Brown Coat
Waiting for my turn from the morning to evening. Freezing weather in
Delhi. Unfamiliar
language and unfamiliar people around. The boy finally entered the oval shaped
fully air conditioned illuminated interview room. Eight men well dressed and
seated around with the chairman at the centre. Before the boy could close the
door, there came the question in a thunder voice from the chairman ' Where did you get this coat ?. ' The boy dressed in a brown coloured
overcoat and a green coloured sweater inside [ His Father
was in military service and the sweater was
brought from military after his retirement.]. The coat was borrowed from a
friend in Delhi with whom he arranged
his stay. With all this, he might have
been looking like a comedian in a circus and probably this attire and the
appearance might have triggered that question from the chairman. ' Where did you get this coat ?.
The boy answered without any hesitation . “ I borrowed from my friend.'
The answer evoked positive response from the chairman and he told the boy to
take the chair and said ' I asked this question because in kerala nobody use such overcoats .' Yes ! I was that boy and my first Big interview. That day , that night,
That answer changed my life.
Today, What baffles me is not the answer I gave, rather the ability of the chairman to
pick up immediately the right question to ask the candidate in split of a
second to shake him thoroughly to get
inside of me. After 31 years of service in various positions and meeting
several people, I still appreciate that intelligent question as a CEO as far as
Human Resource Management is concerned. In my training as an auditor I was
told, Do not ask any closed ended questions or
leading questions, because you do not get the right answer. Ask the right
questions to get right answer. Probably the chairman asked the right question
and he got the right answer. Lord Jesus also told us 'Ask and you will get it'.
When we do not get the answer, we must understand we are not asking the right
question. In fact he used right questions to shut the mouth of unjust
opponents. Yes there also it was proved the right question elicited the right
answer -[silence ] from opponents.
Even
today, I Still ponder over that question. Will I give the same answer today if
the same question is repeated in a similar circumstance ?. No, It is almost
impossible to get such a candid open answer. The reasons could be many but
today it may not be the right question to a person with 31 years of experience
and held different positions. Probably such a question could hurt his ego and
can evoke a negative response.
Everyone
is born with an ego and it is like a balloon inside. It is empty and not
inflated when you are a child. That is the reason Lord Jesus said 'If you are
like a child, you could be a winner. But as time passes, along with
qualifications, achievements, position, power and recognition, the balloon
slowly inflates up with inert ego gas and lifts you up slowly from the ground.
If you do not realise this 'take off' probably you will not be able to control
your direction of travel later. Enlargement of balloon beyond the buoyancy
shall be arrested. Many tools are available. Among them, “Questions” also serve as a successful tool to
deflate this self healing balloon. Obviously In my case the question ‘Where did you get this coat ? ' is the most appropriate question. Every
time I ask this question to me, the brown coat pierce through the inflated balloon and in a split of a second the inflated
balloon becomes a useless rubber piece and gets grounded safely.
Today when I had a relook at the same incident I felt more than my candid answer, it is my father's blessing because he ( Late K.C Varghese ) was with me through his green sweater I was wearing. (Green military sweater belongs to him). On this day- Fathers day, I am reminded of this incident and rededicate my journey of life to him.