Comedy of Confusions

16.Krish: Plans

"Krish" Nandini sounded exhausted.

"Nandini. " A smile good enough to light up the world ended up on his face.She was just what he needed at that moment. "All well ?"
After the flurry of emails, he was secretly hoping for Nandini to reply to one of the emails since calling her was out of question given her condition.

"Hm" Nandini must have noted the genuine joy in his voice but said nothing about it. "So, Is Dan around?"

"No, not really. He had plans for the evening. I am to meet him tomorrow. So we better have our response by tomorrow morning."

"Are Chandan and a few other folks working on it?" Nandini asked as a matter of fact.

"Yes they are. What do you think of the issues I pointed out in the proposal?"

"Issues ?" Nandini sounded quizzically.

"Issues. Especially the projection for Asia-pacific." Krish could not see beyond the projections he thought were problematic.

"Krish, you don't get it." Nandini sighed.

"Uh? You don't agree with the bits I thought were problematic?" Krish straightened himself. Nandini seldom disagreed with his assessments. It was serious when she did.

"I don't agree with you pushing Chandan and his team to work now. And Dan too. Remember, Dan is on a holiday."

"But then had Chandan and his team done it right to begin with, this would not have happened." Krish was firm. "Quality is paramount."

"Cut them some slack Krish. They all work hard and are great people to work with. I think you should overlook it, let them unwind, relax, refresh and get back to work Monday. Take it up with them and they will be a lot more receptive to your inputs. You don't want them to burn out."

"But then it is a straight forward fix. It is not much." Krish began to get defensive.

"It is not about work. It is all about messaging. Best talent in the industry demands work-life balance. Just because you and to some extent I don't have a life beyond our office, does not mean that everyone working with us lives the same way. Ask them to take a break. Take good care of them and the quality of their output will fall in place."

"That is not fair. I do take care .." Krish interrupted Nandhi again after all he had taken good care of the WIP team, treated them with comp offs and now treated them all with an almost paid vacation at an expensive resort. But Nandini would have none of it. She snapped back.

"It is a friday night and people typically have plans, definitely if they are holed up in a resort like all of you are right now. Remember, we are not paying for their stay at the resort tonight. It is their personal time, personal plans. Only you are required to stay back officially. The rest that are staying back are on a holiday. They all have PLANS!"

"Plans?" Krish mumbled.

"Yes. Plans. So cut them some slack." Nandini's breathing became more labored.

"I will." Krish grew worried for Nandini. "Are you ok? You don't..."

Nandini cut him short. "I want to see my team, the same team when I return. " She sounded firm. "And in good shape"

Krish agreed. He did not have the heart to prolong the conversation especially when he could hear her labored breathing.

Plans.. Plans.. Krish could not get the word out of his head. But then the problems he had pointed out were simple enough to be addressed in a few hours. What was the big deal at all?
Fix a few variables in the model and that is about it. But plans.... And then it was Nandini, the person whose opinion mattered the most. The last thing he would want is to give her a cause to worry. For her sake he would have to let Chandan continue with his plans.. All for Nandini, regardless of how much he disagreed with the idea. Krish briskly walked back to the coffee shop where he had left Chandan and the wild child. But they were gone. When asked about them, the waiter pointed him towards the corridor that led to the rooftop restaurant. Krish hurried up the stairs and went past the ball room on the first floor only to spot the wild child at a distance. He ran towards her hoping to find out about Chandan from her. In any case he was almost certain to find Chandan somewhere around there. As he walked briskly towards her covering the distance between them, he realised that she was pretty much walking into the men's room.
Could it be that the man was at the men's room and the wild child was waiting for him outside?