Chapter 11

With increase in volume, day to day operations became a challenge. Ramesh and his team were primarily concentrating on development of features. With more clients from all round the country, support calls were increasing. Bhishma knew that unless the users had a great experience and got their doubts clarified on a timely basis, they would lose interest.

The central computer system was also running out of capacity. With this capacity constraint more and more clients were facing problems. He asked Arjun to help 

Ramesh to make sure that the capacity is planned and upgraded to match the growth in volume. Arjun took this up seriously. He undertook a detailed evaluation of the operations. He realised that the system team as well as MSS team considered development of features their priority. Solving client problems was considered a low end job and a necessary evil.

Arjun went about addressing this problem heads on. He organised a special task team consisting of smartest kids from business, systems and MSS to address issues for service quality and redressal of grievances. To begin with there was significant resistance in being posted to this low-end job. It was considered to be punishment posting by most.

Arjun realized that the biggest challenge was changing this attitudinal issue. He decided to make sure that posting into this task team becomes a privilege posting and not a punishment posting.

He called the complete team for a brainstorming session.

“Guys, I called you all because I want your help in changing our task team performance. This task team is expected to help our clients to sort out their problems. But, today the feedback we get from our clients is that we are failing in our duties. So I decided to ask you all why we are in this stage”

“Sir I want to make a point. We are from the system team. But we are demeaned by being posted in this help desk. I don’t feel that I am part of a system team that is involved in developing an advanced solution. I feel that I am in one of the call centers.”Ranjit replied

“ I agree with Ranjit” added Rajat also of systems team. “ When the telephone rings I can almost  listen to myself saying Mam can I help you”

“OK Rajat is it shameful to help our clients? Are we not being sustained by the fee that is paid by our clients? If the clients don’t feel happy and they don’t buy our services there will be no solution development for any of us”

“I don’t say that we should not help our clients. But that is the job  of people who are selected to do that job. We can simply outsource this to a call center where ‘not so well educated’ chaps will sit and take these calls and sort out the clients stupid clarifications” Ranjit replied.

“May be the business operations team can handle it” Rajat remarked

“Do you think it is the job of BO to clean up the shit that the systems team has created” Gopan from BO who was posted to task team was fuming.

“Please stop this nonsense” Arjun raised his voice mildly. “You guys are arguing without truly understanding our role and the challenges we face”

“Listen to some facts. Do you know why I have been asked by Bhishma to take a look the task team performance? It is because we have reached a situation that there is severe backlash from our client base about the quality of our solution. The murmur that was here and there, is now become a uprising asking us to take our solution back and return their monies”

“In the last one week I analysed whatever documentation you had created relating to the customer grievances. I took help of Krishnan the MSS project head to study the root cause. 90% of the complaints are not some clarification from users on which button to press or how to start the computer or requesting help on command. They are performance issues of programs getting slow, the weekly upgrades failing to load, programs crashing, failure of some functionalities and so on.” Arjun pointed out

“These are on account of poor design, poor programming and insufficient testing. These cannot be solved by call center staff. They need help from qualified people to solve these problems. We need bright kids like you to analyse these problems deeply to understand the root causes and solve them. Then we send these upgrades to our clients so that these problems don’t continue. I don’t even know why we call these upgrades. They are nothing but bug fixes”

“Let me make a point my friends” Krishnan butted in. These problems are because all you smart guys who are involved in development and testing are focused on features and functionalities and not of performance. We only see if the functionality work. We test using few records. We don’t appreciate how our programs scale, we don’t worry about memory leaks, we don’t spent time on the algorithms. We don’t even worry about basic discipline in coding. I have seen mixing up data definitions as integer and decimal in the same program. I have seen logics in queries and searches in program that will always throw out null records because the logics are plain faulty.”

“What is required from this task team is Performance Enhancement. But we see the role of this group as help desk. Therefore we don’t respect the role that we are expected to play. Therefore we don’t play this role with our hearts in it. Therefore we don’t do justice to our role. Therefore our clients are happy and therefore we are failing as a company. It is a vicious cycle.” Arjun was almost talking to himself.

“We are going to change what we call ourselves. This group will from now on be called ‘Performance Enhancement Group’ ; PEG We are the pegs on which the growth of our company will be supported, we are the peg that we use in our climb upward”

“If we fail in this role, we will not be PEGS but PIGS that will drive our company to its doom” Arjun was getting the drift in his mind, the road ahead was getting clear.

“But sir, why should I be there in this group?” Vamsi from MSS asked. I am working on one component of the solution. ie; communication

“OK. I agree. Are you a person who understand only programming related to the communication system. In the next project you will go from MSS, will it only be in comms”

“No sir”

“That is the point. Do you think that the BO team who don’t understand any programming are better suited? Do you think that the systems team who no involved in programming are better suited? We don’t expect you to fix all bugs of all modules by PEGS. We expect smart and brilliant people like you, who have exposure to different modules will analyse the problem, solve it if you can or connect to the relevant experts from the team and help it to be solved.”

