Eavesdropping ? !

I was looking after grievances of customers at the city office.We had some medical practitioners who would scrutinize the health related complaints & advise us on further action.One of the doctors whom we consulted on a weekly basis was already on the panel with our registered office.He used to come  to the Head Office on a daily basis one hour before closing time.He would also look up staff who were sick or do a routine check up if the staff went up to him.Generally,the files were carried by our peons & delivered to this doctor with a note requesting him to advise us on the grievances of the complainants.Sometimes, in rare instances,I would carry the files to meet the doctor face to face to explain the problems we were having in those  cases.This was so, as our peons opined that they had the right nah the license to carry  papers,files,folders etal & thereby earn taxi fare as conveyance.This was quite amusing as the staff knew that all went by walk but claimed taxi fare to augment their meagre  incomes.This is  understandable for the people at the bottom but even Managers & above also take this conveyance issue seriously - albeit  for pocket money !

Once,my boss asked me to meet this doctor to sort out some two to three long pending complaints.In Public sector,unless the matters assumes extreme urgency (that is  top executives or any Government agency,etc  starts pounding the office about any files ),files are forgotten or better still misplaced ! Thankfully,we had some order still in the department & we located the files .Relevant notes were prepared for the doctor to peruse & reply.I carried the files to the doctor at the end of the day, that is, almost towards the closing time.By the time ,I reached the Head Office,I saw a very senior Executive entering the doctor's consulting room.

I waited on the bench outside his room.I could hear  the doctor advising the executive.I was thinking, that, I was lucky, as nobody else was waiting.Just then,I saw another  senior Manager  of our Company walking towards me.I smiled at him & wished him.He asked me," Hello ! How are you ?" He meant, that despite the management's attitude towards people like you ,how come you can smile .I replied that I was fine .He remembered my reply & hence in a few days,I was transferred to another State !

He just knocked on the door & went in .I was shocked that he had no qualms about just going in when I was waiting sorry when someone is waiting.But then to expect any such  decency from the upper crust is a fallacy & that too for a person much below their ranks in the corporate ladder is a crime !

I could hear loud exchanges of hellos from the cabin.Then there was a discussion about how Mediclaim was not being handled properly at Divisional & branch offices.This was so as one of the  relatives of the executives was denied a claim & the doctor was being ordered to settle the claim in review.Otherwise,the executives had been indifferent to all queries,suggestions on improvising claim settlement in all departments.Just goes to show how nepotism can turn you against your own employer.I was able to hear almost  everything .I had no intention to overhear   but as I was sitting so close by,there were no options left.I could not get up & go as somebody else could gain entry next.I wished, our executives could refrain from talking so openly when they knew that a junior was just outside.Or the least, they could have done was to be magnanimous & allowed me to go in first.After my work was over,they could have all discussions openly provided no one else like me was around. But since this possibility was a big improbability,they had to pursue this actuality. My wait was increasing by minutes now & I  was getting irritated as I had to rush back home to my daughter.

Then,there were  check ups done.The doctor told them that they were both in good health.This perhaps prompted the executives to tell," Lets have a drinking session one of these days ." I  was flabbergasted - I knew that many claims,& delicate issues are debated only during such sessions but this was just like the official seal  ! But thankfully,the banter ended in a few minutes after that & both the executives walked out of the cabin.I knocked on the door & let myself in.I told the doctor about the files in brief & he promised to give his replies in the forthcoming week.My work over-I walked to the bus stop to catch my bus home.

The next day,I narrated to my boss the  whole episode & requested him that he never depute me for such work.This was because I did not want to lose whatever little respect ( if any ) I had for the top management.He just smiled & left it at that.

Court appearance

Recently,I got a call from an office, wherein, I had worked.Well,the call was from an ex- colleague.She made the usual discreet inquiries as to my being disturbed & I replied in the negative.I was surprised, that she had taken time off during her lunch hour oops, wasted her time to call me.She then proceeded to enlighten me that she had a job for me.I was flabbergasted !

She told me the reason she had called me up.There was a document signed by me when I was an employee there.So,I was expected to go to a town which will require me to travel overnight & give evidence in a matter before the Judiciary in favour of my erstwhile employer.Her boss had been kind enough to inform her which she passed on to me by telling me that my traveling expenses as also my expenses for staying in that town would be reimbursable.

I told her that as my daughter's exams were on,I would be unable to attend to the request for court appearance.Moreover,I reminded her, that as there was no one who would baby sit my daughter,I have to refuse.She was immediately apologetic & said that she was doing as directed by her boss . Her boss had told her that my evidence would make the Company's case air tight & save quite a substantial sum.He also opined that the company was going to win the case.I was quite impressed that persons like her boss were so concerned about their employer as very few in this age care more than a damn though I still harbor doubts about pretended loyalties et al.

I spoke my mind & let her know that as the company was so sure of a win,my evidence was unnecessary- maybe just a formality.I also brushed aside her suggestion that I left my job to look after my kid.

The whole talk left me quite amused.When ,I was in employment,I recall some of our senior colleagues being reprimanded in open court for deposing in court.The reason was though they were employees of the company,the judge was fed up of the stand taken by the Company that the people appearing in court were not authorised to give evidence or take a stand about the department.The court stated that the public sector just seems to believe that the case can go on & on without any of the executives of the Company stepping into the court as they were too busy & so high up in hierarchy that if they attended court,they stature would diminish in inches if not feet.

When senior employees whilst in office could be taken to task in the court during their service,I wonder, how I can make a court appearance after resignation?Do I have any locus standi at all ?Moreover,my travelling & other costs would be paid back but what about time spent by me leaving my family ? If any evidence is needed to demonstrate that time has little value in public sector then,this is it- there is no value of time -neither yours,nor mine & about theirs of course -was there ever any doubt ?

But one thing is certain- the manner in which my terminal dues were settled ( the time,the procedure etc ) had made me doubt if I was ever employed by the company but now, that has been laid to rest.But still,being answerable for a decision taken more than ten years back is just too much to digest ,isn't it - the decision to sign a document & that too in public sector ?!