Back To Bliss: A Journey To Zero by Santosh Jha (pdf e book reader TXT) 📕

“And where do you think the fault lies.”

“What I saw is that both in army and media, the trouble-makers are in minority but as this minority comprises officer rank people, we can say the mid-management people, they have the power and access to wreak larger damages. I have seen officers in army and forces spending time in their offices only to plan and execute for ensuring gains from the facilities and the status. In the media however, the disease has affected even the lower rank journalists. But still, the magnitude of corruption is with the leadership; the numbers may be with masses. One corrupt minister is equal to ten thousand corrupt clerks and a million common masses in magnitude.”

“Can you tell me of any specific case of what you called the elitist and exclusivity trend? I think I need to know what it is in actual picture.”

“There are many but I tell you of the most recent one. Few months back, a young man came to our newspaper office. He told the editor that he wanted a job in media. When asked about his qualification, he said he had been in the jail for over a year and has come out on bail only a week back. He said he had developed good contacts with top gang leaders who operated from within the jail. He assured that he would provide exclusive stuff for good crime stories as even the gang lords wanted media coverage to boost their image outside. He said he would not take any salary but he would need a press identity card. The young guy is serving as lead input person for crime stories now. He cannot write but his inputs make exclusive crime stories. The editorial is happy because it now has edge over the rival. The young man has his own happiness. When I asked him why is he doing all this without any money. He said that money came to him from so many sources but what this job gave him was status of a VIP. He said, ‘this director general of police had refused to meet me when I had approached him in connection with my arrest earlier. Now when I shove a baton in his ass through my crime reports, he wants to meet me but I refuse to oblige him’. The fact remains that he still cannot write his stories but still is a favorite with the editor. And the guy, who writes stories for him, using his input is an M.Phil. degree holder from the most prestigious university but is always in the firing line of the editor.”

“Hmm…I understand. Any other issue?”

“This is one part of the army and media parallel. The second part is more important. This we can say is applicable for all traditional jobs. In the armed forces, as it seems, there is a clear divide between the soldiers and the officers. The pre-independence mindset probably still lingers. The rules are still archaic and the superior-subordinate divide is very pronounced. The life for a soldier is very pathetic but the officers are continuing to enjoy most of the facilities. The life in barracks is tough. There are very few officers who are truly respected and loved by the soldiers they lead. In the typical British legacy, fear not respect is still the core principle of command.

“You mean to say, there are some key attitudinal issues which need to be brought up for debate as they are usually not even considered a genuine problem?”

“I was witness to a scene which will tell you how things are. A soldier of a reputed para-military force came to the chamber of his commanding officer who happens to be my friend. The soldiers on field duty are allowed only a few days’ leave annually to be with their family. This soldier had already availed all his leaves but he asked for one month’s leave as her sister was to be married. My friend reasoned with him that why should he need a month when marriage is a day’s affair. The soldier very innocently said that his village home was in Arunachal Pradesh and it took four days to reach him. The customary marriage in his village was a minimum 16-day affair. He also needed to reach there earlier as his house needed renovation for marriage. My friend told him in a friendly manner that he could not allow him leave because it would be against the rule and his own job would be in danger if he flouted rule for him. The soldier did not budge from the room. He insisted he would go. He told my friend that if he did not reach his village in time for marriage, he would be ridiculed by the village society and he would prefer to die instead of being an outcast. My friend had to order him to go back to his barrack as he was not willing to accept a refusal. As the soldier was dispatched, my friend got worried. He said, these are routine affairs in the armed forces and he always feared that someday one such soldier would not accept his no and would shoot him.”

“Yeah...I often read such stories of soldiers shooting his superiors, colleagues or themselves. Now tell me, where we go wrong in media. We must concentrate on the problems which we can solve.”

“The core problem is that when times change, we need to change. And this change has to be well before things go out of hand. Change in reaction of a trouble is not the right solution. We need to be proactive in our problem solving initiatives. The media has a similar situation, as in armed forces. They need to change the old-fashioned mindsets, the archaic and bizarre rules of recruitment, training and working system. The archaic standards of discipline and command, the historical sense of superiority of officers, the benchmarks of exclusivity and elitism and above all, the work environment for the lowest rung of the armed forces. Similar are the requirements in media.”

