When I was small, I used to look up to my neighbor who happened to be a civil servant officer. I heard that he was a gold medalist of IIT Kharagpur and a scholar chap. Later on, he decided to become a Bureaucrat and appeared for Civil services examination in 70s and got qualified it after 3 4 attempts. As a government officer, he was very punctual and ethical. In all the colony functions he used to take part as organizers whether it was a sports competition or Durga Puja or a cultural program in the colony. Everyday a white ambassador car along with a driver in his uniform used to wait for him at sharp 9 o clock.  Later on, he got transferred to different places and I lost the touch with him.

In those years, I secretly developed a desire to become a civil servant too. I grow up hearing that this is one of the difficult exam, as my family was not that supportive towards my career, and they would also like me to settle for a mediocre job, they never supported me well in this decision. They always used to tell me that in this profession, at some point, you have to listen to the ministers who might be illiterates, got elected on the basis of the support of the public, and it will be very disgusting to obey them in the wrong matters also. I almost forgot about this profession as the years passed. I became a chartered accountant and eventually  got a government job, which is one of the demand from my parents.

Now a days, when I see the civil servants, got the news that they deeds are focused on money making and personal growth and mostly not on the favor of the public, I feel like its better that I did not pursue this career. Now mostly civil servants, instead of focusing the objective , for which they have appointed, they have become a Instagram influencer of how they living a lavish life and their vacations, their fashion sense. Or in some cases, during this pandemic, some of the officers are so busy showing their power and some other officers are also following them. Last time I remember, these were the profession of the film stars or fashion designers or youtubers. Now it feels like the entire point of becoming a civil servant after years of hard work & sacrifice is to show off.

But, for some incompetent people, the entire profession cannot be criticized. I know there are honest, hard working and people centric officers who are still trying to keep up the importance of this profession and may all others will also learn something from them as well…..

We can only hope for the good…………….