Contagious...

Few simple incidents miraculously can become memorable moments, something like what I experienced recently.

Have you noticed people in Chennai started owning corporation road space in front of their house compounds as their ‘own’ car parking space? Sadly I’m also a culprit in this case; when our house was constructed my father didn’t leave a space for car parking. I can’t blame him; my activities those days certainly would have convinced him that his son would never buy a car (and  his son would not even be eligible for making EMI payments).

Having convinced you of the rationale behind our house not having a car parking space, I would like to go ahead a little further to say - I understand why residential areas don’t have sufficient car parking spaces but I can’t understand why commercial establishments, that too, newly constructed, situated on main streets - shops (or) eating establishments - devoid of parking spaces for their customers!

Well, we are peace loving people; therefore I’ll try to ignore establishment’s ‘don’t care’ apathy towards its customers. But the ‘real’ issue begins when we face it in a totally unexpected way. When I drive a car and if I find a place somewhere nearby to my destination, and try to park our car there….most of times, find a man running towards me, his face filled with irritation - (irritation similar to a traffic constable, who was trying to teach auto rickshaw drivers to follow road lanes from morning), - waving to me and saying. “No. You can’t park here.”

This happens to me many times and always bring two points to my memory: 

One is my social position (which includes my job title, people I know, number of emigration stamping in my passport, my bank balance and/or my total credit limit of credit cards) and tips I gave to a waiter in a restaurant the previous day.

Two is of course, the value of my car (No, not the depreciated value at the time of parking but real money I had to pay while buying)

So during such above mentioned incidents, I immediately bursts out, “why, why shouldn’t I park here?”

His reply would be like, “Are you going to eat in our restaurant?”

“No.”

“Then you can’t park here. This space is reserved for our customers.”

Needless to say, it will irritate anyone, who has some knowledge of our rights on public roads.  I mean the right to spit, right to throw garbage, right to dig anytime anywhere and the right to attend to nature’s call in front of a children’s school.

Being aware of these rights, I usually go to next level of argument saying like, “This is a public road; Anyone can park here; Ask your manager to come out; I’am going to park here, I’ll see what happens…blah..blah…” (I’ll tell you a secret. If that watchman is well built or aggressive - switch to English. These people may find difficult to respond spontaneously and so you can give a verdict to yourself that you have won).

Depending on my energy, time availability, and response I get from that person, I go on for some time and then take my car to some other place. No, not that I didn’t establish my rights there but for the reason that once I turn around my face he might  mark a scratch on the car - to make himself content of teaching me a lesson.

In my life, in my parking experiences this is how it always happened; But recently an incident happened, which became a memorable moment.

I went to a shop near Annanagar East . Our dear Sun has started to do overtime in 2019 by shining bright in February second week itself. I found only one parking space near my destination but alas, it was right in front adjacent shop. Still, I dared to go ahead, turned steering wheel, entered in between those two bright parking lines. And as expected, that shop's security guy was running towards me and started to help me by waving his hands.

With a sigh I was getting ready to enter into the argument but then I noticed that young man is from North East side of India. Unknowingly (this is what is still mysterious to me), I brought down my window glass and told him, "I'am going to that shop", pointing the next store. 

And shockingly (!), he went ahead in guiding me and told me in English, "It's okay sir. I am happy that god has given me an opportunity to serve you today. This makes me happy."

I was stunned. My agitated mind got melted. Suddenly I felt what a great lesson I just learnt. Humility and Kindness - how powerful they are!! If most of human population try to learn and practice these virtues, how wonderful our lives will be.

I thanked him and went to shopping with a heart filled with happiness.

'Happiness is contagious.'
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R. Bharathram
17/02/2019  


   

Ridiculing your own job

I was engrossed in reviewing / correcting an important document today. It took couple of hours and once I finished it I felt overwhelmed that I did a good job. But I felt a vacuum in my heart. There wasn't any one to appreciate my good work. Since the document contained details, which cannot be a shared to all, no one was aware of my good work so obviously I couldn't get any pats on the back - I tried with my own hands but in vain.

I grew up in a culture where I get to receive emails appreciating a good work or announcement in a room with my peers, or words in person when I meet the right person (my superior) during a coffee break and if all these don't happen, a hope in my heart that my good work is stored somewhere deep in my superior's brain's database, which could be retrieved if I 'execute a correct query' to my superior in case she had forgotten it or behave as if he/she forgotten it. As a matter of fact, what you learn (or should learn) as time pass by - is to 'design' the correct query! If you don't understand previous line, I'am sorry, you missed to learn an efficacious lesson in corporate ladder.

What do you think about recently popularised - exposing one's own work after retirement, like from World Bank, IMF heads to ex financial ministers? Many have started doing this work vigorously - more 'vigorously working' than when they were in payroll. I could see only one reason for this - they get more money by ridiculing their own work with only one restriction in mind, i.e. don't do it when you are in payroll. 

In case if you think I'am going to ridicule my own work of past i.e. when I was in payroll, don't strain. It was always ridiculed - directly by my supervisor, by my peer fellows (except a few). I assume my subordinates don't hate me very much because I saw them as my 'friends'. ('Friends', do you believe that?) I always believed people who complete work need to be treated well. Because, ultimately, computers don't do anything by themselves. They need human intervention - either to create or destroy work. Those humans were more important than any computer machine.

Funny part is entire system believe ridiculing regularly is essential to survive. If you feel 'ridicule' is not an appropriate word it can be replaced with much harsher words like criticising.

Companies do allocate a special session, that too in billed hours, for ridiculing..sorry...criticising it's own recruited employee's work. It is a session where everyone has a different mindset, at end all want to see a win/win situation even after knowing 'one win' can never happen. They call it as appraisal. By now you would have understood who always lose. We can't entirely blame superiors, because they have their own problems.

Appraisal. To your utter disappointment, I'am not going to give any incidents, stories or expose anything (later? I wish I can). As long as 'comparative' work is there, appraisal will be required in the system. But in this write up's  context, I'am only fascinated by one word that is tactically used during appraisals. That word is 'proactive'. 

When they sit together both have a list - criticisms in one side and praises in opposite side. It is like hearing same news from two different news channels, funded by two different political parties or like watching Kamal Hasan's 'Virumandi' movie. Same incidents but from two opposite angles. Creativity will be at it's best sometimes. 

I personally always support an employee because my superior is also an employee (see, how I dodged). Sadly a superior must ridicule his subordinate (at least one point) regardless of how good that sub ordinate was in that year. 

There a word comes as a rescue. 'Proactive'. If a manager couldn't find any major mistakes he can always criticise his subordinate by stating that he/she was not proactive.  Surprising to both, neither knows what it actually means except that it is a well aimed criticism.

As a matter of fact, if entire team is proactive, appraisals are not needed at all. Is it possible to form a team like that? Can this question be asked looking upwards?

There ends an appraisal.

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R.Bharathram
11 Feb 2019