The Idiocy and Ignorance of 'Adjustment'

‘Swalpa Adjust Madi’ is a local dictum meaning 'adjust a little please!' Life in this country means making a lot of adjustments. 

The other day state government ran a two page pullout along with the regular newspaper, highlighting and self-praising its achievements. All government departments ran advertisements, each one having a common photograph of the 'leader'. Among this clutter, one ad caught my attention – that of the water works department. The appeal made by the ‘leader’ through this ad was interesting – he appealed to people of the state to stop using shower for bathing and instead use a bucket to save water. On second thoughts, why use even a bucket of water, we can have a pond dug in every locality. All people living in that area can then bathe, wash in that pond itself. Won’t this save even more water? C’mon, swalpa adjust madi!!!

Rainwater harvesting, water recycling that could actually save and conserve water have remained paper plans for countless years and are likely to remain so for another 100 years. But illegal bore well drilling (without concern for ground water table), theft of water remain rampant. Take Bangalore for instance. The city, once upon a time, had enviable share of lakes. Most of these lakes have either dried-up or have become huge drains or have become the dumping ground for 'after-festivities', years of ‘adjustment’ and utter neglect have struck a death knell for these lakes.

Common man is asked to adjust and I think we adjust too much. Extreme tolerance is nothing but ignorance and leads to poor governance.

For the last 11 months there is a water shortage in our apartment due to the fault in the bore well and irregular supply of corporation water. But our building association asks us to ‘adjust’. The solution lies in getting additional bore well drilled, but in 11 months all our association has managed to do is to get two spots paint-marked on the ground where probably new bore wells can be drilled. Temporary solutions like sourcing water from water suppliers also needs association’s approval. The association is run by three people and they decide the fate of all residents. If proactive people like us raise our concern or even offer to help (for example, to take lead in ordering water tankers) till new bore well are drilled, we are branded as ‘uncooperative’. Rest, who are ‘adjusting’ are the good residents.

Few days back an utterly tragic incident shook me up from within. What makes it even worse is the fact that the tragedy was completely avoidable. Two kids – a boy and a girl aged 7 and 4 years were electrocuted to death by a live electric wire that had snapped from the electric pole and was lying unattended for couple of days. The kids belonged to a laborer couple who had moved in to that area a few days back in search of new work. The electricity department failed to turn-up despite a report. 

After all it takes few days for electricity department to act on the report – they are ‘busy’! Till then residents in that area should have ‘adjusted’.

As per the newspaper reports, the little girl inadvertently stepped on the wire first and in the process of saving his sister, the boy was also electrocuted. The photograph in the newspaper of the mother clinging on the bodies of her dead children, refusing to give them away to be taken for post-mortem and last rites was heart-breaking. The mother, reportedly, did not utter a single word, just held the bodies of her kids refusing them to let go…The laborer couple must have toiled day and night to feed their kids. And now with both their kids dead, what would they live for?

But who has time to think about them or about their dead kids…eventually they will be also asked to ‘adjust’.

Leadership is not about ‘adjusting’ but about innovating,. Creating new ways, new means and new resources; and finding better solutions and not temporary jugaads.

Then expecting a certain set of people in leadership positions to bring about the change is a bad idea, for leadership is a role and not a position. The least you and me can do is to stop ‘adjusting’ and shun tolerance that is equivalent to ignorance.

An engaged society or an engaged organization is one where members are not pestered to ‘adjust’ but called-upon to maximize (resources), invest (in ideas), convert (problems into opportunities) and create (better and innovative solutions).