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Monday, August 29, 2016

Transferred and Transfixed : This Too Shall Pass


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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