Wednesday 11 February 2009

Brief but unforgettable interactions : Story of M

He walks in with an air of confidence. Looks at me and nods his head slightly acknowledging my presence, as he move on to do his job.
I sit quietly watching him. Absolutely amazed.

All I pay him is about Rf.150.00, and every month I pay that money happily.
Why ?
Because he was the person who offer a very important service for me. He was the person who threw my garbage for me every day.
The person we dismiss as the 'bangaalhu meeha' as if he is a lesser being attending to a lesser task. But in my eyes, he was a person worthy of a deep respect.

Again, what an earth for?

Because he never complained about how rotten the garbage smelt, how bulky and heavy the bag was, how mad he was that bits always lay around the bin but instead he was just interested in doing the task he was assigned . He was just interested in doing his job well, without complaints, making the others see from his actions that he definitely was the best man for the job and that he was capable of offering a service worth more than the money I was paying him.

This is what I see him do every day.

Meticulously he will remove the garbage bag, knot it , and wipe the bin clean with a cloth he kept for this purpose. Then he would sweep the spot around the bin taking care that everything was spotlessly clean before lining the bin again.

While he do this work, he is totally focussed, as if nothing else in the world mattered more to him but leaving behind a clean spot.
Once he finished , he will look at it with a certain amount of pride before he picks up the garbage bag and walk away with the same air of confidence with which he walked in.

Why is this interaction so unforgettable for me?

Because he taught me a very important lesson in life.

Work, what ever work you decide to do , it can be done with pride without boredom, with dignity and when done well, will be worthy of praise and appreciation.

No work is dirty , no man by the type of work they do is ever a a lesser human being and virtually anyone can give you a moral lesson you may appreciate for the rest of your life.

In my eyes, this person, was a very honest man, who paid attention to details, a man who loved and enjoyed his work, irrespective of the type of work he did, he knew how to do his job well, without complaints. I knew this quality would take him far in life....

How many of us can say so about ourselves?

How many of us go to office in the morning and waste our time, chatting, reading paper, playing games, gossiping etc???

How many of us make a dedicated effort to put in our maximum effort to the task at hand?
How many of us take our work as the most important thing, which deserves our 100% attention? How many of us perform the duties and demands required of our job with pride and dignity and enjoy it , without complaining or grumbling about it?

I am sure there will be many people who do more than they are asked to do too.

I often wonder about what will happen to our country if we all began to WORK with dedication and commitment, both in the private and public sector.

What wonders will occur if we got less bothered about just passing the hours at the office and stay focussed and become super stars in our work irrespective of the type of work we may have to do.
If our bosses would do their jobs well, and allow the junior staff to work without getting into power , personal or political struggles with them. ....! Ahem...some of us may say so? Ya....ya...

If the jobs are well defined and tasks are assigned as action points....with roles and responsibilities clearly defined......with incentives for honesty and hard work... ..YA....if only dho!

If the 'fannikolla'(sabotaging) , muvaziffun 'size ah kandaa ' culture can be brought to an end ....and everyone unite in our struggle to bring a better life for the people of our country.

So many IF's !!!!! Ahem!

Keep on dreaming??
Yeah. I will keep on dreaming.

Because there is something to learn from these little stories of determinations.

There are so many things that we need to change that its difficult to state where to begin.
Can we look at the labourers who do our dirty work with a little bit more respect?

Can we make eye contact with the person who meets you in the mirror everyday and say;' well , I did my job with total honesty , pride and gave it my best today?...and that I will continue to do so everyday?'

If we can achieve just this much and be able to say.....
"In my eyes I am a super star" it will not be long before you hear others echo the same about you!
hmmm?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Its a must in our society to observe and criticize. We all have judgmental eyes and ears. Everyone is more bothered by what others do than the task at hand. I feel its all because we live in a society that is too packed. Even the strongest will feel somewhat insecure when they are being observed.

Anonymous said...

Hello, I enjoy idealism as well.

But we have to admit that's a little too much to ask from a Maldivian.
We will always be superior to the "Bangalhi meehun". why? I don't know. They work harder than us, their language is much more developed than ours, they have a richer culture and history than ours.
...well, I guess even WE can't beat the Bangladeshi government on corruption :P.
But that's got nothing to do with its people.

Even so, I think I'll be a good Maldivian and choose to judge on baseless grounds instead.

Them corrupt maggots!

By the way, interesting blog.

Anonymous said...

Wow!!!
You taught me a wonderful lesson today. Thanks. It was something that had never occured to me. Never had bothered to to look closely. Reading that i kind of felt asamed of myself. There is so much more in the things we leave thinking its nothing. As for superiority we are same as them, only differece is in the status which blinds us. A person is a person no matter how big or small they are. The difference is they take pride in what they do,while we are too busy complaining. I'l try to notice the bangladheysh person who takes up my garbage & try to give the best at my work place without complaining for once.Its never too late to change. We need reminding and thanks for soing that. Cheers.

Maldiveshealth said...

Naaz,

thank you heaps for this post.i will make copies and give this to all my brothers and sisters.