Robert Meets Anita

Robert Hill paused to look at his watch as he waited in the hotel reception area. He was to be met by the acting president of the Carmichael Health System who’d been pestering him for the past two weeks to interview for the presidency of the system. Robert had constantly indicated he had no interest in interviewing for any job. He’d operated a private consultancy and had experienced a meteoritic rise in exposure through various successful corporate reorganizations with his first employer Deloitte. A hospital system could have limited challenge he thought. His former wife Anita had been just as qualified as he was, and he’d met her as they served together at Deloitte. They’d planned to keep their proposed consultancy strictly under their control before tragedy stuck. Should they ever need additional help on a client assignment, they were friendly with a wealth of experts in fields they may need specific help on, so could draw from these subcontractors from an international database of people they’d been associated with in the past if they choose. It was a dream that could never be fulfilled now together as his first wife had died.

Robert had come from a middle-class background part of a large family with his father Derek Hill owning a local construction company in a large country town. His father had managed to see his children through to college level without accessing loan funds but supporting his four sons and two daughters through to that level of education was a strain on family finances so there was no outward show of wealth now and Derek and his wife Agnes had retired late in life before moving into a retirement village.

Anita Gupta Robert’s former wife was raised in New Delhi and her family had political connections that were generational and they were wealthy. They’d sent all their children overseas for master’s level studies. It was more a prestige thing as India had institutions of learning valued around the world. Eventually it was planned the young adults would return to India to be part of the Gupta enterprises or in the case of young women married off to families of similar status within their own caste and too often not get to use their master’s qualifications in business or professions.

Anita’s male siblings went to prestigious institutions in the US or England for their graduate and post graduate programs and used knowledge gained in academic training and more importantly contacts made with their fellow international students to benefit the family when they returned to India. The girls Gita and Anita were sent to Australia to Melbourne University as it was cheaper than sending them to the US or England, but they received a world class education and honed their English skills there equal to what they could have got in England of America. When the girls finished their studies, a marriage would be arranged for them within their caste, and this would bind families together for business and political reasons. Anita’s elder sister Gita had completed her Master of Arts in Melbourne and returned to Delhi to be immediately married off.

Like most Indian students sent abroad Anita was highly motivated and determined to immerse herself in her studies and examine the secrets of this host culture. Her teachers on noticing her application to study and academic brilliance encouraged her to consider an academic career and if she was prepared to proceed to PhD after finishing her master’s in business studies, they promised to find sponsors to make that possible after learning her parents plan was for her to complete her masters and then return to India to be married off. Her teachers were aghast. What was the purpose of her studying if she’d never get to use the knowledge gained and tap her full potential. Her teachers were multi-cultural as Melbourne was a melting pot of nations now calling themselves citizens of Australia, but they failed to understand Anita’s cultural mind frame. After constantly pestering Anita with their point of view, she began to feel resentment at being locked in as a potential trophy wife with high education, but whose function was merely to produce heirs to her husband’s family and cement the relationship between her new family and the Gupta’s for political and business reasons. She began to be infected with the Western mind frame and turned her attention to a professional life for herself instead. While she knew any deviation from her family’s plan for her would bring swift and stern retribution she determined to follow her own course in life. She informed her teachers and they began to work behind the scenes to find her opportunities to make her future life in Australia.

Anita was surprised one day to be asked to visit her professor’s office after class. She went in trepidation wondering what she may have done to be summoned to the professor’s office. She was ushered in trembling, and it was indicated she should sit. The professor introduced her to a man who’d been studying a folder in front of him and stated this was one of the principals of the consultancy firm Deloitte. Apparently, her file had been circulated to accountancy and consultancy firms always on the lookout for potential recruits and Deloitte had expressed an interest in Anita and he was there to meet her. Deloitte’s were impressed with her academic record and the high recommendation from this major professor but wanted to check her out themselves. They asked questions about her commitments in India, her personal plans, her current financial situation and her visa status. Anita realizing this was an opportunity she could only dream of in normal circumstances gained confidence immediately and excelled herself in her response presentations.

