Story of an IAS Officer | Wheels behind the veil (CMs, PMs, and beyond), a small translation
If its unsettled Chaos everywhere, will the human mind works in its conscience? Should it work at all or keep calm in those situations? It’s certain that many of us face such dire situations and have these intimidating questions wandering in mind.
My daily alarm rang at 4:30 in the morning, I stopped it and got up from the bed. I thought I planned everything yesterday night for today morning and my day ll be perfect. I started the day with much excitement hoping to have a wonderful and memorable first day of my job which is the result of hard work and persistence. I cracked one of the toughest and reputed competitive exam in India, the Civil Services. I was one among the toppers in India and got selected for IAS. Along with me, everyone in my family was overjoyed.
It’s 7:30 AM and I hurried looking for my silk tie thinking it was getting late. When I opened my wardrobe, it was in a completely chaotic mess. I know it’s my younger brother who wants to ridicule and bother me as always and messed all my things. Instead of shouting and getting angry, I went on wearing my dress without the tie. This was one of the rare times that I didn’t say a single word of anger to my brother.
By 8:30 AM, I was out in the heavy traffic. To avoid the traffic chaos, I diverted my mind thinking how my first day on the job will be. I reached the office on time and was appointed to assist the state collector for 6 months. This 6 month period is the part of 2 long years of training that every IAS officer should undergo.
It’s 9:30 AM and I went to meet the collector and said I was appointed to him. I observed his facial expressions to be neither excited nor friendly. I was informed before coming here that the officer before me was transferred to a distant rural part of the state to serve as a commissioner. Now my mind is in a chaotic state with so many thoughts about both my superior and my predecessor. Is this collector so strict and serious? Why has he transferred my predecessor to such a remote area where there were always riots, protests and even spread of communists. I always wanted a friendly senior but the collector didn’t even greet me well. He had gone through my file and asked my whereabouts and background very formally. He called his secretary and asked him to show my workplace. However, I was disappointed when the collector said I have to live for these 6 months in a small room behind the office. Usually, for an IAS officer, government allots a separate two-bedroom flat with all the amenities in quarters. As the collector said to me, the reason for me to be in this small room instead of government allotted ones is to closely work with him and available on time whenever required. Though I wanted to, I didn’t say no to him.
The office is so big with a huge number of employees. Many seemed to be lazy but few were curious and sincere. I met a couple of officers from my native place and conversed with them about some trivial matters. When they asked me to join then for lunch, I didn’t hesitate even for a moment. The second half of the day was also spent meeting remaining department chiefs and sharing some discussions. This office set a record of completing all the district related tasks within the stipulated time among all the other district offices. I wondered that a government office with numerous departments with the huge number of employees which looked chaos inside but set such a notable record with its practical resolutions outside.
I saw everyone started closing their drawers with files, locking cupboards and leaving the office. I involuntarily looked at my watch and it showed me 6:45 PM, then I went to meet the secretary to know the whereabouts of the room that the collector informed me in the morning. The secretary escorted me to the area behind the office and when we reached near a small building, he showed me a locked door and handed over a key and left the place. Once I opened the door, I find the room was not properly clean and the place was chaos with old stuff resembling it as a storeroom. This old building was acquired by government along with the collector’s office a few years back. The office was renovated with all the required facilities but not the building and rooms. It seemed nobody lived here for many years. As i have to stay here for 6 months, although exhausted, i started cleaning and organizing everything myself. After an hour, the secretary came and kept a bunch of files on the corner table. Before i opened my mouth to ask him about the files, he said that the collector wants me to check all those files immediately and give comments so that he can send his further comments early in the morning. Definitely its unexpected and overload on the first day of work. However, i completed reviewing all those files and put comments with the limited knowledge that i had. It was hard to comprehend the higher expectations of the collector at the time. I again thought he is not friendly but sincere which is professionally good for me as I can learn as much as possible in the 6 months.
I prepared my dinner and sat to enjoy my unrewarded first day relaxedly, then i was horrified to see a snake crawling under my chair and went through a hole on the bottom of the wall to outside. I was stunned and become frozen. Immediately, I heard a heavy knock on my door. I opened the door and its the secretary asking for the review comments on those given files. I gave him the files back and said about the snake. He replied he ‘ll make sure to get the repairs done by end of next day and waved goodnight. His casual reply about the snake bothered me a lot. I lit my cigarette and started realizing how i drifted through one of the chaotic days of my life. I wrote my diary and went to bed. The 6 months training period completed with many learnings but gratefully no more snakes into my room.
Everyone will face many chaotic situations like not getting a piece of clothing to wear at the nick of the time, office with multi-culture people messing with us, managers who give loads of work and expect to complete the tasks in a flash of time, dreadful situations because of unexpected and dangerous creatures while you want to call it a day. However, we definitely evolve and become erudite by keeping calm and working with the conscience in resolving conflicts and chaos.