My CDs: A testimonial

For sixteen long months I, so also some hundred fifty others, have lived my life by the rules set by two persons: my course directors at NADT. Life has practically revolved around them; it’s like ‘like us or hate us, you cannot get rid of us’. In these sixteen months, I have tried to read them, understand them, and have at various times hated them, despised them, challenged them, made futile attempts at avoiding them, and learnt from them. At the dusk of my training at NADT I hereby present this reminiscence as testimonial of the two most influential characters of the formative years of my career…

Sunil Chandra Sharma

Now, I have to be really careful when writing about Sharma sir. The problem is not with sir per se – he’s so cool he would delightedly accept comments made on him – but with my fellow probationers. It is really uncool to say anything positive about ‘Sharmaji’; infact sir is the most popular topic to discuss and laugh at when few pals sit down for a chat.

To start with, in my initial days I had serious confusions about Sharma sir. He seemed to suffer from some sort of mood disorder (and it did not help that Pagalkhana is just walking distance). At one instance he would crack some witty jokes and make you cosy and comfortable; in the very next moment he would scream and rage and go extra-hyper. This mood disorder continued in him for the whole of first semester though mellowed down in intensity towards the end of the semester.

It was much later I understood the reason behind this mood disorder. By nature this man is a dude. He has none of the characteristic traits of a bureaucrat. Traditionally in Indian bureaucracy people expect their juniors to be sycophant. Everyone has an ego, and the size of a man’s ego is as big as that of his seniority. This is perhaps a vestige of our colonial legacy. But Sunil Sharma is too chilled out a man to show such airs. When such a man was given the reins of a batch it led to role conflict in him. His primary task was disciplining a huge batch of probationers, many of whom have arrived here with an already inflated ego, many others resistant to the idea of being turned into school kids. His mood fits were a result of this dilemma: of being himself versus being a kindergarten teacher.

The Teacher

By the time we returned from our OJT Sharma sir had resolved this dilemma. The draconian military rule had been eased and now he had a chance to be just himself. At the same time, Sharma sir took it upon himself to inculcate some morals in us. It seems he was frustrated by the general apathy and lack of concrete morals in our generation. So second semester was marked by a series of ‘moral lectures’, one of which I attended this morning.

I have often reasoned about the futility of these lectures… as it is at our age we are averse to lectures. And beyond the ‘critical period’ from infancy to fourteen years of age humans are just resistant to any change in basic personality. But then, his lectures had an important function in NADT society. Many probationers abstained from breaking rules because they dreaded long moral lectures from you-know-who. I was tempted many a times to go to a friend’s wedding or on a vacation without applying for leave; but along with Tripura ma’am’s fury lengthy one-to-one moral sessions with Sharma sir deterred me from making major disciplinarian breaches. Many of my batchmates were horrified by the idea of compensatory classes when they came to know that these are just moral lectures by Sharma sir.

The man, the ideas

Perhaps sir’s persistence with moral lectures can be explained by an analysis of his ideology. He knows that as course director of a batch of IRS officers he needs to be a mentor no matter what. And he has been true to this belief. As I remember, there is a corner in faculty building that is littered with tea. He had strongly reprimanded probationers for this. Why would he do so? The general tendency of we Indians is to litter everywhere other than our home (what belongs to us). That’s why public utiliy places and government buildings are so dirty and shabby.

If someone is concerned about public sanitary in India, it only points to one thing: the man is out to do general good. Another instance I am reminded of is his insistent approach towards Shramdaan. While it was our shramdaan he shows more zeal than us in seeing it coming through. In our generation, people generally get frustrated of government jobs as there is no incentive for working hard; good work is not appreciated as neither you get bonus nor better promotion prospects. What I have seen in Sharma sir is intrinsic motivation – zeal to do general good, the benefit being satisfaction of having done good. I believe this is just the thing which will keep us going in a bureaucratic job.

His intrinsic motivation also explains his zeal for giving moral lectures. It is his concern for the organisation as a whole. It is because of his concern for the department’s image that he lost his cool when we were late for classes during our international attachment.

“Saara desh ka naam dubaenge ye log” he had thundered.

I, for one, am indifferent towards the organisation as a whole. Its me, me, only me. But if I am able to enjoy a better work culture in income tax department it is because of a few good men.

C. Tripura Sundari

“Oye we are in section B. We will have to report to ma’am” a friend had cheerfully told me when we had first got to know of our section. He was happy because of a general perception, that lady officers are lenient. Also Tripura ma’am looked very kind, forgiving type. In a few week’s time this kind lady was nicked sherni – lioness. Who would have imagined this frail lady would turn a nightmare! But then this is Tripura ma’am – one in few I know who can get into any role effortlessly. If you have ever tried to skip a class and have been caught by ma’am on the way, you know. Her intent look would freeze you and you would not know whether to run or go back to the class.

When ma’am says something, she says with such a conviction and composure that you know she means it. But does she? When she threatened me that she would constitute a medical board to call off my insomnia bluff it had so disturbed me that I did not miss a single morning activity for a week after that. Another time when I was late in class by a few minutes she had said that she would spoil my ACR. It was only after my counsellor Bhave sir told me about her reputation for kindness I understood that all the time she was bluffing.

It was after all a game of cards in our one-to-one sessions. I would throw a bluff – insomnia, loose motion, vomiting – and she would outwit me with her own bluff. All my life I have played this game with teachers and professors, but never was I defeated this bad at it. Yes, a witty woman she is. Though her jokes are not as many as her husband Doss sir, hers is the best sense of humour in campus. Her one-liners come with impeccable timing.

Lectures

Whatever stats my attendance may show, I was very regular in ma’am’s classes. You may say that it’s because everyone dreads missing her classes, and I was one of the few in her black list. She would scan out her blacklist first thing when she enters a class and mark out those absent. But then I really enjoyed her classes. According to me, her teaching technique best suits students who are 20-something. Some teachers teach you the way a school kid should be. Yet others prefer directive teaching and hence teaching becomes mostly one sided affair. But ma’am considers her students as adults. Rather than directive teaching, she would make it really interactive by giving problems and abruptly asking anyone to come to the blackboard to solve these. By this, every student is compelled to get involved, even if class strength is eighty. On top of that there is a healthy debate which helps one to easily memorise the sections.

The aura

One of the principal areas of concern in present day organisational studies is the issue of female employees. The case put forward is that women employees are generally overlooked when giving critical posts and promotions. It is also said that women employees cannot become assertive and self-confident because of lack of senior lady officers. IRS luckily has Tripura ma’am posited at the right place: its training academy. A woman whose aura speaks of her authority and her confidence is a role model not just for my female colleagues but also for me. Unlike other faculty members, ma’am is never ambiguous in her speeches and is direct, to the point. The economy of words she uses is what I have seen lacking in ‘argumentative Indians’ in general.

Sixteen long months. Or shall I say short months? It did seem long at times, when giving departmental exams; when half-asleep we were made to stretch ourselves in the PT field; when we were scolded at. It seemed then that sooner we escape the academy better it is. We rejoiced the idea of OJT, the all paid trip called Bharat Darshan and of course Singapore. But ultimately the strongest memories that I take along with me are that of days in campus: of my CDs, of Jayashankar (“Jata-shankar”) sir’s high funda lectures, Rahul Navin sir’s cutish smiles, and of Ashim (“bhodrolok”) sir’s humorous gestures.

But then good times are transient. Life moves on… assessment, files, time-barrings.