The " 2012: A Star Wanderers Story " novel continued to sell out in various parts of the world, and barely two months after the book’s release, it was already showing real-world effects in the empire.
Parvathi Iron and Steel, a leading tal slting and processing company, which is also involved in manufacturing different industrial parts, including those for the military, suddenly declared that it would be entering the automotive market, and that too into the most competitive two-wheeler bicycle market. But what surprised the entire empire was the declaration of Varan Devaraj.
Within the auditorium of Parvathi Iron and Steel, a small conference eting with the dia was held. There weren’t too many reporters, but there were enough, at least given that Parvathi Iron and Steel was one of the leading iron and steel companies in the empire and one of the few billion Varaha market cap companies, it still attracted reporters from the three largest newspapers and dia houses.
" We are going to bring the Chaitak in Her Majesty’s novel to reality. Please stay tuned. "
The first reaction of every dia professional across the empire was the sa: "Impossible!" How could the bicycle described in Her Majesty’s novel, the ’Chaitak’, used by the people in her fictional world as daily transport and powered by an aspirating chakra engine, which could generate power comparable to that of a real locomotive, be reproduced in real life? And to make it even more unbelievable, the manufacturer behind it had never produced a single vehicle in their entire history.
Naturally, there were questions.
" Sir, are you serious? " the reporter from Bharatham daily questioned.
" Is this so sort of a joke we are not aware of? " the reporter from The Observer asked with a confused look on her face.
" Is this a publicity stunt? " the reporter from The Tis of Bharat asked after making a conclusion of his own.
Varan Devaraj was almost overwheld by all the questions. This was the first ti he had experienced sothing similar. Every ti he had an announcent to make, he invited the dia in the hopes that the stock price of his company would go up, but the reporters were never this enthusiastic. In the end, raising his hands and waving them repeatedly, he finally got the reporters to calm down.
’Whew!’
" It looks like there has been a misunderstanding. When I say we are going to build the ’Chetak’ we all read in the novel, I did not an the actual copy of it. " He laughed awkwardly and twisted his hands as if to ask how idiotic you have to be to assu that their company was capable of materialising sothing from fantasy into reality, which irked a lot of journalists, but he continued, " It’s obviously impossible to make the aspirating chakra engine. I don’t even know if it is possible. "
" Then Mr. Devaraj, what do you an? " the reporter from The Observer asked, clearly showing annoyance on her face. But the next mont, hearing the answer of Devaraj, her mouth involuntarily widened, unable to close it for a long ti.
" What we an is, although our company will not try to crack the technology of the aspirating chakra engine or any of the futuristic technology showcased in Her Majesty’s novel, we will replicate the functionalities of the ’Chetak’. "
" For example, the very concept of a two-wheeled bicycle running on its own without having to pedal is an interesting concept. The concept of an acceleroter is a very interesting concept. Thanks to Her Majesty’s rigour, there are a few more interesting things we felt like that can be achieved. "
" So, we’ll try to build a bicycle that has a steam engine built into it. We will also try to implent an automatic coal and oil feeder, so that the rider can place complete attention to the road. "
His words imdiately surprised the reporters. ’Steam engine?’ The news about the developnt of the Pragathi engine and it being sold to private companies to manufacture was not publicised, so most of society was still under the impression that the steam engine could only be in the form of the locomotive engine, the engine used in cars and tractors, or the engine used in factories and mines, all of which were extrely large and impossible to be put into a bicycle.
So, they were obviously taken aback when Chairman Devaraj said that they would be producing a bicycle with a steam engine with so much certainty. They began to look at each other, wondering if they had missed sothing in the last few days. Did the royal family unknowingly release a new steam engine?
Varen Devaraj, looking at the surprised and confused expressions of the reporters, felt extrely comfortable. He obviously knew what their doubts were, but he did not want to reveal anything yet. For one, he wanted to maintain the elent of surprise as much as possible, so that when the steam-powered bicycle was actually ready for sale, it would create an imdiate impact without investing too much in publicity. And number two, this was the first ti the civilian sector was allowed to interact with sensitive technology like steam engines, so although there were no caveats and unwritten rules, he was extrely cautious in being the first one to publicise the new compact steam engine.
" I can understand everyone’s doubts, but I will keep so things secret for now. What I can say is, expect sothing that is completely new and has never been done before. "
His words finally woke up the journalists who were still in their stupor. Getting back to her senses, the reporter from Bharatham Daily finally asked,
" How confident are you in this new project, Mr Devaraj? "
Varen Devaraj smiled, " I’ve mortgaged 20% of the company’s assets and borrowed over 240 million Varaha. Do you think I’m confident enough? "
’Gasp!’
A sharp sound of air being sucked was heard throughout the auditorium of the company. realising the determination of Parvati Iron and Steel the reporter quickly finished the conference after asking few more questions and left, after they went back, they imdiately reported what happened, and by the end of the week, special groups across the empire, like those involved in investnt, manufacturing, business, and policymaking, knew everything about the move made by Parvathi Iron and Steel.
