more than eight hours a day, five days a week. I had a big showdown with him, and now he wants me to pack my bags and go back.”
“What? How can he do that?” Arun asked.
“This man is like that. He gets angry and says things, but I am not going anywhere.
"He is an impatient, irrational and arrogant man; his brothers are in absolute contrast to him. I will report the matter to our shareholder, Laxmi ji, and ask him to talk to Ajay and Tony Gupta. Laxmi ji will have to ask Atul Gupta to be a little patient with the work
“You guys will have to be careful of a few people here. Aslam Kamal is the chief intelligence gatherer for Atul Gupta. He will hover around and park himself wherever you guys are to get any information he can. He briefs Atul Gupta about the information that he gets.
“The other person is Atul Gupta’s cousin, Saurabh Aggarwal. He is the technology guy. He will bug your official laptop and smartphones, so none of your communication is safe. If you need to communicate with Laxmi ji or write him a confidential mail, please use a private laptop and internet connection away from the office.”
I was feeling very uneasy.
Just then my phone rang. It was Karun.
“Rajesh, what kind of hell have they put me up at? The bed sheets are stained and stinking, there are cigarette butts all over the room, the toilets are dirty, and there is a family of hideous large rats screeching in the kitchen cupboard. There is no one here to cook and nothing for me to cook with.”
“Karun, let me discuss this, and I’ll call you back with a solution,” I said.
It was already late at night. YP said we could look for a solution in the morning.
“But how do you expect him to spend the night in that rat-infested house? Can we organise a company car to pick him up and get him here at least?” I asked him.
“That will not be possible. I am sure it is not as bad as he is making it out to be. The HR head of the Sahara Group is also staying there. He is a very senior guy,” YP said.
I called Karun back to ask him to move to a hotel.
“I have already taken a cab and moved in with Uday, Jayosh and Roger at their rented house. How can they expect employees to stay in hellish situations like that, Rajesh?” he asked.
I had no answer. I did not know if the arrangements for the stay of the senior teams were an oversight or a direct result of the simmering mistrust between the two joint-venture partners I began questioning my decision to come to South Africa.
But I was stuck for now. I could not leave before I had launched the channel.
The room I was allotted did not have any space after the three suitcases I was carrying were placed inside.
The curtain inside the room was dirty and torn. At least the bed sheet and pillow covers seemed clean. I switched off the lights and tried to sleep.
We had to start at 5 am the next day. I could not sleep much that night, thinking about the challenges ahead and the hardships the team I had brought with me could face in the days to come.