The anger that turned me into a Writer.
(A real Story)
I have been fond of doing something new in life, reading, and writing since childhood. While studying in class X-XI, did some writing work, but could not pursue it due to family circumstances. When I came to government service, there was no time to get away from the burden of work and family responsibilities. It is another matter that while in government service, I was appointed to some posts where writing was a part of the work assigned to me. But there was always a pang in my mind for not being able to connect with the common people through writing.
The feelings suppressed in the mind sometimes come out. The same thing happened to me too. I bought a specially shaped table and chair for writing from the furniture market. But due to paucity of time, they remained as they were for one year. After this, that climax of anger came into my life, which I turned into an opportunity to take my writing forward. It so happened that before going to the State Secretariat on a transfer basis, in the department in which I was working, my lien was secured as a result of being a permanent employee. After some time the post of Joint Director (Administration) fell vacant in that department, which was filled by the department by transferring a Head of the Department of Electrical Engineering from an Institution located in the field. Being the senior officer in my cadre at the headquarters level, I made a written request that based on seniority and administrative experience, I am entitled to this post, therefore I may be promoted to this post. But it is often seen that whenever a person leaves the department, he becomes a stranger to the departmental employees. They don’t want him to come back, fearing their seniority will be affected. Something similar happened to me as well. I was not informed about my request even after almost one and a half years passed. When a team of our department went to that department for a surprise inspection, it was found that the concerned file along with the application had been kept hidden. It was also observed during the inspection that the ratio of the number of officers to the number of assistants in the department is very high, which is contrary to the norms prescribed by the Government. On this basis, the work-study of that department was conducted and according to the workload, a recommendation was made to abolish some higher posts and create some lower-level posts. When this letter reached the department through the government, it was natural to react.
I was sitting in my office room. I got a telephone call from the Private Secretary to the Financial Commissioner and Secretary of that department. On picking up the receiver of the telephone by me, he spoke loudly in the Punjabi language:
‘Oye, Sharma! Would you behave properly or not? Sir is very angry with you. You will be called back into the department and be set right. All the officers of the department have come and stood before the sahib and are saying that you are troubling them. Getting them inspected every day and also abolishing the posts.’
We both knew each other for long. When I introduced myself to him, he said in a low voice:
‘O Sharma Ji, it is you? Sir is very angry. He will be writing a letter to call you back to the department.’
I told him that I had nothing to do with this work, nor was the staff that went on inspection under me.
On the second day, a semi-official letter was received from that Financial Commissioner in the name of the Financial Commissioner of our department. It was written in the letter that- ‘there is a shortage of officers in the department, so this officer should be relieved immediately and orders should be given to him to come to the department and report for duty immediately. The Financial Commissioner of our department called me and asked about this matter. I explained to him about the whole thing and said, ‘Sir, I have come on a transfer basis. I can go back of my own free will because of a lien in the department, but the department cannot call me back. Secondly, my employer is the Chief Secretary. This letter should have come in his name.’ A proper reply to the letter was sent to the Financial Commissioner of that department, but my heart was pained by this happening. During my entire government service, I worked very hard, honestly, and diligently, due to which all the officers respected me a lot. I also received several appreciation letters from higher authorities for my excellent work.
That day when I came home in the evening, there was a lot of anger and pain in my mind. I thought what would I gain by getting angry? It will be my loss. Why not take advantage of this anger by turning it into positive energy? After taking food, I took a pen and paper, sat on the chair, and started writing. Thus I turned my anger into an opportunity and wrote my first novel titled ‘Mera Desh’ in three months. This was the positive result of my anger, which brought me to this point of writing.
What I mean to say is that if we learn the art of utilizing our energy properly (time of skill and enlightenment) by not being afraid of adverse situations and bringing negative thinking into a positive sense, then any negative thing can easily be made useful. Human life is not a flat ground without pebbles and stones, on which one can walk without any fear. It is full of miseries. There is a need to walk thoughtfully and recognize your spiritual power. Anger can be controlled only by spiritual power and it can be converted into an opportunity.
*******
