A Bureaucrat’s Tale

 

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People in the park avoid Surasen after a week or ten days. Morning walkers usually form into groups of four or five. In this park, majority of the walkers are retired employees or officers; most of them from government service. Their main purpose of coming to the park in the morning is to walk, and chat and gossip. The topics differ; they discuss from colony affairs to national or international politics or their own family affairs to general social and political issues. After walk of forty or forty-five minutes, they sit on the park bench for a few minutes or go to the nearby tea stall for a cup of tea. But Sursen cannot make himself part of any group or participate in their discussion.

Suresen has retired from the Indian Administrative Service. He has joined as a state cadre officer, and been selected to IAS at the end of his career. He lets you know within three or four minutes of first meeting him that he has retired from the IAS. He has a clever way of conveying. He does not speak straight; he speaks like this; ‘I had gone to UP as an election observer,’ lest you cannot get the point, he will add, ‘Only IAS officers go as election observers.’ Or, he may say, ‘I was not interested to go to the corporation. The chief secretary told me, Surasen Babu, you have experience in finance matters, you have worked in the finance department. You go to the corporation as M.D.; the corporation is in a bad shape; you can set it right.’

Surasen will make you feel you are not equal to him, though he walks with you, but his place is higher than yours. Of course, many IAS officers, retired or in service, do not come to this park for morning walk.

           (The story originally published in Odia in SAKAAL on 7th July, 2024)

Surasen picks up a thread when a discussion goes on amongst members of a group, and he gives examples from his own life and career. He behaves like Mr. Know All, and attempts to prove that he knows more, and has more experience than you. He always wants to speak himself and not allow others to speak. He may say, ‘When I was in the education department, I reply straight on face to the principal secretary. The secretary doesn’t like, but I don’t bother.’ If there is a discussion on vigilance raid on a corrupt officer, he says, ‘I have never accepted even five paise from anyone in my service life; nobody can say so.’  If the walkers discuss about non-performing employees or officers of a department, he will say, ‘I never leave the office before I clear all the files of the day from my table. Some days, I have to sit in the office till nine or ten, night.’ When there is a discussion on reemployment after retirement of a government officer, he says, ‘The chief secretary proposed to extend my service by two years; the minister also desired, but I declined. I told them I worked for the government for more than thirty-three years. How long should I work?  It’s enough. Post-retirement, I shall lead a free life; I shall read and write.’

Gedu Mohanty has retired as section officer having been promoted from the post of a clerk. He has worked with many officers during his thirty-six years of service. He claims to have known the veins and arteries of the officers. His realization is that one should understand the opposite of what an officer says. The officer says one thing, but does the other. If one officer says he never takes bribe, you should infer the officer has not been caught while taking bribe; or vigilance has not raided his house. Dishonesty is not a discretion, but why should one beat his drum of honesty?

People in the park do not like his boastful talks, and avoid Surasen. Better not to walk with him, rather than getting bored in the morning. Surasen, perhaps, realizes, and has to walk alone.

After a few days, one day, Surasen comes to them and says, ‘The government has appointed me as chairman of an organization. An officer retired from the IAS is appointed for the post. I was not interested, but the chief secretary insisted on my joining. The C.S. said, “You can manage the organization well. You should work for the good of the state.” I cannot decline.’

The morning walkers offered him best wishes. After he went from them, Mohapatra said, ‘He was saying he had worked thirty-three years for the government. How long should he work? He would read and write. Then, how could he go for reemployment? It’s hardly six months he has retired!’

Gedu Mohanty said, ‘A donkey was carrying an image of God. On the way, whoever saw the image, paid obeisance with folded hands. The donkey thought people greeted him with devotion. He was elated. The owner delivered the image of God to a temple priest, and returned with other burden on the donkey. On the way back, the donkey looked to the sides. No one greeted him. Being unmindful, he stumbled. The owner whipped him.

The bureaucrats are like that; they get respect so long they have power like the donkey carrying the image of God. They have respect, and also benefit. After the power is gone, who cares them? Their mind gets imbalanced. Too difficult for them to cope with a life devoid of power, like the donkey without carrying the image of God.’

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Surasen, after he joins the organization, does not come to the park to walk with regular morning walkers.

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T R P

 

Ravi Mahapatra told Supriya Patra to write, and keep ready an obituary on Bana Panda, and instructed her to investigate his past, and make the story special and authentic.

Ravi Mahapatra was the editor of odishafast.com and Bana Panda was a cabinet minister. Bana Panda was detected Covid positive and admitted in the Covid hospital. Supriya said, ‘Sir, he is admitted today in the hospital; has not yet died…’

‘He will not survive. A comorbidity case; he has diabetics, high blood pressure and heart problems. He got his heart operated six months ago. Please ensure, our news should be in the portal first. This is an age of competition. Our news should be informative, different and well written. We should increase our viewership. If more people read us, visit our website, we will get more advertisements. If we wait for his death to happen, and write his obituary, we will write what others write, and we may also upload the news at the same time others do’ Ravi Mahapatra lectured.

