LIVE AND LET LIVE!

LIVE AND LET LIVE!

Monday 6 February 2017

A DATE WITH DONALD . T .

The   characters in this blog  do not represent any person living or dead.


                                           A DATE  WITH  DONALD . T .

Image result for photo of idlis
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I was   working  as an executive   Assistant  to  a Managing  Director  of an  American  owned

subsidIary company  in India  . Poona  to be exact;.   Donald . T. was the owner cum CEO  of the company.

A man of many moods, Donald visited the company often .; some were planned, others were surprise

trips; when he found himself in Taiwan or Singapore;

It was one such lateral visits where my story starts.   He was in a very bad mood that day  when he stormed 

into our office   WE had hardly started the day ; many were reading the morning papers, while drinking their 

cups of tea; The managerial staff was not present ;He recognised me and said "  So this is how you work in 

my office"   Wheres everybody?[ meaning  Mr. Desai the M D and Mike Charlton, his American  rep. in

 India ]   Well, they will be in soon SIR, I  replied  Sheepishly;They better be,he responded  , if they value 

 their  pay cheques.I hastily dialled Desai's  cell number ; He pulled the cell phone from  my hand .  Hey 

Desh, I want you here in 15 minutes and bring Mike with you , he barked on the phone;  I heard some 

sound " resembling " WHO " but he closed the phone and gave it to me.  Soon another cell  went on air of  

my colleague who replied  " Donald Sir, Donald Sir "

To my surprise, Both Desai  & Mike , beat the 15 minute time period;  and rushed to the Managing

Director's  cabin.  All hell seemed to have broken loose there.  From the closed cabin, we could hear

Donald's baritone voice only; like the rattle of a machine gun;  with no response from the other side ;

The sum & substance of the talk was Donald was not satisfied  with the progress on the construction

of a building for his new offices.

But by Office Quitting time  Donald's mood had changed  drastically;  He now seemed to listen & smile

at all what Desai and Mike were telling him;  maybe the lunch treat at a five star hotel had done the trick;

and then he sprang a big surprise ; He came to my table along with Desai & Mike and asked me

" Whats your name & where do you stay ? '   I gave him the details; Well he said, I want to be your guest

tonight, he said , No problems ?  That caught me completely off guard; Mr Desai  interjected;  Its nice of  

you Donald,  but you can be my guest;  instead.   No, NO Donad was very firm, I have to keep my word & 

date with him,  He replied. AT Quitting time , Donald said, I will be there at 8  PM  "TAke it easy; 

will be fine.



I was in a fix on how to play host to him; For dinner, I had only Idli  flour ;if I attempted to buy

outside food , Donald would not  like it;  I hastily made about 20  idlis;  and some onion chutney

to go with it;  more critical was the cot, since I had only one in my bachelor apartment ; I am sure my 

neighbour  Smita Aunty, would have given me the additional cot, if I told her the reason, but Donald

would not like it either.

He promptly dropped in at 8 Pm;  along with 2 escorts, Sam & Joe;  He told his body guards to

stay out; the preliminaries were spent in talking about Poona, the weather, my family background etc;

THEN it got to Dinner time  I laid out the idlis & chutney, pickles  I had made for him;  He brought

out 4 veg. sandwiches from his bag and laid it on the table."I am used to eating with my hands & fingers , he 

said. Is this made from eggs, he said pointing to the idlis" . No, no  I said.; its rice flour;  It tastes nice , as he

 scooped some chutney along with the idlis. At one point he shouted, help, when he bit into the chillies by 

mistake.  Luckily, I had some honey to put an end to his problem.

After the usual pow wow, it got to sleeping time.  I offered him the cot & said I would lie down; he refused 

and said he is used to sleeping on the ground;  He promptly brought out his air  pillows & mattress,  and  

 a cotton woolen bed sheet he had brought for cover up;  I wished him Good night and  heaved a sigh of  

relief , that everything went  off  without a hitch;  






I was woken up  in the midst of a sweet dream  by the light from his cell phone.  There is no current, he

 said; Well I had expected this in Poona, luckily it was cool at this time of the year at night;  Then he asked a 

shocker, " WHERES the POT ?  At first I did not understand; I thought , he meant Drugs,  but he said " 

Urgent  , Where is It ?  Still finding me dumb, He said "  To SHIT "  Then I understood, he meant the toilet;

Oh I said , puzzled & scratching my head;  Sir, Here we have a common toilet per floor at the end

Ok, OK he said Where is it again urgently;   Luckily I had my torchlight near me ; Come Lets go Sir,  I said; 

Sir its an  Indian  toilet, and you have to squat and use water for clean up;  Ok ok he said lead me lead 

me !    HIS security joined him  and we marched to the toilet;  Luckily, the door was open and there was 

water available;  Here Joe Help me out will you,  he said as he unbuttoned & squatted on top of the toilet  

Needless to say , the surroundings & smell were  unpleasant,; but he had answered nature's call and he was

happy about it The current was restored soon after;  and we enjoyed a peaceful, undisturbed sleep.

Next morning , ho got up and was happy with the tea I served him;  Say I like this tea, Whats the stuff you 

put in  to make it so delicious ? I said we call it " Pudina " [Mint leaves ,]

As he took leave of me , he said, I must tell " Jane about the Idlis & Chutney &  the Pudina ;


and of course, I must have an Indian toilet, built in my house at Chicago;


Bye,  All my best wishes to you " 

Donald   had taken everything in his stride during that short stay I am sure he must have  

 been inconvenienced  as per his high standards, but never did he squeal or complain. 

Toilet in Iran My hats off to him ! 


G Venkatesh



















 













































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