Arjun was speaking with utmost seriousness and earnestness. He was looking into the eyes of each of them. He wanted them to appreciate the import of what he was explaining. He knew it was important for them to feel and believe the importance of what they were doing and also absorb how it is going to help them in their growth. He continued

“This is a different skill than jut programming. This is a skill that requires ability to react under stress. Ability to make quick evaluation of various options under demanding circumstances and to take a call on immediate work around and on long term solution. It does not give you luxury of time that you often have when you are solving a problem as a part of your regular development. This is a different kind of training that you will get; preparing you to be a leader who can lead his troops.”

He paused for a minute and looked up as if trying to pull out an idea from the sky. His hands reached to the back of his head as if he was trying to comb his hair with his fingers.  This was a characteristic mannerism of Arjun when he is thinking seriously.

  “I want you to transform from being Karna to being Arjun” He said with a smile

“Do you know what this means?”

“No sir.” Some of them murmured

“If you remember the story from Mahabharatha, Karna was a better archer than Arjun. But he had one curse. Do you know what it was?” He stopped for an answer from the audience.

“He would forget all what he learned when it is really a matter of life and death” Gopan said

“That is true. What it meant that he was quite weak in managing stress. I’m sure many of you would have experienced this in your life too. In the examination hall, sometimes some of us forget all what we learned. For some others, it could be at the time of an interview. Even in games, a critical point some may feel frozen. All these are signs of our inability to cope with sudden stress.”

“It is not enough for us to learn skills and build knowledge. It is also important for us to be use them effectively and smartly at time of crisis. One of the most important training that PEGS will give us is this.”

“As we have a critical role to deliver; we only want as members of this team, those who possess functional skills and crisis management skills. Please keep this in mind. With this in mind together  will make PEGS the critical component of success of IES. 

Thanks guys for joining me today. Let us get going.”

All of them dispersed. Krishna and Arjun walked out to the balcony to share a smoke. Udhi also joined them.

While lighting  a cigarette Arjun said. “ I want to posting to PEGS a matter of privilege and not a matter of punishment. I want them to feel like Heroes”

Krishnan nodded his head as he took a deep drag of his cigarette.

Chapter 10

“I am happy that the launch was organized quite well. It was truly a team effort. Special thanks to Arjun and Udhi for leading from the front” Bhishma observed in their next weekly meeting.

“Sir the who’s who of the education industry was there” Gopalakrishna  said excitedly.

“Minister’s presence was really a boost.” Sajjan was beaming from ear to ear.

“Sajjan gets an orgasm if he has been with a minster.” Udhi whispered to Arjun’s ears mischievously. “He was standing behind the minster on the stage full time. In that position he looked more like a security. Black safari suite of security would have suited better than the tuxedo he wore! ”

“Keep quite” Arjun wanted Udhi to stop. He knew Udhi will go on with his wisecracks.

“Udhi how is the response to our product from the clients you have contacted?” Bhishma asked

“Sir this is a new concept and a difficult idea for the potential clients. I had discussion with many of the regular schools. None of the managements could appreciate the usefulness of this.  They thought that it was madness to spent money to establish computer labs which had weekly updates of new modules. We organised a small focus group discussion of parents from these schools. They were mostly of middle class background. They considered it as an expensive hobby. The rich and elite thought that what they bought from abroad was a better alternative.” Udhi sounded discouraged.

Udhi was very convinced of the product and was very unhappy that the potential users are not getting it. He felt frustrated at the “stupidity of the consumer”

“It means that we have a challenging task ahead” Bhishma said in a calm voice. “This is the challenge when we launch a completely new idea. We need to spent effort in shaping the market and to develop an appetite”

“Udhi, develop a plan of action in this direction. Set up a team to work with various forums, arranging for demos at schools, organising seminars for parents. Have an aggressive marketing pitch” Bhishma continued.

“Exactly sir. I was suggesting the same thing to our team the other day” Sajjan butted in.

Bhishma looked up and smiled.

***

Udhi was charged up. He went about with an education plan for the various segments of users. He was a good communicator and loved anything to do with children. He visited school after school and demonstrated the exciting stuff one could do with computers. He showed the children how to do use the product. He even took effort to teach programming to the children with an idea to get them more excited about computers. He spent time with the children to see how they responded to various new features.

He worked closely with Arjun who was responsible for product development. On the basis of the experience with the children in the field, Arjun and Udhi developed lots of ideas on computer based games that also taught children a variety of topics. He organised contests and gave away handsome prizes.

Ramaswami focused on getting more schools to sign in for the service. He enjoyed going to school after school; talking to the management and the teaching staff about how computers would change the way children are taught.

 Gopalakrishna took care of day to day operations. Documentation for each sale, delivery of kits, installation, invoicing and collection and so on.

 Vidur handled recruitment and training of staff.  With the company growing leaps and bounds, getting the right kind of people was a challenge. Once they joined they had to be trained on the various aspects of this business as this was a new field and it was not possible to get people with relevant experience. This was an area Vidur managed very well. Vidur also handled all affairs relating to finance and accounting making sure that all compliance requirements were met.

Over a five year period, the idea clicked. Moreover, the success of the IT industry in Indraprasta also acted as a stimulant. More parents wanted the kids to be familiar with computers and more kids wanted to learn computers.  Bhishma guided the team to innovate. New funky features were added very often. The learning experience was getting to be exciting. The weekly updates have become something users looked forward to. 

Chapter 9

As they dispersed Ramesh asked his team to join him at his cabin. Sajjan and his team also assembled in his cabin to plan.

