Madhav Sharma went out looking pensive and a bit distracted. He thanked the receptionists and waved goodbye to them. A couple of the younger candidates snickered. A rather loud whisper was heard addressing him as "Taau-ji" (father's older brother).
"Mr. Saji Thomas." the next candidate was called in.
More candidates went in and out of the interview room for the next three days. Mr. Sharma came by in two days and handed in a sealed packet containing a slim folder. Miss. Tara and a few other candidates also came in to submit some material. They were all more detailed and considered plans for the solving the problem of the 'trick' question. Some had a bit more details about their personal background that had come up during the interviews.
Ken and Billy were sitting one afternoon at Billy's hotel suite along with a small team that included the two receptionists and Sarita.
Sarita asked,"Billy, what made you come up with idea? Why could you have not just gotten a professional team to identify worthy charities and causes, advertise solicit applications from people willing to put in some ideas, effort and energy? Why go to all this trouble of identifying a certain special kind of people among ordinary, poor folk who already have their hands full dealing with life?"
Billy and Ken exchanged knowing looks.
Billy's demeanour became sombre. He looked reflectively into some distance and said slowly,"I once tried to do such a thing by myself - to identify someone deserving and help them. It did not turn out as I intended. I saw somethings strange about human nature. I want to find people who can do a good or better job out of a simple desire or intention to help others. It is not easy given that the scale of what I have to give away is large. If I want to give away just one billion dollars a year in this way, it will be a tough ask. But I am curious if there are people capable of doing this right, anywhere in the world. I want to work with them.
By the time we give away a billion a year, my wealth sometimes increases by more than that in an year. I want to give away over 80% of my wealth in the next 20 years. I want to do it differently from how it is being done by others in my situation. They all achieve a great deal by contributing to large significant causes, in a way that masks many of the small, petty or even moderate levels of corruption and venality in human nature. They are just paid for with a certain percentage to get out the way and good things happen. That is fine for some. However, I want to do it a certain way, because I want to find people who might be able to do it better than I or how the professionals do it. If I fail to find enough people, I too might go way of others. I want to give this a try."
Sarita listened quietly. It appeared that Billy was personally affected by something that happened in his past, in just trying to help someone. He did not appear willing to talk directly about it, but had learned something that he wanted to put to use in the future.
"This is going to be an interesting project." she thought to herself."But I wonder what makes him so sad as he remembers his past." She dared not ask out aloud.
They all gathered around the buffet lunch set in one corner of the room. As Sarita stood in line next to Ken in his wheelchair, helping him, she looked at Billy still sitting in his chair, staring into the distance towards a featureless wall. He looked a bit sad.
"Billy looks sad. Did I bring up something sensitive in asking him about himself?" she asked Ken.
"Well, Yes. He lost one of the loves of his life. I was there and could not help them both despite my best efforts. While I don't think he blames himself, he does believe he was responsible to some degree for what happened to her. He wants to regain trust in human nature. That is why he is trying to find people who can perhaps do something better than he did or does," said Ken calmly. He had a strange tender tone when he spoke about Billy. One could sense a deep friendship and trust.
Soon, after lunch and walking around the room and the balcony looking out, to stretch their legs, it was back to business. Everyone went back to their seats around the room, it was a rough circle.
The group started to discuss the various candidates, their submissions etc. Sarita and the receptionists had read all of the detailed plans and background handed in by the candidates.
Copyright (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2016
All rights reserved
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