INDEPENDENCE DAY

“There is nothing good to say about this country” Satvik said to the surprise of the audience and the elders sitting on the dais.

The Chandni Housing Society members were celebrating Independence Day and after the flag hoisting the members had assembled near the flag post. About 100 society members were present. The president Rahul Joshi a retired Indian Foreign Services officer, secretary Jaheerudin and the chief guest Father Emanuel from the neighborhood church were on the dais.

Satvik continued “What should I be proud of? Infrastructure is horrible. We have roads in between potholes. We have bad storm drainage systems . Even a lesser intensity rain is enough to flood our roads.

Corruption is everywhere. Without warming the hands no work is possible in many offices. There is little place for honesty. Many times I wonder why these people should be paid salaries. They do not do any work without being paid extra.

Population is the major problem of the country. We see people everywhere. Inequality is in all the spheres of life. Many are living below poverty line and few are ultra rich.

No doubt that the best brains are leaving the country for good and not returning back”

He finished and walked down  and sat on the chair in the last row.  It was Independence Day celebrations and this kind of speech was least expected from anyone. It definitely did not go well with the audience.

Jaheerudin looked visibly disturbed. He got up and walked to the mike and started “I heard Satvik beta talking. He is highly educated person. But I am pained by the way the new educated people look at our country. If your mother is not in good health do you disown her? If your country is not having many good things, do you stop feeling proud about it? We are born here, live here and die here. If we want the country to be good let us start working towards it” saying so he went back and sat on his chair.

Rahul Joshi looked at Father Emanuel. Father smiled at him and asked him to address the audience. He came closer to Joshi and said “Sir you have seen the world closely. Please make it a point to explain to our new generation the importance of our motherland and why they should feel proud about her”.

Joshi smiled back at father and walked to the podium. He started “My dear brothers and sisters of Chandni Housing Society, warm Independence Day greetings.

We all are lucky to live in this country which is the largest and most vibrant democracy in the world. We have to remember today the sacrifices made by our forefathers fighting the British to get freedom for this great nation.

Imagine one hundred thousand British people controlling about 350 million Indians. It is like 3 to 4 people controlling Wankhade stadium filled with 50000 spectators. How could they do it? They could do it because we were not united and we were not aware of the hidden agenda of the British who came as traders and ended up ruling us.

Now no nation would dare to dream of such thing. We have far superior military capabilities now. Despite all this we are always using our strength to be in preparedness to protect our boundaries rather than to attack other countries.

Agreed that we have bad roads and many roads are dug by the authorities to lay pipelines and cables. All this is happening for improving infrastructure for the future. Traffic is being disrupted due to the construction activity of the metro rail network in the city and the authorities are laying huge pipeline crisscrossing the city to ensure adequate drinking water supply for generations to come. The issue here is the delay that occurs in repairing the roads back. They need to improve on that.

Corruption is spread like cancer in the society. Do we not agree that only when we are ready to bribe someone, the person becomes corrupt? Many a times it becomes impossible to get a work done without bribing. I would say that somewhere someone has to take a bold step and ensure that he does not bribe anyone. Once precedent is set things may definitely fall in place.

We are the second most populous country in the world.  We have the largest Hindu, Jain and Sikh populations in the world. We have the second largest Muslim population in the world. We have very diverse society and our concept of secularism is tolerance towards all religions.

I had the opportunity to visit the Sakha Yakutia republic of Russia during my posting in Moscow. It is almost the size of India and has less than one million people living there. The capital city Yakutsk has a population of three hundred thousand and the average temperature is -28 deg C in January and may go down to -64 deg C during peak winter. The question that came to my mind was not how people lived there but why people lived there. I spoke to many residents there and they told me that it was their city and they would love to be there and harsh weather was not deterring them.

 

We are lucky to have tropical climate in our country where in all the 365 days we have pleasant weather suitable for easy human living. Let us look at the residents at Yakutsk and be happy that nature has been very kind to us.

The huge population is our strength. We add one Australian population every year. We have a middle class population as big as the  population of US.  The external economy crises will not have devastating impact on our economy as we have a robust economy driver by huge internal consumption.

Many well educated Indians leave the nation for better pastures. They are settling in America, Europe, Oceania and the Middle East.  They are not forgetting India in the process. In fact I have met many of these people and sometimes I get a feeling that they are more Indian than us.

They are remitting money back home and are acting as good will ambassadors of our nation.

Satvik if you are complaining about wrong things around you in India , you will find many.  You look for one you will find hundred. Instead find an opportunity in every challenge you come across. India is a growing economy and has huge potential for investments and development. Realize that a nation is not made of mud, rocks and trees but it is made of people. The nation reflects the people residing in it. If you want change in the nation be the agent of change. The change may be small but work on it. If every Indian works towards changing something for the better, the nation will prosper fast”.

