Eye on the deadline

Sahai doesn’t stray too far from the image of a contractor that you may have. On this hot afternoon,he was dressed in a white shirt,a red sacred thread on his wrist and effortlessly juggled two phones—an iPhone and a Blackberry—into which he constantly shouted orders.

Sahai says it’s tough being a contractor on any of the Games projects. The last three years have been a blur of high-powered meetings,handling labour disputes and endless speculation by the media over the fate of his projects. “The last six months have been hellish because a panic has been whipped up about the Games projects.”

Sahai then drives into the SPM venue and begins his daily inspection. Nothing escapes his eye,whether it’s labourers fixing the marble blocks near the swimming pool or his staff drawing up budgets. He is interrupted every few minutes by various cheque wielding employees and he signs enough cheques in a single day to make anyone dizzy.

There are more dizzying tasks—a series of meetings and endless phone calls. Sahai answers his phone and tells someone in Agra that labourers on a site there should be redirected to Delhi. “Shortage of labour or not,the Games must go on,” he says.

Around 2 p.m.,Sahai spreads out an elaborate lunch. He has a meeting in half-an-hour at the Builders Association of India,but he is the president of the body so the meeting time is “flexible”.

Over lunch,he talks about his career—from studying engineering at BITS Pilani to working as CEO of one of the largest construction firms in the country. In between,he set up his own firm and worked on various projects,including several for the Delhi Development Authority. He talks about his family and how they deal with his 18-hour work schedules. “I try and eat dinner at home every day. We have not taken a vacation in a while. After the Games,perhaps,” he says.

After lunch,he’s off to the Green Park headquarters of the Builders Association of India. From the BAI office,at 5 p.m,it’s off to the Okhla offices of Ahluwalia construction. Sahai is concerned about managing his staff. With the Games projects winding down,he has been instructed to start reducing the number of employees.

Before we part ways,we ask Sahai if the image of contractors—popularised by Bollywood—as slippery,dishonest brokers bothers him. “Those portrayals are based on reality,but there are enough contractors out there who are living honestly and are just doing their jobs.”