Govind was the youngest of the team that ventured into Indonesia, and not surprisingly, this won him the title of "Little NIITian", a name he deplored. At the earliest conceivable opportunity (when Jam joined the team in Indonesia), he transferred the name to another who was younger than even he.
Rash and callow youth though he was, Govind responded with a phenomenal rapidity to the frying pan of Indonesia and, in an ode to Darwin's "Survival of the Fittest", honed himself into a survival machine that was capable of staying alive in the bitterest climes known to Man. No matter how remote or uncivilized (non-vegetarian) the place might be, Govind survived. He braved the mountains of Sumatra, the forests of Borneo and the head-hunters of IrianJaya, and came out of it as fit as (if not fatter than) he had been upon entry.
"I owe it all to my secret weapon: Pringles Potato Chips !" quoted the Sultan of Survival.
But it was not a simple cakewalk: let's take a look at the troubles and travails surmounted by the Gubernatorial Govind.
The team were told to economize, and woefully, they began to spend their own money on this matter. Govind found a way out in the town of PekanBaru. There, he was told, UT's own laundries would do the job for the mere cost of 2500 Rupiah a day, about 500 Rupiah more than what Govind was prepared to pay. Still, Govind reasoned, he could save up his laundry for a week, and have it done in a single day, for the price of not much more than a single day; there was no limit to the amount of laundry that could be handed over on any day. Govind merrily entered into this arrangement for the duration of his stay in PekanBaru, and soon returned to his profligate laundry days.
The time came to depart PekanBaru, and Purker (who had departed the town mere days befor Govind) requested Govind to settle up both their bills. Govind assented, and walked over to the laundry and asked for a reckoning. To his intense horror, he was presented with a bill for an amount about seven times what he was expecting.
"But ... but ... what is this ?!" he sputtered, indignantly. "I only gave you laundry on a few days, not as many as this !"
The laundry staff patiently explained to him that they only charged 2500 Rupiah for a day, irrespective of the amount of laundry given to them. However, that meant they also charged 2500 Rupiah for the days when no laundry at all had been given in ! Adding Purker's bill to that of Govind's (which was already large, due to this unforeseen event) inflated it to a size beyond Govind's belief.
Govind was rocked back on his heels. He had never expected a cataclysm like this ! He pondered for a while, and it was not long before the keen mind that had triumphed over Indonesia thus far, worked out a solution. He drew a pen out of his pocket, and signed the bill with a flourish, adding the following words:
"Bill UT HQ, Jakarta"
Accounts settled, he walked out of the office with a jaunty step.
Came the dawn of the departure day, and Govind was waiting out at the factory for his transport. To his immense horror, a huge van pulled up at the gate, packed with people. Surely that was not to be his transport ?!
Panicking, the Gubernatorial one appealed to the men in the factory, who cheerfully assured him that there was no mistake, and that this was indeed his transport.
"There must be a mistake !" emphasized Govind "I must talk to Pak Hendryk !"
But that wasn't possible, owing to his being in Jakarta at the time. Govind's only other recourse was to postpone his trip until more suitable transport arrived, but that would take a few days, and delay the entire schedule, a situation which would not please either his beloved Rock or the divine SKG. The hapless Govind settled down in stoic acceptance of his fate.
At first glance, there appeared to be no room left for Govind in the confines of the van, which appeared to have compressed human beings into every possible square inch of open area. However, the driver motioned for Govind to move forward and sit in the front seat. That seat was already occupied by a huge woman, who seemed to fill the entire front cabin; she grudgingly moved over a trifle, and let Govind in. Govind silently groaned. It looked like the woman was going to be the largest Sumatran mountain he was likely to see.
His assessment of the situation turned out to be accurate, as the van rolled around the hills. With each left turn, the lady attempted to take back a trifle more of the space she had (grudgingly) conceded to Govind. Each such roll threw her mass upon the hapless Govind, who narrowly managed to hold his own. Still, not for nothing had Govind earned his title of Master Survivor. Carefully awaiting the right turns along the mountain, he shifted his weight to maximize his roll, pushing the woman back, and regaining the ground he had lost. The woman now recognized the formidable nature of her foe, and redoubled her efforts at conquest; efforts, which were, needless to say, countered by strategic rolls on the part of the canny Govind. And so, the journey progressed, with the van shifting one way and then the other, as the war continued. Govind managed to take a few snapshots of the scenery during his battle, but the persistence of the woman's struggle is evident in the fact that she made her presence felt on several of the photos.
Eventually, the van drew to a stop in Padang. Govind stepped out, and slowly massaged his body, which was throbbing from the brutality of the recent combat. Drawing himself together, he staggered into the lobby of the hotel and checked in, wondering what all the fuss about the Tanjung Pao had been.
Govind normally used a figure between 10 to 25% of the item's posted price, and usually met with a staggering degree of success that made him the envy of less-successful bargainers like Ravi. He cut a swathe through Indonesia, leaving weeping shopkeepers behind him in every town.
This fascination with bargaining made him the first person to locate any and all shops in a town. This same nose for shops also made him invaluable to his vegetarian colleagues, as he was equally adept at locating Indian (or vegetarian) restaurants in remote locations. Other team members never failed to take Govind along with them on purchasing trips, trusting to his legendary skills in these matters.
