“Are you off your rockers, guys?" heckled the manager.

"If you don’t clean up this mess by evening, we’re done with this account." These words were no less than bombs dropped on the already war-torn land of the sales team headed by Samarth and Pragya.

An abominable lull descended into the entire jungle of cubicles. Not to mention, the presentation went awry with technical glitches and unexpected errors on the screen. The client slapped with redo of the whole deck without any issues this time.

While Samarth sat dumbstruck on his chair, brooding over the blunders, Pragya was banging her forehead with fists to stop crazy thoughts.

The entire team was squirming in their seats, looking with hope towards their leaders. After all, nobody wished to be thrown out of such an ambitious project, which, if successful, could’ve changed their fortunes.

Suddenly, Pragya announced. ”Chai huddle in 5 at Goldie Tapdi” (a small general store near the office premises), a.k.a. Brainstorming Hub. This place had a different charm, defying the conditioned conference rooms of the office where all worries got diffused and the sulked transformed into spirited beings smoking out the worries away from the end of cigarettes.

Do we’ve any plans to revive this? Samarth leaned in with curiosity.

"Let's hope we get one or else this project is dead, but first we got to pep up these sapped souls," she said, pushing up her sleeves.

The entire squad gathered like cadets at Goldie’s tapdi. With all sipping the signature chai made by Goldie, a few puffed ciggies to regain confidence. Ideas started flowing in to salvage the critical mission. Though each were worthy of implementation, none of them seemed achievable with the team's confidence shattered to the ground.

Amidst the much-needed discussion to avert this world-shattering debacle, the sound of kids playing nearby with beckons of "c'mon", "stay put","dodge dodge" and "don't worry, I’ll save you” seized the attention of everyone.

The rather cheerful squad was playing pitto. Their eyes sparkled and gleamed, beaming with energy as they bounced with a plastic ball and a bunch of stone piles.

Like lost ships drawn to the beacons of lighthouses, the sales team followed their past selves. It was a flashback stirring the youthful energy in all of them.

A few Kids got knocked by the ball onto their derrieres, hands, legs, and heads, but that didn’t deter them from trying back again to restack the scattered pile of stones. They stood up, brushed their pain off, and restarted all over again, either to revive fallen teammates or dodge the hit of the opponent's throw. Some elated beings, indifferent to win or loss, were simply lifting others and swinging them around in excitement. Every kid seemed to have mastered the art of pivoting. Come what may, they exuded resilience and determination in the face of challenges.

It was an uplifting treat for the despondent sales team trying to sip energy out of chai. The lively demonstration of enthusiasm soon spread like contagion to all of the team members, and the ideas that seemed far-fetched suddenly appeared to be a cakewalk in their hearts.

“The kids saved the day, it seems" Pragya whispered into the ears of Samarth.

There was no cliched pep talk by Samarth and no incentive gimmicks by Pragya for the entire team, and yet the lost confidence of the team was back with a bang.

In the evening, the presentation deck was embellished with impressive animations and real-time data. The client lauded the pivot in the idea that was remodeled by Samarth and Pragya with a showstopper slide of pitto. It underscored the teamwork in the achieved sales figures, making it a promising ground for the clients.

“Hail Pitto Pioneers... It was simply awesome. You guys nailed it!” praised the manager!!