The resume had been lying on my table for almost a day seeking my attention. But I had been entirely enmeshed in back-to-back meetings, until Avik, my colleague who heads the business vertical, peeped through the door and nudged me to urgently look into it.

"Seems quite ok?" he said evenly. "Most important, he is in great need. He can join immediately. Your's is the last round. He is waiting since afternoon."

I requested Avik to sit and flipped through the two crisply encapsulated pages. I found a well thought through presentation spread in front of me. It occurred to me that the candidate had put in great hours editing the content. A few striking information jumped out of it as I analysed the data points.

That the candidate had been studious was evident from his educational background. All throughout his academic pursuits he had secured excellent grades. What was commendable was that he did not abandon his keenness to update himself despite his deep engagement in his profession. His last certification in Machine Learning was just a year ago. This meant he was eager to sharpen his competence. This drew me into his profile. He changed jobs tolerably frequently though that information weighed less that moment. What stood out was his status of an experienced candidate seeking a gainful employment; that too since past six months. It was a counterintuitive data point after a stellar career progression of over fifteen years. But what caught my eye was his last work experience with EduEdge International, which was my dear friend Deepak Advani?s company. I asked Avik to let the candidate in after ten minutes after I was done with a phone call.

As Avik left, I rang Deepak up.

"His name is Sandeep Sengupta," I shared after exchanging pleasantries. "He had left your organisation six months ago." I kept it short.

"Utterly unscrupulous," Deepak took no time to respond. "He resigned just after he had received his salary. No notice. No discussion. Vanished in thin air! Overnight!"

"Strange!" I said.

"Such candidates should be reported so that they never get any job anywhere." Deepak was seething.

I realised that the fellow had left a deep scar on my dear friend. Had I not stopped the discussion he would have poured more. I thought he had spoken enough to get me going. I tapped the bell to let him in.

A faint knock on the door later, a fair, mid-sized bespectacled man in his early forties took his seat opposite me. His white shirt looked wet in patches. I recalled that there was a torrential downpour till afternoon that day. The man might have been wet by the time he was within the safety of the building. Quite clearly he had dried himself up while waiting for the interview process to get over. I felt pity for him. I drove straight into the area where the nerves lay bare.

"How is it that you had resigned without an offer in your hand?" I asked evenly.

"Circumstances did not allow me to follow the process. I decided to resign all of a sudden." He said matter-of-factly.

"Did you receive your salary?" I asked having heard the word 'decided' louder than the rest.

"Yes. I did." He took a deep breath.

"Then you conveniently resigned it seems?" I said with a mock exclamation.

"Yes sir. I had resigned just the day next."

"Without serving a notice period?" I asked looking straight into his eyes.

"Yes sir. I did not serve the mandatory notice period."

"We need an accepted resignation letter from your ex-employer before considering your candidature. Having done what you have done, it is unlikely that you can produce one."

Sandeep Sengupta fell silent. A dark smudge crossed his face.

"Sorry sir. I will not be able to provide you an acceptance on my resignation letter." He said tentatively.

Now, I fell silent. What could have I asked over and above what he had shared? And yet, from the flow of his responses, the nonchalance he exuded, the fabric of his voice, it occurred to me that he had left a deeper part unspoken.

I asked after a long silence, "Do you have anything to say?"

Sandeep Sengupta smiled wryly, "Nothing sir"

I would have usually left it at that but my instincts got better of me and I asked him,

"What could have been the circumstances that led you to such desperation that you did not mind embracing the uncertainly of a jobless man?"

He took a deep breath, rubbed his eyes and spoke softly.

"Sir, the going had turned tough because of the sudden recession in the economy. All the industries have been facing this. My former organisation too was in a challenging position. Braving against all these, our team had been working overtime to improve figures. And yet, the success was moderate. In such a hostile external scenario, the management blocked the payment of our salary. It was already the fifteenth day of the month. Diwali was just round the corner. My team kept requesting me for the salary. I was not sure what to reply to them. At last, just two days before the Diwali, I confronted Mr. Advani. He appeared indifferent. He curtly replied that my team must understand salary is not paid just like that when they are not competent enough to generate revenue. And how it was important that they learned that there was no free lunch. I did not expect that rebuttal. It was humiliating to say the least. I couldn?t share that response with my team. The next day evening the salary was credited to our respective accounts. It was clear to me that the same process would be repeated next month too. How can an organisation pay when the revenue was not coming? I knew it was not possible to lift the revenue generation to the desired level anytime soon. The market won?t allow it and the owner knows it well. With such payment terms, it would indeed become impossible to run my family. I checked with a former employee whom I knew. She told that the record of the past showed there were no payments made to the employees who served notice period. If the full and final settlement ever was done, it was delayed by months. It made no meaning for me to follow the process and leave empty handed. It seemed obvious to me that my absence from the organisation won?t make any material difference either. I resigned the day next with no preamble whatsoever."

I could not figure out what my response should be. After a prolonged silence, I hinted at the end of the interaction. I watched the man walk out thanking me for giving an opportunity to present his credentials in person.

I called Avik shortly thereafter.

"Avik, I have decided to drop this practice of checking references of the prospective candidates," I said watching Avik raising his eyebrows.

'Why sir?" he asked smiling, struggling to process the information.

"I find it truly unfair. It is an injustice! Why only the prospective candidates? We must also check the credentials and the practices of the past employer whom the prospective candidate has left. And yes: the bosses who handle teams should be checked too. We do not care to know the other side. This should not be the case."

Avik exhaled. He was not smiling anymore.

"Yes sir. I fully understand," He said and added, "But, what about hiring Sandeep Dasgupta?"

"Oh! The candidate! He is a good one alright but, we won't hire him Avik," I replied softly and leaned back on my chair, feeling the need to be left alone.