“The last question. What you think should be the core principle of training in media?”

“I am not the expert. I know the problems because I have been part of the media for long. The solution may not be very simple.”

“I am just asking for your views. One who knows the problems knows the solution better than anyone else. Tell me your mind.”

“We have a strange problem in India’s human resource front. There is such a huge population of unemployed educated youth. There are colleges, universities and other educational institutions in every nook and corner of our neighborhood churning out professional graduates. But still, the industries and service sector in India complain that they do not have enough employable people. Why is it? The human resource experts, the global agencies assessing Indian human resource say that not more than one fifth of the engineers and management crop produced in India are employable. That means, even after spending lakhs of rupees, the majority of young ones in India remain unemployable, unworthy of absorption in India’s growing economy. So basically, our economy somehow bears and breeds unworthiness.”

“Interesting...but how come?”

“The reason is that the professional educations which are being provided in India by hordes of educational centers are far below the par of global benchmarks. The faculties are sub-standard and academic methodology is questionable. The other crucial point is that most of these new breed of professionals are poor in soft skills. This soft skill phenomenon is new to India and very well one of the very useful global benchmarks of the liberalization and globalization era. And what is this soft skill all about. It is sum total of all the goodness and high ideals of humanity which since ages all human beings are supposed to embrace and embody. This is now being realized and accepted that a good professional is one who also happens to be a good human being. It is equally important to be a good spouse, a good father and above all a good person to be accepted as a good professional. I will mail you the long list of soft skills that is now considered globally as a must apart from the high and strong hard skills. When you will see the long list, you will only realize that it is nothing but old, traditional and transcendental wisdom or what you may like to call common sense, coming back to humanity after long period of rejection in the staunch capitalistic economic ethos. The transcendental wisdom is now being recalled and vowed to be made a practical craft.”

The coffee and sandwiches had arrived. The boss silently sipped the coffee. Mayank too had nothing to say. The cheese sandwiches made him remember that he had promised her girl that he would be with her by noon and help her in packing. He quickly finished his coffee and sought permission from the boss to take his leave.

“Oaky...you can go now. Anyway, you have put so many things in my mind that I would anyway need sometime alone to put them in right perspective. I think I will see you in the office in the evening?”

“Sir, as I just said, one needs to be a good husband to become a good professional. And I will need a wife to be a husband first. That’s why I have promised my girlfriend that we would spend the evening together to finalize the next step.”

“Great...! But also see to it that your soft skill training does not land me in hard times.”

Mayank did not reply but smiled as he moved towards the door. The attendant came forward, handed him a rose and said, “Congratulations sir, may our services be there for you when you marry your love”.

Mayank accepted the rose and looked back smiling. The boss stood smiling too.

“Is this what you call the soft skill? Oh God…!”

Mayank took out a hundred rupee note from his pocket and pushed it inside the shirt pocket of the attendant. He quipped before closing the door, “this is the difference…he is in hospitality industry and not in media!”

**

CHAPTER 16

Utkarsh could see nothing around him. His eyes were full of tears. Everything looked so hazy. He for a moment failed to decide what he should do first. He experienced for the first time what Mayank would tell him – mind reacts to the extremes of joys and pains in a similar way and the tears express gratitude to almighty for both. More than three months after Mayank went traceless; suddenly he got his mail.

He had casually switched on his laptop and logged on to check his mails as he had nothing interesting to do on the Sunday morning. As he saw Mayank’s mail, his eyes betrayed him. He thought to scream and tell his wife about it who was in the kitchen. He probably could not have done it as his voice was choked. He quickly changed his mind and decided to call Ashish to come over as soon as possible as he feared he might go to office even on Sunday but did not do it. He thought he should first read the mail himself peacefully and then tell others about it. That however seemed selfishness to him. After all, Ashish, Guddi and he were equally in pain not even knowing where Mayank was and what he was doing. He had just shot a one line mail to him three months back that he was fine and would be out of contact completely for three months. He wiped his eyes so that he could see clearly. He took a print out of