I am the kind of a guy you would not want to meet whilst at work. Firstly because I ask a lot of questions and secondly I don't sit quiet if I don't get any answers. So I haven't had it good whenever I pay a visit to a Government office in Bangalore.
Some years back mum had sent me to enquire about the water bill we received (we were charged around 3500 rupees instead of around 120 which was norm at that point). I politely went into the billing section and after playing musical chair in there finally got to the guy who was supposed to look into it. The first thing he spoke was "Its because you used so much of water" the tone of the reply best not described here. He was an elderly looking man so gave him all the respect his age deserved and requested him to look into our past bills and there he was telling me its not his job and making fun of me in front of all his colleagues. Now he had done it and I pulled a chair told him I was not leaving until he corrects it. After around an hour it was all sorted out (I am not going into finer details since it doesn't make pleasant reading)
Then it was taking a Demand Draft in the State Bank of India and the aunty at the counter was so busy discussing her daily routine that she accidentally forgot there were people at her counter. So I went over and told her that there are people waiting to which she responded "So What". I made sure she never talked about her daily escapades again @ work.
I think if you need things to change you got to take the initiative however stupid you might look in front of others.
Recently I wrote to my local MP in Bristol regarding some issues I wanted to raise. On a bigger canvas it was neither a burning issue nor was it something very important. But it was an idea, an opinion to improve something around you. I had a lot of satisfaction when I mailed the letter, I didn't hope anything will come out of it, but I had played my part, I had made myself heard.
FAST FORWARD 8-9 DAYS
I received a letter from the House of Commons thanking for my suggestion and that they will look into it. It was personally signed by my MP with the parliament stamp on it. It felt good, it always feels good if you are heard ! It made a difference to me and I am now going to continue troubling "those who matter" :)
- Sridhar Ramakrishnan
- About me? Thinking about it, describing yourself is such a difficult task and I am puzzled how some guys out there do it so seamlessly. I am what you can call a “Yours Ordinary Programmer” and come from an already overwhelming group of people calling themselves the “IT Guys". So here goes my space mostly with things I don't know why I wrote in the first place. For those who feel it is non-sense thanks for your patience and for those who feel its quite good thanks for sticking your neck out "Be the change you want to see" Cya, Sri
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