Still, the matter of his growing paunch was of no small concern to Ravi, who occupied a great deal of his time to methods that might shrink it. He stayed away from methods like dieting and exercise, since he deemed them a waste of time, but was willing to go to great lengths to pursue any get-thin-quick plan. His luggage swiftly filled up with abdominal exercisers and other such paraphernalia. One of the earliest encounters with such devices occured in Jakarta, when Ravi was shopping at Diamond Plaza. His two companions left him with a cart full of groceries, while they departed to change some dollars into Rupiah. Upon their return, they found the cart abandoned in the middle of a teeming crowd of people ! Unable to understand what had happened to Ravi, the pair rescued the cart and roamed the Mall hunting for the missing Ravi. He was finally discovered thirty feet away, eyes glazed over with fascination, in front of a salesman demonstrating an abdominal exerciser. Argument proving a waste of time, the pair waited out the demonstration before departing the Mall.
Ravi purchased the exerciser from the salesman, after ruthlessly bargaining it down to 75% of his asking price. Upon seeing his intense joy at the bargain, the pair didn't have the heart to tell him that it was available in several nearby shops at 50% of what the salesman was asking.
* * *
Ravi has always been fascinated by the bargaining process adopted in Indonesian markets, though his haggling skills are alas, not the equal of his enthusiasm for the sport. Inspired by Indonesia's Master of the Deal, the Garrulous Govind, Ravi also began to exercise his bargaining skills. One example of this occured in a watch market in Medan. Several of the team had come to the bargaining spot, watching another member carry on a bargaining conversation with a salesgirl at the watch store. That member seemed less interested in the watch than in the salesgirl; since the salesgirl seemed more interested in draping several watches over his arm than in actually selling him anything, they were both quite content with the situation.
Ravi stepped in, determined to make a brilliant deal.
"THAT ... WATCH ... THERE. ... HOW ... MUCH ?!" he asked, in flawless Bahasa, immediately attracting the attention of the other salesgirls. One of them fit the watch on Ravi's hand, at the same time naming some fabulous price.
"TOO ... MUCH ! I ... GIVE ... YOU ... HALF !" responded Ravi. Govind slapped his head in the background; he would not have offered more than 10% of that asking price. Apparently, the salesgirl agreed with Govind's assessment of the watch, as she immediately accepted Ravi's offer. Ravi smelled a rat here; even for his bargaining skills, such a quick acceptance did not seem right. He attempted to leave the stall, dropping the watch on the way.
"No, you agreed !" yelled the salesgirls, and the team was then treated to the sight of Ravi lumbering out of the stall, pursued by four girls waving a watch at him. The chase continued through the corridors, but the girls finally gave up the chase as Ravi reached the Mall exit. The team had been unable to join the chase, as they were all helplessly rolling over in laughter; well, all of them, that is, except the original watch-buyer, whose conversation with the salesgirl had continued, undisturbed by any minor events happening around them.
* * *
When it comes to professionalism, Ravi has often mentioned that it would be difficult to find someone who rivalled him at that art. Arun Gupta, the Indonesian Projects Manager, is one who is ready to support this point.
Arun's first meeting with Ravi occurred in Padang, when he came over to meet the Branch team.
As Arun was returning to Jakarta, Ravi requested Arun to do him a favour by carrying some money as a payment to Rock. Arun agreed.
"All right", said Ravi," Now just write me a receipt for the money and I'll give the cash to you."
"Receipt ?! What receipt ?!" replied the flabbergasted Arun.
"I am giving you money, so you have to give me a receipt for that money.", explained the patient Ravi.
"Hold on a minute, I'm not writing any receipts !" stated Arun, jolted out of his calm state.
"But boss, I am giving you the money. You have to give me a receipt of it so that I have some proof of giving it to you. How else can I prove that ?" asked Ravi, plaintively.
"If you want me to carry the money, I will, but I'm not writing any receipts !" replied Arun, firmly.
This was getting nowhere. Arun was obviously incapable of understanding simple logic ! Still, Ravi made another Herculean effort to explain the situation to him.
"Boss, we have to be professional about it, no ?! I am giving you money. How do I have any proof of this unless you give me a receipt ?"
"Look here", replied Arun, "I'm willing to do you a favour and carry the money for you, but I will not write out any receipts for it !"
Ravi couldn't believe that his simple logic wasn't getting through to Arun; how could he be incapable of understanding such a simple idea ?! He made another attempt:
"Boss, look, we may be friends, but we have to be professional in our behaviour with money matters, no ?"
To no avail, as Arun kept up his firm refusal. Ravi gave up; what was the point in arguing with someone who refused to be professional in their behaviour ?!
* * * Still, Ravi is a person who is willing to forgive much in others; he continued to maintain a cheery relationship with Arun. Their next communication occurred a few weeks later, at 5:30 in the morning.
The phone rang in the Jakarta guest-house, and a sleepy Arun rubbed his eyes, as he raced out of bed to answer it.
"Hello ?"
"Hello, boss, it's me, Ravi !"
"Ravi ? Why are you calling so early ?! Is there some sort of emergency ?!"
"Boss, I was just filling out my travel expense claim, and I had a thought, which I wanted to clear with you."
For the benefit of those unfamiliar with the issues at hand, the team often spent some money on local conveyance (in Indonesian Rupiah), which would be reimbursed by the company (in US dollars). One dollar was about 2100 rupiah at the time, though the rate fluctuated.
"Yes, what is it ?" asked a bleary-eyed and very groggy Arun.
"If I send in a voucher claim now, then should I use the current dollar rate of conversion ? It has increased since the date I actually paid out for my conveyance, so I will lose by this process." explained the agitated Ravi.
"You see," Ravi continued, "it was about 2050 rupiah to the dollar when I spent that money, and it is 2100 rupiah to the dollar now. That means I will get back a lower number of dollars than was actually the rate at the time I spent it, so I will lose some money. That is why I called, to confirm this with you !"
Sleepy as he was, Arun quickly did some mental calculations, and figured that the quantity of money involved here that Ravi might lose was on the order of 70 cents. He explained this to Ravi, and pointed out that it might be a good idea to phone at a later hour with this kind of problem.
Ravi was amazed that Arun had totally failed to grasp the point !
"But, boss, it's a matter of principle ! I lose money by this method ..."
"Ravi, you'll gain money if the reverse happens, won't you ?!" sighed Arun, who was rapidly losing hope of his caller going away.
"Boss, that's not the point !" persisted the plaintive Ravi.
Arun gave up the last shreds of hope. "Okay, call Bhutani and discuss this with him in the morning. Good night", and he beat a hasty retreat. Ravi remained dissatisfied with the conclusion of this conversation, but not disheartened (never that !). The matter would be concluded, just as soon as he reached the unsuspecting Bhutani.
That's enough travel ... now let's head back home