V GANGADHAR discovers why we should thank the NDA government for removing the study of German from our Kendriya Vidyalayas thereby saving our long- standing work and business Culture.
It is too early to pass judgment on some of the most important policies of the NDA government. That should take a lot more time. But the recent decision of the Union Human Resources Development ministry, when analysed in the years to come will bring laurels to the nation and the concerned ministry. The removal of German will dramatically change the work culture of India and make India closer to its goal of being a super power.
Indians who had been to Germany, learnt German and worked there know what I am talking about. The work culture and ethics are totally different. Do you know that the average German worker spent fewer hours on his job than his counterparts elsewhere. Well, the Indian workforce is not far behind. But we in India, arrive late for work, take more breaks for tea, coffee, paan, office gossip, cricket commentary, passing the buck and so on.
Such details are shocking… The German worker who had studied German worked an average of 35 hours in a week, enjoyed 24 days of paid holidays yet had a high productivity. The last mentioned detail is not important. Ever since the new government took over, we are working 70/80/90 hours a week besides spending time on cleaning the office premises, the streets. The clock-watching era is over.
Today, men and women compete putting more working hours and achieving higher efficiency. Bureaucrats have risen to the occasion. They don’t walk but run from meeting to meeting attended by ministers, instead of the normal one-hour lunch break munch snacks throughout the day. As the HRD bosses proudly point out, we are not slackers like the Germans. Let them work fewer hours but we put in longer hours and do not take decisions unless every issue has been thrashed for hours together.
It is silly to argue that for a German, work means work. We are several steps ahead than the Germans. For us work is a religion. Because we are a secular country, we respect all religions. In September/October/ November we celebrated many holidays (Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Parsi, Jain and so on), keeping late hours yet putting in long hours in celebrating these holidays all the time humming the famous Beatles song, ‘It is a hard days night’.
The German approach to study and work is appalling. No face book updates, No reditting. No fooling the boss with false information. Very little conversation during work hours. Ha, what kind of work culture was this? Conversation, particularly office gossip stimulates the brain which may add to the increased productivity. German work culture and conversation rarely beat about the bush, we are told. Thank god, we don’t follow such a foolish attitude which could retard independent thinking and chit-chat in the office and make office work more stimulating. We may not beat about the bush, but we plant, nurse them and reap rewards!
Aren’t we all happy that we have educational and work system which stimulates the brain. So far development on this system was retarded by the presence of German in the Kendriya Vidyalaya. Now that it is removed, we are assured of rapid progress in education and productivity. Hail to the HRD ministry, hail to its dynamic minister. Three cheers to the HRD Ministry on observing the ‘Anti German Day’, now comes icing on the cake. In his future meetings with Angela Merkel, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will speak only in chaste Sanskrit.
(V Gangadhar writes satire, a special form of humour. Incidents and anecdotes in his column are
purely imaginary)
