The lady at the other end of the phone was known to me. She had called apologetically on a Saturday afternoon to say the minister was keen on getting a presentation by the Azim Premji Foundation on a stated topic. The meeting was on the following Monday in Delhi and the education ministers and secretaries from all the states were invited. The detailed agenda was being structured. Since she knew that the notice was grossly insufficient, she left it to me to decide whether I would myself be present or would depute someone who could deal with the subject. Fully aware that this was unfair to everyone attending the meeting, she was not in a position to say so to the minister.
Given the importance of the subject and the kind of audience, we had no option but to alter our schedule and make it possible to attend. This sort of thing happens quite regularly.
The Commissioner of Education and I had decided to meet in his office at 4 pm on a mutually convenient date. Four of us reached the Commissioner’s office at 3.50 pm. We were ushered into his office and were informed that he would come soon. We kept checking with his secretary every 15 minutes. He sounded helpless. At about 4.45 pm we decided not to wait any further and left the office with a message that we waited for 45 minutes and had another engagement that we could not postpone. The Commissioner subsequently phoned and apologised profusely.
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