“Boss has placed an enormous challenge on us” Ramesh said immediately as he and his team entered in his room.

He turned to close the door and then moved to his chair. Normally he left his room door open. But whenever he had confidential matters to discuss, he shut his door. Shashank and Mukund took their seat in front.

“But Ramesh, this target is absolutely impossible. We have to follow the Software Development Life Cycle when we release software of this complexity” Shashank gave his expert opinion. By nature he was more concerned about processes than outcome. He would rather screw up following a process than make a judgement call for a decisive outcome.

“The Classic SDLC cannot be followed in this case. We need follow a different strategy for this rapid roll out” Ramesh replied

“The business operations people will have to take equal responsibility. They cannot just sit there and say we have given the functional specification”

“I don’t know how to make Sajjan own up anything. He has no clue of anything. Vidur is his right hand. He is a bright fellow. But he is as slippery as an eel.” Ramesh said.

“But what about readiness of the data center” Mukund asked

“For the time being we could use the data center of NUPS. They have surplus space. I will ask boss to talk to Surya” Ramesh replied

***

In the meantime Sajjan was having his conclave in his room. They had this habit of assembling in Sajjan’s room after the weekly meeting to have an evening tea and gossip before closing for the weekend.

“Ramesh has been completely bowled today. He is really psyched with Boss’s aggressive schedule” Sajjan commented. He was happy to find an occasion to put down Ramesh.

“Yes sir. You are very correct.” Ramaswami chipped in with his agreement.

“Shashank wants us to take all responsibilities. He cannot own anything” Vidur added.

“The system team has to do the sign off with MSS. We have already given the specification” Vidur continued.

“They have not started coding and they want us to complete the test conditions” Ramaswami commented. He wanted to make Sajjan happy. So he did not leave any opportunity to put down the system department.

“Arjun. You should start planning for the launch. Udhi can also help. With the minster attending the inauguration, it is going to be grand show and we don’t want to fail in the arrangements.” Sajjan said

“Don’t worry Sajjan” Udhi replied in his classical nonchalant fashion. “We will put up the grandest inauguration that Indrapura has never seen before” He was mostly chilled out; except when somebody questions his integrity. Normally he had a naughty smile in his face.

“I will say that after the show is over. Not now” Sajjan commented

“We will not let you down” Arjun replied unassumingly. Arjun took up every project with full sincerity and seriousness.

***

Chapter 8

Bhishma set up IES as a company. Surya Hari and representatives from the other funding agencies joined as board members of the company.

After having set up the company, he went about building a team systematically. To support him in technology, he got Ramesh Gupta. Ramesh had outstanding academic credentials and familiarity with large IT systems. Ramesh also brought in two managers Mukund Mehta and Shashank Goudar to support him in IT.

Sajjan Kapoor joined him as head of corporate affairs. He had excellent experience as a compliance person. He was good at making sure that various compliance requirements were met, books are kept properly and the day-to-day administration was efficient. But he was bereft of any new ideas. He was good at playing politics. He knew how to play on against the other. His colleagues used to call him ‘Tuglak’ for his policy of ‘divide and rule’.

In fact this shift for him could not have come at a better time. In his previous organisation where he worked he had almost got into a scam in his role of credit assessment. Many people believed that he was not an accidental victim. He was not a shamelessly corrupt person. He did not mind some presents in kind so long as it was discreet. In this case he had given a loose definition of gift. More so he was willing to close his eyes on the potential credit risk of the borrower. The evidence was week. He went up to his boss and pleaded to let him off. His boss relented. He asked him to leave quietly. Therefore this offer by Bhishma was really a godsend opportunity for him.

  

In the second tier as operating managers, he got Udhi Srinivas, Arjun Kumar Vidur Ranavekar, Ramaswami and Gopalakrishna.

Bhishma focused on the strategic priorities and took major strategic decisions. He gave clear directions and timely decisions which the team was conscientious in implementation.

Bhishma believed in building a team and building consensus. So he established a practice of weekly meeting with his senior team. They met every Friday evening. In this meeting they discussed the progress during the past week and identified priorities for the oncoming week.

It was a month onto the project. Bhishma was ready for the product launch. He decided to discuss it in the weekly meeting. Bhishma was in few minutes early. The team members were trickling in one by one. Those who came in sat quietly.

Bhishma looked around. They were still operating out of NUPS office. So it was in the NUPS board room that they met.

“It is time to think about our own office. He thought. But let the product launch happen. Then we will decide.” He mused.

“This board room is too gaudy for my taste. When we have our office it should be sober. May be I should take some help from Surabhi” He was letting his mind wander a bit.

At exactly 4 pm and he was ready to start the meeting. All the team members were already in.

“I would like us to discuss our plan for the product launch” He moved onto the business for the day after everybody settled down and finished with their pleasantries

“Sir we are nowhere ready for the launch. The development team has just completed the solution architecture” Ramesh was quick to butt in. He sounded and appeared agitated and concerned. His large eyes were larger with excitement

“The development team from Maximus Software Services (MSS) will take at least eight months for the development of all the functionalities. Shashank is already coordinating the development and the interface with the business team” Ramesh continued.

