Saturday, August 6, 2016

All Work, No Play?!

Was listening to a radio program today on Swachh Bharat, while at my Swachh Ghar (aka spring-cleaning) tasks. While it is heartening to hear of how many people are doing their best, one part was quite annoying. All speeches referred to certain officials who had not availed a day off in the entire year. Kuch toh gadbad hai! Is this our idea of commitment to work? Work like machines? Even machines need rest!
On a lighter note, I remember an incident in school. The monsoon was in full force. One morning, the downpour was pretty unrelenting. I decided to stay put at home and revise some lessons and have some fun. Turned out that the whole batch did that. Except one guy! The next day, our class teacher blasted all of us for not making it to school the previous day. And praised the lone guy who had turned up, come rain or hail (literally!). I had mixed feelings about the praise. Was it school that made him brave the rain? Or something else? Was it not accidental that he alone made it that day? Did the rest of us deserve such a harsh rebuke? Tricky, tricky!
Coming back to the officials who worked all through the year. Are they real? If they are, is it correct to put them on a pedestal? Is the concept of a good work-life balance not applicable to them? Over years, such 'committed' folks may need expensive (read foreign) vacations to recover from the burn out!!! :D