The last few weeks has been adventures in medical care, this week has provided an up close and personal experience with the Indian legal system. No, don’t worry; this was professional not personal. And actually, bureaucratic/regulatory system might be more accurate than legal system. I am not sure I can do justice to the roller coaster ride we've been on. Honestly, I am not sure I understand it. Anyway, here goes.
On Monday morning, I was in a meeting with our CEO when our director of
administration (DK) knocked and came in. Apologizing for interrupting, he said
he had just gotten a call from the municipal court. There had been a hearing
and the judge had ordered our campus seized and sealed. I was like, “Huh?”
Charu seemed annoyed but not shocked. I was gobsmacked. I didn't know where to
start my questions. But first things first.
“How soon could this happen?”
“Two hours to two
days.”
“If they do seal the building, how long could it last?”
“Three days to
over two weeks. It would totally depend on the court.”
“When they come, how long will we have to vacate the building?”
“An hour; two at
the most.”
“How could this happen?”
“” Hmm; well;
blah, blah, blah, blah;” something about area use plans; requested responses;
and possible unpaid taxes and fees.
I needed and wanted answers about how we got into this position but we
needed to get plans in motion to deal with the fall out of having our building
sealed. I called an immediate meeting of the management team and had DK explain
the situation. We detailed the things that needed to happen right away: back up
of computer files from the hard drives of anyone who has a desktop computer
(files on the system are already backed up daily): identifying the physical
files and records that we need to keep operating (these should be prepared so
they could be boxed quickly); we needed a place where we could deliver the
scheduled classes (fortunately we are at the end of the term; we only had one
week of classes left before Winter Break); and where would the staff work if we
were locked out? We broke the meeting with our various assignments and the key
imperative of keeping staff and students calm.
By the end of the day, we had contingency plans in place, there was
more clarity about what had happened and why, we had a plan in place to get a
stay on the court order, and best of all, no one had come to seal the building.
I was feeling pretty good about things and slept the sleep of the innocent.
Tuesday morning we had our weekly management team meeting scheduled. I
started the meeting by asking DK for the latest update. He started to explain
our plan for getting the stay and where we were in that process. In the middle
of his report, his phone rang and things took a left turn. Our judge was on
leave. This was either good news: a copy of the order could not be obtained and
thus it could not be carried out; or it was bad news: we could not get a stay
because the judge was on leave. New plan. Our attorneys would file a motion
with the district court judge and have him issue the stay. If this didn’t work,
or if it didn’t work in time, we would be locked out. Or not.
By noon no one had come. I had been told if they didn’t come by noon we
were probably safe, so I took that as a good sign and went to have lunch with
Rae. I was almost back to the campus when I got the call. They were there to
seal the building. We had over 150 students either just starting or scheduled
during the day to take their finals. Crap this was really going to happen.
I got to campus and DK was waiting for me at the door. He had convinced
them to give us a couple of hours before they sealed the building; explaining
we were attempting to get a stay from the district court. We started the
process of having employees load the pre-identified files into boxes and get
them stacked in the outside break area. We initiated the process of moving
students class by class. We had the first classroom of students loaded into
cars and we were in full blown crisis mode. Just as I was about to tap on the
car and send it off, the word came in: we had the stay. We unloaded the
students from the cars, explained that the emergency that had caused us to
start to vacate the building was resolved and they could go back to class.
Crisis averted, but it was a great crisis emergency drill. Everyone
remained calm, worked hard, and focused on doing what was best for students.
That we could so quickly put together a plan but then didn't actually have to
implement it was the best of all possible outcomes.
We now have time to sort things out and after several meetings with our
attorneys I know what happened to get us into this situation. The answer is
very long and very convoluted. It is a tale of passion, suspense, intrigue, and
betrayal. OK, it really isn’t any of those things. We found out our attorneys
had ignored a court order to produce information on our compliance with land
use regulations. To compound that, the two government agencies with monitoring
and enforcing those regulations had not only also ignored the order, they hadn’t
apparently done the oversight they were supposed to. The judge had gotten
frustrated and basically said, “Fine, if you are not going to voluntarily
provide the information I want, I am going to create a crisis so you’ll have to
respond.”
The only good news is it is clear that we have been making the tax and
fee payments. The bad news is the owner of the building we are renting may in
fact not have complied with all the zoning and land use requirements. We have
bought some time (we are okay until April) but there may be more problems to
solve in the future.
Anyway, that was my excitement for this week. Now here’s Rae.
Ha, ha. Fooled you. It’s really still me. Rae is under the weather so I
am going to write her part too this week.
Saturday evening we had our Branch Christmas Party. Once again, I think
I will be unable to fully describe the experience. I will say, there is one
aspect I can give an insight that Rae might not be able. She doesn’t know the
Branch Presidency has been talking about the Christmas Party on and off since
Summer. Further, the First Counsellor and I had developed a plan which was to
be presented and discussed with the Branch Counsel. I don’t know the degree to
which that happened since I was not at the meeting and every time I asked about
it, somehow the subject would drift off or be changed.
I could never get a clear answer on what was planned, other than a
committee had been formed. So, Saturday morning I texted President Jurial and
asked what I could do to help. “Well, could you call all the quorum and auxiliary
leaders to see what, if anything they are going to do and create an agenda? Can
you conduct? Can you prepare and deliver a welcoming address? Can you get there
early and make sure the main hall is set up?” Sure, I can do all that. I have
no idea what the desired outcome is but, hey, no problem.
I was unable to reach anyone during the day so I jotted a few ideas about
what the agenda might be and hoped I would be able to talk to the Branch
leaders about what if anything their quorum or auxiliary was going to do prior
to the start of activity.
I needn’t have worried. I have often said about such things as Road
Shows and Talent Shows that practice and preparation was overrated. Half of the
charm are the mistakes, miscues, and spontaneous jokes that arise. Of course
the event was a lot of fun. We had over 110 people who came and, as they say, a
good time was had by all.
Rae and I went to a talent show in Blanding, Utah. In the run up to
that event, we were told, “It will be as good a show as you will you see
anywhere.” Well, this party didn't rise to that exalted level but it was fun.
It was like an extended family gathering. Some of the performances were better
than others. Some were serious and a bit touching; some were quite off key;
some were quite funny (at least based on what little I understood and the level
of laughter I heard). Here are a couple of pictures of the Primary performance:
a dance to "Jingle Bell Rock."
Then, after we had the closing prayer and blessing on the food in came
Santa Claus. I can’t begin to describe that event so I will just let the
pictures speak for themselves.
We’ll see you all on the other side of our first Christmas in India and
away from our family. We love and miss you all so much!
Namaste.
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