The Rain
Muzamil Hussain Halepota
In his richly sported dress, finely knotted tie, elegantly tied shoes and soberly worn eye-sight glasses, reclining in his chair, he was busy looking fixedly at his newly bought Rolex watch. The table was decorated with one multi-colored bouquet and some calendars and pictures; besides, there was a newspaper opened at the editorial page, some files piled over each other and some neatly set stationery. Moderately perfumed, the room brimmed with an aura of royal legacy. It was only two days earlier that he had been appointed as Assistant Commissioner at Mirpurkhas. It was his first posting after the completion of his training.
The Assistant of his office came running, “Sir, due to breach at the river bank abutting on our town jurisdiction near Digri water has engulfed the area.”
“Oh, no! What do you think we can do now?” he asked the Assistant not knowing what to say. He did not expect such grim and unpleasant news though he had expected the possibility of some damage to crops due to the Monsoon rains that had just set in.
“Sir, I have asked all the relevant staff to be ready. Some of them can be sent right now, if you order; others are there to accompany us. I have also asked the Town Police Officer to send us some policemen in case we need support.” The Assistant, who seemed quite seasoned in administration, tipped him off about the urgent things to be taken care ofand in a way guided his boss to the actions that needed his immediate attention. Having put himself across well, the Assistant left the room.
Real, professional life experience had knocked at his door for the first time. In fact, he was a novice in the field of administration and had known only what he had been taught in the academy before joining this town, for instance the books of law, like Code of Criminal Procedure, the Evidence Act, Revenue laws, and books on Modern Management including subjects like leadership, motivation, etc. He started to guesstimate the possible losses ensuing from the flood. Since he was supposed to administer the whole town himself, he was worried about the urgent and necessary actions to be taken. His boss, the Deputy Commissioner, could not be contacted as the phone wires had been out of order. There was no mobile network coverage in the town. He felt himself cut off from the whole world. For the first time he realized how handicapped he had become. The only silver lining in these clouds of ambiguity was his Assistant. He came out of his room and ordered the driver to turn on the jeep. Followed by others, including his Assistant, he left for the area reported to have suffered the inundation.
Amidst continuous rain he reached the site in around twenty five minutes. The regional officials from other concerned departments like Irrigation, Agriculture etc. were already there. Some of the officials started apprising him of the technical problems that caused the breach and suggested some measures to tackle the prevailing situation. He was much anxious about the damming of water and besides, the peasants and agriculturists whose crops had been ravaged and the people who could be rendered homeless in the plight. He wished to volunteer some suggestions, but his suggestions were more of bookish nature, he thought. He felt that the proffers they came up withwere more practical. But he did not balk at putting forth his own suggestions considering that whatever he studied should at least be drawn upon at this practical time. Initially he was quite uncomfortable with what he spoke and what he could not, but having heard their practical suggestions he thought it was a ripe time for him to learn from their experiences.
The Deputy Commissioner, the head of the district, came after some time to be a beacon for him. The boss realized the dilemma he could undergo, so he bucked him up, but advised him to get fully engaged in the scene to give results. He convinced him it was the opportunity for him to learn. He realized that the boss was encouraging and this soothed him considerably. The boss left after quite some time. Till the river side was embanked with a dyke, he thought of entering the flooded area of the populace to interact with the affectees. He could feel the muddy water spoiling his shoes, socks, trousers, etc. up to his ankles and sometimes even coming above close to the knees. His staff was already there to organize people. There was the onward surge of an angry mob. The residents of the area were quite furious at how the river bank had a breach. They complained cantankerously. Of course it was not just a hair-trigger temper; they had suffered terribly.He had no option but to listen to their complaints without much arguing. But he had to settle his nerves, carry the ball and speak to them.“But what to speak?” he thought. The crisis communications skills he had learnt at the academy seemed unavailing especially when there was unwanted water in the fields, people’s houses were filled with water, everyone standing outside the houses and he himself fully drenched in mud up to the knees. But he had to speak, so he started with whatever expressions came to him first.
