S.K.Gupta played his master card: "We will bring Tank here to speed up the work. He is the architect of the Head Office system, and can surely manage the Branch system. There is no problem. Once Tank comes, everything will be fixed."
Linda Lim nodded. She was extremely fond of Tank, and liked this idea. Dedy saw Linda's nod, and nodded his head in agreement.
SKG beamed and continued "Once Tank is here, we will fix the other problems as well, and we will then be well ahead of our planned schedule."
The Branch Parts Manager, Rudi, who was in a cynical mood, spoke up:
"Tank, Tank, Tank. All I hear is Tank. The solution to all your
problems is Tank. What if something happens to Tank ?! What happens if
he falls ill, or dies or something, eh ?!"
The concept swept the room. Some of the people on the other end of the table missed it, and asked what had happened.
"He said, What if Tank dies ?"
"Tank is dead ?! Why ? How ? How did it happen ?"
Rudy tried to chip in to explain that that was not what he meant, but everyone was paying attention to S.K. Gupta, expecting to hear the details of Tank's demise, and so ignored him totally.
S.K. Gupta took up the challenge, "Tank dead ?! No, he is very much alive. Why should Tank die ? Why do you believe he will die ? I will prove to you that he is not dead, by bringing him here to Medan !"
Dedy chimed in, happily, "Then Tank is not dead ? He will come ?"
Rudy tried to get in a word edgeways, but was overlooked again.
"Certainly, he is alive !" retorted SKG. "We shall bring him here and show you that Tank is still living. Why should he be dead ?!"
Rudy gave up his explanation, and sat down in disgust. The Indonesians cheered the good news of Tank's non-death, and the meeting ended.
* * *
A similar situation occurred on the arrival of two new members to Indonesia; we were aware that Radhe Shyam and Shanti would arrive in Padang, but were not privy to further details. I decided to pick them up on their arrival at Padang Airport.
However, the controlling person for their journey was the Indonesian Head of Hardware, Bpk. Bastien Buddhiman. As several crew members (the Garrulous Govind in particular) can attest, Brother Bastien's prime characteristic is a mild paranoia, comparable to that of a kitten, shut up in a cage with a pack of sleeping wolves. He has been seen to display the same reactions as that kitten, when tapped on the shoulder.
Pak Dedy, Bastien's boss had told him that he (Dedy) would hold him (Bastien) responsible for the arrival of these two newcomers. The mention of any sort of responsibility was enough to send Bastien off into a state of raving paranoia; he waited a while, until the froth had cooled and been wiped off his lips, and then issued instructions to some of his subordinates to oversee the process.
Upon Radhe and Shanti's arrival, they phoned in from Jakarta's airport first to the NIIT guesthouse, and then (upon finding no one there) the factory. As luck would have it, that call was intercepted by Wira Gunawan, one of Bastien's employees, and subject to several of the same paranoiac urges.
"Are you all right ?" asked Wira. "You have had no problems ? There
have been no problems with your visa papers at the Customs point ?"
Radhe replied that there was no problem at all.
Wira immediately put in a panic-stricken call to Bastien, who was awaiting the news in Padang, and explained to Bastien that Radhe and Shanti had had problems during travel, and were now facing difficulties with their visa papers at Jakarta Customs.
That piece of news was enough to turn the already nervous Bastien into a piece of quivering jelly. He beckoned his people and sent them out to find more information on this matter. Eventually, he was told that:
* Both Radhe and Shanti had trouble, and were stuck at Jakarta Customs.
* Shanti was ill, and Radhe had broken journey as well, to assist her.
* Shanti was ill, and would remain in Jakarta while Radhe carried on
to Padang.
* Shanti was arriving in Padang, but there was no mention of any person
by the name of Radhe accompanying her.
This last point caused Bastien great consternation, and he asked me
whether Radhe could be travelling under an alias or an assumed name.
I replied that to the best of my knowledge, the only name he possessed
was Radhe Shyam, and I saw no reason for him to use any other.
Bastien looked at me in disbelief, and walked off, muttering about
aliases and impostors under his breath.
In any case, since the next aircraft landing was to contain Shanti, I went across to the airport to pick her up.
