When I took up a new job about two decades ago I had to undergo an initial nine months training. There were about forty of us and the training period was one of the finest times of our lives. It was as
if we were back in college; we shared great camaraderie, struck good
friendships and played a lot of pranks.
In spite of all the
merrymaking we did learn a lot in the classrooms, but for me the most memorable
lessons were learnt outside the classroom. Here are a few of them.
A dangerous language: Once the Managing Director gave
us a visit and after his speech the floor was opened for questions. One trainee, let us call him Chris, stood up
and asked “Sir, how did you manage to become an MD?”
The Principal, who is normally unflustered, suddenly
sprang to his feet and screamed: “Chris! The sentence “How did you manage”
connotes that you are not qualified, yet somehow made it. What you really meant
was “What qualities helped you to reach this position” is it not? English is a
dangerous language; be careful when you use it”. Chris nodded sheepishly,
everyone had a good laugh and the atmosphere became relaxed again.
“How did you manage to” soon became a
catchphrase among us and people started teasing Chris with comments like “How
did you manage to get selected ”. At first Chris laughed it off. When it became
too annoying he changed tactics and responded that he knew his English well
enough and that he meant exactly what he had said!
I learnt a
few lessons from this incident, but the most important one is what I learnt
from Chris - if fate hands you a lemon make lemonade out of it, or in other words,
make virtue out of a necessity!
Smart working: We had to write exams every Saturday
and Friday evenings were very stressful as that was the only time many of us
read our study material. One such day a friend who walked into my room saw me
struggling with my studies and took pity on me. He told me that I was studying
the unimportant chapters and advised me on the really important ones. Since he
was one of the bright guys who scored high in the exams, I took his advice. The
next day I was pleasantly surprised to see questions from the chapters
suggested by my friend. It was later learnt that the smart guys had made
arrangements with the office boy to get in advance a copy of the question papers!
The lesson
learnt? It is working smart that matters, not working hard; or as the
motivational speaker and author Shiv Khera put in a pithy statement- “Results
are rewarded, Efforts aren’t”.
The Free lunch: One day a faculty member asked one
of the trainees some innocuous question but it was perceived by us an insult on
the entire class. And as it usually happens, it snowballed into a long list of
grievances. We trainees got together and decided that we won’t have lunch the
next day unless our problems were resolved. When word got around that we had boycotted the lunch, the entire faculty came
over and requested us to take the food. They said that problems can be
discussed and that taking or not taking of the food is not going to affect the
outcome; moreover the cost of the food has been incurred and wasting it was the
wasting of public money. That sounded reasonable (or was it hunger getting the
better of me?) and I addressed the class that we should now take the food. Suddenly
there were protests all around against my traitorous stand. I was asked either
to shut up and sit down or go ahead and take the food if I wanted to be in a
minority of one! I thought hard and finally, the fear of getting isolated
forced me to take the first option.
Later that evening,
I told some of my friends that foregoing lunch was not the right decision and that
I should have gone ahead and taken the food. Suddenly all of them said that if
only someone had shown the courage to take the lunch they would have followed
suit!
I learned a
lot of lessons that day; but the most enduring one is that in a
democracy it is the voice of the majority that counts.
Footnote:
These lessons should
have served me well. Sadly, like the Bourbon kings of France, I forgot nothing
and learned nothing! I often lacked the wisdom to acknowledge these truths,
much to my disadvantage. It is said that the wise learn from the mistakes of others. I hope you would.
