Look at the image. (A Reddit user posted this abominable circular pasted in a company located in the USA).
Doesn’t that sound so ridiculous? But don’t be alarmed. That’s how many companies across the world function nowadays.
Time is precious.
Agree, but when did companies start treating staff who go for a leak (during office time) as criminals since?
Companies often base their rules upon staff wasting time at restrooms, helping themselves with many cuppas at the coffee machine, chatting at the desks, browsing, checking (personal) e-mails and spending time on smartphones etc.
They impose strict rules so that staff put in more productive hours than wasting time during those needless breaks.
Remember what Mr. Narayana Murthy of Infosys said? He asked the younger generation in India to spend 70 or more hours in office so that India would become a superpower soon. And you know how outraged the social media were.
My boss was worse. He was Asian-British.
I worked for a multinational media company based in the UK. We had employees from all parts of the world, including people who are native British.
On Fridays, he made sure he would stand at the exit and wish the British and the non-Asian staff a ‘happy weekend’.
He would appear at where most of the Asian staff (on work visas) worked and tell them to finish up the day’s job however late it might take. Some he would ask to report to work on weekends too. How audacious!
He had staff exclusively to monitor employees taking breaks. There were occasions he showed CCTV footage that helped him count how many pieces of pizza staff ate during meetings. He was so disgusting.
The emphasis, as they say, might be to increase productivity, but the question is; at what cost?
The image we see, asking staff to ‘use restrooms before the start of work’ evokes laughter in the first place. Will the staff hold up when they feel like going for a leak?
And the company, as the circular says, will deem those who take a restroom-break after punching-in to have committed a “time clock fraud”. They might be getting the boot. How sad!
The image sent the social media into a fit of anger and one aggrieved customer asked; “Funny how they don’t mention the time clock fraud of telling you to work over a scheduled hour or work through breaks”.
This will surely make most employees lose motivation to work.
If you keep them at the desk for longer hours without a break, they will appear to be busy working rather than seriously working.
Meet Ms. Elsie Eiler, who is a 91-year-old solitary soul living in the town for two long decades. All alone.
She and her husband, Rudy, had been the only residents in the town, but she sadly lost her husband in 2004.
She’s the mayor, treasurer, clerk, secretary and librarian. And she owns Eiler’s Monowi Tavern Restaurant and Bar.
Tavern has been her longstanding job since 1971. She has been pulling it through despite her age.
Monowi was once a railroad town in the 1930s with farming as mainstay. There were about 120 businesses, including grocery stores, restaurants and even a prison. But people moved out seeking jobs in the cities.
Eiler hit the headlines when people read about her on the internet. They visit her for the curiosity, food and a pint of Budweiser.
She serves them six days a week. Her lonely life now is separated between just three buildings: her home, the tavern, and Rudy’s Library, a small building with 5,000 books.
She is an embodiment for simple (single) living as doesn’t even own a smartphone. All communication happen through a fixed landline phone.
Seeing her steely determination, Prudential Financial once filmed a commercial with Eiler and titled it suitably as the ‘Quintessential Independent Woman’
Be the change yourself, to bring about a change in our society, as the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi in India famously said.
Help your community. Be part of their most cherished common goals. That should give one a fulfilled life.
You may be a parent, an uncle or an aunt, a caring brother, a teacher, a retired engineer or a scientist, but how much you helped your community should always count in the end.
I have been a volunteer all through my life.
I was just 15 when I volunteered first as a sports organizer in my native village. Served in college as a member of the National Social Service. Conducted various training camps for students who chose journalism as a career. I served as parent volunteer at my son’s school in London.
I am still a volunteer. I’m proud to serve my community in Chennai, Tamilnadu, India.
‘Every Little Helps’. Helping others is how humanity survives.
Man is a social animal as said by Aristotle. We find our strength in numbers. Give your big hands, please.
As office-bearers in our society, we serve people. We serve them free. This is a voluntary job which I love to do.
The year was 2004, the Tsunami struck in Chennai. An Earthquake off the Indian Ocean near an island in Indonesia caused havoc. Over 600 dead. That includes many children.
Without the volunteers’ help, many would have suffered. People took shelter in huge community halls, thanks to timely help from volunteers.
The same was the case in 2015 when it rained in buckets. Volunteers pitched in and saved the community.
Those two huge disasters have shown how people conduct themselves in times of emergency.
Linda Goodman’s Sun Signs (1968) was the first book on astrology to figure on the New York Times bestseller list. She read what was the collective thought in a community and that catapulted her to success.
Dale Carnagey was his original name. But seeing a sell-out crowd for his lecture at Carnegie Hall in 1916, he changed his name to Carnegie, after the steel merchant Andrew Carnegie. Such was the impact a community gathering could have.
