SHIFTING OF ZEROS

IT was an unusual day in the office.  By the evening the entire office had collected in the main hall to bid farewell to the departing Managing Director of the company, Mr. Chatterjee.  The officials had brought bouquets, gifts - ranging from wall clock to bronze Ganeshas, to present their gratitude towards him.  It looked a very quite tearful farewell party.  My heart sank too.  Mr. Chatterjee was leaving the organization after about 4 years of service as Managing Director of the company for a prestigious international assignment.

Suddenly my eyes stopped.  I saw my collogue, Mr. Damodhar, searching for an opportunity to touch the feets of Mr. Chatterjee.  As soon as he got the golden opportunity, like a devoted disciple, he completely bent his body and touched his feet.

Mr. Damodhar was crying inconsolably.  Mr. Chatterjee had no option but to lift him up and hug him.  What a union of two intimate souls !!!! But…. is Mr. Damodhar not the same person who gave a similar performance in front of earlier Managing Director, Mr. Sharma.  His dedication had the same depth and loyalty.  Yes, definitely, he is indeed the same Mr. Damodhar...

You name them what ever, but I call these people as SHIFTING ZEROS.  People who have no self respect, no self belief, who are opportunists, who are pretenders and who are real sycophants.  In nut-shell, people who are hypocrites.  To be more harsh, a breed of total opportunists people… the ZEROS..

This happens in almost all fields.  It be government offices, PSUs, private sector, schools, colleges or politics; nothing has escaped this net.  But what often comes in news is only the “Political Zeros”.

 

Let us try to understand these Zeros or shifting of Zeros..

The Zeros are Zeros and have no value of their own.  The ultimate round figure, which revolves around the sun i.e. their boss.  Their identity develops at the time they get attached to “ONE - 1” the “LEADER”.  When these Zeros are on the right side they enhance the value of “1”, i.e. the Leader – 1-00000.  The Leader enjoys the enhanced support and newly found status, the power, which is because of the `right’ support of these `Zeros’, who are like followers. 

The more the Zeros the more powerful is the Leader.

The problem occurs when these non-valued, non-performers, non-vibrant, non-committed, non-sincere, non-dedicated big Zeros shift their stand from `Right’ to `Left’.  They now not only completely demolish their own identity, of being exposed, but also try devalue the Leader.  The Leader again comes back to single status `1’.

One thing that does not change is the real value of the Leader, `1’, the individual value.  The Leader is still present and you cannot ignore and further devalue `1’.

The time passes.  The Zeros, quite known for their habit shift again, making a Leader powerful again.  The history repeats.

This reminds me of one incident.  I have seen many people sitting in the canteen pledging their loyalties to their bosses.  Each one has a reason to justify and believe in other.  One day one such boss simply issued a circular asking these Zeros to come on time.  One simple 4 line circular was enough to change the loyalties of these Zeros.  They did see the alarm clock in the office clicking 9.30 AM not before their loyalties shifting drastically.  The most admired boss became the most hated one.

But as you say, some one’s loss is some one’s gain.. The loyalties of these Zeros shifted to the boss of this boss and he became a new Leader, only as he himself never issued this circular.

You would quite see this in academic institutions as well. The professors lobbying with the students to bring down another professor or increase their popularity TRP.  Once the professor refuses to give some quality time to these students, their stand shifts to another professor.

The points is, can we deal with these Zeros ?  Can we actually pin them down ?  The reply is NO.  Their roots are too deep, I am mean till top.  You can only touch the branches and by just cutting the branches you actually conclude nothing.

The only way probably to control these Zeros is to divide them with their own numbers.  You may get a single Zero.  But my only worry is that in the entire process we may not end up creating a Leader out of these Zeros.

The irony of the matter is that “1” – the Leader needs Zeros more than the Zeros need `1’ – the Leader. 

There seems to be no end.....

(From the extracts of book `Me Within Myself’ )