Supriya was a student of journalism and mass communication; had not yet completed the course. The university was closed because of Covid. Since she would do journalism after her studies, her father requested Ravi Mahapatra to work for his portal. She would learn and be trained in the art. Ravi Mahapatra was her father’s friend since their college days.

Supriya asked a few of his friends of journalism about Bana Panda. They were from the latter’s constituency. One friend said, ‘He is a goon and a ruffian. He never moves anywhere alone; whenever and wherever he goes, he will go with seven or eight of his musclemen. ‘He creates terror, and wins election with money and muscle power.’ The second boy said, ‘He damaged the reputation of our local college. His boys will contest elections and win. His followers are all bullies and goons; they don’t come to the college for study, but for hooliganism.’ The third person said, ‘We have heard from our elders in the village, Bana Panda passed his B.A. by cheating in the exams. He always carries a knife with him. He warned the lecturers who were on invigilation duty in the exam, “You are staying with your wife and children. You never know what may happen to them, at any time. Let me write the exams in peace.” No invigilators had guts to go near him when he copied in the exams straight from books.’

‘What information you gather on Bana Panda?’ asked the editor.

Supriya told what information she had gathered on the ailing and about-to-die cabinet minister.  

The editor said, ‘This is not the way obits are written. The dead person is praised, not condemned. Good qualities, benevolent behaviour of the dead person are highlighted. Do you understand? One has to do things like what you have heard from your friends, to be in politics and be a successful politician. You google search and find out how many times he has been MLA; how many times he has become minister. Investigate into his good deeds and noble qualities, and reasons for his popularity in his constituency.’

Of course, true; a person could not be successful unless he did good work. Supriya realized and collected phone numbers of some of the party-men and Bana Panda’s political assistants from his constituency and asked them about Panda. One party-man said, ‘Bana has been my friend since our college days. His favourite game was football. He treated all the players after the game with snacks and tea, almost every day. Very affectionate, he loves and cares his friends.’ A political worker said, ‘He is generous and kindhearted.  His hands are open to help the poor and needy. He makes a list of the students of his constituency, who pass tenth class and supplies them with books, and also helps them with money to take admission in colleges.’ A political assistant said, 'He never keeps grudge against his political rivals. He sent two quintals of fish from his ponds to the opposition candidate who has been contesting, and is being defeated by him in the elections, for his daughter’s marriage.’

Supriya had prepared the obituary. But Bana Panda recovered from Covid and was discharged from the hospital. He returned home alive and well. The editor said, ‘He has a strong will power; and the attraction of the power keeps him alive. Despite so many diseases and being a serious comorbidity case, he survived!’ Supriya became unhappy. She laboured and took pains to collect material to prepare the obituary, but the minister survived; her efforts went in vain. She was sad.

After six days, at around nine in the night, the editor called up Supriya and said, ‘Keep ready the obit on Bana Panda. He has been again admitted in the hospital today. He is in a critical condition. I was enquiring with the doctors. This time he will not survive. He may pass away today in the night, maybe within one or two hours. You will upload the obit immediately in the portal, without waiting for anyone’s approval.’

Supriya downloaded a photograph of Bana Panda from internet and wrote below ‘21 August 1961 to 10 September, 2020’.  She had saved the write up. She now fine-tuned and made a few cosmetic changes to make the obit attractive and readable. She would upload the moment she heard about the death. She was looking at news on her mobile phone. But the news of Bana Panda’s death eluded. Sleep came over her.

She woke up at around 3.30, night. Bana Panda was in her mind only. She looked at the Facebook. One person had posted the death of Bana Panda. She checked with the twitter. One politician had also twitted about his death. The party-worker of his constituency she had spoken to, a few days back, had also posted the death of Bana Panda with his photograph on the Facebook. Now she was sure of the death. The editor at this time must be in slumber; she did not want to disturb him. She uploaded the obit in their news portal and went to sleep.

Supriya woke up at around seven in the morning and found three missed calls from the editor. She rang back. The editor said, ‘Congratulations! Excellent…I read it in the morning after I woke up. But there is a mistake…’

‘What mistake, Sir?’

‘You have written the date of death of Bana Panda below his photograph 10^th September; it should be 11^th September. He died at 2.10, in the night. The date of death should be 11^th, instead of 10^th.’

‘Sir, I had written the piece much earlier and waited for his death. But he did not die. I slept. When I woke up, it was 3.30, night, and found in the social media about his death in the meantime. I checked with other sources, and getting confirmed, uploaded the obit,’ Supriya said.

‘No problem, I have already corrected it. No newspaper has yet reported his death news. The newspapers usually conclude the news for the next day’s edition by one or two in the night. The news of his death has also not been reported in any of the web portal by now. Ours is the first, and its news along with obit. The obit is also beautiful; football, supply of books to the poor and needy students, sending fish to his political rival on the occasion of the latter’s daughter’s marriage… Work like this, with sincerity and innovativeness. You will rise in the profession.’

*****