Okay, one step
forward and two back is an exaggeration but I do feel in some ways this week
has been one for one, leaving me about where I started the week. No, that’s
only true in regards to living conditions; work (which is what actually led us
here) is making real progress. First the stand still; then the progress.
Actually, first an aside: I said, work led us here. Does that mean work is
Spartacus? [If this makes NO sense, don’t feel bad. It is an obscure reference.
I will be pleased if one or two pick it up. If you are curious, google, “I led
you here for I am Spartacus.”] Really, I am not on anything; just a little
dingy this evening.
Anyhoo, back to
the stand still. Friday, I got a call that our car was done. I was gobsmacked.
They had said it would be a week or so; I was sure it would be more “or so”
than a week. I don't think anything has actually gotten done on time whilst we have been here. I thought there was no way we would get the car back prior to next
week some time. No, they had it done in just a week. I was pretty excited. It
has not been awful but having to rely on inconsistent, sporadic public
transportation has complicated my life significantly. So, I was practically giddy yesterday and today, being able to come and go as I wished.
Traffic on the way home from Church today was about as bad as I’ve seen
in Delhi, which is going some. All of a sudden, BAM. We were hit from behind.
Mehndi got out of the car. The other driver got out of his car. They are both
yelling at each other. I thought my presence would... what? I really don’t know, throw
the balance in our direction? In any case I got out and went to the back of the
car, and the arguing stopped for a minute. The other driver got into his car;
Mehndi jumped in ours and cut his car off so he couldn’t move. So in the middle
of an amazing traffic jam, we had our own little jam. About this time, one of
New Delhi’s traffic police came strolling up.
Cop: “So, what
seems to be the matter?”
Mehndi: “This guy
ran into us”
Other guy: “No,
this guy cut me off, that’s why I hit him.”
Mehndi: “He’s
crazy. I was sitting here with my blinker on. He just ran into us.”
Cop: “OK, you both
pull over there and we’ll sort this out.”
So SLOWLY we made
our way across six lanes of traffic to a little covered shed this traffic cop
and his supervisor were “working.” I don’t mean to disparage them or their work
ethic, but as I noted the jam was as bad as any I had seen in and they had been
doing nothing to try and resolve it. Anyway now our traffic cop and his
supervisor both listened to the whole story again from the beginning. They
stepped aside and talked with each other. They talked with the other guy. They
talked with each other. They talked with us again. Half an hour later, they proposed a cash
settlement between the other driver and us. They proposed he pay us 100 rupees (about
$1.60!). I couldn’t believe it.
So, in the
spirit of full disclosure, now that we were pulled to the side and I had time
to look at the car more closely, it didn’t look like there was much more than
some paint scraped off the bumper. However, the bumper did look like it might be dislocated about ¼ inch. I was worried there might be damage underneath the
plastic and sheet metal. I certainly wasn’t going to agree to a settlement of
$1.60!
So, we had another
20 minute conversation. The other guy got in his car and I was sure he was
going to drive away. Nope, he went to get his insurance information. It seems,
now this is pretty radical so try to follow this, the cop decided we should
exchange insurance information and let them (and the court) figure it out.
Mehndi thinks a little touch up paint and it’s all good. I tried to explain to
him that I want the Honda dealership to check it out, just in case, you know,
there actually is more damage than a little paint. I don’t have him convinced
but fortunately it is not his call. So, if things go well, there will be a few
hours down time; the car will check out; Mehndi can apply his touch up paint;
badda bing, badda boom, we’re back on the road. However, if there is hidden
structural damage, then I am back to public transport.
Putting that
behind us, let me bring you up to speed on things at work. After five months we
are finally starting to see some real progress. The matrices we use to measure
performance are trending in the right direction. We are hitting or exceeding
our goals. There is a noticeable difference in the attitude of the staff. Saying this is probably this kiss of death but I think we've turned the corner (that one's for you Larry Capps).
Thursday we had our Management Committee Meeting (essentially our Board of
Directors). These used to be brutal. The interrogation we faced included
everything but waterboarding. Now, as I look around the room I see smiling
faces and heads nodding vertically instead of horizontally. I felt like the
meeting was going well but that was confirmed by two things Mr Modi (Chairman
of our parent group and one of the most insightful businessmen I have dealt
with) said. 1) “I don’t see any reason we can’t start
planning on opening two campuses a year”; and 2) “Things are clearly going
better. I now have confidence we are headed in the right direction.”
So, I think I had
it wrong. It really is two steps forward and one back. It’s not happening with lightning
speed, but we are making progress.
Well, that’s it from India for this week. Check in next week to see if, or how long, our car is out
of commission.
Namaste.
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