Why did they do that?

I am too tired to think straight today. Literally. I walked into a wall that has been at the same place for the last seven and a half years and hurt myself. I thought that it was a euphemism used by victims of domestic abuse and never believed anyone could actually do that.

I had three over-stretched days at work in a row.

I remember situations where it has been worse.

Where we had worked crazy timings but still filled in only eight hours in the official timesheet because that is what is official recorded. I know of managers who would make the team slog fifteen hours a day seven days a week because everything was urgent and critical and ‘had to go’ on the same day-no matter if there were a hundred completely valid reason why it could not be done.

As I moved roles and had more insights, I realized that so much of the unreasonable load was unnecessary. It existed because someone in the hierarchy wanted to show their efficiency.

A friend worked in U.S. team of a company which had an India development centre. They could delegate any amount of work to the India team and the project managers would always assure them it would be done in a sixth of the time. They would tell the team there is no option, we understand this is tough, but this needs to go today (and we do not give a fig if this makes you die tomorrow).

Why did they do that?

We were sitting in the compound of the Cellular Jain in Andaman. (A visit that needs a separate post) for the sound and light show which replays the screams of the Indian prisoners being tortured inhumanly by the guards.

Those guards were Indians. Why did they do that?

They wanted to please their masters. They wanted to prove their loyalty and stay relevant. Earn a few brownie points by ensuring they ‘exceeded expectations’ and get a few more bucks.

This is a very different time, a different world. But then, as Mrs Marple says, people are the same everywhere.