Babu Culture

'Babu Culture' roughly translates to bureaucracy. 'Babu' commonly refers to a clerk in Government Offices in India. More importantly this refers to the practice - a vestige of the British Legacy that we are finding it hard to shed. Unknowingly sometimes we even nurture it to absurd lengths.

Here is a sample:

There is a typical city in India where most of the people work in the offices who come to their place of work from neighbouring towns and villages. Babugiri (bureaucracy) dictates that all workers arrive for work in time . Sometimes, if trains by which most workers commute, are delayed the whole lot of workers get delayed to work.

However babu culture does not accept delays unless there is a written proof for being late. The culture has built in a scheming way by which if a train is delayed the Station Master issues a note affixed with the official rubber stamp of the station, the date and time, the name and number of train that got delayed and the length of delay itself. Delays are accepted only when such notes are produced by the workers to their management.

There is a small procedural problem. If a train gets delayed by, say 20 minutes, about 200 people in the train have to stand in a queue to get the note from the Station Master. Most of the people spend close to an hour or more standing in queue, so that their 20 minute delays are accepted. You imagine the total delay time if multiple trains are delayed.

The whole India works on this Babu Culture whereas the people who taught us this culture have learnt their lessons. We still thrive on Babudom. Long Live Babus.

The story is about 10-15 years old in the eastern part of India as retold by a friend of mine and is unverified. But several practices like this still continue in India.

Shoe Polish

I have a friend of mine. However, I don't like him. He can do something that I can never manage to do. He can keep his shoe shining and sparkling, throughout the day and day after day after day. You can never spot him with a blot in his shoe. It is not just one but both the shoes are spotless.

I feel very jealous of such people. Either they do something that I can never manage to do in my life or they do not do something that I do with my shoes.

If you are a guy who can see a small stone while you walk and have no impulse to kick you are the nerd with a spotless shoe.

If you can see a small pool of water on the road and get no inclination to splash it all over you can go ahead and have a spotless shoe.

If you can see a tree that just about snares you into believing you cannot climb it and you actually don't climb it, you can have a spotless shoe.

If you can see dust carefully heaped up by your neighbour and you still go on without jumping all over it, please have your spotless shoes on. I like it specially after polishing your shoes with a brilliant shine on the way to school on a Monday morning. It is also the best time to make your neighbour go crazy and to return the shoes to its original glory. Never mind the stern warnings from your school monitors.

If you can see fresh cow dung and walk right past without knowing if there are worms in there or not, spotless shoes are for you.

If you can compare others' shoe and you do not take pride in taking satisfaction that your's is the most worn out pair, spotless shoes are for you.

If you do not enjoy walking in soggy shoes, spotless shoes like you.

The greatest joy I get is when I am able to see my toes through the front of the shoe.

It is time for my father to get me a new pair of spotless shoe.

Water, Water

There is a wonderful town called Nanjangud - a town endowed with God's bounty. Lush, green and people happy with reaping the benefits of the land.

Just as any other place - once it fell into degeneration due to over exploitation and drought. One summer people started experiencing the cruelty of nature. It continued for the next few years and then it became really acute. The once harmonious people started getting angry, frustrated and demoralised. Their crops withered, the town's embellishments worn out, the town began sporting haggard looks.

The people gathered, thought it over and concluded that the Town Municipality has to resolve the issue and bring back the town to normalcy.

First a few people petitioned the Municipal Chief for water. After a few months they realized this was not going to work and intensified their agitation.

All the town elders formed a big group of the entire town and went to the Town Municipality Chief's residence to represent the matter.

When they reached the house, it looked forlorn. The chief's palatial house, once a pride of the town, looked deserted. No neatly trimmed bushes; No flowering plants and all fruit bearing trees bereft of even leaves. It seemed lonely.

Town elders took the long walk along the pathway and reached the entrance. The house seemed to be devoid of life. The Chief's mother was sitting at the threshold staring at the void.

The people's representative asked, "Salutations to you, Mother. May we see the Chief".

Mother replied, "May God bless you, son. May I know the purpose of your visit".

Representative said, "Mother - We need a solution to the acute water problem that we the town people are facing. We want the Chief to provide a solution at the earliest".

Mother pointed to backyard and said, "Go, son. You may meet the Chief at the backyard. He is drawing water from the almost dried well. He is planning how deep he has to dig further to draw water for the next year. I would suggest you do the same. We cannot change nature and it is better to plan and take action to alleviate the suffering".

And the people returned without meeting the Chief. All of them were puzzled as to why the biggest issue for the people a few moments ago was no longer there.

This happened many, many years ago and the town now is back to it's days of glory.

A real life incident as told by my dear friend Shashidharan A N.