05 They’re just not that much into you!

One of the first things I did as an officer-trainee in an All India Service was to take an autorickshaw right up to the porch of the training institute to report before the President (of the Institute, a grand old structure built on the model of a ceratin English manor house, but I could equally well have tried to go and report to the President of the nation).  They told me to go to the school and search out the caretaker of the hostel. That’s the first lesson I got in the long journey through my career, a journey that’s lasted some 38 years and been a continuous learning experience.

Lesson No.1: They’re just not THAT much into you! You’re  a bright young fellow or lass, who has probably been pretty good at studies and sports and cultural activities, and were probably used to getting a lot of recognition, accolades, certificates, prizes, and so on. Your entering the Service has been the culmination of all those years of study and toil. You’d expect that they would appreciate your efforts, appreciate that they are getting a person of great talent and promise. You’d expect to be treated like a somebody.

Unfortunately, that’s not what you’re going to get. For the huge plant or warehouse that is Government, you’re just one more name in a list, one more cog or nut in the machinery. The huge effort that has gone into the selection process has culminated, and the rest, as they say, is history.  Which repeats itself from batch to batch, slowly moving you along the assembly line until you are ready to drop off at the far end. They have neither the time nor the inclination to get to know you personally, as an individual, your aspirations, hopes and fears. All they can barely manage to do is to find you a place in the huge system, move you from time to time, and see that you get your salary and increments on time. The actual work that you do from day to day matters little, as there is a larger system to make up for slackers and dampen down zealots. The huge ship of state moves on in its slow, stately fashion, as it should, and individuals don’t matter.

Once you accept, even embrace, this reality, much of the pain of not being recognized will go away, or at least become bearable. This goes against the grain of our inherited selves, as public recognition is one of the prime movers of humans, and indeed of many other species too. As Fukuyama describes in his book The End of History and the Last Man, it is this urge, called thymos, that propelled human individuals, communities and nations into deeds of valour and quests for glory.  In our system of thought, too, we talk of this as rajas, the spirit of the rulers. Maslow talks of the hierarchy of needs: having satisfied our basic needs of food, clothing and shelter, we look for the higher levels of fulfillment, which come from effort, achievement, and recognition. Since the system is just not geared up to meet these higher needs, if you are really expecting these rewards, you will be sadly disappointed. The answer to this existential riddle lies in our second lesson...