After few more minutes Rahul Joshi completed his speech and sat on the chair. Father Emanuel did not take much time delivering his chief guest speech. He was crisp in blessing the audience. He praised Joshi for his motivational speech and said “Satvik after listening to Joshi sir has your opinion about our nation changed?”

Satvik got up from the chair and said “It is not that I do not like my country. I love it more than anything in my life. I spoke out of frustration. After listening to Joshi sir there are no doubts in my mind. Am pragmatic and look forward to a bright and developing India. Instead of asking what the country has to give you, question yourself about what you are doing for the country.”

TINA

“I agree with you that the company is not making good money but I am helpless. I want you to give me 40 % hike in my salary with immediate effect. If it is not possible please let me know I am ready to leave the job” Niranjan said.

Rani was fuming with anger. Four years earlier when he was jobless she had taken him as a  sales manager on insistence of her father. She was the Managing Director and had turned around a sick company. she had rejuvenated the company and made it one of the top manufacturers of automobile ancillaries. She felt that this guy was blackmailing her as dependency on him was high. 

Niranjan had joined the company after his job loss at a batching plants manufacturing unit. Rani’s father Raghuram, the Chairman of the company liked him during the interview and felt like giving him a chance. Niranjan had put in good efforts and worked round the clock. As he was in the sales division, he had to do lot of touring. He had relentlessly toured all across the country and in a short span of time won the confidence of Rani and Raghuram. As a result he got promoted to regional manager and then to the position of country sales manager.

Rani was sitting in the sit out area of her house with a cup of hot coffee. Her father came near her and said “You look pensive my child”

She looked up and told him the way Niranjan was playing games with the company.

Raghuram smiled at her and said “You will learn to handle such people by experience. I have seen many bigger Niranjans in my career.

I still remember the day he met me during the interview and he had spark in his eyes.

 No doubt he lived up to our expectations and outperformed his targets. We also supported him wholeheartedly and gave him increments in salary and positions. He has always been an asset to the company and has never ever played foul”

“But then, why now? Why is he demanding hike at this juncture? “She questioned and continued “The automobile industry is going through a very bad phase and we have less number of orders. We have been working on these three big projects and am very sure that in a matter of few weeks we will get at least two of them. This will solve all our problems and we can again smile at our workers and be contented that no one will lose job and no family will be in financial crisis”.

Raghuram sat on the chair next to her and said “You know why Niranjan is behaving this way?”

Rani replied “May be he has gone nuts or become greedy. When he was struggling with a job loss, we gave him a job and this is what he has given us in return”.

Raghuram smiled and said “You are wrong my angel. This has got nothing to do with greed. It is a phenomenon known as TINA the ‘There Is No Alternative’ effect.

Niranjan over the period of time understood that he is very important  and we would struggle to improve our business without him. In fact we are the real culprits in this case. We should not have allowed him to become indispensable. This feeling has made him think that he is the most important person in the company and we have no alternative. That’s why he is making such unreasonable demands”.

Rani agreed with her father and said “It is not that we have not tried to convince him. I had one to one meeting with him and offered him 15 % hike in salary and promised to increase it again once we start making better profits”.

Raghuram interrupted her and said “That is where you have done a mistake”.

 They had discussion for about half an hour and Rani felt happy as her father gave her some breakthrough ideas.

Next day morning Rani summoned Niranjan to her cabin.

He walked in and said “So Madam what have you decided? Am I getting my 40 % hike in salary? “

She smiled and said “Niranjan, we cannot give you the hike and please tender your resignation”.

He was shocked as he did not expect this answer from her. He knew that he was very important for the company to get the critical orders and he leaving at this juncture would cause hardships.

He was silent for few minutes and said “It is OK if you cannot give 40 % hike, please give me the 15 % hike as promised by you earlier”

Rani knew that she had won the battle. She called Lucy her secretary and said “Please get the resignation letter from him and settle all pending issues and relieve him from tomorrow effectively”.

After half an hour Lucy walked into Rani’s cabin and said “I have completed the formalities and he has already left. I do not understand why you took such a hasty decision. We will be in trouble”.

Rani looked at Lucy and said “Even I was of the same opinion. But my father gave me the strength. If we give in today, he will not stop. After few more months he will come back again. I am still the best sales person in my organization and I have taken it as a personal challenge and will lead the sales team in the critical orders”.

Lucy smiled at her and said “You understand people well. We should use the same technique in our personal life also so that we can show people the right places”.

 Rani added “Family and friends are with us not by compulsion but by choice. They are not amongst us to achieve targets. We should always accommodate them to a very large extent. After all it is the close family members and good friends who stand by us in times of despair".

“I understand Madam” Lucy said and continued “We should always try to be nice to them and a few nice words can help a person lot more than you think”.