Tuesday, September 29, 2015

LBS Diaries Part 10 - Attack of the Drone!

In those cumbersome days when one was made to study two optional subjects, my second one was Sociology as I thought it would be cool to study about the society I intend to serve. One of the chapters was about the research methodology and one of the portions dealt with how behavior of people changes when they are being observed in a social experiment. Lately, moving around LBS one could notice a team of media personnel who are probably making a documentary called "Being OT!". They have been taking pictures and video footage of nearly everything we have been up to.

And today we had the privilege of having them in the Polo grounds. And boy, they came in style. These guys actually had a drone at their disposal to take aerial shots of how the Officer Trainees of the 90th Foundation Course do their workout after being compelled to wake up that early in the morning. It is amusing how technology has empowered everyone. These days even kids own this drone kind of thing which flies and can be remotely controlled to take pictures and do territorial surveys meanwhile our armed forces like CRPF still struggle to get enough number of such equipment to deal with the difficult red corridor.

Given the presence of a camera hovering over the Polo ground, our PT instructor took the PT real seriously for the first time. His energy levels suddenly rose to such irrational levels which can only be equaled by Red Bull which gives you wings. As if that wasn't enough to attract attention, he went on to repeat the briefing he had given earlier regarding the forthcoming trek. He went on and on and on. So much so that our ears actually bled. I really love it when he goes into the breathing exercises and shouts at the top of his voice "Inhale and Exile". Yes yes, it is an Exile for all of us. Exile from the beautiful comfort of our cozy beds in this chilly weather.

As if the morning torture was not enough the cameras followed us everywhere. Even to our worst fears that is our Officers mess. Suddenly people displayed exemplary levels of Mess etiquette using all possible combinations of forks and knives even for the intake of Chappatis. There was relatively more silence in the mess, people were being more formal and quipped with manners. It is amazing to see how people would behave if they are aware of the fact that Big Brother is watching. That brings us to the very relevant question that what is morality? Is it the perception of what we think is right or what the society thinks is right? We tend to conform to whatever the social sanction points to. We are more concerned about the social judgement passed by the society at large.

Lastly, I would just like to mention something of a request to my colleagues. We all do realize that how lucky we have been to get this position in the echelons of administration. Now irrespective of who is watching and observing us, we owe it big time to the nation and to it's citizens. We must stop thinking about ourselves. We must only and only target the best we can do in this official capacity that we have been endowed upon. May the gods show us the right path. May we make most of this golden opportunity!


1 comment:

Prathibha said...

"Be ambitious only to do good." -- John Adams
Amen!