The selected ideas suggested by the candidates were discussed in detail by questions, some quick analysis and brief arguments, all moderated efficiently by Ken. It went on for a few hours, with breaks in between, into the early evening.
At about 6 'o'clock, Ken called out an end to business for the day.
"People, put away your work for now. You can head back to your homes or hotels whenever you want, but I hope you will join us for dinner. Let's eat, drink and be merry for a while."
Dinner was served with drinks. Music was playing quietly in the background. Some got up and walked about to stretch their legs. One of the young men, stood up, shook himself, performed a little dance move to the upbeat music play and laughed.
"Good way to stretch and get the circulation going!"Gilly and another woman joined in. Billy came over too, laughing. Ken tapped on the armrest of his wheel chair and danced sitting. The centre of the suite became a little dance floor into which many came and went.
Soon, people started to say goodbyes and leave. Sarita and Gilly had rooms just down the hallway from Billy's suite.
Shanta and Gilly seemed like inseparable twins. They seemed to hang out together always. They invited Sarita over to join them. They had met her recently and were getting to know her. Sarita was very curious about Billy and his past.His sharing of some brief personal story aroused her curiosity. She often cast discreet, long glances at him from across the room when she thought no one was looking but Shanta and Gilly had noted it.
Sarita knew better than to gossip. In reality, Shanta too was curious about Billy's past and motivations. She had been hired to do a job and had done it professionally, but innate human curiousity always rears its head and cannot be suppressed. Shanta did not know how to read Sarita's apparent interest in Billy - was personal or professional?
The three women waved goodnight to Ken, Billy and others. Gilly had invited them to her own room. They sat comfortably in the couch that was placed looking out towards the window in her room, looking out over the city at dusk, the street lights and vehicle lights starting to come on. It was like new stars was being added to a galaxy. The long main road they could see was like The Milky Way with the largest concentration of lights. The traffic started to look like a flowing river of orange in one direction and red in another.
"This is going to be an interesting and tough project. We are dealing with human nature here, so fickle and unpredictable. Don't you think so?" asked Sarita, sincerely believing it to be so.
Gilly and Shanta, who were professionals, smiled inwardly.
"Well, mostly, I find humans very predictable, even the strange ones. Yes, some are unpredictable and they have extreme potential - to be good or bad. Mostly people appear unpredictable to us because we do not know their inner reasoning or how they tick," said Shanta with a neutral expression.
Gilly was impressed at the thoughtfulness of Shanta talking in terms that a non-professional like Sarita might understand and using.
"Do you psychologists also believe in good and bad, in such black-and-white classification of people?" asked Sarita, surprised
"Well, yes, there is good and bad.. Things can be good for some and bad for some. Almost always good and bad come in a mix for the same person. We just focus more on one or the other, I think," said Shanta.
"I suppose, I should simply focus on my assignment and do my job, but I cannot help wonder why Billy is doing this? What happened to him?" Sarita said out. Suddenly she stopped herself. Perhaps she had said too much in front of people who were closer to Billy. She desperately hoped it would not count against her professionally.
Gilly, who was known to be a long time friend and associate of Billy was the one Sarita was worried about. Gilly's husband and Billy were supposedly close buddies. Shanta was a recent 'local' hire for this country, much as Sarita was.
Gilly, ever the cool and perceptive one, decided to deal with Sarita's concern indirectly. Rather than tell her everything was alright, she said nothing. She poured the other two a refill of their drinks from the warm kettle nearby.
"Well, I cannot speak for Billy directly, but let me tell you a bit of his story without identifying all the people involved in it. It might help understand him somewhat. It is public knowledge in that many know it and no one can stop any of them from talking. So, I will not be violating any confidentiality. In fact, it might help us do a better job," said Gilly.
Shanta and Sarita sank back in their seats and listened.
Copyright (c) Kannan Narayanamurthy 2016
All rights reserved
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