Enough of snide jabs at Hugo boss suit wearing investment bankers, which have invited taunts at having failed to join their league and hence reduced to mocking at them. I can do all the mockery of Investment Bankers now since I am in a recession proof job. The good times have ended for them while we (babus) are on an even keel. Alternate career options like joining the Somali pirates, Russian Mafia or the Nigerian email swindle needn't be explored. For the record, I hated banking and that’s why I left it. It stifled my personality and dwarfed my evolution as a human being. I worked in a public sector bank for four years and a half. Had great pals out there. The hierarchy is flatter. (Actually the clerks and peons are on a higher social scale: officers mocked at for putting in long hours). I never did investment analysis. Only tried to balance days books and weekly ledgers. Calculating everything manually. Remember, this was before computers became acceptable to sundry trade union dadas. So it was a hell of a lot of drudgery, except for having women around who outnumbered men in the branch to provide eye candy. And I always suspected adultery was going on between married guys and women. I envied them because I was getting none of it, despite being young and unattached. As they say the ones who have it, always want more and get more. The ones who don’t have it, well..... they can sulk. I left Banking rather happy to do so, but am not sure whether I did the right thing joining the bureaucracy. It hasn’t exactly set my creative juices flowing or my personality enhanced.
Met a colleague-Director in the corridors of South Block. Saw him gazing at monkeys hanging from window sills and scampering up and down the majestic walls of South Block. Mr T (No names, remember). is a batch mate of mine from a different service. Simians attacked him rather brutally while leaving office late in the night.(Moral of the story – don’t work late in a sarkar job or the wrath of the monkeys will befall you). Anyway after requisite painful injections and a week of bed rest he limped back and rejoined duty. Ever since he has been a keen and focused monkey watcher. He can hold forth on the eating, mating and social habits of simians with great authority. Just then I thought I saw a large procession of monkeys following a lead monkey.
I asked- “Is the one in front the leader of the class? “
Mr T says rather resignedly with a tone of someone who explains metaphysics to 5 year olds” Didn’t you know the hierarchy in monkey kingdom?” “No” I said. “It is like this”, he said. “The animals in one area (say South Block) are under the leadership of one chief, lets call him Big Chief. His privileges include sexual rights over all the monkeys of the fairer sex- a misnomer, one must understand, Male monkeys are fairer, but that’s another story altogether. Other males can have very little of it-sex, I mean, on the side when the Big Chief is busy elsewhere or when he ain’t looking. Damn risky affair, could get expelled from simian civil society….” He continued in a tone of authority and with the philosophical airs of a much knowledgeable Guru. “The Big Chief also carries onerous responsibilities. Of keeping his flock intact, protecting them from attacks by Langurs etc. It is a tough job which doesn’t give him much time for sex and other entertainment like monkey Mujra or Qawwali with monkey damsels doing a jig while the Big chief reclines on his bolster eating bananas”.
“ It is interesting if you note the parallels with Humans. Don’t the leaders among us get to screw others… literally, figuratively, metaphorically and in totality? And the rest have to make do with crumbs? Extend the metaphor with the dominance of classes in various spheres, village community, politics, bureaucracy, corporate world, show business… story is the same”
I could see him working up his enthusiasm and noted that this is a very involved kinda subject for him.He had a sparkle in his eye as he held forth on the great dominance theory in simians, which could be extended to homo sapiens. He continued “ See the one at the front with the massive pair of testicles? I think he is the Big Chief. You could see him in quiet contemplation, exploring new avenues, never taking the beaten path. He has the makings of a true leader.” “What about power transfer?” I asked, thinking of changing power equations as generations fade away. He said “that requires some intense and involved study. I am sure it is not dynastical. Power has to be demonstrated. Leadership has to be tested and proven on the field. In that respect, my surmise is that simians are way ahead of homo sapiens. Merit has to be established- cannot be claimed as a matter of birthright.”
I came away awed and enlightened. Bureaucrats could be accused of not possessing domain knowledge in the fields they operate in. But here is one of my creed, who, with sheer observation powers and personal experience, has acquired unparalleled domain knowledge of simians. Being in a recession proof job helps enhancing such knowledge of quirky domains.
PS You could also read Langur contractor in South Block in this blog. Mr T really exists. May his tribe increase
Met a colleague-Director in the corridors of South Block. Saw him gazing at monkeys hanging from window sills and scampering up and down the majestic walls of South Block. Mr T (No names, remember). is a batch mate of mine from a different service. Simians attacked him rather brutally while leaving office late in the night.(Moral of the story – don’t work late in a sarkar job or the wrath of the monkeys will befall you). Anyway after requisite painful injections and a week of bed rest he limped back and rejoined duty. Ever since he has been a keen and focused monkey watcher. He can hold forth on the eating, mating and social habits of simians with great authority. Just then I thought I saw a large procession of monkeys following a lead monkey.
I asked- “Is the one in front the leader of the class? “
Mr T says rather resignedly with a tone of someone who explains metaphysics to 5 year olds” Didn’t you know the hierarchy in monkey kingdom?” “No” I said. “It is like this”, he said. “The animals in one area (say South Block) are under the leadership of one chief, lets call him Big Chief. His privileges include sexual rights over all the monkeys of the fairer sex- a misnomer, one must understand, Male monkeys are fairer, but that’s another story altogether. Other males can have very little of it-sex, I mean, on the side when the Big Chief is busy elsewhere or when he ain’t looking. Damn risky affair, could get expelled from simian civil society….” He continued in a tone of authority and with the philosophical airs of a much knowledgeable Guru. “The Big Chief also carries onerous responsibilities. Of keeping his flock intact, protecting them from attacks by Langurs etc. It is a tough job which doesn’t give him much time for sex and other entertainment like monkey Mujra or Qawwali with monkey damsels doing a jig while the Big chief reclines on his bolster eating bananas”.
“ It is interesting if you note the parallels with Humans. Don’t the leaders among us get to screw others… literally, figuratively, metaphorically and in totality? And the rest have to make do with crumbs? Extend the metaphor with the dominance of classes in various spheres, village community, politics, bureaucracy, corporate world, show business… story is the same”
I could see him working up his enthusiasm and noted that this is a very involved kinda subject for him.He had a sparkle in his eye as he held forth on the great dominance theory in simians, which could be extended to homo sapiens. He continued “ See the one at the front with the massive pair of testicles? I think he is the Big Chief. You could see him in quiet contemplation, exploring new avenues, never taking the beaten path. He has the makings of a true leader.” “What about power transfer?” I asked, thinking of changing power equations as generations fade away. He said “that requires some intense and involved study. I am sure it is not dynastical. Power has to be demonstrated. Leadership has to be tested and proven on the field. In that respect, my surmise is that simians are way ahead of homo sapiens. Merit has to be established- cannot be claimed as a matter of birthright.”
I came away awed and enlightened. Bureaucrats could be accused of not possessing domain knowledge in the fields they operate in. But here is one of my creed, who, with sheer observation powers and personal experience, has acquired unparalleled domain knowledge of simians. Being in a recession proof job helps enhancing such knowledge of quirky domains.
PS You could also read Langur contractor in South Block in this blog. Mr T really exists. May his tribe increase
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