One thing I’ve learnt

An empty conference room at Villa Rosa Kempinski Hotel. Renato D’souza sits amongst a cluster of forlorn empty chairs and a thick carpet that has soaked thousands of speeches and stiff cocktail laughter. A lonesome lectern presides over the noisy stillness of the room.

His blazer is off and draped resignedly on a chair next to him, like a comrade who could not make it to the finishing line of this corporate rat race. His face mask hangs under his chin like a rooster’s wattle.