The 3G

No, this 3G has nothing to do with 3G as in the 3^rd Generation mobile communication systems or the scams of 2G or even CWG, which have sunk the careers of many. It is much older than these and belongs to a different genre.

Let me take you back about 45 years. I was in Orissa undergoing IAS training as an Assistant Collector. It meant doing as much or as little work as one wanted to. I chose a some what middle of the road path.

During the first week of my year long training, I met a young IPS Officer, who was from one of the Hindi speaking States and who had put in two years service by then. He, like me, was a bachelor. In him I found him to be an excellent friend whose advice I could seek on various matters. During one of our first meetings I confessed that the speed of my learning Oriya language was very slow and asked for his advice on how to improve. Don’t worry, he said, the day you get your first posting you will learn Oriya within a week as you would have to communicate with people in that language only. He then went on to tell me his experience in learning Oriya. The district where he was under training had a very tough, no-nonsense Supdt. of Police. This boss decided that the young officer under training with him must learn the language quickly. So he posted an Orderly Constable with him who knew only Oriya.

At this point my friend stopped narrating the story and had a loud hearty laugh. What happened then, I asked. Plenty, he said and explained that after 3 months he hand not learnt a word of Oriya but his Orderly Constable had become fluent in Hindi.

Let me come to the 3G now. I asked for his advice on how to become a good officer. That is not a good question, he said flatly and went on to explain, “The expectations from a public servant are many and pressures on him varied and heavy. Therefore the most important service goal should be how to survive without blemish.” I felt a little deflated by this but I listened on as he went on to explain his 3G Theory where G stood for Golden Rules.

The most important rule is “Don’t go to your Boss unless called for” he declared. I protested meekly, but if I go and talk to the Boss he would come to know that I am a serious officer and in the course of conversation I will also learn from his experience and learn on how to handle various issues. No, he said emphatically, you have to understand the dynamics of administration. If you go to your Boss he might tell you how to handle a particular issue in a particular file. Now having got his mind, you can not come back to your room and give a note suggesting something different from what he has told you. Take my advice and record what you feel is the correct advice and push up the file to the Boss in the normal course. Don’t invite trouble by going to your Boss. Not fully convinced, I nodded to let the issue rest there.

And the Second Golden Rule is even simpler, he assured me, “Don’t take any new initiative”, he advised. No, that is not correct, I protested at once. We have been trained in the Mussoorie IAS Academy to take initiative and come up with fresh ideas. (The term “Thinking Out of the Box” had not yet been born.). Let me explain, he said and went on like this. If you take initiative your Boss will not like it. No officer wants his junior to be considered smarter or more capable than him. Your peer group too will at once become jealous of you as a stair climber in a hurry and a show-off. Believe me, he added, this will make even your subordinate staff unhappy as new initiative means more work, he declared. My face showed that I was not convinced of the Second Rule also, but he ignored my expression and moved over to his Third Golden Rule.

Keep the despatch of all your routine Monthly, Quartely, Yearly Reports to your Boss and your relevant superiors uptodate. Don’t falter even if information has not been received from some of your subordinate offices, you send your reports punctually, was his advice. I am sorry, I don’t think I can agree with that, I said somewhat harshly. He gently chided me saying “You are forgetting our major objective - to retire without blemish aur phir seetee bajao (and then spend time whistling....)”. His view was that if the Reports and Returns are sent up in time, no Boss would be able to dub you as an inefficient officer as the records will speak for themselves. This will not get you an “Excellent” grading but would secure you from “adverse” rating.

Frankly I was somewhat disturbed as the advice was contrary to what I had picked up till then. But we parted that evening and kept on being good friends throughout our long service careers. Off and on I would think about the advice of my friend but then move over to other thoughts.

At the time of my retirement I again remembered the 3G Principles and felt that perhaps my friend was not all wrong.....

Rs 11.5 cr, 98 kg gold found in Sai Baba's room

News: "Rs 11.5 cr, 98 kg gold found in Sai Baba's room"

Would this in any way impact the faith of millions of the folowers of the late Baba in him?
Don't ask me!

More on 'The Civil Society'

Do read P. Sainath's "The discreet charm of the civil society" in The Hindu of 17th June, 2011.
He writes, "There is nothing wrong in having advisory groups. But there is a problem when groups not constituted legally cross the line of demands, advice and rights-based democratic agitation".

The Pride & the Prejudice

After retirement, I settled down in Panchkula- which I had found to be pretty and peaceful. Coming all the way from Orissa where I had worked most of my life, I had to start life afresh in a new place - which meant getting the ration card prepared, trying to get telephone and cooking gas connections and opening a bank account. Of these the opening of the account in the local branch of one of the large private sector banks turned out to be the easiest.

The plush air conditioned hall of the bank with smart girls and boys manning various counters was a far cry from the bank branches that I had been used to in Orissa. But gradually I noticed that all was not as honky-dory as it appeared to be. There was a quick turn over of the persons manning the counters with many times youngsters with very little knowledge of the procedures of their own bank handling the harassed customers. It appeared to me that the bank was expanding so fast that the retail services were not able to keep pace with it and were cracking up.

A state came when every visit to this bank meant more disappointment and feeling of being totally neglected as a customer. My pride as a Senior Citizen customer was badly shattered. I would come back from the bank fuming. I slowly withdrew my money from the bank and kept only the minimum needed for keeping the account live.

I finally decided to close my account with the bank. I went to the bank, complied with the paper work and was handed over the pending amount of Rs. One Thousand Two Hundred and Fifty Nine only which were in my account. I was so thrilled at the very thought that I would not have to go to that bank again that I did not verify the exact amount due to me as per my account statement. I had become so prejudiced against that bank that I felt greatly relieved at the breaking of the relationship.

And then suddenly one day it happened. The postman rang the bell and brought a Speed Post from that bank. On seeing the mark of my ex-bank on the envelope, I again lost my cool. Surely those chaps are not leaving me that easily and I am sure that they have created some problem for me, I said and cursed myself for having opened an account with that bank.

The Postman left and I opened the envelope. It carried a cheque for Paise Forty-Nine Only and a forwarding letter saying that a cheque with the remaining balance from your closed account is attached.

And suddenly my years of anger, prejudice and pent up feelings against the bank just melted away.

I did not ‘encash’ that cheque and am keeping it as a sweet souvenir of a relationship gone sour - may be due to my self pride and unjustified prejudice.