Of course, if I was in Saraf’s place, I would be doing these things myself even if it meant extending my responsibilities outside my JHA mandate. JHA wouldn’t even need to hire Dufresne if I was a full-time employee here. But of course they can’t meet my salary expectations or desired growth paths. And I really can’t wear these light blue uniforms. Very old economy.

In any case I have three days left to come up with a solution for the ball bearing puzzle. ‘Fear, especially due to tight deadlines or potential career crisis, is the downfall of the expert problem solver’ is one of my career mottoes. So, I am going to solve this by focussing my entire intellectual horsepower on it. I sense a solution around the corner. I must let it appear to me.

I will spend a few moments breathing pranayamically again before getting some sleep.

12.05 a.m.

CANNOT SLEEP!

One of the guard dogs has been raising an impossible racket outside in the garden for the last one hour. Howling and barking.

This place simply does not have the ambience for high quality consulting. I bet the McKinsey & Co. guys never have to stay up all night listening to a dog.

BTW must tell the team about my idea of perhaps consulting with these smaller old economy companies via video conference from the nearest five-star hotel. That way we are near enough to pop in for a quick survey but also residing with the comforts of room service. It just makes better sense that way.

1.23 a.m.

Yay! The dog is finally quiet. I will sleep now. I need to be perfectly composed and balanced to take care of those bearings.

27 November 2006

11.23 p.m.

A day of tragedy! For other people.

This morning, while the team was having its morning meeting, we were interrupted by one of the office boys who told us to assemble in the garden. We obliged of course. It is important for the client to always think that we are their equals. (Even though in most cases we are obviously not.) This makes them less suspicious of us and we get to work with the client as members of their team.

When we reached the garden we were asked to stand separately to one side while the CEO prepared to make a speech. There was confusion all around. No one seemed to know what the CEO was going to talk about. One of the associates said nervously that he hoped nobody was being fired. There was no telling what would happen if the mob thought Dufresne was responsible.

Prasad immediately pulled out his phone, said he had to take an urgent call and left. He told us that we could find him outside the factory gate if we wanted anything.

And then the CEO began to tell us about how the previous night one of the members of the JHA family had passed away unexpectedly. He said that ‘Hiphopper’ had been a guard dog at the JHA facility for three years and had been very close to many and especially to him. The dog had begun to show signs of discomfort late last night and then passed away very early in the morning. He said that the cause of death was not known so far and that the post-mortem was still being conducted. The CEO asked everyone to pray silently for a few moments for Hiphopper’s soul and then announced a half-day for all employees.