Blah Blah from The TeaBreak Team.

Nothing stops us IT types when we want to hold a meeting.  Something that happened last week reminded me of the truth of this statement. Saqib Mansoor, Senior Manager of HR at TPS, had made an appointment to meet up with me at my office at 9:30 a.m. He wanted to discuss some capacity building issues that the industry faces and to make effective suggestions to counter them. He was also bringing over a cheque for the P@SHA Swat Relief Fund from the TPS team. So of course I said yes.

I was running late that morning but I got there 15 minutes before he was supposed to arrive, only to find that there was no electricity. The generators in our building run the lights, fans, airconditioners and all the computer equipment but NOT the elevator. At any other time I would have walked up the 5 flights of stairs grumbling and panting all the way (I am totally out of shape). But I have hurt my knee and my orthopaedist has warned me to avoid going up and down the stairs for the next few weeks if I want the knee to heal. So I phoned Saqib. He was unperturbed – said it was okay and that if I didn’t mind, we could just meet in his car or mine. We would have the airconditioning on and it should be no hassle. I said okay I was game. Then I went and settled down in my car, listened to music on FM, while I waited for him.

It was good to see that the young man arrived on time. Having been brought up in Hong Kong, I have always been a stickler for punctuality. He joined  me in the car and we started our conversation. Twenty five minutes later Maria, who is the Marketing Manager at P@SHA, messaged me on my mobile to let me know that the elevator was working again so Saqib and I moved upstairs for the rest of our discussions.

It was an interesting discussion and we are going to follow it up with some decisive action mid-week. But what has stuck in my mind is the unusual meeting venue and our unwillingness to give up on the meeting despite the hurdles. Thank you Saqib.

This cup of tea was served by: In the Line of Wire