The shark

The Shark

      I was told  in Japan people were not happy with the taste of dead fish which were caught and brought from sea. So they  used a freezer to freeze  the  dead fish after catching. But still they were not happy with the taste of frozen fish. So they decided to keep it alive immediately after catching by using fish tank. But the once the fish were brought into the tank, he fish started behaving differently and remained still  for unknown reasons, it  became very dull and that  the Japanese still did not like it. So they decided to keep a small shark in the tank and this idea kept the fish moving all the time due to fear. Here the technique applied was to keep the threat  on all the time and that made the fish to on its toes all the time. Is this applicable to human beings ?.  When I heard this,

       An  incident in my life came to my memory. 'I remember, I was planning  what to speak during  the occasion of my sent off. I started to ruminate my Ups and downs of my tenure in that post.   I thought of speaking about my achievements and accomplishments'. Then I said to myself, 'No,  that would  amount to flattery  and So I  dropped that idea'. Then I thought I must  speak about each individual who touched me with their support during my tenure. But again I thought, it may not be a good idea as I may not able to speak the truth  about all  and probably  people would ultimately   discredit me for not being honest.'

        ...So after pondering over this issue some time, I decided finally to speak about one person who's picture  will not fade from my  mind. Though I do not remember the exact words I spoke, I cannot forget  that picture. The picture of a person who was different from others and taught me many lessons very clearly but silently. I rate him very  high though his position is very low in the hierarchy.    A  simple, poor, modest , sincere  man with 101% commitment to the organisation. He joins among those wonderful  people whom I respect for teaching me some of the greatest lessons which are not taught in schools.

       Unparalleled on punctuality standards; he comes to office on time every time whether it is raining, flooding or  bandh. He  leaves office only after his boss  instructs him to go. Once I have seen the tension in his boss  who forgot to tell him to leave the office at 8 o'clock in the evening .The boss has forgotten about him in the midst of discussions. Like others , he too have his family, children and usual house hold problems. But never he brought any of his personal problems  to office or he has never told  any of his problems to  anyone for sympathy.   The speed at which he works is so remarkable that, another  senior officer  remarked to me that, I have to think twice before I put any paper in my out tray, because it disappears instantly. He clears the papers instantly  for despatching  to  its  destination.

       He does not speak ill of anyone even though everything happens in front of his own eyes. He has no grudge nor envy against anybody. He  can be trusted to the core. Another evidence to this  is that  another senior officer trusted only him to send  confidential couriers. His  luxury is his bicycle. He would  promptly despatch by going personally all the way  by cycling. He is an embodiment of ultimate honesty and trustworthiness which i s a very very rare commodity today.

       I feel sad  for one thing.  We have enough  rules to punish a an erring employee. But there are no sufficient  rules equal to the above to point out  when a deserving reward was not bestowed to an employee who is truly outstanding. Today though he has not been given the deserving   recognition, he continues to perform with same zeal.  He does not require any shark nor any bate to be like that.   Definitely  for me, it was an experience which cannot be forgotten. Achievement, position, wealth, qualification and fame takes a backseat in front of  this lifetime commitment  of this good man. Yes he is   one of the greatest  benchmarks  of personal quality.