the dotcom diaries - ii

who do we label experts? the question was posed, and answered daily, at the place where the brain-dead to begin that slow decline into retirement.

experts arose like sentinels, thrust into positions of authority by the man with the dim-witted daughter — the obese circus master. 'you are, today, the expert on russia,' he would proclaim, packing off an unresisting protestant for an assignment to, well, russia. the unresisting protestant would return with nothing of importance, just bad photographs to document her pointless journey.

'you are, today, the expert on indo-american relations,' he would proclaim, packing off another unresisting — they were largely unresisting, these — halfwit to washington, in return for more stories of no importance. 'you will, today, discuss fashion,' he would tell the balding conman from kerala, compelling him to make the switch from his usual 'pointless stories about cricket' to 'pointless stories about fashion week' for a day.

'i am, today, the expert on indo-chinese relations,' he would convince himself, setting off for shanghai in the hope of convincing his juniors that he could write stories of some intelligence. he would fail, of course.

and so it went, right through the year. the rise and fall of experts. meanwhile, the real experts moved to other companies. in other states.