The rise of Feudalism and Sycophancy!

Feudal structures in 21^st century India are indeed the best mechanisms to keep the nation in the 19^th.  And yes they have helped mediocrity to rule the roost in both the political as well as bureaucratic arenas.

The Congress in the political and the Indian Railways in the bureaucratic arenas are perhaps the finest living examples of a cultural ethos rooted in a feudal and therefore sycophantic environment. Though there are many more examples in both arenas, but none as feudal and therefore as sycophantic as these two and their contribution in the national debacle is therefore unmatched and worthy of appreciation. 

Let us first look at the great Indian Railways, great because it was one of the biggest achievements of the british raj, an achievement that qualified to be cited as the economic lifeline of the nation ever since. Unfortunately when the british left and our home grown rulers took over, the feudal mindset of a ruler that regarded all others as slaves continued. The bureaucratic structure continued and rapidly grew to be more bureaucratic than ever, the reason being that the rulers soon realized that self perpetuation is more fun than serving the masses. And so the culture of saloons, personal attendants, big bungalows, gifts and graft blossomed with time. Work took a back seat, only to be handled by the supervisory staff who unfortunately were kept away from the loot that was always regarded as the prerogative of the officer cadre.  With passage of time newer tools like Mahila Samities and protocol emerged to further the cultural legacy of feudalism.  The mahila samities served as a convenient tool to massage the ego’s of the memsahibs in the garb of welfare. Reception parties for receiving and sending off senior officers moving on official and personal visits massaged ego’s at the cost of spine.

Yes it is true that the railways of today has a culture that encourages a very fine officer to convert to a leech by the time he occupies apex level positions – and we have perfect examples at present.

Congress also belongs to the same mold. Congressmen of various hues and mold have realized that sucking up to the first family is perhaps the best means to retain and enjoy power. And so we have odious comparisons to goddesses of someone who was not even born in this nation, all for the sake of holding on to power for personal gains, the nation can go to hell.

The arrival of Modi on the scene may make a difference to the nation. The only difference that one does not want to witness emerging is the culture of feudalism and sycophancy in the party with a difference.  

Getting used to removals!

I had an almost similar feeling on two previous occasions.

The first time it happened, I was much younger and highly volatile. Being sacked from the top level assignment of CMD, ITDC and also premature repatriation back to railways was a jolt from the blue. A jolt primarily because the ITDC stint has been the finest innings that I played so far, besides believing till then that the government generally recognizes merit. A government that openly lauded my work and flaunted me as a blue eyed boy on many occasions did not blink even an eyelid in showing me my place when deliverance started hurting vested interests. Yet the culmination was the outcome of almost a year long battle that I fought with the department entrusted with the task of palming off family silver.

The second time it happened, the jolt was even bigger. The Minister of State to whom I was assigned as an Executive Director summarily terminated my services even though he never left any opportunity in lauding my tremendous contribution in improving the railway stations that fell in his constituency in a record time. Perhaps repeated mentions within the government and the party as Lohani’s Minister egged him to do what he did. While the sacking from ITDC was not very unexpected, this time the summary removal caught me by total surprise. Yet by this time I was getting used to blatant acts of injustice by those in power and also started appreciating why our nation continues to stand still. 

Yesterday evening was the third of my summary removals from an assignment though not as high profile as in the case of earlier removals, yet fairly important from the operations point of view. In the background of the recent scandals in railways, the flourishing corruption and blatant display of lowly personal conduct by the apex levels, this removal was also not totally unexpected. Perhaps not being a sycophant, having a bit of a spine and also being honest to the core created an unfavorable situation that led to what happened.

Yet I am neither disheartened nor demoralized. Perhaps it is because of maturity acquired over age or simple acceptance of the rot that engulfs the railways more than it engulfs the nation. Why cant’ an officer be judged merely on his leadership abilities and sheer deliverance, especially in a developing nation I wonder? Why do top bosses and their better halves clamor for sycophant subordinates basically for petty personal gains that really do not matter in the long run? 

Governance in this nation needs a deep cleansing and the railways literally needs to be washed of all its ills of sycophancy, protocol, gross mismanagement and corruption to enable real progress. Till then all talks of moving forward would remain just hot air.  

Path Breakers

Being a conformist is what conventional success is all about in the railways. Conforming to what, I have always wondered. Is it conformance to the grand spectacle of rank mediocrity on display at all levels, the higher one goes in the conventional sense, the bigger and deeper it is.  And if the answer is yes, being a misfit is the only acceptable alternative.

I often wonder whether people like me, and I realize there are many, are misfits? Or whether the system is a misfit for an organization that needs to rise for its own sake and the sake of the nation? Unfortunately or perhaps fortunately, there are no clear answers as subjectivity rules the roost in all such matters.

