A different Secretariat
The Secretariat which is generally deemed as a temple where the deities are unmoved if no briery is involved has got a different certificate from a lady teacher, a faculty in a Government college. She says her notion of the secretariat as a fossilised mansion which cares a damn for those visiting her has undergone a transformation following her recent visit to it for personal work. She says she was moved by the kindness of an employee of the secretariat going out of his way to help her. Her colleagues, she says, warned her against visiting it, citing its impersonal character, bereft of the warmth a person loves to find while visiting it. She said she thought she must grease their palms to have things done. But what happened came to her as a pleasant surprise. Moved by the mansion showing milk of humaneness, she has been enthusiastically mentioning it to everyone she talks to. It is thus time for the secretariat to make it its permanent character to rid itself of the stigma remaining attached to it as a place where works are done if one humours it adequately.
A God-fearing babu
A young and energetic IAS officer who indulges in superstitious beliefs has remained an interesting character throughout his career. The officer has been retained in the post he was holding for the second time. He wears dresses of a particular colour every day in accordance with the popular beliefs. He also changes his office as per the norms of Vastu Shastra. However, he is an upright officer who is open to all. People who meet him say he has never been found wanting in sincerity while addressing the people’s grievances. He remains grim-visaged most of the time he is in his office. Those close to him say that the pressure of work is such that he now seldom smiles. During interaction, he says that earlier he had some time for his personal works. But now he has no time left for them during the day hours, he says. Another thing the people say about him. He has made it a point to his subordinates to use the information technology to the greatest extent. This is because he is adept in it.