"Tell me about Plan b."
"Plan b is not with a small b but capital B. And strategically to have a Plan B is extremely important because Plan A could be flawed, not because the strategists miscalculated, God forbid, but because the parameters changed and so it becomes imperative to launch Plan B."
"Oh in other words Plan B could be a U-turn and as The Khan says he takes U turns to make compromises to achieve his goals, rather than compromising on his goals..."
"Right, let me give you an example. Plan A was Asad Umar as the Finance Minister and a Dar loyalist as the Governor State Bank, and our tried technocrat and Baqir were Plan B..."
"See the sacrifice he has made for Pakistan! In Dubai his office was in the same building and he could take a siesta whenever he needed..."
"You being facetious!"
"No, someone in Washington DC told me that he heard Sheikh and Baqir claimed during their address to a think tank led by a Pakistani that they had sacrificed to take on these extremely prestigious jobs in Pakistan, Baqir said he left a stellar career in the Fund and..."
"I heard his career would become more stellar once he leaves the governor's position!"
"But you have to acknowledge that an IMF staff member doesn't pay taxes to any country and the poor guy is now paying taxes as Governor State Bank."
"Don't be facetious; anyway, Plan B is very important but a warning to Plan B players: they maybe Plan B to start off with but soon become Plan A."
"Ha ha, that's true and what about Plan B in politics?"
"That has always been minus one, or minus the leader. So far it hasn't worked but hey that is no reason to abandon it."
"Don't be facetious."