Masala Chay With A Babu

                                                     Masala Chay With A Babu

                Udaipur,the city of lakes is well known for it’s maharajas,world class hotels, high-profile weddings, firang interns but I ,as a commen man with very commen thinking and commen issues to handle with like RPSC exams , their last dates, reservations ,electricity bills, Mewar cable etc, has not much to do with that glitzy world. I have known the city as one another sleepy Mofussil town with it’s sharma jis ,guptas jis and mediocre babus with no energy and passion.

  

               In this piece, I am going to tell the story of one such Babu who I had a chance to meet last week. He struck me as a very different personality, for his milieu and his occupation.The person who I am talking about is Mr S.L Bohra. He is serving as Additional commissioner of Udaipur range. He is from the Rajasthan Adminitrative Services.Though he happens to be my father’s friend but I speak with him quite often because of our commen interests in reading.But last week I got a chance to see him work in his office and explore the nuances of his personality as an administrator.

          

              Mr Bohra is 57 years old and he joined state administrative cadre at a very early age.While sitting there I discussed a range of issues with him.It included topics as diverse as Bhil tribals of southern Rajasthan to Fareed Zakaria’s latest article on shortage of diplomats in India.He spoke with finesse and an astute clarity and vision of an administrator.Not once I found him politically too correct or extremely incorrect (politically)He discussed at length the all the projects that are being run among the tribals of Dungarpur,Banswara,He displayed an excellent understanding of the religion,culture and traditions of the tribals.I thought he could be a great asset in policy formulation on tribal affairs.He was impeccably well behaved,well dressed(rarity among th babus these days) with a smiling face with everyone be it a small farmer, nastiest of the MP or bossiest of an IAS boss.

           To my utter surprise, after his chat with a subordinate magistrate I found him engrossed in Francis Fukuyama’s latest stroke,”Origins of Power”(it is not very commen to find some one read Fukuyama even among Delhi University professors and North block bureaucrats) He  listens to TED talks,reads Ashok Vajpayee and international magazines like Economist.

           I was offered a masala chay which I enjoyed sip by sip.We called it a day with two extra sugar cubes in masala chay.

   

          Next  day I got a chance to meet another babu.(for mysterious and emotional reasons I find the Babus an intresting lot,so I keep meeting them drawing a lot of flak from my stephanian batchmates !) A brief description of this babu: She is a female.she has 3 to 4 years of experience in IAS including training.She heads a district.She has apathetic dressing sense and she is extremely arrogant.In English Rakhi sawant can outsmart her and knowledge and wisdom are not entertained by her neurons.She looks down upon commen people and in her 3 years of service she has history of abusing her power to grab lands for her worthless brothers.

        Hello..............!!!!, I am sure you find this girl a boring character and a typical  babu.That she definitely is.But why the society and nation should bear with this liability? She answers that the nation should bear with her pea-sized brains because by some stroke of divine grace she has cleared an exam which she calls the greatest in her world.I was quite annoyed by her demeanour and immediately got out leaving her in her feudal dungeon.

         While coming back Mr Bohra kept coming to my mind with his wisdom,intellect,knowledge ,experience,polished and little accented English and yes the masala chay also.I was just thinking that if the female I met gets a chance to work under Mr Bohra she could find a great mentor and she could learn the humanitarian nuances of administration.But unfortunately this is not possible because in the present set-up IAS with 2 to 3 years of experience work as bosses of Mr Bohra(with 30 years experience) not to learn from their experience but to harass and humiliate them with their Mussorie injected arrogance. Not only Mr Bohra but  hundreds like him in state police services and state administrative services can be found, obeying the orders of these new kids on the blocks.These state officers have immense experience and knowledge and a good level of humility so they can be great mentors for the new IAS recruits.They can make them excellent administrators but present set-up puts them in a situation where experience and knowledge obeys ignorance and arrogance.This makes them insane, demoralizes them and provides a good incentive for corrouption as they have in-depth  knowledge of the area and it’s communities vis-à-vis their bosses(kids) and no reward for good work.The new kids are totally dependent on the subordinates like Mr Bohra.So  how can these new kids provide leadership.

         I think it’s time we thought about putting an end to this insanity and irrationality.People of India are not sitting here to be regaled with fair and lovely cops who fashion themselves after 'Singhams' and 'Dabangs, misadventures(just think of the one who died in Morena while catching a tractor) and skimpy outfits of D.U hotties in civil services.It is taxpayer’s money so make good administrators.New recruits must work in the field for atleast 7 to 8 years as SDM and ADM before being posted as collectors and SPs.They must be posted under these state officers so that they can learn something sensible and do something worthwhile.

        Infact I feel that this system of recruitment at two levels should be abolished.All administrative service officers should be recruited as SDMs and all cops should be recruited as Deputy superintendent Police(which obviously includes their probation as tehsildars and Sub inspectors)This will create a system in which there will not be any inequality and people will rise with merit.We will not have state service officers who have knowledge and wisdom but no vitality, passion, courage and confidence(their personality and ability to take initiatives get crushed by life long subjugation under 25 yrs  old kids)

        By the way Mr Bohra still sits in his office with his books,masala chay, always helping people with a cheerful smile on his face.One can see years of public service in the wrinkles of his face.But he is not happy with the system.He is worried about these new kids who are going to be the future administrators of this nation.He waits for his retirement and lives with his granddaughter and books.

      

       But I believe that the masala chay is not yet over.The chay is still hot and there can be a storm in the tea-cup anytime.Small things like salt,opium and tea have the history of staging revolutions.So beware,either change or some thing else is waiting in the wings.