Gone are the days...!

Life is all about balance and focus, the right amount of which doesn’t derail you. Getting back on the track is only in the destiny of those who learn from their mistakes, sound others out, organize themselves and resume in good faith. This balance and focus are equally important – any of them is affected, the boat gets rocked. The irony is the worse we get hurt, the harder we try to push our luck. As they say, “If the hurdles increasingly frequented the way you are on, better change it."


Coming here is an account of few who began with a dream and had what it took to make it come true. Enviously enough, they teamed up and forged ahead. They were more of a family than employees having grades, sub-ordinates, leads, supervisors -- quite a big list it is. The Administration was controlled by an individual, admiringly capable enough, and the entire business was under control by another person.


Bosses being abroad would visit to make sure things were going seamlessly but would always realize it wasn’t necessary and that resulted in lesser visits as the company was at a faster pace on the road to success and those running it working like Trojans had won their trust. The ambiance of the workplace was just like being home. Work was fun, professionals or would-be ones had such wavelength that telling them apart was so much for easy.

Though it wasn’t much spacious enough, it had become such a place where everyone seemed to have set their hearts on staying. Small place but no big issues and even if there was any, got sorted out before we knew it. However, we needed some more place so that things could have been organized in a professional manner. Days went by, and one day we heard that we were moving to some much bigger place. The Bigger place meant more people. And, finally, it happened. Those who we used to sit beside got into the rooms with ACs and this distance caused communication gap. 

With the passage of time, people became more and more. And came into existence a department meant to control recruitments. Later, no week went by, when there weren’t people coming from some blacklisted firm that had recently been sealed for forgery. And within the office, there was a lobby. Politics seemed in every nook. The department responsible for recruitments for the company also started pulling the strings in the administration. Owners had found someone who could see to the matters administratively as well with not much to spend. Ideally acceptable, wasn’t it?


Those who had been there through thick and thin got into oblivion. They were forced to feel so. The administration started controlling the matters as if they were issues by taking nonsensical actions against whoever was involved. Their policies started coming like chapters of accidents upon all. It was so unjust that it triggered even the blue-eyed ones went for an outcry. Side by side, owing to usurping of the employees’ inalienable rights, whatever the projects were going on, got jinxed. And procrastination befell the entire progress – manifestly ominous sign – BUT it was so oblivious of them believing to generate business, having a license to print money, that they related it to the incompetence.


At this juncture, the number of people leaving the organization scaled up. And I waiting for my turn coming up, had a meeting I was supposed to be told the outcome of my performance evaluation in. I got shockingly surprised or rather surprisingly shocked, the ground gave way under my feet. I hadn’t expected something like that. It brought me all down – quite an impression it made. I found myself left with no other choice but to say YES to everything I was informed about as it was inadvisable to expect anything then. To crown it all, the higher authorities turned a deaf ear. Then I prayed for all who had left and then for the entire team and since then just been praying and praying – May this be justly fixed or I am not part of it anymore.

Bills lethal enough to kill

Being in the mid of my 40’s I don’t remember a year going by without power failures – mostly in the months when it is in desperate need. June and July, as a general practice, have always been the months associated with the summer vacations in schools, colleges and universities, given the changing climate condition causing insufferable heat like last year killing thousands, and seems to revert back with an unimaginable increase for which no measures are surely anticipated as ever before for such catastrophe. 

Strangely enough, the concerned authorities claim to go short of the energy with the seemingly convincing argument over the excessive use of electricity at this time of year and on the other hand, a number of areas in the city are made sure of the provision of uninterrupted power supply – political influence or the residents hailing from elite class – the haves are not so incomprehensible reasons for that.

Such an act of inhumanity showing discrimination of merely a commodity which is paid for is superseded by monthly bills lethal enough to kill – yes, it is TRUE! How does it sound when a person living in a 2 room flat receives a bill of around 10k or someone living in 120 yards house gets 40k for which all efforts turn out from visiting  their offices, waiting for the turn to come, asking which in compulsion turns into beseeching results in nothing but adjustment of the bill to be paid in dribs and drabs.

This ruthless behavior compels people to go for stealing electricity which even worsens the situation as the ones paying for their bills still don’t get it – for longer hours. And as ill-luck would have it, the concerned authorities have some strange calculations to cover their loss by sending heavy bills in the areas where the chances of electricity being stolen are high. In this way, it cuts both the ways.

The Government in this regard doesn’t seem to be serious enough. Promises remain same but people change with the time required to address this never-ending sort of problem.

They sit together and end up with some blazing plan requiring years to fix this grave issue; the story moves on, they get funds which are actually meant for their own fun, their tenure gets over, and the project remains unfinished – but where? Is another question; on the papers or on the land. This is left for us to decide; after all, we do have a role to play too.