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A Short Short Story - Let us have a puff

 

A Short Story - Just like that - Let's Have a Sutta (puff) - Maybe a lesson somewhere ! Dinesh Kumar Kapila

This story has it's origins in a small office of NABARD, from nearly three decades ago, it was what is called a Sub Office. A small complement of staff and dependent upon the larger regional office located in the plains for the core work. then suddenly it found itself upgraded to a full fledged office but with no addition of staff. That would follow in bits and pieces. Meanwhile the former mother office delinked itself with alacrity and the officers at the newly upgraded office found themselves firefighting to just keep up with the correspondence. it was but natural bickering and frustration was there.

Now the head of the newly upgraded office was a cool, calm and a rather unflappable guy. He one day advised the officers, they were hardly six or seven of them, to stay on at a nearby hotel for drinks. There, once they were settled in, he gently told them to manage the show and he would accept delays but the bickering had to stop. By and by he took them into a story, in a reasonably sized town in Rajasthan, a trader was about to close it for the day. In fact, night was upon the city. He was just telling Ram Lal, his main salesman to fetch the locks for the shutters, that the phone rang. It was a friend informing him that a fire had broken out at his warehouse and the fire officers were on the way. He and Ram Lal immediately set about to secure the shutters but then the phone rang again, he opened his office to access it. Remember, it was the time of landlines. It was from the maid at his house informing his wife's was into labour pains. He told Ram Lal, close immediately, I will go home and you go the warehouse. They had just locked up when the phone again rang and repeatedly. well they opened up all over again. It was from his village, his Dad's health was deteriorating. Somewhat distraught, he thought for a moment, then told Ram Lal, get my damn hookah. Light it up, we will have a few suttas (puffs) and then only go. The officers sitting with the boss and quietly drinking, thought over this. And then the boss said, you are on the equivalent of a sutta (puff) today, the heavens have not fallen and they never ever do. Tomorrow is another day and we work calmly and that is how it was from that day.

End of the story !

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