People began to speculate as to how the steam engine, which at least weighs a few hundred kilograms, would fit into a bicycle.
As for Varen Devaraj, he was extrely happy with the success he was seeing due to the press conference. Getting in his car, he imdiately left for the new construction site where a large factory was being built to mass-produce the steam engines.
Looking at everything coming together like a neat puzzle, Varen Devaraj couldn’t help but feel lucky that he was able to employ a brilliant engineer like Raghu Deep Vardhan.
---
A few months ago,
On the day the novel was released,
Varen Devaraj was in a eting with his executives discussing the prospects of the piston and ring set component they had just bought the patent for. But just then, soone broke into the eting without any prior notice.
Varen Devaraj and a few other executives were startled and looked at the person who barged in, but after seeing that it was actually Raghu Deep Vardhan, the chief engineer of the company, who had co in, the words of reproach did not co out of their mouths. Still, since they were unhappy, they all looked at the chairman to see if he would punish such insolent behaviour.
The chairman’s complexion looked red with anger, which made so people’s eyes light up while also making so others clouded with worry.
Though in the end, the chairman did not get a chance to speak at all.
" Boss, I got a new idea, an amazing idea, an idea which is enough to propel us to one of the top manufacturing companies in the empire. "
Raghu Deep Vardhan’s words were like those of a tsunami wiping out a forest fire. The chairman completely forgot his anger and looked at Raghu Deep curiously.
" What do you an? "
" You don’t know, boss, " he ca directly in front of the chairman and walked around trembling with excitent, " I was just reading the new novel of Her Majesty the Empress, which I have to say is the most marvellous, brilliant..... "
" Co to the point, Raghu Deep. "
" Oh, sorry, boss... the novel has so many wonderful future inventions that are so srising. After reading the first part of Her Majesty’s novel, I realised that one of the inventions she had ntioned might just be doable. "
" Ohh! " Varen Devaraj was intrigued, " What sort of an invention? "
" It’s the bicycle technology, boss. "
" In the novel, Her Majesty described a vehicle with two wheels that moves on its own without having to pedal, but fictionally it is powered by an engine called the aspirating chakra engine. But I realised that we can replace this engine with a steam engine. "
" But the steam engine is so big, how can we fit it... " An executive who was just about to refute Raghu Deep, whom he always found so annoying, suddenly realised what he actually ant, and his eyes widened.
Raghu Deep was smiling from ear to ear, " Yes, Manager Indrajit understood. We will not use any of the old steam engines, but we will use the Pragathi engine, newly developed by Raya Power Company. "
" With the problem of the engine solved, it should not be too difficult to make a bicycle that moves on its own without the need to pedal. Aren’t we already manufacturing one of the major parts of the engine? Then why can’t we request other parts from other manufacturers and build the prototype of the engine ourselves? "
His words imdiately touched Varen Devaraj, but he didn’t make a decision imdiately. He turned to look at his managers.
" What does everyone think? "
Pratap, the director of factory operations, stroked his chin and nodded in acknowledgent, " It is doable, sir, but we lack talent in this area. "
" I think it is a good idea as well. As for the talent, it’s not a big deal. We can simply import a bicycle from another company and work on it. If the venture generates interest and proves profitable, then we can manufacture our own bicycle fra, " the director of quality control, Ashwin, imdiately chid in.
Varen Devaraj nodded, " So technically, we assemble the engine from the parts bought from other companies and integrate it with the bicycle? "
" Exactly, sir, " Pratap responded.
" Hmm... Nived, what sort of risk do you see in this venture? "
The director of finance, Nived Dhirur, did so ntal calculations and spoke out, " If we are importing all the parts from outside and also importing the fra of the bicycle from outside, and only integrating within the company, then the risk should not be too high since we don’t have to invest in production plants. "
" But sir, I do suggest investing in a separate factory for assembling the engines, because even if the powered bicycle plan that Engineer Raghu Deep proposed does not pan out exactly how he envisioned, we will still be able to make money as long as there are custors for the engine itself, which, as everyone knows, is not that risky. "
Varen Devaraj was liking the idea more and more. " What do you think, Lokesh? "
Lokesh Barot, the director of machinery and maintenance, untied his hands and spoke out without any ambiguity, " Boss, until now our company has only been involved in making parts for other companies and providing them with processed tals. Although this has brought us into the range of one of the largest heavy industrial companies in the empire, we all know that we have missed a lot of opportunities by not diversifying our products when new technologies ca. "
" So, I see the engine assembly project as a way for us to enter the downstream market. We can go from being a company that no one apart from the people in the industry knows, to a company that can potentially enter people’s hos in the form of powered bicycles. "
Varen Devaraj, after listening to everything, finally made the decision to open a new front of the business. " Raghu Deep, you can imdiately start researching how to assemble the engine and how to integrate it into a bicycle. "
" Raghav, you will be responsible for getting him all the materials required, and Nived, allocate 10 million for research purposes. Oh, and Bhavesh, start recruiting engineers and technicians proficient in bicycles; we will need them very soon. "
The directors of procurent, finance, and human resources nodded their heads in agreent.
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