Karthik realized he needed to do two things: the Cricket Prediction would give him a lot of money quickly to pay off his fathers debt while the Software Solution would help him build a reputation to explain his wealth to his parents.
Saturday Morning: The "Consultancy" Starts
Karthik skipped his class and took a bus to the market. He stopped in front of "Vasanth & Co. Textiles," a wholesaler. Inside ten clerks were writing in ledgers sweating under dim lights as they calculated taxes and stock by hand.
He walked to the owners cabin. Vasanth, a man with a gold chain and a scowl looked up. "School uniforms are in the back."
"I'm not here for a uniform, Vasanth Sir " Karthik said, sitting down. "I'm here to save you three hours of work every day and stop your clerks from stealing money through 'calculation errors.'"
Vasanth paused, his pen hovering over a bill. "Who are you? Some genius?"
"I'm someone who knows that year your competitors will use computers. If you don't start today you'll be closed by 2008 " Karthik said, knowing the VAT implementation in 2005 would hurt bookkeepers.
Karthik pulled out a disk with a simple automated inventory and billing system he'd written.
"Give me your clerk for ten minutes. If I don't finish his task in sixty seconds I'll leave. If I do... You pay me 3,000 rupees for the setup."
Vasanth laughed, intrigued by Karthiks boldness. "3,000? That's a months salary for a clerk! Fine. Try it."
Ten minutes later the clerk was staring at a screen in shock. The numbers matched perfectly. Vasanth looked at the screen at Karthik. He counted out thirty hundred-rupee notes.
"What can that machine do?" Vasanth asked, his eyes gleaming with greed.
"Everything " Karthik replied, tucking the money away. ". That's for next months update."
Saturday Evening: The High-Stakes Gamble
With 3,000 rupees Karthik went to the Sports Club" near the railway station. It was a loud den where men watched the India vs. Pakistan Asia Cup match.
The air was thick with tension. India was chasing a total. The "bookie" of the area 'Crosscut' Mani was taking bets. The odds were against India.
"India is going to lose " someone shouted. "Sehwag is out Sachin is struggling!"
Karthik walked up to Mani. "India wins.. Specifically Rahul Dravid hits a boundary on the last ball of the 48th over."
The room went silent. Mani laughed. "A specific ball bet? The odds for that are 10 to 1. You're throwing your money away boy."
"Take the bet, Mani-anna " Karthik said, his face firm. He remembered this match. He had watched it with friends screaming as Dravid pulled off a shot.
The Final Overs
The match played out as Karthik had imagined. The room grew frantic.
48th over. Fifth ball. A dot.
Mani looked at Karthik. Smirked. "One ball left. One boundary."
The bowler steamed in. Dravid shifted his weight. Sent the ball racing to the fence. Boundary.
Karthik stood up. Held out his hand.
"30,000 rupees, Mani-anna. I believe we're done."
The Homecoming
Karthik walked through his gate at 9:00 PM. He found his father, Sundaram sitting in the dark on the porch looking defeated. The money-lender Guna was standing there.
"Sundaram I need the money now " Guna sneered. "Give me the jewelry or—"
"Guna-anna " Karthik's voice cut through the dark.
The men turned. Karthik pulled out a wad of cash from his school bag. He counted out the principal and the interest—7,500 rupees—. Gave it to Guna.
"My fathers debt is cleared. Write the receipt. Now."
Guna was speechless. Sundaram stood up his jaw dropping. "Karthik? Where... How did you get this?"
Karthik looked at his father, his eyes soft. "I told you Appa. I'm good, at Math. I won a 'state-level competition' prize today.. This is just the beginning."
As Guna scurried away Sundaram looked at his son as if he were a stranger.
"A competition? 7,000 rupees?"
"Go to sleep Appa " Karthik smiled, patting his fathers shoulder. "Tomorrow we're going to buy Amma a stove."