The Deloitte representative was impressed and nodded to the professor. He thanked Anita and looked at his watch. He needed to be back at the office but promised the professor he’d get back to her after checking with his partners and the immigration department to see if arrangements could be made for a permanent stay in Australia if they agreed to employ this woman on her graduation. Anita was excited but dared not build her hopes up as the visa question was difficult and her family would probably send someone to take her back to Delhi when they came to know there was a chance she’d be staying in Australia. A week later word was delivered through the professor that Anita was scheduled to meet with the partners at Deloitte Collins Street Melbourne to discuss employment and conditions of employment. Apparently, the government would work with the consultancy while Anita was under contract with them for five years with the possibility of a permanent visa if she proved to be valuable as a contributing citizen in future.

When the family in India heard, Anita was planning to stay on in Australia instead of returning to Delhi as planned they were angry as interests had been received for Anita as a potential marriage partner for related caste member sons. She’d informed her parents after graduation, and heard they were arranging for her return journey. They immediately informed her they were sending an uncle to bring her back and she responded she’d signed an agreement to work for Deloitte and was now under their care and legally committed to that contract. The response was that she was now abandoned by the family, and it was expected every penny paid for her education in Australia was to be paid immediately to the family in that she was no longer a part of them. She shared this with her mentor in the consultancy, and he talked with the partners. They contacted her parents and asked which bank account they should transfer that money to, and their daughter would repay Deloitte’s with service, and her parents were shocked this threat didn’t work on Anita. They realized this world consultancy group could provide a negative image of the Gupta family if they were presented as an unreasonable family to have international business dealings with as a positive image internationally was important to them. They wrote back expressing that would not be necessary and looked forward to potential business contacts with Deloitte in future thanking them for accommodating their daughter’s career and expressing appreciation for their generosity in employing her. They also contacted Anita and assured her she was welcome as a family member to visit whenever she had the time off and they were proud of her employment with such a reputable international firm. However, Anita realized it would be unwise of her to return for a visit for a very long time as she could be forcibly married off while there and was sad as family was everything in India, but she was excited to be able to make a career for herself now.

Robert Hill had graduated from Melbourne University three years before Anita and been picked up by Deloitte as an exceptional student. He’d finished the requirements to be admitted to the CPA profession which was one of the requirements of Deloitte to be professionally qualified and he was gaining experience with Deloitte before being accepted into CPA full membership. He’d also taken a year leave of absence to study systems reengineering under agreement with Deloitte and was a potential rising star for the future. He planned to take additional courses with the university in future to add to his accounting master’s with units that would qualify him in hospital management. Robert had a thirst to accumulate education in multiple areas and every moment of his time and each dollar he earned was dedicated to his work and study though he had the good sense to make sure this was balanced by physical activities and his small apartment consisted of bedroom, kitchen, workstation, lounge and crammed with exercise equipment so the apartment had very little room to get around and any visitors had to negotiate around all that clutter. He was married to his work and he was ambitious.

Deloitte always mentored their new recruits for several years as the depth of knowledge required to operate in a consultancy internationally was far more than what an average CPA firm would be interested in. But they were beginning to see Robert could run teams by himself and had his mentor take a secondary position in one of their consultancy client’s projects to watch and report back to the partners. The mentor’s report was glowing, so Robert found himself in charge of a team soon after that test and he enjoyed the exhilaration of being in charge but was wise enough to check in regularly with his mentor now working in an advisory role to make sure his thinking on a consultancy was consistent with world best practice.

Deloitte’s regularly seconded their recruits to overseas affiliates to the corporation and Robert was asked to join an international team assembled to reengineer an electronics manufacturing plant in the US. It was to be part of his learning experience under the supervision of an international Deloitte’s team of experts in multiple areas of administration. They’d be working with a team of appointees from the host electronics manufacturing plant who’d work alongside the Deloitte team acting as their coaches as they reengineered their business processes and systems to make the company more efficient to meet increasing competition from abroad. Robert was anxious to see the way these seniors operated in the consultancy with broad experience as they managed the project yielding Deloitte a handsome fee for services and another successful project delivery to add to their reputation.

The seniors delegated responsibilities and mentored as they watched their recruits in action during each project. After changes were implemented because of their work on the project the manufacturing plant was able to begin to deliver millions of dollars of efficiencies at all levels of organization and new systems had been devised to support this. Robert returned to Australia excited to have worked with these experienced international professionals and looking forward to using new knowledge gained in any future projects assigned to him. But the Melbourne office had more international exposure planned for him and over time he’d been seconded to take part in teams as diverse as Hong Kong, Thailand and Europe and each project introduced him to new industries to study and improve as he worked with senior experienced operators from the different countries who bought their skills in different industries into focus. Robert was developing a broad knowledge of the way governments, hospitals, publishing houses and manufacturing plants worked within different cultures and learned that solutions in one country did not necessarily equate to a transfer to a corporate entity in a different culture.

