"All arrangements have been made, sir" said Ganesan, the Administrative Officer.
"Good. Once the delegates arrive, let me know. I will go to their rooms and meet them."
"Sir, there is no need for you to visit them. I will take care of their requirements. It will be enough if you meet them at the seminar hall, tomorrow."
"I want to do this, as a matter of courtesy. We don't have any protocols to follow. My gesture will be by way of conveying to the delegates how much importance we give to this seminar and how much respect we have for the delegates, who are participating in the seminar" said Sudarsanam.
That evening, Sudarsanam, along with Ganesan, visited the delegates and the special guests at their hotel rooms.
While returning from the hotel in the car, after the visit, Sudarsanam asked Ganesan, "Why is it that in one particular room, two people have been accommodated?"
Ganesan hesitated for a while and said, "Sir, in general, when we invite several people for this kind of a seminar, a few people won't attend the seminar even after confirming their attendance. So, we always book two rooms less than required for the number of people invited. In case every one comes, we will book additional rooms after the guests arrive. This time, all the invitees have come. But, no extra room was available in this hotel. If we book a room in another hotel for one person, we will have to pick up and drop that person for the seminar taking place at this hotel. That is why we accommodated two people in one room. I told them that we could provide accommodation to one or both of them in another hotel. But they preferred to share one room at this hotel."
"This is very bad, Mr. Ganesan. If I had known about this previously, I wouldn't have allowed it" said Sudarsanam, showing his annoyance.
"Sir, don't mistake me for saying this. We are an organization promoting the concept of productivity in organizations. Our seminars are focused on making organizations adopt measures to improve productivity in all areas. Our previous director had advised us that we should also look for ways to reduce our expenses and improve the efficiency of working and set an example to other organizations. In fact, booking a couple of rooms less during this kind of seminars was his idea!"
"I can't blame you for acting as per the instructions of the previous director. But in my opinion, this is not prudence. This is lack of sensitivity!"
"Sir! This is a small matter. Our guests won't mind making such small adjustments."
"Don't consider this a trivial matter. This could damage our reputation in a big way. People may adjust during the seminars, but may, later, project a bad image of us in other forums. You must be knowing about the English poem about how a war was lost for want of a nail" said Sudarsanam.
"Yes, sir. I remember the poem, which I have read in my school" said Ganesan and went on to recite the poem.
"For want of a nail the shoe was lost;
for want of a shoe the horse was lost;
and for want of a horse the rider was lost,
being overtaken and slain by the enemy,
all for want of care about a horse-shoe nail."
"You remember the poem. Impressive! There is also a poem by the Tamil poet Bharathiyar, which says how a man put a small speck of fire into the cavity of a tree in a forest, and how, as a result, the entire forest was burnt to ashes. The poet says there is nothing like a spark and a big fire and that both could be equally damaging. So, ignoring small mistakes may lead to severe consequences. The focus should be on giving no room to any mistake, even a trivial mistake!" said Sudarsanam.
"But I am also at fault. I have been complacent. If I had taken care to find out how many guests were coming and what arrangements were being made, this situation could have been avoided. This is a lesson to me that I should take greater care in ensuring that mistakes don't happen" he added.
Condemnation of Faults
koLvar pazhi nANuvar.
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