We Talk of Values ...

There are few companies in this world who boasts as anchor , the discoverer and above all the best in the business. And then it talks of values , talks of greenery and the traffic management , not only across the company but across the city limits. These types of companies are more like a pot full of poison packed in attractive cover and sweets on the top. The pot is shiny to look from far , but the ground realities are as different as white from back. I travel to office by bike daily , and the company bus would not only clog the road, but also make it impossible for others to pass. Other than the road space that is taken over the bus-mafia every periodic hour Monday through Friday , it is the security segment that is at a loss. There is no way a person can drive carefree on the roads. The construction at a continuous stretch would have roads blocked at many points , but then the bullies on road , like a carefree elephant would move sideways , without indicating or slowing down. The bully would enter the company compound as the most innocent ones in the world , and then go stain free. The bus of a multinational. What is most frustrating is the city could have been a much better place without them, or having them disciplined. Try parsing the same area at same time on weekends , and the torturous hour long stretch to complete a distance of 8 Km on weekdays is covered up in astonishing 20 min. Then also would come out and claim to be one handling the transport well. There are two types of people , one who are in the bus with I-Pods stuffed in ears , eyes closed , or gossiping the day out back to the home , who once in a while would be jolted by bus moving over divider ,curse the driver and continue with chat or music as before. There is this other segment of people on road , the bikers , the car-drivers and other small vehicle drivers. Each time a small jolt is felt inside the bus , is accompanied by severe braking sound , a heavy jolt in passengers of cars and pillion riders crashing on in the bikers . And still when the voices are raised to correct the defect , they would not. The complaints won’t be allowed to discuss in a public forum ,and asked to point the complaint to a same department. A way to complain is to protest , awareness has to be first step for any change. But these rights are virtually nonexistent.

Then I know of a company with strict dress codes , when I saw them the first time moving to the company in the morning, they looked good. Tie up the necks, full sleeve nicely pressed Shirts , and then with them this girl with a sleeveless crumpled T-shirt and jeans. I was all in good for the company having such a crowd , should come first in fancy dress ,but for that girl who was not dressed properly. One month later , I got to know from one of the friends working in the same company, that if the guys don’t follow the uniform they are fined for it. At first it seemed to me that the person is joking , but he was not. He was serious , and one was forced to laugh. Then I remember the girl in jeans was not for tainting the image of company but to laugh and mock at the properly dressed boys , and then the company comes out and says no gender bias. I think of “Husbands suffering in hands of girls “ concept. The company is definitely not giving any advantage to boys for being male but girls are encouraged to dress in tempting dresses. Jeans , skirts and likes of home wear ,may be for attracting a larger consumer base. Then there is a period in first quarter when the employees are not wearing ties , due to summer heat. This is reflected directly in sensex as the company profits drip. The people work with highest efficiency on Mondays and Tuesdays when the tie is up the neck. Obviously the girls are not in production as they don’t wear ties and the efficiency is so less. Such a big company runs on tie. Grow up , don’t go and look in the world , you are genuinely not eligible , but atleast look at surroundings. Times have changed and so must you ,else times wont forgive you. If one is so persistent on having employees wear that particular tie , come out with uniform and let all wear same stuff. One does believe in equality of gender. But I still feel sorry for boys of that company shelling out money in case they wear half sleeve shirt on Monday, and see a Sleeveless girl pass as they write in fine.

What is an infection , it is something undesirable in a healthy environment. How does one define legitimate? Is it one’s perception of a subject or should it invite a wider audience. There is no place for rigid policies , and one need to be very flexible with changing times. Its really absurd to keep on shouting , cribbing and crying about sorry state of the place when one is not ready to improve oneself.

So where does one start , within itself. The general outcry of people asking for a change will go unnoticed for a small time, then oppression will result in agitation , and it may even lead to downfall of the monster. Most of the bullies go down silently. For in 25 years of my existence , I have known there are different summits to climb and one does not sit on zenith for long. Numero Uno position is not government post that one may continue till end of life , and when one does talk of values , one should follow it.

Values are not the currency notes which go down as the rupee becomes stronger , neither are the one that in inherited in hundreds of world class building built, but is defined by people in those. By the top management going in iteration with the lower order people , and communicating clear guidelines . defining process , declaring punishment and above all , implementing it across all the sections. A dress code violation attracts a financial penalty for males while its all scot free for girls. The decency levels , the discipline spread are small issues because we are now talking of Values. And then this intellect which is already possibly quarter century old. Rather than being a open mind and moving with the world , a stubborn tumor and falsified feeling of being the best and most appreciated won’t let it move further. The employee satisfaction level along with the non-existent morals are going down. There are big changes in the way company works, the jobs and bands are being restructured , but there is a bigger need on hand than these. Change the logo of the company if company is no longer in a position to follow it , find the people responsible. It’s a matter of A FEW which give it all a bad name. But a smelly fish spoils all the pond , and is the current state now. How does one recover the lost pond. Its high time something is done just too fast to bring all the things back to normalcy before its too late.