Meanwhile Anita whose service with Deloitte was three years less than Robert had commenced her journey with the firm under the mentorship of one Carol Manchester a well-seasoned senior with the company. Carol was a no-nonsense mentor who demanded the highest dedication to work from those under her charge. She seemed to be harder on the young women recruits than the men under her supervision and it was whispered she was this way because she wanted to toughen these young women to the realization they had to fight for recognition in a man’s world so they had to demonstrate exceptional abilities through hard work to be recognized for promotion. The men partners in the Melbourne Deloitte office certainly respected Carol for her razor-sharp intellect and wealth of experience which had come at great cost as she fought to be recognized as worthy of this senior position and her opinions were respected. Anita was quite happy to be worked hard as she too felt that as a foreigner there may be some prejudices that could inhibit her advancement, so she had to be exceptional to beat stereotypes about foreigners. She reasoned that way because she knew in India there was little respect for foreigners so assumed it worked the same way in any country. At Melbourne University she’d not experienced that kind of prejudice as she marvelled at the mix of cultures teaching and studying together there though as she’d moved around the city occasionally, she’d experienced racial discrimination but noted that was usually from lower socio-economic uneducated rabble rousers. They had enough of that type in India too, so she didn’t take that seriously.

Years passed and it was in Anita’s third year with Deloitte she was assigned to travel to New Zealand with a team to be headed up by Robert Hill working along with the Auckland team and one from UK and US. They’d been accepted by the New Zealand government out of competing consultancies to conduct a wide-ranging study of one of their service departments to bring recommendations for improvement of services and efficiencies in that department. As employees of the Melbourne office, they were so often on assignments in other parts of Australia or the world that new recruits rarely saw some of their fellow employees at a more senior level and completed support work locally under their mentor’s supervision.

So, Anita was not familiar with this Robert Hill though they worked in the same office though she’d often seen him around the office on occasions. This was to be her first overseas learning experience, and she wondered if this man would be as hard a taskmaster as Carol Manchester. She was soon to find out. The day after learning of her assignment she was called to a senior’s office and found herself sitting alongside Robert Hill as the senior discussed the project in New Zealand and reported on his meeting with government representatives and the scale of the project to be accomplished. The senior William Carter would be accompanying Robert and Anita to New Zealand to introduce them to the government liaison who’d be working with them on the project and meeting with the government sub-committee they’d be giving regular reports to as the project progressed. Then it would be up to Robert to manage the team bought in from different sources around the world depending on specialties needed at the time and keep in constant communication with William Carter who’d make occasional trips to New Zealand to see how the government was reacting to their findings as the project progressed. After the senior dismissed the two Robert paused before returning to his office and addressed Anita.

“Anita I always try to establish an understanding with those I’m scheduled to work with so we can have a good relationship as we work together so I’d like to share a little about me and my background and learn about you and your background. Usually, I do this before we commence working together by taking my assigned project partner for a dinner. This is how I was treated during my recruit years and I found it helpful. We are due to depart for Auckland soon as immigration formalities are arranged. Would you be available to have a dinner meeting with me after work this evening so we can get to know each other and in that this is your first overseas assignment for Deloitte perhaps you’d like to quiz me on some of my experiences working overseas.”

Anita froze as her Indian background culture slid into gear. She didn’t know this man and in India there’d be family discussion before she went out with any man and they’d be researched carefully by the family beforehand. Robert now schooled to read body language because of his international cultural exposures noticed her body stiffen and stood puzzled as he waited her response and then decided.

“Perhaps that’s not acceptable in your culture so no problem. We’ll work that out as we work together in New Zealand.”

Anita realized she was now in a different culture, and it was time for her to make a cultural adjustment. Obviously, this was a man who was considered decent or he’d not be employed by Deloitte as they had a reputation to keep up, and a company image was its representatives. Her hesitation could be interpreted as a lack of trust and that would get their relationship off to a rocky start and potentially affect his attitude to her work and the report he gave back on her when they returned. Robert had turned to return to his office when Anita ran after him and called out.

