The Common Man let out a deep sigh. He picked up the corpse of Vetala from atop the Public Works Department building and began walking towards home. Vetala appreciated his perseverance and said unto him “O Common Man, I admire your sincerity and perseverance. But these virtues are at a discount these days. You must also be a smart operator if you want to succeed. Let me tell you the story of Ganesh and Kartikeya — the two sons of Lord Shiva. You may see my point of view then.”
“Yet another story,” thought the common man warily. “Why can’t he see my point of view?” He however kept quiet.
And Vetala began his narration.
“Lord Shiva was enjoying his post retirement life in Kailash Colony of Amaravati. He lived in a huge mansion. Both his sons were grown up now. They had completed their studies well and were spoken of highly of by their peers and various sages. Parvati too did not bother him these days to play dice like she used to. She would spend most of her time busy with the activities of the lady’s club. It was Shiva, in fact, who sometimes insisted on playing the game to revive old memories.
It was one such occasion when he put his new idea forth. Parvati was shocked. “Are you crazy,” she snapped. “Keep these funny ideas to yourself. The last time you put both the boys to test, Kartikeya left home.”
She had a point. Last time Lord Shiva had challenged them to travel round the world. Kartikeya had taken it literally and seriously. He had left for the ‘Parikrama’ on his peacock only to find himself completely outsmarted by Ganesh on his return.
Ganesh had just asked his parents to sit on a pedestal and went around them in a jiffy. With folded ears he had pleaded “My parents are my world”. He had won the bet as easily as that! An enraged Kartikeya left the home immediately and went away south of the Vindhyas. It was a different issue altogether that there he met many wise sages of the South and mastered a number of disciplines.
“It did him good,” observed Lord Shiva. “Had he not gone down south, he could not have learnt engineering from the sage of Manipal.”
“Well Ganesh did not go down south” retorted the Mother, “Yet he learnt the same engineering here.”
“Well, the skills they learnt are not the same,” Lord Shiva smiled enigmatically. “That is why I want to test their civil engineering skills”.
Vishwakarma was the Chief Engineer of Amaravati. He was amused to read Lord Shiva’s letter. Both Ganesh and Kartikeya were sitting before him attentively.
“Well, my dear boys, the Lord wants your skills to be tested in road-construction. Both of you are well versed in engineering as well as management. Let me caution however that field realities are different. You will do well to remember that.”
“Now, there are two adjoining divisions here. I’ll make both of you Executive Engineers-in-charge of each. Both of you will have to construct a 10km stretch of road within a three-month period. The job should be done by 31st March.
Both of them were a bit taken aback. Three months was a short time.
“Vishwakarma ji” both asked, “what is the significance of this 31st March deadline?”
“Oh that!” remarked Vishwakarma, “that deadline guides our destiny now-a-days. All the grants received must be spent by 31st March or else they will lapse. That must not happen. I agree it is a bit tough. But that is probably why Lord Shiva has asked me to assign you this task.”
It was Kartikeya’s turn to smile. “Let me see how you get away this time,” he thought to himself. “A road is a road after all. It has to be physically made. Let me see how you bluff your way through. The chickens will come to the roost on 31st March.”
And he got down to the serious business of planning immediately. The financial year ends on 31st March. So the bills should be submitted by 29th March. Which means the work should be over by 28th March at the latest which in turn means that …….
The whole PERT-chart was ready by the next day. Tender call notices by this date. Tender opening by that date. Work orders to be issued by that date. Advance procurement action should go in parallel. Contingencies have to be foreseen and provided for. The theoretical base of the plan was sound.
Vishwakarma went through the proposal. He patted Kartikeya on his back and said “keep it up, my boy,” and smiled.
Kartikeya found that smile to be a mysterious one. But he dismissed the thought as a figment of his imagination.
The news of their appointment as Executive Engineers spread around immediately. The two divisions were adjoining each other. All the established contractors of Amaravati called on both the brothers to pay their respects. They pleaded for an opportunity to serve, to be of any assistance that the masters may desire.
Kartikeya listened to them patiently. He did not require any assistance for the time being, he told them. As far as opportunity to serve was concerned, everybody was here to serve society. And as far as award of work was concerned, that will be decided on merit. He was soon going to invite tenders.
Contractors found him inexperienced and curt. Well, it takes time. Everybody learns. They had seen enough caterpillars metamorphose into butterflies.
Ganesh was courteousness personified. He offered all of them tea, mentioned about his own lack of experience, and sought their help. They had such a wealth of experience after all! As far as opportunity to serve was concerned, all of us were here to serve society. It was only logical that everybody should get as equal an opportunity as possible. Society could progress only when everybody co-operates.
The soft-spoken, wise and farsighted Ganesh was praised by one and all.
Kartikeya got the first rude shock when the tenders were opened. The minimum tender quoted 42% excess over the schedule of rates. 42% excess!, he frowned.
Narada — the Divisional Accountant explained patiently. “This has happened, Sir, because you invited one tender for the whole project.”
“So?” Kartikeya was nonplussed. “That should have brought down the cost.”
“No sir, this would require approval of the Chief Engineer. You know how it is, Sir, the higher the approval level, higher up goes the quoted value.”
Kartikeya could not understand this new economics. Narada’s smile appeared as mysterious as Vishwakarma’s. This time he didn’t think it was a figment of his imagination.
There was no time available for re-tendering. Kartikeya decided to execute the entire work within the department. Everybody called it a very bold step. But behind his back they unanimously opined that it was suicidal.
Ganesh was pragmatic. A ten kilometre road did not necessarily mean one single road of 10km length. Two roads of 5km each could just as well be connected. It could also happen that ten stretches of 1km each could be situated one behind the other.
