The air in the Emerald Towers office was really cool and nice. It was very different from the air at the school playground, which was hot and full of dust. Karthik was sitting in his leather chair. He was touching the water bottle that Anjali had given him. The water bottle was wet on the outside because of the air. Karthik was still feeling the pain in his hands from the time he missed a shot. This pain was telling him that even though he felt old his body was still young. Karthik looked at the calendar that was, on his desk.
May 13 2004.
This was a scary week for India. The government was saying everything was great with their "India Shining" campaign. Everyone thought they would win the election easily. The Bombay Stock Exchange was doing well.
Karthik knew something bad was coming. He remembered the date: May 17 2004. He remembered how scared the news anchors were when the Sensex dropped a lot. It was the drop ever at that time.
"The world thinks everything is okay " Karthik said quietly leaning back. ". They are wrong. They are about to get into trouble."
Karthik did not have a demat account. In 2004 people were starting to use trading but it was hard for a 15-year-old like Karthik. He needed help.
He called his friend 'Crosscut' Mani.
"Mani I need you to find me a sub-broker " Karthik said, his voice sounding calm and serious. "Not a big company. I want someone small someone who does not ask questions if I have money."
Two hours later Mani came on his Pulsar bike. He looked worried. "Karthik the market is doing great. Everyone is saying buy. My cousin just put his sisters wedding gold into stocks."
"Tell your cousin to take the gold out " Karthik said, getting on the bike. "By Monday that gold will be worthless."
They met a man named Sekar in an office. Sekar laughed when he saw Karthiks school uniform. "You want to buy some stocks?"
"I want to short the index " Karthik said, giving Sekar a lot of money. "I want to use it all to bet against the banks and infrastructure stocks."
Sekar was surprised. "You want to short ? The government is going to win. If you short you will lose everything."
"The polls are wrong " Karthik said, looking at Sekar. "The people in the villages did not vote for the government. When the results come out the market will be in trouble. I want to make a bet on this."
Sekar thought Karthik was crazy. He saw the money. He started typing on his computer. "If the market drops 10% you will be rich. If it goes up 2% you will lose everything."
"Its going to drop 15% " Karthik said.
As they left the brokers office Karthik called his friend Vignesh.
"Vicky meet me at Sivas Cyber Cafe. Now."
When Karthik arrived Vignesh was surrounded by CDs. "Karthik I have the Photoshop cracks ready. We can make money by selling them."
Karthik pushed the CDs aside. "Forget the software, Vicky. We are going to make money from the internet cafes."
Vignesh was confused. "What do you mean?"
Karthik looked around the cafe. "There are internet cafes in Chennai.. The owners are struggling. They charge by the hour. They do not know how to track usage. I have written a program to help them."
Vigneshs eyes widened. "How much are we selling it for?"
"Nothing " Karthik said. "We will give it away for free.. We will put our banner on the desktop and collect data on what people are searching for."
Karthik was building a plan. In 2004 Google was not big, in India. Local search meant the Yellow Pages. By installing his program in every cafe Karthik was creating a network of data points. He would know what people were looking for what jobs they wanted and which neighborhoods were popular.
The weekend was a blur. Karthik stayed at home watching the news. His father was happy thinking the government would win.
On Monday May 17 2004 the market opened and everything changed. The election results showed the government was losing. The market dropped a lot.
Karthik sat in Sekars office watching the numbers drop. Sekar was screaming. "The first circuit is hit! Trading is stopped for one hour! Karthik you made a lot of money!"
Karthik did not celebrate. He just stood up. Smoothed his shirt.
As Karthik walked out of the office he felt the weight of the money. He could buy apartments with that money.. Then he saw the headlines. "MARKET CRASH: PEOPLE LOSE MONEY."
He saw an old man sitting on a bench crying. Karthik realized that his knowledge of the future was not a gift but a weapon. Every rupee he made was taken from someone who was struggling.
He felt a hand on his shoulder. It was his friend Anjali.
"I heard about the market " she said quietly. "My father is very upset."
Karthik looked at her. He wanted to explain. Then he remembered the cricket pitch. He remembered the water bottle.
"It's a day Anjali " Karthik said, giving her a small gift. ". The sun will come up tomorrow.. When it does I will make sure your father does not have to worry about the market again."
Anjali smiled, feeling a little hopeful. "You are still acting like a grandfather, Karthik."
Karthik laughed, feeling like a 15-year- boy again. "Maybe " he said. ". At least this time I have a plan."
Phase One: Capitalization – Complete. Phase Two: Infrastructure – In Progress.
He looked out of the window at the city going by. Chennai was still a town with a lot of cars and bicycles.. In his mind he could already see big glass buildings going up. He could see internet cables under the streets.
He was not a person watching time go by. He was the person making it happen.. As the bus went into the hot and humid night Karthik Mohammed started making plans for the Silicon Valley of the East.
He knew that by the year 2010 the road he was on would be called "The IT Expressway". He knew that the salt pans of Siruseri would have offices for a lot of engineers around 100,000 of them.. He knew that he, a fifteen year old boy with a lot of responsibility would be the one, in charge of everything the Silicon Valley of the East.