Ryan Kaji was only eight when he started a channel on YouTube. His Ryan’s World now has about 35 million subscribers. All he does is do reviews of toys.
Mahatma Gandhi found a purpose in life and a nation of a billion just followed him.
Have a purpose. The community will follow you.
Be a volunteer. Be the change. And bring the change.
How have you adapted to the changes brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic?
The virus hit India in 2020. The pandemic took us by dozens. Some of us have miraculously recovered. It has been a tough year.
Many deaths. Hospitals in Chennai, Tamilnadu were full. We have seen ambulances operating 24/7. Doctors and staff were working day and night attending to infected patients.
Only the arrival of vaccines brought a stop to the spread. That’s not the end of the story.
No vaccines can prevent 100% of infections. The second wave hit us big. It was much worse.
People have stayed mostly indoors. The lockdown affected our daily lives. The business houses were shut.
‘Living with the Virus’ was how many of us have sadly adapted. The deadly virus continued to mutate and caused havoc in people’s lives.
The cities in India have taken ages to come back to normal.
We avoided crowds, maintained distance and always wore masks. Hand sanitizers have become a part of our daily ritual.
Offices run mostly through Zoom meetings. Many have lost jobs. I, too, have lost mine.
I suffered from sleep disturbances. Many of us don’t feel alright with our mental health. Such is the trauma.
We do yoga and sit in meditation for longer hours. We have been advised to do deep breathing as exercise to come clean from the trauma.
And the big plus is I have got time to write. My blogs are now regular. One every day, at least.
Remote working is the new hope. Many corporate companies offer jobs to people who choose to work from home. But at what cost?
Companies fear productivity will suffer when people will work from home.
But a poll in the UK has proved their fear wrong.
53% of respondents in a survey (post Covid19) comprising of 1500 participants said they felt much better mentally when working from home.
The survey included both the owners of business houses and employees of companies.
And they said further that the productivity also didn’t suffer because of the switch. Good!
I eat, work and sleep. All in the same place now.
I know now how to defeat a deadly virus which killed many millions. No fear!
When we were young, we imagined animals were ferocious. And they killed other animals for food.
But when we watched the cartoon characters such as Tom and Jerry on Disney, we were so humbled.
Alex, the lion, from the Madagascar series’ Escape to Africa movie, was a captive, pals with other animals, dancing and entertaining. Hilarious!
The King of the Jungle was shown a laughingstock as Alex stood a complete joker in the movie with a fruit-hat.
That just makes one laugh.
The same is the case with people we see every day in our life.
We laugh when big people cry at the doctor’s clinics. We laughed when we saw George Galloway, the MP from Bethnal Green dressed as a cat crawling on all fours at the Celebrity Big Brother show in 2006.
Have a personal story to tell.
I used to coach my 8-year-old cousin Sindhu. I had just finished college and my parents told me to teach her civics, history and science.
She had many friends, and they treated me with respect. I felt I was like a professor emeritus.
The girls often played with a skipping rope.
One day, Sindhu asked me during break if I could beat one of her friends, Akila, in a skipping game. Her friends said she was a sport, and she held the record for most jumps.
I said, oh yes. Why not? Throw the rope. We gathered in the driveway in front of her house.
Akila first started. By the time I got into a pair of track pants, she had already finished 50. She was seriously an athlete.
She gave me the rope after finishing 70. At a stretch, without a break. I was really worried. The other girls clapped. It’s my turn now.
My uncle, aunt and the maid have all gathered now to see the challenge. Loads of audience, waiting. Interesting!
I picked up the rope and started jumping. I quickly counted 20 and was just racing. I thought it was so easy.
When I reached 35, I felt something wasn’t alright. My stomach was giving me some discomfort.
Oh! God, no! Not now!
By the time I reached 40, I ripped one out so loud. Thrrrrrrrrrrrreppp!
A fart in the middle of a sport wasn’t so nice. The girls giggled.
48, 49, 50 and this time it was long. Frrrrt… Frrrrrrrrrt!
I could hear Sindhu, Akila and friends bursting out into a roaring laugh.
I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. My pride was at stake. I kept jumping.
The fart now had got worse. It sounded wet. So serious.
57, 58, 59. I saw my uncle, aunt and the maid getting up and running inside the house laughing out loud. The place had suddenly become a circus.
I couldn’t continue beyond 63 and gave up.
Fart played a spoil-sport. I couldn’t help but join in their laughter.
I laughed, they laughed, and did you have a laugh?
"சென்றிடுவீர் எட்டுத் திக்கும்" 