Moreover, justice and fair-play did demand that everybody gets equal opportunity. Since he was entitled to accord approval at his level for a 2km stretch, he choose to give five stretches to five contractors.
He was right. All tenders were as per the schedule of rates. It was all in the family, after all. He was not required to send any paper upstairs. Ganesh’s wisdom was uniformly praised all over town.
Kartikeya went doggedly ahead with his work. He handled the entire purchase himself. Took risks when necessary by taking advances against his own name. He toughed it out and so did his subordinates. Whoever said that an honest man cannot work in this country, was wrong. If there is a will there is a way! You need sincerity, perseverance and dedication and they do not go waste.
The work progressed well. The shine of the black-topped surface of the road could very well be seen on Kartikeya’s face.
Work did progress in Ganesh’s division too, but slowly. Road alignment was being fixed. Material was being collected.
Kartikeya could not suppress his glee. “The chicken will soon come to roost.” He would say to himself, I’ll definitely complete the work in time. But this smart alec Ganesh…!
The work actually finished on 29th March and the bills were ready on 30th morning. Kartikeya nearly congratulated himself.
But alas! Treasury would not receive the bills.
“We have stopped receiving the bills since 27th itself,” informed the Treasury Officer.
“But…”
“But what? You should have known it earlier.”
“But Vishwakarma ji himself assured me…”
“Vishwakarma ji is irrelevant during these three-four days.”
“You see, I’m son of Lord Shiva,” muttered Kartikeya much against his will.
“Don’t pull a fast one, gentleman. You think, I do not know who is who? Lord Shiva’s son does visit us regularly. What a charming person he is. Such a positive, jovial person. Fond of eating his cake and giving it to us too.”
“Oh, that is Ganesh. I’m Kartikeya, his elder brother” said Kartikeya.
“Sorry Sir…”
Vishwakarma had apprehended this eventuality. He had been told to be absolutely impartial. Yet he had made it a point to take Narada into confidence. “Poor boy. He is competent, sincere but lacks practical wisdom. He will get lost in this wicked jungle of works. You must stand by him, Narad babu.”
“Leave it to me, Sir’, Narada had told him confidently. He was a seasoned Divisional Accountant, and had handled a variety of Executive Engineers and Treasury Officers. The paper tiger of 31st March never bothered him. His fundamentals were quite clear.
“Every lock is amenable. You need the right key.”
He took pity on Kartikeya. “Please let me handle it my way, Sir’. He pleaded. “Let me prepare the bills afresh and you kindly sign these without much fuss’.
Kartikeya was aghast. Such a steep increase in contingent expenditure! Yet he signed them as he had committed himself.
Narada returned on 4th April triumphantly with encashment from the special treasury. “There you are sir,” said he, “this is why you require a spacious provision in contingencies.”
His last minute weakness notwithstanding, Kartikeya returned home with justified pride and satisfaction. Work in the other division was just about half done. “Truth does prevail in the end,” Kartikeya was convinced. “Let us see who gets the prize this time’, he said unto himself before entering his room.
Ganesh was quietly sitting on the chair watching ‘Mahabharata’ on TV, the remote control lying on his lap. Kartikeya was stunned. The TV, VCR and a full set of Mahabharata cassettes — This was the prize. He could not comprehend as to how Ganesh got it.
“How on earth…!”
“…did I get the prize? Is that not it” Ganesh competed his sentence. “Well, it is just that all my bills were passed by the treasury on 27th March itself, my dear brother.”
Disbelief, anger, defeat… shade after shade of emotions crossed Kartikeya’s shocked face. He felt suffocated. Without uttering a single word he turned back, rode his peacock and went away — never to come back again.
His letter from Patala Land came only after he had got his green-card. He was expecting to get citizenship soon.
Lord Shiva smiled. His purpose had been served. “I must break the good news to Parvati” he thought to himself and called out, “Uma!”
Having narrated the story, Vetala asked unto the Common Man “Tell me, O Common Man, how is it that Ganesh won without even completing the work and how was Lord Shiva’s purpose served by Kartikeya getting a Green Card? If you know the answer, but still stay silent, may your head crack into pieces like a bad quality civil structure.
The Common Man smiled and said “O Vetala, I knew you’d ask such simple questions so that my silence is breached.”
“Ganesh won because he had understood the spirit of the competition well. The deadline of 31st March was meant for encashment of bills, for not letting the grant lapse. It was not necessarily meant for completion of the work. So Ganesh used the most potent weapon of the modern times — advance measurement. Measurement done even before the work was over, entering it into the MB — Measurement book. All the bills could be prepared on its basis and presented to the treasury. The treasury can pass the bills and the cheque received can be kept by Ganesh till the work is actually completed. It could be completed in April or even June — one could not care less. The bills have been passed, the work has been completed on paper and Ganesh wins the competition — that’s the end of the matter.
As far as Lord Shiva’s purpose was concerned, that did get served by Kartikeya’s migration to Patala and obtaining a Green Card there. Kartikeya was intelligent, sincere and competent, no doubt; but he was not an operator. In Amaravati, it is necessary to be a smart operator if one has to survive and succeed. Ganesh could do it. Kartikeya would not.
His idealism was a further liability. Had Shiva himself suggested that Kartikeya should migrate abroad, it would have been refused on the grounds of outdated concepts like patriotism and what have you.
The present defeat was an eye-opener for Kartikeya although a painful one. He naturally went away to Patala and obtained green card. Lord Shiva was happy. He need not have worried about Kartikeya’s future. His purpose was served.”
“Very correct,” Vetala was satisfied with the Common Man’s analysis. However, as the Common Man’s silence had been breached, Vetala flew away and perched himself atop the Embassy building. The Common Man heaved a deep sigh. He cast a sad glance at the long queue of Kartikeyas standing at the visa counter of the Embassy and began walking back home.