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| Image courtesy : 8tracks.com |
The best and the worse quality inherent in a government job is in its
transfer policy. Best-becuase every three year you get to see new places.
Worse-because you get to see them even if you don’t want to. Therefore,
government job offer letter boldly clears its stand on transfer when it says –
“Transfer should not be considered as a punishment”. Which means, that as a
punishment even if you are posted among people who look like the
first inhabitants of earth you may curse god but thank govt for the opportunity
bestowed upon you. The next important thing is to buy a three year calendar in
advance and start striking each day as it reluctantly passes off till you are
again transferred. Policies of Government jobs and beliefs in Hindu mythology
have startling resemblance. Transfer-posting and birth-rebirth find
their basis in law of karma. Your karma in previous posting place- which
includes your relation with your bosses and Jugaads you have
established- and Karma in this life governs your next posting and your next
life respectively.
Getting transferred is also like listening to Punjabi hits these days.
Left without an option, you first dislike the way words crumble upon each
other, then try to get along by humming the tune, then somehow manage to hum
it. When your blabber becomes proper words and your senses acclimatises with
the hoarse and loud music then your ears are served yet again with a latest hit.
There is also an unsaid rule underlining all transfer and postings which
is also called as Law of Least Comfort. It is an extension of Murphy’s law and
says that out of all posting place available at the time of your scheduled
transfer, you will get the one which puts you in the least comfort position.
Another law is the Law of Inverse Choices. It says, that the preference order of the transfer choices exercised by you is inversed ,by the mighty and not the almighty, at the time of your actual allocation.
Having said this, I still consider transfer and change of place and
nature of work as a way out of monotonous life. Stagnation in any form
kills the very essence of life which is evolution. Change is always better for
an individual and the organisation. Be it in thought, deeds or place. Like a
stream of water moving down a hill gets enriched with essence of herbs and
flowers. So does an individual moving ahead in life. After all, life is all about meeting
new people, visiting new places and experiencing new cultures. Bundled together
in memories these experiences are forever cherished.
Lecture and nice talks apart, let me tell you my part of story:
My life has been on a recent turmoil as I suffered the first blow of
transfer as a government employee. To a place where if you need to satiate your
hunger in a restaurant after 9 pm then all you got to do is to sit, take a deep
breath and relax till that feeling subsides. A place still serving its people
with more number of Talkies cinema than multiplexes.
The over hyped government bungalows and helping staffs had deserted me.
All I was left with was two sets of sweaty cloth, McD Aloo Tikki
Burgers for lunch and dinner and a sun shining above to ensure that me and
perspiration always go along. The transfer to a new posting place made me
sympathize with Manoj Kumar's character in the movie Roti, Kapda, aur
Makaan. I rate my struggle a notch higher than his as more than often I had
to fight even for a filterd water. So in my case the movie be better renamed
as Roti,Kapda,Makaan aur Filtered Paani. The struggle for basic
amenities ran into days during which every hope of a better living
was brutally murdered at the hands of a daunting task of searching a house on
rent. Once I contemplated writing a book on '101 Reasons Why Not To Join A
Government Job'. But dropped the idea as selecting 101 out of 1000 accumulated
then so far seemed more difficult.
It has been around a month that I shifted into a new rented
accommodation and the whole house still bears a look of a stampede. As if
someone made a large heap of all packed boxes and set them to explode. As I
write this post, I find myself surrounded by a violent mob of packed boxes and angry luggage yelling and pushing to be set free. A few more days like this and I
could be charged for a mass genocide of innocent boxes. Bound with
mind numbing duty during day hours and spending wonderful evenings in this
clutter, I take turns to curse God and Govt both in equal measure.
An unattended, dusty, 10x15 inches framed wallpaper, partly hidden by a
soiled cloth is lying listlessly in a corner. Presently, it serves the only ray
of hope for a better life ahead as it reads “ This Too Shall
Pass”.
P:S – Allow me to take this platform to thank a dear friend, Vipin Kumar
(posted as Assistant Divisional Engg/ Railways), and his wonderful mother, in
whose house I took shelter during my initial days after transfer. Thank you for
making me feel like a part of your family and all the help extended.
Forever obliged
Thank you for reading
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