Sundaram sat on a plastic chair his legs shaking. "Karthik... What have you done? A competition for the state? They don't give out cash prizes like this."
Karthik knelt down by his fathers feet. He held his fathers overworked hands. "Dad listen to me. For twenty years you've carried our family on your shoulders. You worried about every rupee. You skipped lunch so I could have a bag. That ends tonight. I found a way to make money using my brain. It's legal it's mine. Its for us."
Lakshmi stood in the doorway. She held her saree tightly tears streaming down her face. For the time in years the weight of debt had lifted from their roof.
The Monday Morning Plan: The "Intel" Network
Karthik didn't stop after winning 30,000 rupees. That was money to survive. He needed money to build an empire.
At school on Monday he didn't go to the playground. He gathered Vignesh and three other boys behind the bicycle shed. They looked at him with a mix of surprise and confusion. News of his math skills in Loganathans class had already spread.
"Listen up " Karthik said, leaning against a pillar. "Vicky you have a computer at home right? An Intel Pentium 4?"
"Yeah, but my dad only lets me play Pinball " Vignesh muttered.
"Not anymore " Karthik said. "I'm giving you 5,000 rupees. Go to the city buy a CD writer that works fast and a stack of 500 TDK discs. I'll give you a list of software—Tally, Photoshop 7.0 and the latest antivirus keys."
"Karthik, thats piracy!" one boy whispered, scared.
"No " Karthik corrected him with a glint in his eye. "It's distribution for people who can't afford it. In six months every small business in this town will have to go digital. They can't afford licenses that cost 50,000 rupees. We provide the 'educational version' for 500 rupees. You keep twenty percent. The rest goes into the 'Fund.'"
"What fund?" Vignesh asked.
"The 'OMR Land Fund,'" Karthik replied. "By the end of this year we aren't going to be selling CDs. We're going to be buying acres."
The First Problem: The Butterfly Effect
As the boys dispersed Karthik felt someone behind him. He turned to see Anjali. She wasn't laughing today. She was holding a notebook looking at him with curiosity.
"You're different Karthik " she said softly. "You used to hide in the back of the class. Now you talk like... Like someones grandfather."
Karthik felt his heart skip—a remnant of his self. "Is that bad?"
"It's strange " she replied. She stepped closer the scent of her coconut hair oil hitting him like a wave of nostalgia. "My father is worried. He's a surveyor for the government. He mentioned that some 'big company' is secretly looking at the marshlands near our village. He said people are going to lose their homes for little money."
Karthiks mind went into overdrive. 2004. The secret land acquisition for the IT Corridor. In his life Anjalis family had been cheated out of their ancestral land forcing them to move and ending any chance of them staying together.
"Anjali " Karthik said, his voice turning urgent. "Tell your father not to sign anything. Not for a month. Not for a year."
"Why? The officials said it's a deal."
"Because " Karthik said, stepping closer his 40-year- soul looking through his 15-year-old eyes. "I know what that land is worth in 2010.. I'm going to make sure your father gets every single paisa he deserves."
Anjali stared at him confused but strangely comforted. She didn't know why she trusted this "Karthik but the conviction in his voice was strong.
That evening Karthik didn't go home. He went to the Browsing Center. He sat down. Opened a blank document. He didn't write code this time. He wrote a letter.
He addressed it to the CEO of an IT firm in Bangalore. He knew this firm was looking for a campus in Tamil Nadu.
"Dear Sir I am a consultant representing a land-holding syndicate in the southern corridor of Chennai. I know you are scouting the OMR stretch. Don't deal with the government middlemen; they are padding the prices. Deal with me. I will guarantee you 50 acres of land with clear titles."
He hit 'Send.'
He had no land. He had no syndicate. He only had 22,500 rupees left and a group of schoolboys, with a CD writer.
As he walked out of the dark cafe into the humid Chennai night he smiled. "Phase One is complete. Time to go shopping for some land."