If there was a place in the dusty and worn out office that no one really cared about, because it had no real accountability as the supervisor wasn't too concerned about how the job went and if the job also had a clause wherein the firing of the individual occupying the dusty, worn out seat was really difficult, would you take that job?
I would !
I mean, it's not that the description is exactly the same. The chair isn't that dusty and the supervisor isn't that chilled, but then there is a certain lure to a governmental job. I have come to a conclusion that more than the leisurely aspects of the job, more than the surity of it's monotony, what draws people to it are the defects of our own society in India.
THe ancient word "Varna" literally meant colour and it was used to segregate the population in a heriditary and heirarchial structure of job stratification and generally in social sense too. Simply speaking, those with whiter colour were deemed to be of a higher birth and deserving of a fairer life and well, the vice versa too.
British, due to their latitudinal advantages appeared on the scene as the whiter than thou rulers, who with the additional advantage of having better munitions were able to overcome Indians and thus were placed de facto at the top of the Social hierarchy. The craze for government jobs started as a method to cosy up to the 'fairer than thou' Britishers, as was the craze to emulate their customs.
Decades after they left, the static Indian society still functions on the same parameters of according respect. A government servant still functions according to the principles of 'Benign dictatorship' and has the respect that was once given to the Brahmin, then to the Mughal, then to the British and now finally to the Babu... the ruler of the destiny of the people of the subcontinent, who with the flourish of his pen can become the "Bharat Bhagya Vidhata" or the Lord of the destiny of the people. Even if that is not so, that's how the perception goes.
Is it such a bad thing to hanker after the posh jobs that enumerate not so much work? OR that promise a lot of promise to reform and help the people?
Who Knows ?! it's a personal decision after all, but for fun and just for fun, lets take some statistics, the funniest fun thingies around.
IN a way, in a very vigorously obvious way, the streets of Delhi are filled with the unemployed youth, who could've been ( given their educational qualifiications and intellectual bent of mind) been employed profitably. These youths, drawn from various sectors of education descend on the capital to prepare for their exams, some for several years altogether. Apart from the handsome returns to the landlords of the area, no obvious benefit in terms of economic gain is being generated by them.
A narrow minded approach to the way that they want to live their lives has lead to a situation that the entrepreneurial energies have been sublimated into a compulsive recession into the world of books, the vastness of the syllabi of the exams and finally the ram headed egoism that forces each one of them to stay year after year after years.
In the final postconclusionist study of the entire system of examination for the government posts, it might be useful to keep in mind the lives, the time spent and the alternatives to the current system of giving lenient preparation times for the 'prestigious' exams. IF a cutoff date of 25 had been there, with a limited 3 attempts at the exam, what we would have is a lot more saving of time and energy of the youth that otherwise run out of career options at the end of the line of this exam mania.
If a million people give this exam every year and they prepare for it even for an average of two and a half years, then the man hours that have been spent unfruitfully, given the low passing rate are astounding. They are more than the total energies spent by some other nations taken as a whole !
Societal pressures, societal norms and soeicatal respect are the criterion for the attraction for this job. Maybe, the job has centralised too much power. An institutionalised mechanism needs to be put in place that curbs the power of the individual, for we are no longer in the post partition phase that required an iron handed rule, what we need today is administration, which can be better provided by an accountable, more people friendly service and not the high and mighty post Brahmins/Moghuls/British Babus.
I would !
I mean, it's not that the description is exactly the same. The chair isn't that dusty and the supervisor isn't that chilled, but then there is a certain lure to a governmental job. I have come to a conclusion that more than the leisurely aspects of the job, more than the surity of it's monotony, what draws people to it are the defects of our own society in India.
THe ancient word "Varna" literally meant colour and it was used to segregate the population in a heriditary and heirarchial structure of job stratification and generally in social sense too. Simply speaking, those with whiter colour were deemed to be of a higher birth and deserving of a fairer life and well, the vice versa too.
British, due to their latitudinal advantages appeared on the scene as the whiter than thou rulers, who with the additional advantage of having better munitions were able to overcome Indians and thus were placed de facto at the top of the Social hierarchy. The craze for government jobs started as a method to cosy up to the 'fairer than thou' Britishers, as was the craze to emulate their customs.
Decades after they left, the static Indian society still functions on the same parameters of according respect. A government servant still functions according to the principles of 'Benign dictatorship' and has the respect that was once given to the Brahmin, then to the Mughal, then to the British and now finally to the Babu... the ruler of the destiny of the people of the subcontinent, who with the flourish of his pen can become the "Bharat Bhagya Vidhata" or the Lord of the destiny of the people. Even if that is not so, that's how the perception goes.
Is it such a bad thing to hanker after the posh jobs that enumerate not so much work? OR that promise a lot of promise to reform and help the people?
Who Knows ?! it's a personal decision after all, but for fun and just for fun, lets take some statistics, the funniest fun thingies around.
IN a way, in a very vigorously obvious way, the streets of Delhi are filled with the unemployed youth, who could've been ( given their educational qualifiications and intellectual bent of mind) been employed profitably. These youths, drawn from various sectors of education descend on the capital to prepare for their exams, some for several years altogether. Apart from the handsome returns to the landlords of the area, no obvious benefit in terms of economic gain is being generated by them.
A narrow minded approach to the way that they want to live their lives has lead to a situation that the entrepreneurial energies have been sublimated into a compulsive recession into the world of books, the vastness of the syllabi of the exams and finally the ram headed egoism that forces each one of them to stay year after year after years.
In the final postconclusionist study of the entire system of examination for the government posts, it might be useful to keep in mind the lives, the time spent and the alternatives to the current system of giving lenient preparation times for the 'prestigious' exams. IF a cutoff date of 25 had been there, with a limited 3 attempts at the exam, what we would have is a lot more saving of time and energy of the youth that otherwise run out of career options at the end of the line of this exam mania.
If a million people give this exam every year and they prepare for it even for an average of two and a half years, then the man hours that have been spent unfruitfully, given the low passing rate are astounding. They are more than the total energies spent by some other nations taken as a whole !
Societal pressures, societal norms and soeicatal respect are the criterion for the attraction for this job. Maybe, the job has centralised too much power. An institutionalised mechanism needs to be put in place that curbs the power of the individual, for we are no longer in the post partition phase that required an iron handed rule, what we need today is administration, which can be better provided by an accountable, more people friendly service and not the high and mighty post Brahmins/Moghuls/British Babus.
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