My mind was crammed
with umpteen thoughts as I stepped into the nearest branch of our bank, for
some regular work. By ‘our’ I mean the bank that had been my father’s employer
all his working life and for which same reason, had been the place where I first
opened a savings account and learnt all the things a bank customer should know.
Yet, I was hardly keen to go to the bank, for it was not the friendly place a
bank used to be decades ago where customers were made to feel welcome. With the
number of employees having reduced thanks to VRS and other schemes launched to
downsize employee strength, those available grudgingly juggled jobs amongst
themselves and it showed in their service to those who dared to approach them.
Thanks to automation,
I managed most of the chores online, but my father who belonged to the old
school of thought still banked on (no pun intended) a bank statement to show
the various transactions. So in I went and approached the counter which showed
off a computer and was manned by a middle-aged man, hoping to get the
statement. For a change, the man seemed helpful and after a few queries, filled
in the necessary details into his computer and procured a printout of my
statement. To our disappointment, the statement looked distorted and the
contents unreadable to either of us. The man patiently fired another printout
and the same thing happened. He sought to share his ignorance of the job with
me, even as he clicked on the keys hoping for some miracle.
Having worked on
worksheets day in and day out in office, I had taken printouts several times,
so I offered to help, and very soon, I adjusted the settings in the banker’s
file and fired a printout which this time came out just the way we wanted. The
banker was thrilled and handed over the printout to me simultaneously thanking
me profusely. All of a sudden, the otherwise insensitive banker became friends
with me.
All around us, the
focus is on speed; our mails and spoken instructions end with ASAP (As soon as
possible) – write ASAP, respond ASAP, send ASAP and so on – quite conveniently
leaving out other aspects (human especially) like feelings and experiences,
because of which our life has become so mechanical.
My experience in the
bank keeps reminding me that I need to put the thrust on AMAP (As Much As
Possible) rather than expect everything ASAP. We hardly remember that the
teller, the maid, our neighbour or even a family member is a human being first
and a role later. I believe more often than not, people do AMAP however
challenging a situation may be, as we are basically good in nature.
An incident this
morning drove this point home much more vividly. A small pup insisted on
following a cart vendor on his morning rounds even as he was about to cross the
busy national highway beside which I too was walking to office. The vendor, in
a bid to avoid the pup getting into an accident, thrust it near a roadside tree
and crossed the highway, but unknown to him the little one followed him. At the
divider the vendor lifted his cart and stood alongwith it on the divider, waiting
for the right time to cross to the other side. Looking behind he saw the pup
holding onto the top of the divider unable to climb it as it was almost a foot
high.
What happened next
touched my heart. The vendor stooped down, picked up the pup and put him on the
cart, to cross to the other side altogether – himself, pup, cart and all !!!
To me, that was a
beautiful sight, for, the vendor didn’t seek to find the best solution to the
pup’s plight, atleast not instantly. He just did whatever he could to help the
pup – As Much As Possible.
Is that not what we
can do in every situation? As Much as Possible is going to be my motto
from now on. Life is bound to become better then, I am sure.
- Published in LinkedIn on 8th September 2015