“Sir the business team is yet to give the sign of for the details System Requirement Specification submitted by MSS.” Shashank had made his point.

“Sir we have given the full functional specification. MSS has translated this to detailed SRS which is the foundation for development. It is the systems team who should review this in details and sign off. We can also look at it whether the FS is covered adequately” Ramaswami objected.

“I don’t agree with it” Shashank was quick to retort

“I agree with Shashank. But I am willing to debate this and come to a solution that is acceptable to both teams” Ramesh commented. “But there are many more challenges. Sir after the development we need to have a full fledged testing of the software; both by business team and by the systems team” Ramesh continued.

“MSS has requested that we give them the full test conditions before they start coding. As far as I know the business team has not started this yet”

“Yes. Yes” Shashank had more to add. “Sir Test conditions...”

“Wait a second” Bhishma interjected with his stern and gentle voice. As per you Ramesh, when do think we can launch.

“Fifteen months minimum” Ramesh replied carefully

Sajjan Kapoor looked at Vidur and sniggered. Though he did not understand the import of the discussion relating to software development he pretended that he was following everything.

“We should launch IES solution in six months” Bhishma said decisively.

“Sajjan please plan the launch ceremony. Minister of Education Shwetambaran has agreed to attend our launch.”

“But sir, we cannot get the full product out in six months” Ramesh said. He sounded helpless and agitated. His eyes which were naturally large were now bulging further. His voice was developing edginess.  

“Ramesh, Don’t get agitated” Bhishma spoke gently and reassuringly. “I am not suggesting that we launch the full product in six months. I know it would not be possible to get all the features in and also launch the product soon. I am suggesting a strategy of phased Implementation. This would also help us to test the product and get feedback from the real users which could in turn help to refine the product.

“That is a fantastic idea” Ramaswami blurted out excitedly.

“Sir in that kind of a scenario we will need a little help from you to get necessary cabling from the Indraprasta Telephones for the bandwidth” Mukund had to say something to feel important.

“Yes Mukund you need to help yourself first” Bhishma replied. You go and meet the General Manager personally and explain your need. If you still have a problem let me know”

Sajjan looked at Vidur and sniggered again

They proceeded as usual to sharing the progress of the project. Meeting got dispersed by 6 pm.

Chapter 7

Surya Hari had great ambitions for NUPS. He wanted this to become an empire that would straddle the complete gamut of everything related to education. When he heard about Bhishma’s new plans, he decided that he wanted to rope him to his dreams.

One evening he dropped into Bhishma’s house unannounced.

He pressed the calling bell. He could hear the chime coming from somewhere deep in the house.

The door was opened by Surabhi.

“Good evening Surya” She welcomed him with an open smile. “What a great surprise”

He walked with her to the sitting room

“The new arrangement in the sitting room is as gracious as always. Aha a new bonsai arrangement. I can’t but feel jealous of Bhishu for having such a creative and artistic wife” Surya was full of praise.

“Surya seems to have some agenda” She mused. “Else he won’t be in such a mood to praise”

“Bhishu, see who has come” she called out aloud.

Bhishu walked in from his study wearing a blue jeans and a white T Shirt

“Oh Hi, Surya. Good to see you. You caught us at the right time. We were just getting out for a walk” Bhishu said

“That is called destiny my friend. I was in the neighbourhood and decided to try my luck” Surya replied

“Bhishu you look 10 years younger. May be because you are no more a bureaucrat” Surya continued

Surabhi smiled benevolently. “He really wants something.” She thought “Today he is generous with his praises”

  “Shall I get a coffee for you guys” Surabhi asked. “I am going to have one anyway”

“Good idea. I am ready for a coffee” Surya replied

Surya sat on the comfortable white sofa. Bhishu reclined on the diwan.

“How is your new project Bhishma?” Surya asked

Bhishma was happy to discuss his ideas on IES.

“Bhishu, NUPS will be too happy to provide any kind of support you will need for this venture. We can fund the whole project or a major part of it” He offered

“I will also give you the necessary administrative support. You can kick off the project from the premises of NUPS” Surya Hari continued.

“I am very happy with your offer. I intend to start the activities soon. If you don’t mind, give me few rooms at NUPS to kick-start my project.”Bhishma replied

“I am happy that you are willing to participate in funding of this project. My dream is to have an ownership structure that is widely distributed. Few banks have already expressed their interest. The holding company of NUPD can also have 10% of the equity.”

There was a flash of disappointment in the eyes of Surya. But he replied with a charming smile.

“OK this is a deal”

“How are the kiddos doing?”

“Sumati has got admission into Harvard Business School. Sujit is still in his grad School” Surabhi said

“Wow. Brilliant.  You are really a blessed couple”

“I don’t want to hold you lovebirds from your nice evening walk at the park”  Surya got up from his chair.

“How is Sunitha’s business these days?” Surabhi asked as she also got up.

“Oh she is a busy business woman first and then wife” Surya replied with a sardonic smile as they all got into the lift.

Surya got into his car and Bhishma and Surabhi turned towards the beachfront promenade. The promenade was a wonderful place for an evening walk. This extended about six kilometres and covered the northern tip of Indrapuram the capital of Indraprasta. The northern tip of Indrapuram was shaped live a wedge and extended in to the sea. One side of the wedge was the port and the other side the promenade extending all the way to the end of the wedge that merged to the mainland. For a long stretch the seaside next to the promenade had nice and sandy beach.  Then it was rocky all the way to the mainland. The promenade had beautiful flower beds filled with a large variety of flowers. These flowers were interspersed with nice grass patches where people could stretch and relax enjoying the beauty around.

