In anonymity lies security and therefore we have anonymous complaints and anonymous expressions of opinions in various offices and forums. Such complaints and expressions of opinions by people who do not even have the courage to stand-by their own view point says much about the prevalent rot in the society. Cowards who want others to set the nation right, while they want to retain their anonymity and thereby enjoy a false sense of security. Cowards who do not even want to risk taking the responsibility for their own expressions! How shall they ever take responsibility for their own actions is a point to be pondered upon! Even in my own office where I am surrounded by people who are secure and comfortable in their guaranteed sarkari jobs, the presence of such cowards can not be entirely ruled out.
Can a society of cowards take the nation forward? I am afraid not, cowards can only multiply their own race by generally voicing their fear of the unknown at various forums, and that too with amazing regularity.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Contained brilliance!
I am surprised at the brilliance of my team. Frankly this realization has belied my expectations. A set of outstanding officers, each brilliant in his own way, yet the collective organization failing to correspondingly reflect the brilliance of its constituents. I am foxed!
This situation has led me to coin a new term "contained brilliance". It could also have been "suppressed brilliance". Does the organization suppress brilliance and in the process encourage mediocrity? Possibly true, perhaps because there does not seem to be any other apparent reasoning for the staid state of affairs.
We have to let brilliance "free". Let brilliance soar in the sky and achieve wonders that it easily can. For our developing country, not to remain forever in the developing mode, it is essential that brilliance and not mediocrity is allowed to freely soar in the skies.
Is it not unfortunate that every bharatvasi, including the self seeking bureaucrats, is able to perform exceedingly well in any country other than his own? Is it not equally unfortunate that in the first sixty years of existence as a free nation, brilliance, especially in the sarkari sector has always been looked down upon with disdain? And is it not unfortunate that mediocrity, the hallmark of which is indulging in the mundane and treading down the oft beaten path, has beaten brilliance in the traditional attainment of success?
This situation has led me to coin a new term "contained brilliance". It could also have been "suppressed brilliance". Does the organization suppress brilliance and in the process encourage mediocrity? Possibly true, perhaps because there does not seem to be any other apparent reasoning for the staid state of affairs.
We have to let brilliance "free". Let brilliance soar in the sky and achieve wonders that it easily can. For our developing country, not to remain forever in the developing mode, it is essential that brilliance and not mediocrity is allowed to freely soar in the skies.
Is it not unfortunate that every bharatvasi, including the self seeking bureaucrats, is able to perform exceedingly well in any country other than his own? Is it not equally unfortunate that in the first sixty years of existence as a free nation, brilliance, especially in the sarkari sector has always been looked down upon with disdain? And is it not unfortunate that mediocrity, the hallmark of which is indulging in the mundane and treading down the oft beaten path, has beaten brilliance in the traditional attainment of success?
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Protocol even in death!
A very senior railway officer suddenly passed away recently due to an unexpected cardiac arrest. A very fine officer and an equally fine human being, he left many of us who knew him well, teary eyed for days.
What really disturbed me, more than the death itself, was that the top echelons of the organization (with an exception of course) remained totally unmoved even by the death of a senior officer and did not care to pay even a fleeting visit to the residence of the diseased.
Should not an organization, represented by the very top management, just be there when a soldier and that too a senior one dies? Is it asking for too much to expect the presence of the top management at the death of an officer or are there other things that are more important. If so it would be interesting to know what can be more important than the death of your own men!
I find it demeaning when I find senior officers kowtowing before the powers that be. The birthdays of men in power are occasions to witness the presence of almost all the top officials marking their attendance with amazing ease and in high spirits. Yet the absence of top officials at the death of a senior officer of their own ilk! Is it not a disgusting and demoralizing state of affairs?
What really disturbed me, more than the death itself, was that the top echelons of the organization (with an exception of course) remained totally unmoved even by the death of a senior officer and did not care to pay even a fleeting visit to the residence of the diseased.
Should not an organization, represented by the very top management, just be there when a soldier and that too a senior one dies? Is it asking for too much to expect the presence of the top management at the death of an officer or are there other things that are more important. If so it would be interesting to know what can be more important than the death of your own men!
