Rajat glanced between the two of us, a smile spreading across his face. ‘I love that you’ve let Neil shadow you for the pitch … I’m sure it’ll be a great learning experience for him.’
‘Actually,’ I interjected, stealing a peek at Neil’s face. He seemed calm, like the comment hadn’t bothered him. ‘He didn’t shadow me. We worked on it together.’
‘Oh.’ Rajat blinked, recalibrating. Then his expression brightened again. ‘Two NYU grads teaming up, huh? I’m super pumped now.’
My nerves, which were already shot from crisis-managing the projector scenario, began to act up as soon as he mentioned NYU.You’re an imposter, Kavya. There’s no way you’re going to win this.I took a deep breath, trying to shove the anxiety monster back into its corner.
‘Okay, so, um … hi,’ I started, immediately regretting how shaky my voice sounded. Even though I had spent hours learning my slides, I couldn’t remember how to start this stupid presentation.
Beside me, Neil quietly rotated his laptop so the screen was facing me. A simple, thoughtful reminder that I did, in fact, know this pitch.
‘Right,’ I said, exhaling. ‘So … before we jump in, can I ask all of you something?’ The faces around the table were slowly beginning to come back into focus. A few heads lifted. ‘When you get home after a long day, what’s the very first thing you do?’
‘Take a shower.’ Varun was the first to speak up.
‘Change into my PJs.’ Jiya chimed in from the far end of the table. Others murmured in agreement.
I smiled at her. ‘Exactly. Most of us change into clothes that make us feel light and comfortable … like we can stop trying to impress the world and just be ourselves again. Because we’re home.’
Neil joined in. ‘What if you could take that feeling with you everywhere you go? Not just inside your house, but through your commute, your office, your entire day?’
I glanced at him, confidence warming up in my chest now that we were in sync. ‘Jiya, sadly HR won’t be too thrilled if we start wearing pyjamas to work … but what if we could show up in clothes that felt as comforting and grounding, while still making us look undeniably chic?’
‘For us, Jharokha’s new clothing line isn’t just about functionality, design, sustainability or all the other buzzwords the industry likes to throw around …’ Neil picked up where I’d left off. ‘It’s about a feeling.’
‘And that’s the heart of our idea.’ I picked up the laptop and turned it towards the room, zooming in on slide number five.
‘Clothes that feel like home,’ Neil and I said in unison.
Tanya’s gaze met mine from across the room. She shot me a thumbs-up and smiled, even though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. I tried to focus on Rajat instead, who was tapping his pen against his notebook, listening intently.
I went on to narrate the script of our campaign’s ad commercial—how it would follow a young woman who has just moved to Mumbai. She’s starting a new job and feeling completely out of place on her first day. The city is overwhelming for her and the office feels unfamiliar and intimidating … until she sits at her desk, exhales and runs her hand over the soft fabric of her linen co-ord set, letting its comfort steady her. As she glances out of the window, we see whatshesees—not the Mumbai skyline, but the view from her balcony back in her hometown. The glimpse offers her a much needed sense of familiarity and she begins settling in properly. She kicks off her shoes and sits cross-legged on the chair … as if she’s starting to feel at home, even though she’s miles away from it.
By the time we concluded our presentation, the room was so quiet I feared we’d put people to sleep. ‘Interesting,’ Rajat said, his face giving nothing away as he motioned for us to take our seats.
Chatter broke out in the conference room as we discussed each other’s ideas and let the pantry staff refill our coffee mugs. My heart was somewhere in my throat the entire time. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Rajat got up to address the room.Please, just make it quick and painless,I sent a silent prayer to God.
‘Great work, everyone,’ he began. ‘Truly. I was pleasantly surprised by each of the ideas presented today.’ He turned a page in his notebook. ‘Let’s start with you, Saloni.’
She sat comfortably in her chair, looking at him without an ounce of nervousness on her face. ‘It was really refreshing to see you think bigger than promotional offers … shows that you’re starting to see the merit in brand building.’ He tapped his pen and added lightly, ‘However, the hook wasn’t as clear as I would’ve liked. It needed some idiot-proofing.’
Saloni shrugged, completely unperturbed by the criticism. ‘Gotcha.’
Rajat nodded at her before shifting his attention to Inayat. ‘Your deck was spectacular. Easily one of the best PPTs I’ve ever seen.’ He looked genuinely impressed—a rare occurrence in the Jharokha office. ‘I just wish you’d focused on the content as much as you did on the packaging.’
Damn, he’s being brutal,I thought to myself, picking at my nails under the table.
Inayat’s smile flickered, but she continued to hold his gaze. ‘I hear you, Rajat.’
‘Good,’ he said, giving her an encouraging nod. ‘Because I see a lot of untapped potential here.’
He began moving around the table, offering individual feedback for everyone’s pitches.
With every carefully crafted critique he delivered, I peeled a little more skin off my cuticles. When he called Nitya’s idea ‘Relevant, aspirational, but missing an emotional gut-punch’, Irealized I’d picked my left thumb raw. That didn’t stop me, however, from moving on to my right hand as he skimmed through the rest of the team.
‘Wear Your Space ...’ He turned to Tanya, his eyes brightening. ‘Nowthatwas clever. Visually stunning. Conceptually tight. Easily one of my favourites today.’
Tanya straightened in her seat, listening expectantly. Rajat continued, still smiling wide. ‘It’s fresh, super current. And I’m sure it will absolutely kill on social media.’