The skyscraper that housed Bhishu’s flat was at the point near where the beach ended and the rocks started.

“It was surprising that Surya walked in without announcing” Surabhi commented as they started their walk along the promenade.

‘Hum” Bhishu replied

Surabhi realised that he is deep in thought. Anyway they preferred to do the walk in silence.

After few minutes, they picked up speed. As usual they completed their one hour walk covering about seven kilometres. Now they were back to the point of exit from the promenade towards their house.

“Come let us sit down at the beach for sometime” Bhishu suggested

They walked along picked up a Coffee from Beachfront Starbucks and walked over to the beach.

“What do you think about Surya’s suggestion” Surabhi brought up the topic of evening conversation.

Bhishma decided that it was a good idea to debate a bit on that.

“You know Surabhi, NUPS today has done well. Surya is a capable administrator and he definitely played a key role in getting this up and running though the vision and dream arose from the brilliant brain of Dr V.” Bhishu said

“There is no doubt about that. But you know what his ambition is and where he would try to take NUPS once the dear Dr is out”

“It certainly makes sense for IES to have a strategic relationship with NUPS. It can build on the e-Learning module for college students that is linked to the NUPS curriculum and degree. Once the brand of IES builds up and large number of students finish their school using  IES way of learning, this could be  the way in which they can move over and do their college education” Bhishu noted.

“But NUPS is only for post graduation and research” Surabhi pointed out.

“That is today. Even if they continue in that fashion, I am sure they will partner with IES to build an online under grad courses that could help the regular graduates to up their standards in parallel so that they have a better chance in getting in NUPS.”

“Like everything else the education is also going online. The power of computing and connectivity is going to transform the field of education too. IES will make it possible for students from all types of colleges to benefit from the knowledge base being built up at NUPS. It will enable a larger cross section of students to aspire and compete to join NUPS. The geography is no more a restriction. The student from the small town can have the same opportunity as the student from big cities. It is not just the access; it is also the cost of access that IES will break down” Bhishma continued. He was looking far ahead. Surabhi knew he was no looking at the horizon; but seeing the future as it unfolds.

“Strategic tie –up may make senses. Strategic control is a no-no. He is like the camel. Once you give him headroom he will muzzle his way in”

“I know he will try. I believe that I would be able to contain him” Bhishu replied.

Bhishu got up. Surabhi realised that Bhishu would like to leave the discussion for now.

She also got up and walked back to their house.

***

To be continued

Chapter 6

Surya was happy that the Management School has been well accepted. He knew this is something that can be built upon.  But he was not so amused with the limelight that Shravan was getting. So he did not want to leave the reins completely to Shravan.

Surya was a shrewd strategist. He went about working on both the issues slowly and steadily.

One day he walked across to Dr Vishveshvarayya’s room

“It is heartening to see that our management school is now well recognised. I am sure this name will help us attract their interest in our other courses too” He said.

“Good that you brought about the subject. I was planning have a chat with you on this” Dr Vishvesvarayya replied.

“Some days ago Shravan had s come up to me with an idea which I thought was worth considering” He continued

Surya stiffened.

“The old man appears to be enamoured by this young upstart. Agree that the idea of Management School clicked. But it happened only because of the support I gave. That does not mean that it should become the launching pad for Shravan” Surya mused.

But he did not show any reaction on his face. He listened attentively.

“Shravan suggested that we should establish management schools at other locations.”

“OK that is an idea. But it will need enormous resources to set up campuses and at this point we do not have the funds for it” He replied

“That is the beauty of his idea. He suggests that we select few well running institutions and have a tie up with them. The Government anyway is not giving permission to set up many management colleges. They are slow to recognize any new idea anyway. So in the meantime we could have the satellite campuses at select few colleges. We can have strong selection criteria for choosing our partners. We can persuade government against permitting other colleges for some more time. In the meantime we can establish our national presence with no investment. On the other hand we can have some nice cash flow as royalty and security deposit” Chairman gave a quick summary of the idea Shravan had put forward.

Surya realised that it made sense. He also knew that he it has the potential to leapfrog Shraven to a more commanding position within NUPS and out in the industry. He wanted to reap the fruits of Shraven’s idea; but not give an opportunity to Shravan to build on in it further.

“That is a good idea. I think it is worth taking it forward” Surya observed.

Dr Vishveshvarayya felt relieved. He was not sure how Surya would react.

“Ok let us ask Shravan to go into implementation mode” Dr suggested.

“Oh I would like to see it in a different perspective” Surya interjected.

