Many moons ago when I was naive and idealistic (unfortunately I think I still am) I had a very definite idea as to who sat in plush offices, who conferenced at 5 Star Resorts, who jet-setted around the country or the world, and so on.

Needless to say my innocence has been shattered more times than once.

But I can’t bring myself to forget an NGO’s CEO who pontificated on how some of the other NGOs spend their funds on improving their own lives and lifestyles first before looking into funding the cause they represented. That NGO used to operate from a humble, functional office then. But today it works from buildings that are the best in town, the executives get paid what IIM and ISB grads dream of, and they drive around in Pajeros and Safaris instead of lowly Jeeps.

The denigration of the 5 Star temples started a few years back when Resort Managers discovered that their off season figures could show dramatic improvement if the resort could be sold en block to a bunch of Sales Executives. Suddenly a horde of people who would normally think twice before stepping into a Udipi Hotel for a meal were thrust into surroundings that we thought were reserved for the rich and famous. Junket trips to Hong Kong, Singapore and even the US became rewards you could pick up for mundane performances like exceeding your targets. And on the Dubai sector carpenters, plumbers, electricians etc. jostled for economy space with Sales Executives.

I thought things had gone beyond limits when most restaurants in plush hotels often had groups of people who were very clearly an aberration. They had no idea what to do with a fork. They had no qualms about asking for curd rice in Chinese Restaurants. And they often mistook the serviette for a face towel and thought all classy meals ended with a finger bowl of fresh lime juice that was on the house.

But recently I was invited to visit the offices of a friend who had stumbled onto a serious amount of money and proceeded immediately to get himself a swank office. When I landed up there I was shocked to see that he had half the building. The other half was occupied by a well known NGO.

The NGO office was not just at the same high profile address. It had interiors that were designer designed. Furniture that was hand crafted and executive chairs that could easily be mistaken for hammocks. The only sign that these were the offices of an NGO who worked on poverty alleviation was a painting by a renowned artist (circa 1 Crore) that depicted a poor woman whose child was crying for milk.

I felt a certain injustice in all this. And was reminded of the renowned Shanta Sinha who was invited to a high level meeting of all consultants to an NGO (I was one) at a five star property in the twin cities. And she said “If all the money we spend on meetings and conferences is put together, we can educate at least a hundred thousand children every year”.

And if corporates save on the junkets they offer their sales force etc., product and service prices can be cut by at least 30%.