IDHAR UDHAR KI BAAT 124 - SMART ALEC Brig PS Gothra (Retd)

 

“What happened?” my senior asked, noticing that I was sulking.

“I got a proper dressing down from the Commander today,” I replied gloomily. “He called me an imbecile.”

I was only twenty-three then—though I had already spent eighteen months in hard combat in Sri Lanka and Manipur. In my young mind, that qualified me as reasonably battle-hardened. Apparently, however, battlefield experience did not automatically translate into wisdom about guest rooms.

“Why?” my senior asked, trying not to smile.

“I’m in charge of the guest room where the General and his wife are going to stay,” I explained. “The Commander came for inspection and scolded me for not ensuring that a packet of sanitary napkins and… protection… was kept in the room.”

I paused, still baffled.

“I found the instruction rather irrational,” I continued. “After all, the General and his wife must be at least fifty-five years old!”

My senior burst into hearty laughter.

“It’s good you didn’t present that brilliant logic to the Commander,” he said once he had recovered. “Let me tell you something. Certain things are done simply to make the guest feel comfortable. And whenever you feel your senior is being irrational, just imagine that he must have been an even bigger idiot at your age. That usually helps in controlling your anger.”

I stored that piece of philosophy carefully in my mind.

The day the General arrived, I was curious to see what sort of person required such elaborate preparations. To my surprise, both he and his wife were extremely humble and polite. Both were also completely grey-haired—confirming, at least in my mind, the accuracy of my earlier calculation.

A little later, I saw the General hand a twenty-rupee note to the Naik in charge and ask him to buy a packet of agarbatti that cost fifteen rupees.

While I hovered discreetly in the background, the General noticed me.

He called me and said, “Son, you don’t need to be present here. Let the staff handle things.”

I vanished immediately but continued monitoring the situation from a respectful distance.

An official lunch had been arranged for him in a neighbouring unit. In the evening, he simply asked for dal without tadka and one roti each for himself and his wife.

When he checked out the next day, he insisted on paying his bill. I also noticed that he hadn’t touched the dry fruits and snacks carefully arranged on the bedside table.

During my years in service, I have seen many senior officers behave with similar simplicity and dignity.

Which is why, last week, when I read the news about a BSNL director’s planned visit to Prayagraj being cancelled after a leaked protocol surfaced—ordering more than fifty junior officials to arrange personal items including underwear, soap, and hair oil—I couldn’t help smiling.

It is quite possible that some over-enthusiastic junior officer (Smart Alec) drafted that protocol, thinking it would make the boss feel important.

After all, the instinct to impress seniors is a universal phenomenon.

Whether the director actually asked for those things or not—

Rabb hi janda hai (God only knows).

Note :- 

1. I am sure you also must have something more interesting to share. 

2. The video here will take you to the Orderly Room of the yore. 

https://youtu.be/j9Ak7fLC0Kk?si=LQevxw2ZDBaicTyr