“Now what” Dr mused. “Surya will come with a new twist in anything”

“Sir, Shravan is overloaded and we cannot ask him to take this also” Surya said

“But he has presented me an excellent implementation plan”

“OK we can definitely look at it and we can even make use of it if it is good”

“Shraven will be upset and this may dampen his motivations”

“May be he will be. We need to explain to him. He cannot expect exclusivity in any project”

“But it was he who conceived it and demonstrated the feasibility in spite of opposition from most of us”

 “Just because a man fathered his baby we can’t expect him to be the one guiding him in his Ph D program”

“But in this case the father is qualified to be his Ph D guide”

“We can definitely appreciate that. But we have to be prudent. We can’t have the success of the whole program pivoted on one individual” Surya started to spin his argument.  Once he developed an idea and conceived a strategy he could spin his argument with such force, logic and persuasion, it would be difficult for anybody to stop him.

“We need to develop our team and we need to be sure that all aspects of the implementation is adequately covered. My thoughts are as follows. We will make Somesh responsible for this expansion project” Surya continued.

“But he is our legal and corporate affairs person” Dr V raised his concern

“Yes Somesh had joined the team as a legal and corporate affairs person. However he has a keen interest in the business of NUPS.  He is an avid reader. In the recent past he has been reading books and journals relating to the field of education, has attended seminars and has been thinking extensively about issues and challenges in this area. He frequently comes to me with interesting ideas and often has sensible advice. Plus as he has a strong legal background he will be able to negotiate and conclude strong contracts with each of the potential partners. You see we are going the partnership rout. Any partnership has potential to sour. Therefore it is imperative to ensure that we have a contract that will protect our interest in case of such eventuality.” Surya built his case strongly.

“Further I suggest that Rani is made responsible for the curriculum and study material for these partnerships. We cannot use the same format as we use here at the institute. We need to develop suitable material for the students as well as total on boarding kit for the partner entities.” Surya was making sure that the other two was with him when he cut Shravan to size. 

Dr. V realised Surya’s game plan. But he did not have arguments to match Surya’s logic and even more his powerful articulation. He did not want to veto Surya. He wanted to see the institute succeeding and matching his dream before he retired.

 “Ok I leave it to you” Dr V conceded.

“I knew you would appreciate my strategy” He bowed with utmost grace which was more an act than an expression of his respect to Dr V

Chapter 5

During this tenure at the ministry, Surya met Dr Vishvesvarayya who was an educationalist of international repute. He had brilliant ideas on how the education system in Indraprasta could be transformed. He had conceived an idea to set up a national university primarily focused on research in Science and Technology. It would have a number of affiliated colleges that would offer post graduation and doctoral programs. He was able to get the technical support from one of the reputed universities from US, the Stanford University. He was able to convince the government of the national importance of such a university to get all the clearances fast. This university was christened as the National University for Progressive Sciences (NUPS)

Surya Hari was result oriented. He knew that any idea was meaningful only if it was implemented properly. He put together crack team to manage the project of setting up NUPS. The senior members of the team were Rani, Somesh and Shravan.

Rani was in charge of Academic Affairs. She was a Ph D holder in Education from a top university in Indraprasta. She had about 15 years experience in the field of education. She had a charming demeanour and a heart of steel. She was also a very good administrator. With is single minded focus on her career, she did not marry for a long time. Subsequently, she was enamoured by Somjit who ran an NGO doing work among the tribal community. Soon she realised that she was not fit to be a family person and her marriage to Somjit ended up in a divorce. But she was only too happy to have the custody of her child and bring her up as a single mother.

Somesh was in charge of legal affairs. A highly qualified lawyer with an additional qualification in Corporate Secretarial functions Somesh took care of the corporate affairs and administration efficiently.

Shravan was a graduate in Engineering and a Post graduate in management. He hailed from lower middle class background. But he was brilliant student and managed to get admission to top engineering and subsequently to a top management school. After graduating he had joined the ministry of education and had the opportunity to work under Dr Vishvesvarayya. It was there that he was spotted for his brilliance and hard work. So he was picked up as a part of the start-up team for NUPS. He was responsible for the total infrastructure including information systems.

Within one year they had the university up and running against the apprehensions raised by many. These critics believed that a team with no prior experience in running any business venture before would not be nimble-footed enough to set up a university let alone run it. Surya Hari’s political connections helped him to get the licences fast. His crack team did a wonderful job of getting the project up and running in double quick time.

To begin with, they set up a college that offered Post Graduate and Ph D program in physics and chemistry. The labs were outstanding and the syllabus was of international standard. They were able to attract some very motivated and brilliant faculty members who took up variety of research projects. But the student enrolment was not as much as expected.

***

Dr Vishvesvarayya called for an internal brainstorming on how to increase the acceptance and popularity for the school among the public. Shravan was a person with a keen sense for business. So he was the first to volunteer his idea.

“Sir I believe we should have a strategy to build a brand name for NUPS and it should get associated to be a place that is most sought after” Shravan pointed out.

“Of Course that is why we are here” Rani quipped

“I think we should have a full-fledged advertising campaign about NUPS. We should also try to work with government to see if we can get our degree some premium compared to the regular universities.” Rani continued.

“May be we would approach the Ministry of Human Resources to declare that our Master’s program in Physics and Chemistry are equivalent to Master’s Program in Electronics and Chemical Engineering” Rani went onto elaborating her idea.

“Sir I have a different view” Shravan interjected. “We should offer some courses that have high demand in the market like Management. Though this is a little divergent from being focused on science and technology, this course will definitely complement the main programs.”

