Chapter 1

Mr. Bhisma was reading. He was reading a status report on a new project. Udhi and Arjun had written the status report. Mr. Bhisma was engrossed in the report.

The intercom rang. It was an interruption, but Mr. Bhisma could not ignore it. It wasn't that he would have thought it rude. It was just something that he could not do. He picked up the instrument. His secretary was already speaking while he was picking up.

"Sir, Sir"   she was excited about something, Mr. Bhisma thought, but then the thought slipped away, to be replaced by his full attention to the plastic and metal at his ear.

“ Sir, A call from the office of the Prime Minister”

“OK, Please connect”

" Am I speaking to Mr Bhishma?”  the voice sounded crisp and functional, someone who had a job to do and no time to waste in doing it.

“Yes”

“Are you free to talk? The Prime Minister would like to have a word with you”

“Of course. Please connect me to him”

“Hello, How are you doing Bhishma?” the Prime Minister's soft and gentle voice. 

“Great Sir, I am happy to hear from you” Bhishma replied.

“Bhishma, I have watched the work you have done in building computer literacy among the kids from the lower strata of the society for the past decade. I will be honest - I used to be a little skeptical - I could not bring myself to think that computer literacy was a priority; especially for the majority of our children who are so desperately poor. But the results of your experiment has proved me wrong and I am happy about it” PM told him in his soft and gentle voice

“Thank you sir for your kind words” Bhishma replied

“Let me come straight to the point Bhishma. After taking over as the PM last month, I am now looking around to have a strong team to drive each of my priorities. As you will be aware, strengthening our education system has been identified as one of the top priority of my government. I want you to join me as the advisor for the Education Sector. I am sure you can make a real difference to the society with your farsighted vision and dogged execution skills” The P M continued

“But Sir, As you know I have left the government service of Indraprasta more than 10 years ago because I felt that I am a misfit. I am happy in what I am doing and I am not sure if I can do the same in a typical government setting”

“Bhishma, I know your strong views and passion for results, and how it often gets stifled in a bureaucratic setting. I am asking you to join me as my advisor. You will be now at the top. You will have my complete support and authority of my office. Now it is for you to make the change you have often dreamed. Think about it and give me a call in two days. I want to announce this in my press conference next week”

“I am overwhelmed at the confidence you have bestowed on me” Bhishma replied.

“Have a great day, your country, Indraprasta needs you”

The line went dead.

***

Bhishma was surprised and almost shaken. Though he was not sure whether he should accept the offer from Dr Rajashekhar,  he was happy that the PM appreciated his project. Originally when he started this project ten years ago, Dr Rajashekhar was very critical of the idea. He was not the PM then, and not even a part of the ruling government. It was not just the posturing typical of the opposition leader. He appeared genuinely unsure about this initiative of Bhishma.  Bhishma had a private chat with the Dr RajaShekher once during those days on this.

“Bhishu, I don’t know why you have decided to set up this computer literacy project. When I heard that you had quit the service and you intend to take up a transformative project, I had high hopes. I hoped you would do something relevant to a larger cross section of the society. Now you seem to be in the money making game. You are on a project that is focused on to the rich few; those who can afford to have fancy and expensive toys. We have millions of people who can’t read and write, thousands of schools which don’t even have blackboards and libraries. Do something for them” Dr RajaShekhar observed

“Sir, I know we have lots of work to be done in the area of basic education. Many government agencies, NGOs and aid agencies are taking a number of initiatives. But I believe that computer literacy among our children is a very important need. It is not yet appreciated by many in its full magnitude. The computer is going to change the way we do everything. If we build a generation well equipped to make use of it, we are building the foundation for the next century. I am sure that I will be able to find a way to make it available to the poor children as well” Bhishma replied.

“I am not so convinced. But knowing you at least I am sure that you won’t make this to a scam”

That was ten years ago. Today’s call from Dr Shekher, that too soon after he has become the prime minister, gave him the satisfaction about the acceptance of something that he had worked on for a decade

***

To be continued ...