FOUR DECADES

 

Ani was overjoyed when he cleared the PSC examination for the post of an LD Clerk, the dream of millions of unemployed in the State. It had been a tough grind. Though the eligibility to appear in the examination was a pass in the 12^th Standard, Ani was a Post Graduate in Commerce. It was the third year since  he acquired the PG degree. As the jobless in the state were quite large in numbers, landing a job had been a difficult proposition.

Ani received the appointment letter after a year of hibernation. He was posted to a Government Department as an LD Clerk. He was very happy to report for duty as advised.

After settling into the job routine he learned the office procedure. Files were created on each issue. The LD Clerk puts up the file to the superior. It goes up to the top for orders passing through different layers. Each of the officials would be initialing the file as it goes up. Finally it reaches the top. Then it travels back to the initiator the same way it went up.

Ani was sad no one ever bothered to read what had been put up. He wanted an overhaul in the procedure.

He created a file himself. He wrote, ‘The Secretary is an Ass.’ He initialled it and forwarded it upwards for orders.  It took sometime as it went up to the top initialled by different layers.

Finally it came back to Ani. When he scrutinised it he found that the Secretary had scribbled ‘Seen’ and ‘File’ and had affixed his initials beneath it.

 It was the order.

Ani to his consternation understood the system could never be overhauled.

This is a story that had been published in a Malayalam newspaper's weekend edition more than four decades back.  I do not remember where it was published.  It stayed in memory.