After two hours of waiting at the airport, frantically scanning the faces of all the arriving passengers, I was forced to return. By this time, Bastien had further news. Shanti had been located, and there was another gentleman travelling with her, but that person's name was not Radhe Shyam. Could someone else have been substituted for Radhe ? I confessed to a lack of knowledge about this idea. In any case, said Bastien, her flight would be landing now.
I returned to the airport, had lunch, spent a few moments chatting with several familiar faces, scanned the faces of all arriving passengers, and once again returned without the expected arrivals.
In my absence, Dedy called Bastien, to inquire whether he had picked up Radhe and Shanti. Bastien sprung to attention in front of the phone, listening with feverish attention to Dedy's every word. His waiting troops were assembled and given several more instructions regarding the new arrivals.
The next plane was to contain the arriving Shanti. I took a cab down to the airport, passed my time searching the crowd (with the same results as before) and returned, empty-handed.
Bastien looked up expectantly as I walked back in, and then returned to deep despair as he saw I was alone. He resumed his calls to the far-flung corners of Indonesia: Padang airport, Jakarta airport, SIlkAir Headquarters, and every other conceivable number he could think of. Then Wira sent confirmation of Radhe and Shanti's arrival by the next flight.
I went back to the airport, had a pleasant chat with several Indonesians who were convinced that I had decided to become a fixture at the airport, scanned the crowd and returned.
By now, Bastien was walking up and down the room, pacing the corridors and generally displaying tendencies of manic behaviour. Govind, having seen the signs of this coming, had arranged to absent himself from the office by that time. "Who is Radhe ?!" mumbled Bastien, in a tone of utmost bafflement. "Does he exist ?" A further call from Dedy inquiring after the results of the day drove him to the verge of hysteria. Still, he controlled himself, confining his activities to a simple trembling.
Radhe and Shanti were coming on the next flight: this was absolutely confirmed ! That's what the next call said (like the four or five before it) and I trooped off to the airport once again. I was on first-name terms with several of the staffers at Padang airport by now, and I spent my waiting time in a merry chat with them, watching the sights of the airport (including a group of American surfers carrying a ten foot-long surfboard into the plane as cabin-baggage).
To my immense surprise, two Indian-looking faces emerged ! Radhe and Shanti had finally arrived ! I took them back to the hotel, as it was far too late to work, anyway, and they were quite tired after their travels. After settling them down, I returned to the office.
Brother Bastien greeted me eagerly, and I informed him of their arrival. "But ... but where are they ?!" stuttered the excited Bastien.
"In the hotel." I replied, a trifle puzzled.
"But ... you must bring them here at once !"
"Here ? But there's no point; it's too late for work, and they'll be tired after the flight !"
"No, no, no, they must come here immediately !" cried Bastien. By this point, his paranoia refused to let him believe in their existence unless he could actually see them physically present.
I refused to permit that, and told Bastien that I'd bring them over immediately the next morning. He clenched his fists, controlled his nervous quiver, and agreed, in a tone of utter despondence.
The next day, he grabbed Radhe in a fit of joyous delight, and held him fast to gain proof of his physical existence. There have been few times when Brother Bastien displayed quite this same level of joy.
"You ... you are Radhe Shyam ?" he questioned, with obvious delight. Radhe assented.
"Have you any other names ?" Bastien went on.
Radhe denied this, in confusion as to what Bastien meant.
"Then you are Radhe Shyam, and have no other names ?" Bastien probed.
Radhe agreed, still bewildered.
Bastien pondered for a minute.
"There must have been a mistake", he declared with a beatific smile,
and walked away.
Oh, an afternote: SilkAir had, indeed, mangled Radhe's name, which caused one part of the confusion; this was not an uncommon incidence in Indonesia, but rarely did it trigger off the raving hysteria that it did this time. Another example of this was the rendering of Abinov Vishen as Habenhof Fishen, a clear case of a Russian nuclear-physicist.
A few days later, official documentation arrived from UT, Jakarta, declaring the arrival of Mr. Radish Yam. The name caught on, and Radish he's remained, ever since !
That's enough travel ... now let's head back home