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Bureaucracy is by definition precedent-driven and rule-bound. Hence, by training and as professionals, bureaucrats develop life-long expertise in being rule-bound and precedent-driven. Bureaucrats are sometimes unfairly criticized for these very qualities which are pre-requisites for success in their profession. It is like blaming the horse for being obedient to the rules of riding. Yet Indian bureaucracy has learned to be innovative and go beyond these limitations to serve the common man.
I have had the good fortune to have worked with forward-thinking senior bureaucrats and idealistic new entrants to the civil services who went the extra mile in ensuring that the common man benefitted from their services. That is after all the very purpose of bureaucracy. As an ex-bureaucrat and a senior citizen, I have tried to balance these traits which have been inbuilt into my personality through these long years.
Bureaucrats sometimes practise the art of obfuscation, which Wikipedia defines as "Obfuscation is the obscuring of intended meaning in communication, making the message confusing, willfully ambiguous, or harder to understand". In simple terms, we sometimes like to use many words where a few will suffice.
So retirement, is described as superannuation. The point being to upgrade retirement as being in the super category. In perhaps a different sense,no doubt,retirement is in a category of it's own,which is difficult to describe unless one goes through it actually.Now all that is well and fine, but after retirement, rather superannuation, ex-bureaucrats' circle of captive listeners progressively diminishes . In this vastly reduced circle , the patience of our listeners is strictly limited to meaningful and relevant conversation not confined by the preamble " When I was ......." . In such circumstances, conversation topics become severely limited,with the listeners melting away quickly,unless we have something meaningful and socially relevant to contribute. As senior citizens, we need to enlarge our horizons and make ourselves interesting to society,and more importantly, give back to society in whatever way we can. They rightly say that we live and learn-and I am constantly learning positively how many of our ex-colleagues and senior and junior ex- bureaucrats, are doing their bit for socially responsible projects. This must be giving them a deep sense of inner satisfaction .
Mohinder Pal Singh
(Author retired from the Central services)
I have had the good fortune to have worked with forward-thinking senior bureaucrats and idealistic new entrants to the civil services who went the extra mile in ensuring that the common man benefitted from their services. That is after all the very purpose of bureaucracy. As an ex-bureaucrat and a senior citizen, I have tried to balance these traits which have been inbuilt into my personality through these long years.
Bureaucrats sometimes practise the art of obfuscation, which Wikipedia defines as "Obfuscation is the obscuring of intended meaning in communication, making the message confusing, willfully ambiguous, or harder to understand". In simple terms, we sometimes like to use many words where a few will suffice.
So retirement, is described as superannuation. The point being to upgrade retirement as being in the super category. In perhaps a different sense,no doubt,retirement is in a category of it's own,which is difficult to describe unless one goes through it actually.Now all that is well and fine, but after retirement, rather superannuation, ex-bureaucrats' circle of captive listeners progressively diminishes . In this vastly reduced circle , the patience of our listeners is strictly limited to meaningful and relevant conversation not confined by the preamble " When I was ......." . In such circumstances, conversation topics become severely limited,with the listeners melting away quickly,unless we have something meaningful and socially relevant to contribute. As senior citizens, we need to enlarge our horizons and make ourselves interesting to society,and more importantly, give back to society in whatever way we can. They rightly say that we live and learn-and I am constantly learning positively how many of our ex-colleagues and senior and junior ex- bureaucrats, are doing their bit for socially responsible projects. This must be giving them a deep sense of inner satisfaction .
Mohinder Pal Singh
(Author retired from the Central services)
Osborne Lobo (ozziecajetan@gmail.com) commented-" Enjoyed the blog. So many people suffer post-retirement blues having failed to plan for post-retirement."
ReplyDeleteYes, Osborne Lobo and his wife Chinny Lobo have avoided these post-retirement blues by involving themselves in social work for the needy.
DeleteG.Cheema (IAS- Retd) commented that he had experienced at first hand many of the feelings described in the blog. Ex-bureaucrats need to immerse themselves in worthy causes to lead a harmonious life after retirement."
ReplyDeleteG.Cheema is not only an ex-bureaucrat but also an author of books on Indian history.His recipe for leading a harmonious after retirement is one instance of striking a balance between putting literary talent to good use after retirement.
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