Chapter One: The Honest Lawyer
In a quiet town framed by courthouse pillars and chai stalls, lived Ramachandra, a 55-year-old lawyer known more for losing rich clients than winning flashy cases. His crime? Honesty.
Most lawyers around him grew bloated on bribes and shortcuts. Ramachandra grew only in reputation — not revenue. His weapon was truth, his cape a crumpled white shirt, and his reward… delayed rent receipts.
Yet he never wavered. His pride and joy, Sunil, was his real investment — one he nurtured with patience, borrowed books, and an army of second-hand notes. Sunil was brilliant and sincere, much like his father — and much like him, headed toward a life that would either make legends… or martyrs.
Chapter Two: Degrees and Disappointments
At 23, Sunil walked out of his Master’s convocation with a medal around his neck and dreams in his pocket.
“Appa, I’ll get a job within a month!” he declared, one hand holding his degree, the other balancing two samosas.
“Just don’t work for any company that sells air and calls it an NFT,” Ramachandra muttered, sipping tea.
Three months later, reality had slapped Sunil harder than a corrupt judge’s gavel.
He faced HR panels that asked for ‘recommendations,’ job portals that wanted ‘sponsorship,’ and corporations that saw honesty as a virus. He once even got rejected after topping all five interview rounds.
Reason? “We’re looking for someone…more adjustable.”
“Adjustable? What are they hiring for? A sofa?” Sunil sighed to his father.
Ramachandra smiled but said nothing. He recognized that silence. It was the same one he’d faced when he stood against a corrupt landlord, knowing he’d be evicted the next day.
Chapter Three: The Breakdown
Sunil applied for over 70 jobs. Rejections poured in like monsoon rain — each drop heavier than the last. His friends, some less talented but better ‘connected’, were already sharing Insta stories from corporate retreats in Goa.
“Maybe honesty isn’t a virtue. Maybe it’s a curse,” he muttered one night, looking at his father.
Ramachandra looked up from his law books. His eyes glinted with something ancient. “Truth doesn’t come with a warranty. But it never breaks.”
Sunil smiled weakly. “Well, let’s hope it pays EMI.”
Chapter Four: The Startup Twist
Just when hope had packed its bags, an email arrived.
Subject: Application for Junior Analyst
Body: We’d like to meet you.
It was from a small analytics startup called Zorion Labs. A team of ex-IITians and one visionary founder who’d made his first app while still in college — not to track calories, but to track honesty scores in job interviews.
Sunil went in for the interview expecting another polite decline.
Instead, he met Riya, the co-founder, who looked up from her laptop and said, “Your resume is the most unfiltered I’ve seen. No fluff. Just facts.”
Within 48 hours, he was offered a job.
The catch?
It paid well.
Suspiciously well.
“Is this real?” he asked his father.
Ramachandra flipped the contract. “It has a signature. And not from a ghost company. Maybe you finally found your kind.”
Chapter Five: Trouble in Paradise
But life loves its suspense.
Three weeks into the job, Sunil stumbled upon a folder marked “Policy Exceptions – Tier X”.
Inside, he discovered files listing ‘special deals’ offered to companies to fudge performance numbers.
Was it a mistake? Or was Zorion Labs — the torchbearer of transparency — also just another wolf in a TED Talk disguise?
Sunil now stood where his father had once stood — at the edge of truth and consequence.
He didn’t sleep that night.
Instead, he wrote a memo. Attached all evidence. Sent it to the founder.
And then waited.
Chapter Six: The Call That Changed Everything
Next morning, Riya called him in. Her expression unreadable.
Sunil half-expected security to escort him out.
But Riya handed him a new offer letter.
“You passed the real test. Those files were planted. We needed to know if you’d keep quiet.”
“You were testing me?”
She nodded. “We’re building something here. We need integrity more than intelligence.”
Sunil blinked. Then laughed. “So… I got promoted for tattling?”
“Exactly,” she grinned.
Chapter Seven: The Verdict
Back at home, Ramachandra was sipping tea.
Sunil tossed the offer letter on the table. “I got promoted. More pay. Fancier title. And… guess what? I exposed corruption.”
Ramachandra smiled. “And you lived to tell the tale. I’m proud of you, son.”
“Not just that,” Sunil added, “They tested me. Like a final courtroom drama!”
“You passed?”
“I didn’t blink.”
Father and son sat silently for a moment.
Then Ramachandra asked, “So… dinner on you?”
Sunil laughed. “Yes, but we’re not ordering biryani from that place. Last time it was all rice and one lonely chicken piece.”
The Review
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Awesome Story !!
Very Inspiring