“I think it is complete dilution of our vision.” Rani almost burst out. She was miffed that this upstart Shravan with no experience in education sector should even open his mouth at a discussion like this. “And see what he comes up with. By suggesting this MBA he is diluting the spirit of NUPS. What does he think we are setting up?”

“Sir these two year program in management is a far cry from scientific institution we are setting up. The focus and attention will get completely diverted.” Rani was boiling.

“Sir Management is the art of making the science possible; possible to establish; possible to sustain and possible to survive. It will be a complement to the technical education. Many world renowned technical schools are introducing this in their offering. I believe that we should show leadership in this in our country. Once we get acceptance for this course and establish a name for ourselves naturally other courses will become attractive” Shravan was defending his idea.

“It is worth a try. Take it as a small project that Shravan can drive” Dr. Vishvesvarayya agreed.

Rani was boiling inside. “Dr Vishvesvarayya has a soft corner for this upstart. He let him try any of his nonsense ideas” She mused

She threw a sideways glance at Surya. He was quite. He sat there with a wooden face.  It was difficult to fathom what he thought about.

“Shravan seem to be the pet of the Chairman and he seems to get any of his fancy ideas approved by him. I need to develop a powerful ally. The option for me is Surya.”

All of them got up to leave the room. Surya was in front and he walked along the long corridor towards the cafeteria instead of walking into his cabin which was next to the cabin of Dr Vishvesvarayya.

In his mind he was thinking hard about the idea Shravan suggested. He knew Shravan was a bright fellow his ideas often made sense. But he was not sure how it merged with the NUPS vision.

His brain was churning. This was a new development and he wanted to weigh the pros and cons of this and develop a strategy that suited his purpose.

As usual when he had some thoughts the bugged and he felt that he was not in full control of the situation he walked to the executive cafeteria, picked up a hot cappuccino and stood near the French window looking far out into the horizon drinking his coffee.

Rani walked up to him. She also picked up coffee and joined Surya.

“Can I join you for a coffee” She asked giving him a placating smile

“Of course you are welcome” He replied though he was not looking for company.

“What do you think about Shravan’s idea?” She asked

“Oh! Rani is not happy about Shravan getting an upper hand” he thought.

“Old man seems to be impressed by it” he replied non-commit tingly.

“But you were quiet and did not say anything” Rani replied. She wanted to judge Surya’s views.

“I heard this for the first time. I have not thought through the issues. May be it is a good idea and would work. May be it would fall flat” He replied, again not committing anything

Rani was feeling frustrated

“But Surya isn’t it against the vision of NUPS we all cherish? We are a scientific institution. Not a run-of-the mill college.” She said. The agitation in her mind was showing in her face and her gesticulations.  Her sari slipped a bit from the shoulder. With the low cut blouse she was wearing the cleavage was visible. Surya could not help noticing it; especially since she was about four inches taller than him. It was a pleasant distraction. His eyes remained there for  a few moments.

Suddenly she was aware of the gaze. Her hand itched to pull the sari back to its place. Then she decided against it. It is not a bad idea if he finds it interesting.

He moved his gaze away and their eyes met for a fleeting second. He realised that she saw his look and she knew that he knew.

“Oh let us see how it develops. If it succeeds it is good for us.” He replied

“If it fails, then what” She asked

“If it fails, then it would be a bad experiment” He replied.

Suddenly the position was clear in his mind.

“If it fails it is a bad expiring by Shravan supported by the Chairman. If it succeeds, he has to ensure that Shravan does not get too much of a mileage” He thought

“Rani is also not amused with Shravan. Let it continue like that. Some completion, rather insecurity, won’t do any bad. Though a brilliant professional she appears insecure too. She can be under my wings” His scheming mind was working fast

“Come on Rani. Don’t fret. You go ahead with what you are doing. I am sure that you would do great. I am there to give you all support” He told her.

“Smart cookie” She thought “Is he also extending a hand? May be he is the one to be developed as an ally at whatever cost”

“Let me go back to my room. I have some urgent papers to clear” Rani walked back along the corridor. She knew the view from her back was quite appealing. She gave it a more deliberate sway. She was aware of his gaze and she wasn’t at all perturbed.

***

To be continued

Chapter - 4

Few days after this discussion he met Surya Hari at a party. Surya was one of his old friends. He was the head of National University for Progressive Sciences.

“Hi Bishu, Now that you are out of government what are you going to do” Surya Hari asked.

His close friends called also him Bishu and he did not mind that.

“I am trying to figure out what I should do, I am toying with many ideas. Not yet taken a final call” Bishma replied

“If you are doing anything with education, count me in” Surya Hari offered

***

Surya Hari was born to an aristocratic family based in Northern Indraprasta. His great grandfather was a large landowner in Ravighat. His father Rajnarayan was the first person from his town to travel abroad for studies. Rajnarayan graduated in English literature. After completing his studies he had come back to Ravighat and took over his family business. He continued his family tradition of being actively involved in the affairs of the society.

The King Sangamitra of Indraprasta invited him to join as his advisor on international affairs. That gave him enormous clout in the society.  It also helped him to amass significant wealth.

In the meantime a wind of change was blowing across Indraprasta. A movement was slowly rising demanding an end to monarchy and introduction of democracy. Sangamitra knew he had to change with the times. He believed that the change has to be managed and the transition should be smooth. So he decided to set up a special cell to deliberate and decide on this demand from the citizens. Rajnarayan was head of this special cell.