Recently a top gun advised that keeping in view my age profile, I would complete 39 when I hang my boots, now is the time when I should take a cool job and work under a guy who is certain to give outstanding reports. However there is a catch. Turning cool right now shall ensure that I remain cool even when I occupy slots that really matter but generally serve only a ceremonial role. And in that scenario, the occupant would cease to have any relevance whatsoever to the organization and its cronies, except that he may hasten the demise. And that leads to another question, what the top slots are meant for? I bet there are no clear answers even with the occupants. Top slot just for being the top guy is the motive. 

Acceptance of the railway working in its present form is beyond me. With the operational issues being handled at supervisory levels that generally handle it much better provided   the officer clan does not interfere, we have miserably failed in performing our role that primarily constitutes imparting vision and direction and making things easier for the field levels. Yet what we remain busy in, defies logic and rationale. Perhaps our work study teams would make a much bigger contribution if they train their guns at the officer clan and start with the upper crust. 

Being misfit also implies feeling uncomfortable and angry in even witnessing sycophantic acts that are on display almost non-stop everywhere. Rampant disbursal of flowers and costly gifts to superiors in rank and their partners in tow, at every conceivable opportunity is sickening, yet the round of applause that accompanies such a spectacle makes the misfits have serious doubts about themselves. The foundation and inaugural stones for activities as insignificant as a new commode, that one bumps into at almost every corner are also an impeccable example of sycophantic behaviour. Yet the round of applause at the unveiling of such stones and the clamour for being mentioned on the stone itself, by almost everyone confuses. Is this the right thing to do, or the revulsion that many feel at such ceremonies is in order?

What however hurts the most is the rampant harassment of employees in the garb of disciplinary action for minor lapses. That the focus of an officer clan singularly responsible for the grand mess and also bringing the organization to near bankruptcy, should remain imposing punishments to its staff is definitely not in order.

The men ruining the organization, screwing the men running the organization.

During my stint at the division, I came across many youngsters who often felt suffocated by the mediocrity of superiors in rank.  Perhaps they may either break down with passage of time or join ranks with mediocrity. Yet how I wish that despite the road blocks and there would be plenty, they continue to be path breakers, for in path breakers lies the true salvation of the organization.

The learned man on the street!

Ask the man on the street, what ails the country, and he would know. Having been wedded to the tourism sector for a long time, almost everyone, I knew or met had a word of advice for me. How tourism can be made to prosper in the beautiful state of Madhya Pradesh, or in "Incredible India", everyone knew the answers. And now on the hot seat of DRM/Delhi, I am again swamped with intelligent people, people who know what is wrong and how to set it right, except that they do not have even the foggiest idea of what putting your backside on the hot seat entails.

The tragedy is that the credibility of the sarkari tantra in our motherland is abysmally low. And therefore the entire populace, who also have contributed to the chaos in no small measure, chose to bash the tantra at the slightest provocation.

What however really hurts is the feigned ignorance, not of the man on the street, but of the men who matter, with exceptions of course. It is really sad that we often confuse symptom with the disease, and the attempts therefore of trying to cure the symptom, not the disease are bound to fail resulting in repeated cycles of inventing the wheel ad infinitum.

There is no doubt that the sarkari tantra, across the country is a classic example of how tantra's should not be. Procedure orientation, knee jerk responses to symptoms, rampant corruption and sycophancy are its hallmarks. But for a change it was a nice feeling to witness the Government support to the chief executive of Air India in recent moments of crisis and when the gentleman who is trying to do his best needed the support. But such occasions are rare. Rather than supporting the chief executives, they are often made a scapegoat for pleasing the man on the street, who is amused no doubt, but rarely pleased.

Sycophant Prayers

Why do people pray? The mighty and the weak, the corrupt and the honest, the powerful and the powerless, the rich and the poor, almost all of them say their prayers regularly and I wonder why? It is not that I am an atheist, I firmly believe in God and also in the philosophy that all that is happening on planet earth is his bidding.

I witness bureaucrats cringing before senior bureaucrats, senior bureaucrats cringing before ministers and politicians, the poor before the rich, the rich before the men in power and the super rich before the super powers. And all this cringing and placating is almost in the form of a prayer, though not from the heart. It is for gains, personal in nature like a favor, position, materialistic gains or power. Basically we are all trying to curry favors by praying to others.

Carrying the same argument forward, I often wonder, whether our daily prayers to the almighty also fall in the same category – an attempt to please by cringing and placating. I always believed that what the almighty expects from us is compassion, love for the life species and to be a genuine human being. If God could be moved by the cringing and placating in the form of a prayer and then if he bestows what is desired by the applicant, then he cannot be God; he has to be a human being. If he is really God after all, then all the cringing and placating in the form of prayer or other rituals would not have any effect and blessings would be bestowed by him on only one criterion, the “Karma” of the applicant.

I have since stopped praying, except for a weekly darshan of Hanumanji and now the only attempt and desire is to be a good human being.