There were only a couple of exception to this rule; one being Ravi, who wished to bolster his personal bargaining skills. Seeing the disastrous results of that, only made Govind's teammates value him all the more. The other exception was a member of the team who preferred a more intimate discussion with the salesperson, and chose to leave Govind out of it.
Govind's week in town swiftly passed. He remained in a mild state of paranoia (normal for Indonesia) awaiting the accountant's hand on his shoulder, and the presentation of a celebrated Laundry bill.
Pak Hendryk took his beloved guest out on the town, inviting him to his home on several occasions, and in general making a fuss over the Gubernatorial one. Govind lived it up, but kept one eye perenially open for any bill-collectors who might unfortunately be lurking in the shadows.
Luckily, for him, it seemed a forgotten matter, and he escaped town without any further mention of it. Probably some PekanBaru shopkeeper had advised the factory accountant of the difficulty involved in contesting Govind on financial matters.
Bastien was a man who was convinced that the entire world had been created to land him in deeper trouble. Most of the population of the world was actively involved in a conspiracy against him, and the rest of the world were only exempted since they were sleeping at the time. No conspiracy or plot was adequately disguised to evade the constantly searching eyes of Bastien, who often managed to find international conspiracies in the simple placement of a pen on a desk. As a result, Bastien often thought three or four steps in advance of any possible conspiracy, and took action on that basis.
To be fair, Bastien had been brought to this degree of paranoia by his boss, Pak Dedy. Dedy could be disturbed by a blade of grass blown by the wind, and if anything disturbed him, Pak Bastien was automatically blamed for it. As a consequence of working for such a boss, Pak Bastien soon became a full-blown paranoiac, seeking disaster in everything, with a view to prevention.
Govind first came to realize the ramifications of this (and its effect on him) in Padang, where Bastien had been given the responsibility (and accompanying status of scapegoat) for seeing that the Padang Branch implementation went smoothly.
Bastien immediately took command of the whole show, probing every little detail of the installation. The team had grown a trifle blase after the earlier two successful installations, and everything was already smoothly in place. This attitude did not go well with Bastien, whose paranoia instantly leaped smoothly into position and swallowed him whole. There was surely going to be some disaster, and that would reflect badly on him in front of the whole company, and he would undoubtedly lose his job, and then .... shivers racked Bastien's body at these horrible thoughts. He decided to be twice as vigilant as ever before.
After checking the database situation (and deciding to leave that alone for the moment), Pak Bastien decided to check the PC's. He found Govind earnestly working over one of them, installing the new software.
"So, how are things, Govind ?" he asked, with a cheerful smile covering up his chattering teeth.
"Fine" blinked the surprised Govind.
"Ha, ha, good" smiled Bastien.
Fine ?!! How could things be fine ?! No, no, this was part of some elaborate plot designed to crash the system in front of the Country Manager during the system inauguration. It would undoubtedly be the worst possible moment for it, and he would lose his job, and ... Bastien shivered again. Something was wrong. Why was Govind hiding something from him ? And what was he hiding anyway ? Bastien pondered the situation again.
"Show me the PC's, Govind" he smiled innocently.
Govind blinked. They were in front of Bastien, with the screens open to the application. What more did he want ? He quickly pointed out the PC's which would be used during the inauguration on Monday. They seemed okay, mused Bastien. Govind quickly got up and departed to check another machine.
Fifteen minutes passed before Bastien suddenly realized the problem: the program might crash the _second_ time someone ran them. Aha ! And they thought he wouldn't suspect. He flashed what he believed was an innocent smile at Govind. Govind stood still, petrified by that hideous sight.
"Are the PC's okay, Govind ?" asked Bastien subtly.
"Y-yes" stammered Govind.
"Show me" responded Bastien.
Govind cursorily waved a hand at the PC's. Upon noticing that Bastien was focussed on the PC's and wasn't paying too much attention to him, he carefully slipped away and disappeared.
Bastien grimaced. Once again, the conspirator had evaded his grasp without a concrete answer. He bided his time and waited, all the while pondering the depths of villainy and sabotage that a person could stoop to. And eventually, his time came.
Govind arose from a PC he was working on and walked away from them, towards a group of his teammates. Bastien casually approached him and asked, "So, Govind, how are the PC's ?"
His guard down after Bastien's quiet disappearance, Govind did nothing more than reply "Oh, they're fine, they're there !"
As he tried to walk past Bastien, he found his upper right arm siezed in a grip of cold steel !
"Show me the PC's, Govind" came the soft, firm voice of Bastien.
As Govind watched in stunned silence, Bastien turned him around in mid-step and walked him over to the PC's. Held captive in that iron grip, Govind could do little more than comply with Bastien's orders. He took Bastien around the machines, one by one, showing him the application running on each. Bastien watched in silence, nodding his head every so often, and smiling a quiet smile.
Bastien released Govind after that encounter. Govind sat silently in a corner, carefully watching Bastien and rubbing his numb arm. Stunned by the iron will (and even harder grip) of Bastien, Govind resolved to avoid him in future, a plan he carefully followed from that point onwards.
And Bastien sat in his chair, pondering what he had left untested so far ...
That's enough travel ... now let's head back home