REVISITING MY HALCYON DAYS IN OFFICE

FROM SAMPATH’S DESK

 

 


  




 

REVISITING MY HALCYON DAYS IN OFFICE

 

 

Each day started with the morning alarms - of a clock or cell phone - to wake me up, as is the case even now. If not, the hooting of milk cookers and/or rice cookers in the neighbourhood would surely do the job. As is the typical characteristic and norm with any machine-like city life, a day began for me amidst the hustle and bustle all around! Ululations of milk, vegetables, and other vendors (nowadays pre-recorded call-outs blare on a loudspeaker),  etc. would herald the beginning of the race with the time, which is what the urban milieus in Chennai, the place of my residence and office were all about. The daily morning chores tightly tied me up against time ticking on, thus ushering in the day’s hubbub.

 

Office going in Chennai, a pleasant experience for me once while I was residing in Triplicane which was nearby (at a walkable distance), subsequently became strenuous with commuting proving to be an uphill task in the metropolis where I had, like many others, my residence and workplace far apart from each other after I relocated to the southern suburb Nanganallur. One had to take all modes of transport - train, bus, auto, stretching legs, etc. - to reach the workplace in the morning and return home in the evening.

 

With house ownership/rentals increasingly becoming dearer, people started fanning out into suburban and peripheral areas for their own ‘sweet home’, putting the city in an ever-expansive mode with satellite towns mushrooming. Despite suburban trains in some sections and thousands of buses operating in different routes crisscrossing the city complementing each other, commuters progressively felt the inadequacy of transport even with increased fleets year after year trying to cover every nook and cranny of Chennai and its ever-exploding and far-flung suburbs.

 

During peak hours, crowds would swell both at bus stops and inside buses. With many buses stopped haphazardly away from designated bus-stop spots, people would run helter-skelter to board the buses (elders, women, and children excuse). The ongoing works of the Mass Rapid Transport System (MRTS) and Metro Rail contributed to the city’s transport woes like traffic jams, snarls, absence of clear-cut traffic regulations, etc. Such hassles and ordeals were the order of the day. One should give allowance for time and leave home well in advance covering possible exigencies like having to skip packed buses, inability to board buses halted away from bus stops, journey time, loss of time at signals, stoppage of bus journey for ticket-issue midway, ticket-checking by squad, etc. Train or bus, commuters would feel like sardines in a tin.


 

One had to board the bus hurriedly with other sweat-transuding passengers already inside jostling for space to greet you with elbowing and shoving against one another with resultant discomforts and demurs. Other hassles were - having to tender ‘exact change (amount)’ for buying ticket, passing on the money through a chain of people to get the ticket (as the conductor couldn't wade through the jam-packed standees), readying oneself one or two stops ahead for alighting, etc. When coming out of the bus/train, one would have already suffered like a mixer-ground tomato. Tiresomeness and fatigue palpably evident would pose problems in completing even the small last mile connectivity to the office by foot.

 

During peak hours, suburban trains also unleashed woes with people left in the wilderness to entrain/detrain inflicting discomfitures like scrambling for space, perspiration, suffocation, and writhing in uneasiness. Especially, the travel in suburban trains, though hassle-laden, had its own enjoyable elements. Yes, it incidentally helped one to gain new acquaintances and friendships.


Subsequently, commuting from house to office and back by van became a comfortable norm.

 

A day's work at the office would not begin unless there was a small chat about the transport hassles undergone to reach the office (like which train one was able to catch, how one reached the office either by bus or auto after alighting from the train, etc.).

 

As a Secretary to many engineering-cum-managerial officers in the administrative hierarchy ladder including at the fag-end of the service to the head of a Telecom Circle (State) in the erstwhile Department of Telecommunications and subsequently, in Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), I had to remain a bridge and interface between different officers in the management. I had always found the role of middle-level managers/executives crucial, tough, and taxing in the scheme of things in the officialdom.

 

Subordinate workers would just do their work within their capacity and fly away, whereas top-brass executives would give commands and expect instant positive results from middle-level managers down the line. Satisfying all would be a gargantuan task. However much painstaking and industrious you might be, it would be challenging to satisfy a fastidious and/or punctilious boss if you were ill-fated to have one.

 

To have one or more go-getter subordinate workers is advantageous. Even encouraging and motivating them amidst other disgruntled elements was beset with problems. If you try to appreciate the good work by conferring him/her some benefits, it would be dubbed as favouritism. We should tactfully plead with the powers that be, lest they would even suspect your bona-fides. Some disgruntled elements would always be out there taking up cudgels.

 

There is a funny saying "Give more work to a sincere hard worker as recompense while continuing to pay salary to under-performers."

 

Different superiors would call for data, nuggets of information, feedback, clarifications, etc. from their subordinates even at the fag-end of the day or at the eleventh hour, and/or ask for a 'piece of work' to be done immediately making them dangling - hell personified. While lower-rung personnel could jolly well leave the office daily on time, Secretaries normally couldn’t.

 

Trammeled as I was with the onerous responsibility and having to tie loose ends on the working days,  the weekends and other holidays would be a breather that provided me with much-needed respite. I would longingly wait for weekends and other holidays to enjoy, which were like an elixir to rejuvenate and ready myself for the week ahead. Additionally, and against all odds, I had to do crisis management also at times, if necessary and as may be expedient.


Even amidst the heat of workload, there wouldn't be any dearth of lighter moments among us with people around - joke-cracking, pun bangs, and fun-making - all to ease the pressure out.

 

With all said and done, I always took pleasure being at the office enjoying and celebrating my work, rather than just discharging it.

 

 

R.SAMPATH

27/1/2022

 

Comments

  1. Sir,. Very good account of almost every aspect of the work life including commuting long distances. Reminded me of my days at work. As rightly concluded we did not discharge our duty but enjoyed the device. V. Ramaa

    ReplyDelete
  2. Enjoyed reading it. The train commute and making friends is what i cherish. Even to this day there are my train friends who keep in touch though its more than 3 years of retirement. I was very lucky to have wonderful office atmosphere n colleagues.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Very nice. You brought back nostalgic memories of our office days' atmosphere.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The office going arduous task is well narrated. It brings us nostalgic instances of our commuting daily by public transportation. Seldom I used public transportation. Most of the times I
    was fortunate enough to go to office by two wheeler. Of course it was a different ordeal to use own transport Viz., snarling traffic at times , wading through flooded roads etc. In the office it was a different milieu. A fastidious boss( borrowing your words), cantankerous subordinates sometimes but still enjoyed office atmosphere.

    Ravinarayanan

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ji your article made me to recollect the office days like various mode of commutation, hardships, office atmosphere, our superiors and colleagues. Still pasumai niraindha ninaivugal. Endrum marakkadhu. Kalavathy Mohan

    ReplyDelete
  6. A clarification Note: - All Block Letters are words which I have learnt now after reading this article.
    TRAMMELED as I was with the vicissitudes of a machine-like life and the attendant constraints-driven inability, I couldn’t concentrate much on improving my English Writing Skills even though I had the fire in me. Now I take up the ONEROUS RESPONSIBILITY of updating and upgrading myself in that area, emboldened as I am with the unfolding opportunity to read your articles. With my grit and determination, I am sure to come out successful with flying colors.
    I know it’s a GARGANTUAN TASK to follow a FASTIDIOUS and PUNCTILIOUS person like you.
    As of now I have ULULATIONS in my mind voice which assures me success in my venture regardless of DISGRUNTLED ELEMENTS I may come across who may CUDGEL UP my efforts.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

KAVIGNAR (TAMIL POET) VAALI

Sir C.V. RAMAN

RABINDRANATH TAGORE