I find it demeaning when I find senior officers kowtowing before the powers that be. The birthdays of men in power are occasions to witness the presence of almost all the top officials marking their attendance with amazing ease and in high spirits. Yet the absence of top officials at the death of a senior officer of their own ilk! Is it not a disgusting and demoralizing state of affairs?
Thursday, October 21, 2010
The war within
Remaining forever busy in the war within has always enabled us to lose the external war.
The "Output does not matter" style of functioning of the country’s bureaucrats keeps them perpetually busy in the mundane pushing of files and proposals, while at the same time giving them a false feeling of having delivered. The system exists for its own sake and its effect on the nation is minimal and generally damaging in nature. The bureaucrats are forever busy in pushing their own petty interests and that invariably includes post retirement sinecures.
This is the essence of the Indian bureaucracy. A system that exists for its own sake and keeps its every component busy without actually delivering. A “corrupt to the core”system that is meant only to be milched by its constituents, serving the populace can go to hell.
How the hell would we ever win the external war against poverty, illiteracy and the infrastructural gap, when the system keeps us totally occupied in mundane stuff.
The "Output does not matter" style of functioning of the country’s bureaucrats keeps them perpetually busy in the mundane pushing of files and proposals, while at the same time giving them a false feeling of having delivered. The system exists for its own sake and its effect on the nation is minimal and generally damaging in nature. The bureaucrats are forever busy in pushing their own petty interests and that invariably includes post retirement sinecures.
This is the essence of the Indian bureaucracy. A system that exists for its own sake and keeps its every component busy without actually delivering. A “corrupt to the core”system that is meant only to be milched by its constituents, serving the populace can go to hell.
How the hell would we ever win the external war against poverty, illiteracy and the infrastructural gap, when the system keeps us totally occupied in mundane stuff.
Monday, October 4, 2010
National Pride!
The opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games made my heart swell with pride, even if momentarily. In fact that is what these transient extravaganzas are at best capable of. A fleeting moment of national pride. In fact my elder daughter reminded me today morning of the tremendous capability our country always had in creating "tamashas".
The fact however remains that the ceremony was extremely good, in fact perhaps the best ever that the country would have witnessed on its soils. But the ceremony alone should not and can not be a cause of joy. That the game makers indulged in a totally different kind of games ever since the time the games were slated for Delhi is a sordid aspect of the games that can not and should not be forgotten.
That this transient extravaganza has emerged as the reason for the sudden fervor of national pride amongst the citizens of this country is a cause of serious concern. That our population is reduced to seeking pride in what at best is an outstanding "tamasha" is definitely not something to be happy about.
I would really feel proud, when India emerges from the shadows of poverty and deprivation and takes its place in the list of developed nations. I would indeed be proud when we have been able to create infrastructure of internationally acceptable standards across the length and breadth of the nation and not just confined to the capital city of Delhi. I would have been proud if the massive amount of expenditure that has been been attributed to the games had been fully utilized for the purpose and not been siphoned off to a very large extent mainly to grease the already bloated pockets of the corrupt people in charge of organizing the games, an event that our "developing" nation may have been better off without.
The fact however remains that the ceremony was extremely good, in fact perhaps the best ever that the country would have witnessed on its soils. But the ceremony alone should not and can not be a cause of joy. That the game makers indulged in a totally different kind of games ever since the time the games were slated for Delhi is a sordid aspect of the games that can not and should not be forgotten.
That this transient extravaganza has emerged as the reason for the sudden fervor of national pride amongst the citizens of this country is a cause of serious concern. That our population is reduced to seeking pride in what at best is an outstanding "tamasha" is definitely not something to be happy about.
I would really feel proud, when India emerges from the shadows of poverty and deprivation and takes its place in the list of developed nations. I would indeed be proud when we have been able to create infrastructure of internationally acceptable standards across the length and breadth of the nation and not just confined to the capital city of Delhi. I would have been proud if the massive amount of expenditure that has been been attributed to the games had been fully utilized for the purpose and not been siphoned off to a very large extent mainly to grease the already bloated pockets of the corrupt people in charge of organizing the games, an event that our "developing" nation may have been better off without.
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