“Mr. Hill please wait. I was overwhelmed by your generosity and didn’t know what to say as I’d never experienced that from my boss Carol Manchester, but I really want to know about you and tell you about myself so we can have a good relationship on this trip. Please don’t misunderstand me as I really want to succeed on this my first trip for Deloitte and need your guidance and goodwill.”

Robert chuckled.

“No, I’m sure Carol wouldn’t have made that offer to you but she’s one of our best seniors by way of experience and reputation so you were fortunate to be assigned to her. Why don’t you come to my office as soon as your work is finished this evening and we’ll go to have dinner together and we can get to know each other.”

At 5.30 pm Anita arrived at Robert’s office and peeped through the glass panel noting there were no visitors in there so knocked on the door and he waved her inside. She entered and he turned to shut down his desk computer. Then retrieved his briefcase and indicated they should head for the building exit. On exiting the building, he turned to Anita who was following apprehensively.

“Anita, I like informality when we work together so please don’t call me Mr. Hill but just Robert. Do you mind walking?”

Anita shook her head and they continued to walk without further comment. They stopped and Anita gasped in surprise. It was the Om Vegetarian Restaurant Collins Street and she suddenly felt hungry.  She turned and smiled.

“Thank you, Robert that was very considerate of you, and I think we are going to get along fine. I’m saving my money so don’t eat out so for you to choose an Indian restaurant to take me to is a very special event. Thank you.”

Robert looked pleased and smiled.

“I don’t eat out either unless Deloitte insists I take an intended client out to put them in a good mood to give us business, so we have much in common it seems. I’m going to enjoy working with you. I’m making an exception this time though and am paying for this myself, so I want to see you enjoy yourself this evening.”

They stepped inside and immediately became an object of interest as those in charge noted they were of the appearance of the business elite who usually favoured European style restaurant eating. They were ushered to one of the best positioned tables and a waiter appeared sizing up Anita who was obviously from North India. The waiter addressed her respectfully testing his gut feeling.

“Hum iss shaam aadarniya madam ki kis prakar seva kar sakte hain.”

Anita nodded acknowledging the respectful way the waiter asked what service they could arrange for them that evening. This was too good not to take advantage of, and she was in a good mood after Robert had obviously researched to see how he could get her loyal support for the project ahead of them in New Zealand. She spoke in the pure Hindi of the north.

“Yeh aadmi ek prasiddh bhojan samikshak hain aur vah dekhna chahte the ki yah restaurant kis prakar ka gunavatta vala bhojan banata hai aur unhonne mujhse kaha ki main unke saath chalun shayad aapke pas unhen prabhavit karane ke lie kuchh vishesh chizen hon or main unke liye anuvad kar sakta hoon aur ek achchhi report ko protsahit kar sakta hoon.”

Robert looked at her curiously wondering about the conversation which he obviously would not be able to understand. He had no idea what they were talking about and would have been horrified if he knew she’d communicated in Hindi Robert was a famous food critic and he wanted to come and see what quality food this restaurant produced and asked her to accompany him. Perhaps they had some special items to impress him, and she could interpret the dishes for him and encourage a good report.

The waiter rushed to talk with the one in charge and hasty instructions were given in the kitchen. After some time, small portions of multiple courses appeared, and waiters hovered over the table asking in Hindi how the sahib was enjoying this sample of the food they were able to produce with each course produced at the table.

Robert began to wonder how much this was going to cost and finally indicated he was more than satisfied and could not eat more. The waiter looked at Anita.

“Memsahab, or bhi aana hai.”

Anita turned to Robert.

“He said they still have a few more items to give did you want to take them with you?”

Robert shook his head in surprise.

“Anita that’s more than enough for me and no I don’t want to take anything home with me unless you do. Just ask for the bill.”

He took out his credit card and Anita addressed the waiter again.

Sahib kehte hain ki vah poori tarah se santusht hain aur unhein aur kuchh bhi nahi chahiye vah aapke restaurant se bahut prabhavit hain vah ab aapko bhugtaan karna chahte hain

The waiter rushed back to the one in charge to report carrying the card and the proprietor took the card and rang up the price of one economy meal. The real cost would have exceeded a hundred dollars but one must sacrifice for a good report for his restaurant Laxmi the goddess had sent to them to enhance their business for the future.

To be continued.

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