many a times I have felt defeated in the work I do.. you think you have got somewhere and one ugly incident takes all sense of achievement away from you.. your first reaction is to say: were people better off without us..
Then you stop and think and realise that somewhere the incident is due to the fact that you are succeeding and that change and transformation is bound to meet with resistance and obstacles.. A recent incident led to my having to take disciplinary action against one staff member. it was to be a temporary suspension necessary to maintain dignity. To my absolute horror it has turned out to be a nightmare due to the meddling of small politicos by bete noire!
Instead of keeping quiet and trusting our ways, the staff in question fuelled by the mischievous advice of our detractors reacted – and the last nail in the coffin was beating up in public the woman who had thought it her moral duty to inform me of the bad mouthing and slander..
This of course has forced me – much against my will – to file a complaint with the local police station, as I cannot take the risk of another misplaced action on their part. It is the question of the safety of children and their parents as well as my staff.
The other side of the coin is that by this action, the dismissed staff has closed all possible doors. it is with extreme dejection that I learnt that she has now fallen prey to the ‘local unions’ that wait like sharks for any prey, not getting them anything but ensuring that a large chunk of a settlement they would have got anyway, would become theirs.
At such moments, it becomes important to hold on to what one has achieved and realise that one cannot change everyone.. but that one has to continue hoping. I must confess that there are times when one feel like packing up.. but once that fleeting angry moment passes, you realise that actually too many would lose too much.. so you swallow pride, anger, hurt, irritation in one large gulp, hide the dejection behind dark glasses and put on your clown’s mask.
the show must go on…