The movement for democracy started to build momentum. Rajinder Sharma a well educated activist for democracy was gradually getting mass following. The populace called him Chacha and  he was becoming increasingly popular. King Sangamitra was also happy with him. He invited Chacha to join the Sepcial cell.  Rajnarayan was no excited about this. He knew that with the popular support chacha enjoyed, he would become the natural choice to lead the people’s government. He realised that the wave is building and there will be no stoppage. “It is time to change track” he concluded.

“General, the democracy movement is gaining huge support and the managed transition being considered by Sangamitra will not work” He said to General Pasha from the Indraprasta National Guards who was also a member of the Special Cell.

“I was thinking the same thing. He is placing too much trust on Chacha and he alone cannot guide a nationwide movement. We should discuss with the King and announce a definite timetable for the transition to a select group who are capable and would be acceptable to the citizens. Not only that they should be able to match up with the stature of the leaders of the other countries whose support and cooperation we need.” Pasha replied.

“My dear General, I am not sure whether King Sangamitra will agree to this. But do you think will be able to make him see the voice of reason” Raj asked.

“With the popularity of Chacha, he will naturally become the Prime Minister and all the powerful positions will be taken over by his buddies. As we were part of the old regime, we will be nobody in the new regime” Raj continued.

“So what do you suggest” General asked

“We need to work out a plan General. I will support you to become the head of the country and not head of national guards” Raj said enticingly to Pasha.

“OK. Let us work on this” He replied.

He got back home early that day.

“Rajani, prepare for a trip to Switzerland. Pack up enough for a long stay” He told his wife

Both of them were sitting at the veranda of his palatial bungalow. He could see his Dobermans playing in the lawn.

“Why this trip to Switzerland now? ”

“I need to have a medical check up” He replied

“What happened to you” She asked.

“Nothing. But that should be the reason we tell everybody.”

“You seem to be cooking something. Tell me what you are up to.”

“Shall let you know. For the time being do the preparations as per this plan”

She knew that there was no point in asking him any further.

He along with his family took a trip to Switzerland, apparently for a medical emergency.

About a week after he was in Switzerland Chacha was assassinated. The country burst in to violence. Raj based out of Switzerland declared to be a supporter of the uprising.

“We cannot stand a monarchy that kill innocent people because they descent. Chacha was personification of the aspirations of the people of Indraprasta” He declared in an interview to CNN from the comforts of the hotel in Switzerland.

“What did you say today in the TV Raj” Rajani asked him when he was back at the hotel.

“You heard me. Didn’t you” was the terse reply.

“King Sangamitra will not be behind this dastardly act” Rajani declared.

“My dear, you don’t understand real politic. You watch how things turn out. We need to be smart to achieve something of value” He was gloating

“Sangamitra always treated you like his own brother” Rajani said.

“That was good then. Not now. I will help my brother to meet his maker soon without worldly worries” He replied with a wicked smile

“But that is mean” Rajani was shocked.

“Only the mean and lean survive in this world honey. You get ready for being elevated soon” He walked back to his study. 

General Pasha led a coup and the king was dethroned and beheaded. Rajnarayan returned to Indraprasta to take charge of the budding democracy. General Pasha was declared the President and Rajnrayan the Prime Minister.

In the meantime Surya Hari who was 10 years old was admitted to a private school in Switzerland. After successfully completing his high school, he moved over to London.

Fate had its own course. Within few months the flight carrying General Pasha and Rajnarayan crashed in one of their trips.

Surya continued his education abroad. He graduated from London School of Economics and went onto do a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard Business School. This international exposure from childhood from the best of schools in the world, gave him a powerful network of friends spread all round the world.

After his graduation he took up an assignment with the World Bank. He worked as the executive assistant to the Director in charge of Public Policy desk focusing on developing countries. This gave him excellent opportunity to develop a deep understanding of issues in public policy. He was smart enough to identify people who could be of relevance to him eventually and kept his links active with them. He was a charming public speaker. With his flowery articulation and his creative ideas he could mesmerize any audience.

Having spent few years in US he returned to Indraprasta. He decided to build on the foundation of his father’s political base and connections which could complement his US education and international experience.

After returning to India, for a few years he worked as the advisor to the Minister of Education which gave him an opportunity to personally experience and understand the ways of the government and its officers.

He was quite short in stature. When he was in school, his height (rather lack of it) was always an element of ridicule. Being short and weak, he could never retort physically. So he honed his manipulative skills to take his revenge. To top it, unfortunately he had the looks of an alien which also meant that he was never one of the popular among his school mates; especially among girls. This underlying insecurity formed a hidden scar in his heart. As he grew up, in spite of the success he achieved in the professional life, this insecurity coupled with his feudal past manifested in his almost paranoid compulsion to suppress any dissent. But he never let this insecurity show. He could always present his manipulative actions triggered by this insecurity with clever logic and flowery articulation. Rather the manipulative skills and gift of the gab became the foundation on which he built his success. This master-manipulative nature earned him a pet name Shakuni. He had learned quite a few lessons on manipulation from his father who had managed the transition from being the advisor to the king to the leader of democracy without paying any price.

****

To be continued