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.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Building Nations!
By peeping under the carpet; appreciating the accumulated muck of almost six decades of mal-governance and then striving to clean it up.
Easier said than done, and that precisely is the reason why no one follows the above advice. Least of all the bureaucrats and politicos of our country.
The muck under the carpet is massive, yet invisible to almost all of us, the nincompoop bureaucrats of India.
Rampant corruption, corruption that pervades almost the entire sarkari sector of the country is the first glimpse beneath the carpet.
Characterless, spineless and idle sarkari mulazims is the next realization.
A system that thrives on sycophancy is the next view and a system designed for non deliverance is not the last.
The view under the carpet is not at all pleasent. It is the true view of our beloved country.
Why not do something about it for that is the true calling of all those who have joined the sarkari system for serving the sarkar, not behaving as the last mughals of the country.
Let us for once start on the path of nation building, by sacrificing the self. Let us for once stop bothering about our postings, promotions, foreign trips and post retirement sinecures. Let us for once justify our fat salaries by indulging in the sheer act of deliverance, improving systems of delivery and focussing on developing the musch needed national infrastructure.
Can we, the sarkari mulazims of an immature democracy do it, or it is asking for the moon.
Do I have the right to lose hope? I think not!
Easier said than done, and that precisely is the reason why no one follows the above advice. Least of all the bureaucrats and politicos of our country.
The muck under the carpet is massive, yet invisible to almost all of us, the nincompoop bureaucrats of India.
Rampant corruption, corruption that pervades almost the entire sarkari sector of the country is the first glimpse beneath the carpet.
Characterless, spineless and idle sarkari mulazims is the next realization.
A system that thrives on sycophancy is the next view and a system designed for non deliverance is not the last.
The view under the carpet is not at all pleasent. It is the true view of our beloved country.
Why not do something about it for that is the true calling of all those who have joined the sarkari system for serving the sarkar, not behaving as the last mughals of the country.
Let us for once start on the path of nation building, by sacrificing the self. Let us for once stop bothering about our postings, promotions, foreign trips and post retirement sinecures. Let us for once justify our fat salaries by indulging in the sheer act of deliverance, improving systems of delivery and focussing on developing the musch needed national infrastructure.
Can we, the sarkari mulazims of an immature democracy do it, or it is asking for the moon.
Do I have the right to lose hope? I think not!
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Common Wealth makes a difference ?
All the countries including ours that were once slaves of the mighty british empire are getting together to celebrate their common lineage during the common wealth games at New Delhi. Are the games therefore a symbol of british dominance or our common subject like mentality? The group definitely is made up of former subjects of the british empire, but the games are not, they are pure sports and I see nothing wrong in it! The british superiority is something that a nation should strive to be able to emulate.
The games have caused quite a furore in the country. Allegations of corruption in high places that rather appear to be true, sordid saga of shoddy construction work at stadias and the Connaught Place that looks like a bombed out zone, not a place where almost a thousand crores of our hard earned money has been (mis)invested. Yes a lot of interesting but sad news has been manufactured.
The fact however remains that there has been a massive input of infrastructure to the capital city of Delhi. This input would otherwise have taken decades and that is what we Delhi-ites have to be thankful for. It is another matter that over eighty percent of the allocation appears to have been siphoned off. Yet we should be thankful for the twenty percent that hit the ground and has made Delhi a slightly more pleasant place than it was earlier.
The games have caused quite a furore in the country. Allegations of corruption in high places that rather appear to be true, sordid saga of shoddy construction work at stadias and the Connaught Place that looks like a bombed out zone, not a place where almost a thousand crores of our hard earned money has been (mis)invested. Yes a lot of interesting but sad news has been manufactured.
The fact however remains that there has been a massive input of infrastructure to the capital city of Delhi. This input would otherwise have taken decades and that is what we Delhi-ites have to be thankful for. It is another matter that over eighty percent of the allocation appears to have been siphoned off. Yet we should be thankful for the twenty percent that hit the ground and has made Delhi a slightly more pleasant place than it was earlier.
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