Shoot the messenger !!!

It was a long wait for Prof Ram…

First the admission process which kept the management quite busy and the HQ section of the GIM main building a hot bed of activities, and then came the schedule for the AICTE visit that was long pending. A lot of work had to be done before the Delhi team arrived ,with their greed packed in suitcases, pretending to be a group conscious about quality of higher education in this country and Ram never got any gap to squeeze in with his letter and discuss it with the king…

I was the prime victim of the delay, ostensibly as I sat next to him…

He edited it, modified it, tailored it even more, add more quotes and instances, cut off flab but added more, thought about it, rambled incessantly and worse -suddenly walked into my cabin or even showed up his head through the half partition to ask for my opinion on adding something or taking off something from the letter, knowing fully well that my opinion by and large remains the same…

It was discussed by others for some days and later forgotten mercilessly in the admission jamboree and the AICTE visit preparation… Women started worrying about their attire and how disgusting and deplorable it is that the AICTE team is coming on a month end and how good it would have been had it been scheduled for the next month to facilitate better sarees and matching accessories ….In the melee it seemed that only two people were bothered about the letter and its reaching its designated target.. the Kings table !!!

Me and Prof Ram….

Prof Ram was in utopia, or that is what I believed at least … I for sure knew that Dr Joy knew most of the things that was so ornately described in the letter..
May be the quotes and examples from the industry would be new but the facts wouldn’t be and if things were in the shape as they were , it was either because he intended it that way , or because he was helpless…

For me, either ways we couldn’t help it but I stopped saying that to Prof Ram, for not wanting to bicker and squabble over something which was like the classical chicken or the egg issue…

At last the day came when Madam Secretary called Prof Ram in his intercom and announced that the King is now ready and he may come to the HQ in 5 minutes if he still wanted to see the man…

I saw the Prof running out of his cabin in sheer ecstasy as did Archimedes when he ran yelling eureka eureka… Ram of course wasn’t wet and naked and wasn’t yelling, but as he ran, I could see his bliss as if he was a teenager who got an appointment to date Mallika Sherawat….

When Prof Ram walked into the palatial comforts of Dr Joy’s seven star cabin, there was a guest sitting opposite to Dr Joy..... It was not expected, and worse he expected the king to be alone to facilitate a discussion. Wedged for a moment as to what to do, Prof Ram took the seat which was offered to him.

Meet Prof Ram... Dr Joy introduced him to the guest... he teaches strategy at MBA and is a renowned expert.... in fact the back bone of intellect in GIM....

Ram smiled at the praise, knowing very well that it was diplomacy- Joy style and in utter discomfort caused by the presence of a stranger …

And he is Sam Harris... an NRI... Dr Joy introduced the guest to Prof Ram.... we are planning of starting a joint business....fish culture and export...

Prof Ram was taken aback and sat as if a lightning struck him... even the vivacious him couldn’t speak ...

The strategy that he taught wouldn’t agree to this "diversification plans " of the boss.. from education to fish… Goodness gracious!

His brain stopped thinking and as he handed over the envelope with the letter told Dr Joy in a faint mutter....

Please give a reply.... I think I have written down something very important... he muttered in an incoherent tone as if the king will realize his discontentment…

When he was gone, Dr Joy opened the letter ,read that for a minute and with contempt threw it into the dust bin...

What is that ?... asked the curious NRI...

He wants to tell me that he is unhappy and I should do something to make him happy... laughed Dr Joy...

Like...?

Give him a raise and he will shut his mouth for while, then again a letter.....grumbled the king... Teaching me... huh...?

And this stupid teachers..This is the bloody problem with them.. they think they can teach every one… I have reached so far and I god damn know how to take it further….. he went on as the NRI sat there amused and annoyed at the same time.. he had come there for fish business and now was caught in something fishy..

Oh I am sure you can handle it Joy… he said reassuringly….

Hahahahaha… the King laughed in mirth…. You bet… It’s the least of my problems…. I have dealt with such trouble makers often… one thing they don’t understand is that for me I know the art of making money and for that I don’t need an MBA…

Thank God we don’t have an MBA ….laughed the guest as Dr Joy walked up to his refrigerator and poured vodka in two glasses… Now that Prof Ram had ignited it, his interns began to blaze…

Cheers!!! they said and clang the glasses…

They talked business but Dr Joy had an eye set in the dust bin… he wanted the NRI to go to clasp the cover that he had dumped into it with disdain and disgust…

He knew that it was important…
He knew that it WAS NOT the least of his problems…
He knew it could tell him things that he never knew…
He knew that GIM could be saved if he could read it without derision.. once ..
He also knew that it could tell him things that he knew but thought to himself that others didn’t know….

Bastard!!! he still muttered even as the NRI talked fish to an inattentive king….