The price of being right

One of the unwritten dictums of bureaucracy is that the boss is always right. Which implies that his minions are always wrong. The maxim lea...

One of the unwritten dictums of bureaucracy is that the boss is always right. Which implies that his minions are always wrong. The maxim leads to ludicrous situations, where subordinates are known to crawl when they are asked to bend. It is no secret that some go out of their way at the workplace to please the boss to earn themselves a raise or a promotion.

In Delhi, I had noticed a lot of cream-coloured Ambassador cars. Sometimes, two or three persons would be travelling scrunched together in the front seat next to the driver, though the rear seat was absolutely empty. My friend Satpal, who worked in one of the Bhawans hedging the Boat Club lawns, gave me the explanation to this mystery: 8220;These are government-owned vehicles used by bureaucrats or ministers. After the boss is dropped off at the office, the car is used sometimes for his personal and household work.8221; Indeed, peons and plumbers may be ferried to the boss8217;s house. The driver tolerates them if they sit by his side up front. If they want to sitin the rear seat, which is reserved for his boss, he will refuse to drive. The peons, too, do not dare to sit in the rear seat. That is why you might see two or three people travelling in the front seat of a car while the rear seat is vacant.

Recently, a retired police commissioner in Bangalore was detained by the police for leading a procession. The cops saluted their former boss and took him to the police station. They offered him a newspaper to read and a cup of tea to sip while the usual procedures were complied with. And then he was courteously released.

Former or current, bosses are always care for by their subordinates. Take the case of my friend Anand. He is the boss of a number of companies. Wherever he travels in India, he has a branch office packed with staff waiting to pamper him.

Last summer, Anand went to Ooty with his family. The staff at his Coimbatore office told him that a ride in the narrow-gauge train from Mettupalayam to Ooty would be an enchanting experience.

8220;The train ispulled by a steam engine. You can enjoy the verdant scenery of the Blue Mountains only if you travel in the train, sir8221;, his manager said. Since there are no reserved seats in the train, some of his staff went to Mettupalayam railway station early in the morning, occupied a few premium window seats and awaited Anand and his family. Anand, his wife and his daughter had breakfast, washed down by an assortment of fruit juices, and reached the station in time. They occupied the seats which had been reserved unofficially.

Anand8217;s staff handed over two big flasks full of tea to his wife for the journey. The staff wished them bon voyage as the train steamed off. Anand loved the sight of the beautiful blue hills as his wife liberally helped him to hot tea from the flasks. But the cold air and the tea eventually conspired to spoil the journey. After an hour, Anand found his aesthetics overridden by the urgings of nature. His wife and daughter had a similar experience.

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Anand detected a flaw in the arrangements.The narrow-gauge train didn8217;t have toilets. The facilities at the wayside stations were not to be contemplated. Anand considered it beneath his dignity to ease himself behind trees on the platform. His family did not even have the option. After about two hours, with their bladders at bursting-point, they alighted at Coonoor station, and checked into a hotel right away.

His staff waiting to receive him at Ooty station were unable to figure out why Anand arrived by taxi when he should have come by train and why he was unhappy with them in spite of the beautiful reception they had organised. They should have known that it is not always easy to please the boss.