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A DATE WITH DONALD . T .
_______________________________________________
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 ;
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.
My hats off to him !
G Venkatesh
A DATE WITH DONALD . T .
_______________________________________________
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.
My hats off to him ! G Venkatesh
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