ATTENDING OFFICE

From Sampath’s Desk:

ATTENDING OFFICE

A retired person now, I recall here my experiences of attending office. Earlier, each day started with the morning alarm set on the clock, and subsequently in cell phone waking me up. I set at least a couple of alarms to wake me up by way of abundant caution. As with any machine-like city life, for me, a day began amidst different noises all around greeting me every morning - hooting of milk/rice cookers, noises of chirping birds, sounds of blowing winds causing rustling of tree-leaves, moving vehicles, and the like! Ululations of mobile street-vendors of vegetables, tender-coconuts, and other household items heralded the beginning of the rat race of the day. The daily morning chores tightly tied me up against time and there began the day’s hubbub.

 

Office going - a typical race against time but still a pleasant experience once - became strenuous as days passed by with commuting proving to be a daily uphill task in Chennai where I had, like many others, the place of residence and workplace far apart from each other. One had to take all modes of transport - train, bus, auto, stretching the legs, etc. - to and fro - between the workplace and home. Those who had their home and workplace not far away from each other were a fortunate lot. And if one were to have a two-wheeler, it would be advantageous. Even then, there would be some hassles for them from the road traffic point of view.

 

With house ownership/rentals increasingly becoming dearer in Chennai proper, and in order to escape from the hustle and bustle of the city life, people started fanning out into suburban and peripheral areas for their 'sweet home', putting the city on an ever-expansive mode with satellite towns mushrooming in all directions beyond the edges of the city. Although suburban trains operated duly complemented by thousands of buses, still, the commuters progressively felt the inadequacy of transport even with increasing bus fleet year after year trying to cover the nook and cranny of the city and its suburbs.

 

During peak hours, crowds would swell both in bus-stops and inside buses. With many buses invariably being stopped, that too haphazardly, away from designated spots, people would spill over here and there and run helter-skelter to board the buses (elders, women, and children excuse)! Today, the Mass Rapid Transport System (MRTS) and Metro Rails in different routes crisscrossing connect many distant places across the urban agglomeration in new routes also rendering it ever be on the expansive mode in different directions and providing different transport means to complement the already available transport facilities. Thus woes like traffic jams, snarls, and other hold-ups are the order of the day. One should keep a buffer time and leave home well in advance covering possible exigencies like having to skip overcrowded and packed buses/trains due to the inability to board buses halted away from bus stops, journey time, time lost in signals, stoppage of bus journey for issue of tickets midway, ticket-checking by squad, etc. There would also be sudden stoppage of vehicles on the road due to a VVIP's visit, lightning strikes, and procession(s). Trains, generally a good option, were also fraught with their own hassles like late-arrival due to signal faults and/or other exigencies. Even if one train were to come late, the crowd in a railway station would unmanageably swell especially at peak hours with a chain of attendant hassles to follow.

 

One has to board the bus hurriedly with the sweat-transuding passengers already inside jostling for space to greet you with demurs and even protest at times against you for getting into the already crowded bus. Other hassles would be - having to tender ‘exact fare' (including coins) for buying the ticket, passing on the bus fare through a chain of people to get it as the conductor couldn't wade through the standees remaining in the bus packed like sardines, readying oneself one or two stops ahead for alighting, etc. When coming out of the bus/train, one would have already felt like a mixer-ground tomato. Lassitude and ennui palpably evident would pose a problem in completing the last mile connectivity to the office by foot. One should also be careful and cautious not to fall into the trap of the pick-pockets on their job.

 

During peak hours, suburban trains - normally a natural reliable option wherever possible - would also unleash their quota of woes with people left in the wilderness to entrain/detrain inflicting discomfitures of sorts like shoving for space inside, profuse perspiration, suffocation, and writhing in uneasiness.

As days rolled by, commuting to the workplace and back home in private vans engaged by a group of employees whose offices are available in a cluster and located along a route became a norm. It was comfortable and proved to be a boon for commuters. Under this arrangement, people would be picked up from specific spots near their homes to be transported to the workplace and in the evening they would be dropped back at the same spots for returning home. I also took the private van transport for a few years before retirement. It was a comfortable arrangement and relieved me from many of the hassles of travel through the public transport system. 

 

Without sharing the trying travel experiences of the morning with our co-workers and others at the office, the day's work would not begin. 

 

At the office, it would be a gargantuan effort to deal with an insatiable, implacable, and demanding boss, if you are ill-fated to have one. The top-brass executives would give sermons, comments, and commands in a jargon-mixed high-profile English language and would expect instant results. Satisfying all superiors would be a gigantic responsibility.

At the final brink of service before retirement, for years I had the opportunity to work as Secretary to the Chief General Manager-BSNL (Tamil Nadu Telecom Circle). We had an intelligent and efficient team of personnel in the CGM's Secretariat. Specifically, my two co-workers (Ms. Lakshmi and Ms. Vijaya) were a 'two-women army' and 'go-getters'. I had a scribbling pad in which I would note all the 'to-do' points ordered by the boss and always leave it on our desk. Whether I was in my seat or not, they would take care of as many points as they could even without my verbal instructions to them - an excellent time saving/management method, understanding work-culture, and a feel-good factor indeed! The points completed would be ticked off. Wherever necessary, they would do the spadework enabling speedy follow-up. The two sub-staff members also proved themselves as 'trusted lieutenants' and 'go-getters'. With them around, it was certainly a failsafe and safe-sail for me. I felt like being in my sweet home at the office!

 

To act as a bridge between the top-brass, middle managers, and the grass-root workers would be a stupendous exercise. In any organization, the tough job lay with the middle-level managers who have to extract work from subordinates and show tangible results to the top management. Superior executives would at any time demand data/information, feedback, and/or preparation of letter, circular, or corrigendum, all at the fag-end of the day, taking one aback and leaving him dangling in the hell personified at the eleventh hour!

 

Loaded with work and busy with onerous responsibility on weekdays having to tie the loose ends all the time, the only solace would be the weekends and other holidays that provided the much-needed respite. The weekends were like an elixir to recoup, rejuvenate, re-energize and ready oneself for the next grueling week ahead. Even amidst the plusses and minuses, the ‘job satisfaction quotient’ was high and I always not just enjoyed but celebrated my work in the company of competent co-workers. There was an excellent work culture in the office earning encomiums from many of our bosses. Hope they must have also enjoyed the work at office as much as I did. Hats off to them!

R.SAMPATH

7/2/2021