The Job

I don’t like my job in the government, never liked it to begin with. But what I like about it is the idea that I am doing a job that is, literally, a field job. A real job that takes me into the fields every time I move out of the office. It is a job that comes with dust, the hot sun, but no water, no food and lots of nothings. Sometime back I thought it would be great to tell about my job to those IT types in their airconditioned offices with canteens and those who whine that they are the only one who are slogging. But now after six months in the field, I feel like coming back to an office in the capital. I cannot take it anymore. There is too much hardship in the job. I am amazed how some of my colleagues are roughing it out and have been roughing it out for years. I too had done the same for some years but a stint in the office in the capital softened me. Besides, I am not very young to withstand the tough routine my job involves.

If the hardship is one reason then another reason is the general working atmosphere in the districts where I feel excluded. The field staff work hard and also work hard at relaxing. They gather and have parties that involve alcohol, gossip and other stuff I am not very interested in. I feel out of place amongst my colleagues who are ready to face any situation. I am not temperamentally suited for a job in the government. I knew that even before I joined the government. I had thought I would quit after a couple of years but now it is too late for me to quit after sixteen years. It would not be the most sensible thing to do, quitting at such a stage. I have no choice but to remain stuck and spend the rest of my years in this job. The only hope is the prospect of retiring voluntarily after twenty years of service, which we are allowed to. I have another three and half years to go before I can opt for it.

The most important reason influencing my decision to opt for an office posting in the capital is my family. This posting is keeping me away from my family for most of the week. I am getting to spend only Sundays and other holidays with my family. I miss my kid very much and sometimes I feel sad I am not around when he comes back from school. He is growing up and needs my help in studies because he is now entering high school. I don’t want to be away at such a crucial stage of his life. I hope some kind of a miracle takes place that puts me back in the capital.

Sometime next month, in May, we have a grueling two week program that involves visiting two or three villages to prepare the farmers for the coming agricultural season. It is just the first week of April now and the temperatures are in the forties forcing people to remain indoors or cover their heads when they go out. I shudder to imagine how hot it would be in May when we have to move from village to village. Besides the hot sun, we have to contend with lack of drinking water, lack of proper food and even if we do get some food, it will be at an ungodly hour when we will have to eat whatever the villagers provide us. Then there will be the prospect of facing villagers angry with the power cuts, the un-remunerative prices and everything else that makes them unhappy. If anyone thinks that the government employees enjoy in their jobs, they should see us at work in May-June in the villages.