All things done, he returned to his office late at night where he had to stay the coming days in his office to deal with any untoward situation. He realized he had done something, learnt something which could be difficult had he not drawn on his efforts practically. He cherished the idea of entering the muddy water, talking to the affectees, but realized he gave quite impractical suggestions to the Engineers. He also reckoned the mistakes he committed talking to the affectees especially when he exaggerated the support from the government to them. This mistake was intimated by his Assistant to him.
The next two days he passed visiting the area several times a day. He could not sleep sufficiently for these days. The food, medicines, clothes, water, tents, beds, milk, etc. used to be in one of the vehicles to be carried to those villages led by his vehicle. Now he knew the necessaries of life that could be of utmost importance to human beings in such situations. He had not considered medicines to be that important but they turned out to be important and realized how epidemics or other common diseases could spread during a flood. He came to know how people felt when they were rendered homeless. He had witnessed humanity suffering at the hands of nature.The privacy of people was a tiny thing compared to the problems they were confronted with. And he felt the importance of effective communication and crisis management in such a panicky situation. He realized that though books appear useless in practical life experiences, but in fact help one at some stage which most of the times the doer himself does not comprehend. He now practically knew that theory and practice were two separate entities, but not detached from each other. Abstract knowledge is of use in the practical life, but without real life experience that theoretical framework is totally meaningless.
But these two days taxed his mind a lot. His staff did work on his specific directions, but there was need of more staff to be engaged. The police department, which had to provide policemen for emergency, was playing hide-and-seek with him. The Town Police Officer, for instance, sent some of the cops at one time and then called them back on the pretext of some emergency. His subordinate staff started advising him to strictly deal with the policemen under his duty, so he did accordingly, but it counter-attacked. There came a time when he was left with no policemen at his service. He could realize it but remained silent though he knew everyone knew that. He felt embarrassed. In fact, it was his own mistake to have listened to his subordinate staff without perceiving that they had their own motives behind their suggestions, he thought. It was at least not an expression of leadership. Only then he realized that books helped him catch on his own weaknesses and take on the way the subordinates should be dealt with, especially the ones who did not directly come under his command.He convinced himself that whatever occurs, he has to depend on himself and do whatever his mind suggests, for dependence is a mere weakness; self-reliance is the only thing that supports man.
But before he could find some solution to this, he was informed of heavy rain that had shaken Jhuddo, an area within his jurisdiction. Having gathered his vehicles and staff he rushed towards the area immediately. When at home or with his friends he enjoyed rains and wished it rained a lot, but this time he perceived rains to be something afflictive, distressing and calamitous. The thing he considered a boon was approaching him as a doom, firstly causing the river to get overflowed, thereby causing a flood, and this time a heavy pouring that could have caused much damage to the area.
At last he reached Jhuddo after almost 40 minutes of drive. Their vehicle itself had suffered the blind and rough driving due to the darkness. Several hundred huts beside copious number of houses had been damaged causing three deaths. The residents of this area were in grave tension. Some of them criticized the district administration for not taking sufficient measures to prevent any mishap during the rainy season. Women were sitting outside their houses surrounded by children. He had already ordered his staff to set temporary camps for the victims of the rain. So he requested the residents to shift to those camps. The migration of people from their houses to these camps and the distribution of food, clothes, medicines etc. that he kept on managing were nerve taking. One moment he felt he did not know what to do in such a panicky environment, but the other moment things became clear as to what could be done. This experience taught him that there is no short cut to experience. Experience demands practical engagement. All experiences are not alike and even similar experiences render dissimilar results.Leadership is not one thing in itself; it has shapes; it can sometimes be democratic, but can be situational as well. He visited the house where three members of a family had been killed. In the meantime a person came holding a baby who had got one of her legs amputated from below the knee. This was enough to break him down. Now the tears gushed forth in his eyes. The heavy rain, in which he stood, hid his tears from getting known to the people. He did not think of his elegant dress, costly shoes, and especially the brass ring of his career and got practically involved in the solution of problems the public suffered from. He was no more a novice in the field of administration, he felt.
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