Initial impressions in the field

I used to think I would write my diary of Field training days. I have not been able to do that. But since I have started blogging again, I might as well put down some of my observations here before I forget them. My initial impressions after a few months in the field are quite sobering. The reality of governance is far more complicated than what the textbooks would have us believe. Every thing takes place in a particular political context. Also, there is only so much that a "one good man" can achieve since the issues are systemic and the response has to be institutional. Even the best of minds would find themselves constrained in this environment. And trust me, I have seen some brilliant minds in the public sector but they seem to have been held back by the inertia in the system. Yes I know all the lofty talk about how great enterprising minds carry the capacity to break the inertia and shake up things a little but it isn't all that easy. There is no time, no time in the field at least, for any of that. So much is happening so fast that all one ends up doing is 'fire-fighting' and not much thought is given to any substantial reengineering of the processes. Hence, the vicious cycle.

P.S. Some housing societies here in Gujranwala do not pay tax/duty on internal transfers of property. When the administration presses them, ironically that's when our sub-registrars get their transfer orders. Thank you ! 

Back to blogging ?

Ok so where to begin !

I have been away for a long, long time. I cannot pick up the thread from where I left because so much has happened in the meantime. So quick update : Circuit House Gujranwala is my new abode because yours truly is Assistant Commissioner (Under Trainee) here.  To be honest, I missed you. Those were simpler times when I would blog away my angst and insecurities. Every once in a while, I would review a book I had read. But then life happened and somehow, I stopped finding time for blogging. I was busy writing script of my own life or so I would like to believe. In the past four years that I have been away from blogging, I read less and wrote even lesser. I clearly seem to have lost the knack of writing. So forgive my broken disjointed lines today. My field training has given me the foretaste of what my job entails. It means less and less time for reading and writing. It means wading knee-deep(even neck-deep) through the muck of slow-moving government machinery. It also means putting in long hours of hard work trying to somehow strike balance between high expectations and low resources and even lower autonomy.Wait a minute ! Hold on ! Why is this beginning to sound like a complaint letter of a dissatisfied employee. This was my "dream-job" and it has not even started and I am just anticipating and I should not be so impatient. But you cannot blame me entirely. It has not been a good start. Just a couple of months into field training and I lost my first boss to very tragic circumstances of suicide. And then there is also this initial rude awakening after seeing the gap between theory of our youthful idealism and the complexities of everyday practical realities. I am ending this blog abruptly because I am finally feeling somewhat drowsy. This seems to work. Every time I cannot sleep, I will take to blogging.

Good Night 

P.S. Did I mention that these District Utships tend to be quite a lonely experience even if you are not in a distant district and even if you are not alone.