The air was echoing with “Ganpati Bappa Morya” as it was immersion day of the annual 10 day Lord Ganesh festival. Our PK-squared group were at their seats with a light rain in the air. It always rains on immersion day in Mumbai. Kaushik was narrating how his office HR manager used analytics to take corrective action on people coming late to the office.
Kaushik said “Many people were coming late to work and the HR manager was pulling his hair as they did not come on time despite repeated requests. He finally decided to collect data and do a data analysis” Padma interjected, “My type of person. Anyone who analyses data and takes decision will take good decision”. Prabha countered, “Much like how we collect data by doing a discovery play before taking finesse in Bridge”. Kingo was silent and on prodding boomed, “Don’t do any analysis. Go by hunch and if one person pauses,
assume he has the missing card and finesse.”
Everyone fell silent as Kaushik started telling how HR came to a logical decision. The manager collected names of all people who were coming late and found out that 96 per cent of the people took the bus from Andheri Station to SEEPZ, where his office was located. The company had a chartered bus from Andheri Station. The analysis went further and came to the conclusion that the traffic position between Andheri and SEEPZ delayed the chartered bus.
Prabha, “Oh your chartered bus was getting blocked. Being a bridge player, you must find ways to get around blockage”. Kaushik confided that his HR manager was a casual bridge player and he did exactly that – he unblocked the problem. Instead of running the bus from Andheri Station to SEEPZ, he announced that the bus will start from the next railway station called Jogeshwari as the bus then does not have to wade through the traffic jam. It was a simple solution to what looked like a complex problem. “I am reminded of the hand
that Kingo explained a few days back to make a contract on a squeeze. We concluded that no squeeze was required because a simple finesse would have ensured the contract.
The group moved on to see the idols being immersed and pay their respects to the Lord.
Tailpiece: Goofy, my pet dog, got all excited as the drums from the immersion procession woke him up as we were preparing to leave. He barked, “Why not use your bridge analytics to unblock traffic jams during immersion?” I had to pacify him and tell him Mumbai Police have done computations and done an outstanding job. Driving on immersion day is now easier than normal days.
