As he was pondering this dilemma, the Head of TPX, S.K. Gupta walked in, and asked him what was troubling him.
"We've got a course sale here", said GK, "but I don't think we can do it, as we have no instructor available. We'll have to cancel the course, and offer our regrets; maybe we can ask for a postponement." This smacked of blasphemy to SKG: turn away a sale ? Reject money ? Never !
Calmly, he told GK, "Take their money, we'll supply an instructor !"
"But, SKG, there simply isn't any ! No one's available on those
dates !" protested GK.
"Then I'll personally take the class !" stated SKG in a firm voice.
"Now get their advance payment !"
"But you don't _know_ MS-Project !" balked GK.
"Then I'll study it !" retorted SKG "There's what, three weeks before the actual course ?! How much time do you think I'll need ?"
GK threw up his hands in defeat, and went to make arrangements with the client.
SKG walked over to Sangeeta, and told her, "Now, look, Sangeeta, TPX
has a problem."
Sangeeta correctly translated that to mean that _she_ had a problem,
and listened attentively.
"I have to train a class of people in MS-Project, but I don't have the
time to learn just now. So I want you to thoroughly learn MS-Project,
become an expert in it, and then train me, so that I can train them.
Do you think you can do this ? Are you confident ?"
Sangeeta assented. There wasn't any other option, anyway.
She started out that very day in NIIT's TBC office, working non-stop on MS-Project, and within a week, had gained a certain degree of expertise in that package. She waited for SKG to arrive at TBC for his lessons, and as she waited, she continued to improve her skills. SKG did arrive at TBC often in the forthcoming days, but never did manage to spare any time to Sangeeta's training. She continued to wait, but in vain.
As distressed as Sangeeta might be, it paled in the face of GK's agonies. That poor man was desperate not to show a bad face to the client, and couldn't fathom what SKG meant to do.
"SKG, there's a week left; barely enough time to cancel the class and walk out of there with some semblance of self-respect ! Shall I cancel it ?!" asked GK, frantically.
"Cancel it ?!" asked SKG, in wonder.
"Return their money ?!!" he continued, in deep shock !
"Of course not ! I'll take the class !"
"But you still don't know MS-Project !" protested GK
SKG dismissed him. Such minor things were not to be worried about.
And so it was, on the day of the actual departure. Never one to miss a trip abroad, SKG was off on his plane, clutching a lap-ful of class transparencies, without so much as having seen the actual opening screen of MS-Project.
He left his hotel the next day and went straight to his class, having passed a casual eye over the transparencies in his room.
"Hello, class, I am Shreekant Gupta, M.Sc. Ph.D. I have come to
take your class today."
The class politely smiled.
"Now, you will have to promise me one thing" said SKG, solemnly.
The class focussed attention on him.
"You must not so much as look at an MS-Project screen without my permission. You see, we at NIIT have a very structured class pattern, and I do not wish it to be disrupted by any interference. You must promise me this first. Is it agreed ?"
The class nodded.
"All right, now let us begin. By our structured class pattern, we must first find out what your expectation of the class is. After all, if I do not know your expectation of me, I will not be able to fulfill it, will I ? And this is what your rating of the class must be based on, as well !"
"Now ... can someone tell me what you expect to learn from this class ?" asked SKG.
There was total silence. After two or three minutes, a daring soul put up his hand.
"MS-Project ?" he ventured.
SKG cut him to shreds with a sharp, contemptuous look. "I am S.K. Gupta, M.Sc. Ph.D. I have worked for over 15 years in the USA, and hold advanced degrees in several subjects ! I have handled large projects, each of several million dollars in value. I am the Head of NIIT's TPX division ! And with all this, do you believe that they would send me here to teach you MS-Project ?!"
The class fell into a hush. The adventurous soul who had dared to attempt to answer SKG's earlier question attempted to evade all sight by hiding behind the woman in front of him.
"No", proclaimed SKG, shaking his head, "MS-Project is merely a simple tool, that even a feeble-minded person can pick up in a day or two. I have come to teach you something far more important. I have come to teach you ... Project Management !"
He stopped and looked around him. The class, to a man, applauded his speech vigorously. And SKG smiled. The ground rules were set.
And so it went on. For the next four days, SKG walked up and down the classroom, explaining what he had been doing for the last two decades of his life. He extolled the glories of the projects he had laboured on, trumpeted his methodology to the heavens, and incidentally, prevented the class from actually seeing an MS-Project screen. The students sat rapt in wonder; none of them was so bold as to actually ask any more questions. They had already seen the consequences of such foolishness.
On the fifth and final day of the course, he permitted them to see a few of the opening screens of MS-Project. He let them play around with the package for a couple of hours, explaining just how the package could be used in Project Management (knowledge gained from his skimming of the Course notes in his hotel bedroom the nights before).
Finally, in the last hour, he got the class to fill out a course feedback form, to judge his skill at conducting this class.
GK awaited him on his return, eager to see how the course had gone. He was sure that some fiasco must have ensued, and deeply doubted whether they'd ever see this client again. To his deep and utter chagrin, the Course Feedback average amounted to a solid 4.8 out of a possible 5, nearly the highest score ever registered on any course conducted by NIIT so far.
GK stuttered in total confusion, "So how did it go ?!"
"Oh, no problem, no problem" smiled SKG, "MS-Project isn't really that hard to pick up !"
* * *
SKG was a master of the organizational chart, and had a keen sense of the power of the chain of command, never better illustrated than in the case of the Pressure Cooker rings.
It all began when SKG's wife noticed that one of the rings on her Pressure Cooker had broken, and decided to get authentic parts for it from Singapore. She made the request to SKG, and passed on the catalogue which showed the part.
SKG mentioned the need for a pressure cooker ring to his secretary, Neelam, who quickly took over the catalogue, and moved it over to the next stage, Arun Gupta.
"But what do I have to do with a pressure cooker ring ?!" protested Arun.
"SKG needs one." said Neelam, surprised that she had to explain even that much to an intelligent man like Arun.
"But ... " Arun's protest sputtered away into silence, "Oh, okay, give me the catalogue !"
"Anupam" grinned Arun, "SKG needs pressure cooker rings !"
"Huh ?" Anupam Swaroop shook his head in puzzlement.
"So here's the catalogue; get someone in Singapore to get it for SKG and send it back through the next traveller, will you ?" grinned Arun, content that he was out of the loop at last.
"But wait a minute ..." protested Anupam, too late to halt the rapidly vanishing Arun.
He swiftly passed on the message to Singapore branch and the Country Manager, VA, from whose hands the job devolved onto the hapless shoulders of Amarjit.
"Why me ?!" she moaned, as had almost everyone else along the line so far. She swiftly recovered, "You're coming too !"
"Me ?" I was jolted out of my laughter "What do you mean, me ?!"
"You're the one who knows Singapore best, and if I'm not getting out of it, then neither are you !" Amarjit explained her logic.
Refraining from argument, I joined her on the expedition, and finally, in the deep basements of C.K. Tang's, we located the object of NIIT's quest, available for the meager sum of 16 Singapore dollars (about 300 Indian rupees).
The rings travelled back up the chain of command, finally reaching SKG, who was hard pressed to restrain an agonized cry when he finally learnt the price he was paying (adequate to buy a complete pressure cooker in India). Still, it had been a worthy exercise, demonstrating once again, the smooth workings of the mighty NIIT machine.
That's enough travel ... now let's head back home