Santa Claus is coming along in time for Elections

There is an air of expectancy in this, our city. The Man from Madras Musings notes that everything is at fever pitch – road works, flood mitigation measures, meet-ups with the common man, the raking in of complaints for speedy disposal and so on. The other day, two rather suspicious-looking characters rang MMM’s doorbell and there being no one else to respond, MMM did the honours himself.

Several ‘With You’ pamphlets were thrust at MMM and he was told that if he had any complaints regarding civic matters, this was his turn to meet up with the great power in person and seek redress. MMM was then asked his cell phone number and adhaar card reference but MMM, not being that dumb, smartly shut the door without revealing either.

But on the day of the At Home, or At Work, or With You, MMM did duly manifest himself at the venue, only to find several thousand others had also done so. He therefore gave up all attempts at the cosy tete-a-tete that he had planned with the great power and contented himself with listening to all that was going on around him. And that by itself counted for rich returns.

Apparently, the State Government is on a recruitment overdrive, filling vacancies at all levels in all departments. And the numbers, by which MMM means vacancies, typically run into four digits in practically every department. You can imagine then as to how many people are joining government service. This kind of recruiting spree MMM was informed, happens once in five years, typically just before elections and that no matter who is in power this procedure is scrupulously followed. Which means when the great powers set out campaigning, they can happily claim that they gave employment to so many people.

All of this was conversation that MMM heard in scraps. What happens during the remaining four years he wondered. And he was soon illuminated about that as well. Nothing, it seems. Vacancies are kept pending, building up towards that great shower of manna in the wilderness just before elections. MMM did not unduly bother himself with the consequences of all this but those around were not so accepting of the procedure. There were better men than MMM around and one of the sages immediately pointed out the flaws in this.

According to this village elder, four years of no recruitment and then a sudden hiring spree spreads chaos in the executive branches of the departments. This long hiatus and then an overflow mean entire batches of people will retire with nobody to fill their vacancies as the next lot will be five years away in seniority. The next problem is that people from the same batch find themselves at various levels of seniority when vacancies necessitate out-of-turn promotions. And so, no work gets done. The AE does not obey the EE so to speak, for they were all hired at the same time, and EE when shouted at by the CE refuses to obey for in an undertone he mutters everyone knows how the CE became a CE. In short, chaos prevails in the long term. There is also the problem of training – huge batches mean an enormous strain on training. And there are no trainers as they are needed only once in five years anyway.

All of these serious thoughts were rather rudely interrupted by an official speaking to an assistant in what he thought was a whisper but which MMM could hear quite well. The With You meeting said the official, had to be wound up quickly as there was a VVIP constituency that needed to be covered the same day. And so that, was that.

Madras Musings, Far and Near

As you are all aware, The Man from Madras Musings receives email regularly from China, interesting him in a series of products ranging from gardening implements to road rollers. There have even been enticing offers for ­Madras Musings to collaborate on these. And of late, there has been interest from the US as well. Regulars will recall that there was a query on whether a musical could be advertised in the magazine. It has since got even better. MMM is delighted that there are now offers to send in content as the mail below will testify –

Hi madrasmusings.com team,

Hope you’re doing great!

I’m reaching out on behalf of our licensed U.S. partner, TwinSpires.com — they specialize in horse racing and sports coverage. We’d love to contribute a short, high-quality article to your site, with one helpful (do-follow) link included – either in a new post or an existing one.

No worries if you don’t cover betting content – we also work with brands in lifestyle, pets, crypto, and wellness.

Would you be open to this kind of collaboration? Happy to send a topic idea or follow your guidelines if you have them!

And if you manage or recommend any other websites, I’d really love to check them out too!

What makes MMM pause for thought is the sender is someone from a well-known pharma company! The promised content does not seem to gel with that, unless the medicines are veterinary in nature.

But MMM is not just for those abroad. That it is also read, albeit online, at Katra Abdul Gani, Uttar Pradesh was made manifest by this email –

Kindly, sir

I hope everything goes well for you. I am Sudhir Kumar, and I work for Rentrip, one of the best car and bike rental companies in India, as an SEO executive.
Rentrip is the company you contact when you need reputable and easy-to-use rental services. For further information, go to https://www.rentrip.in/, our website.

I have seen that everything on your https://madrasmusings.com/ website is well-organised, easily comprehensible, and really beneficial to people. I have chosen to guest post some useful information. I have no doubt that my work will be well received by your audience and that they will come in big numbers.

I will share my updated data with you if you approve and give me the go-ahead.

I guarantee that we will deliver an outstanding item that aligns with your outstanding content.

I sincerely hope you will allow me to post on your website, and I eagerly await your positive response.

warmest regards,

Sudhir Kumar
(SEO Executive)
Rentrip

MMM wonders if he should connect Sudhir Kumar to the Chinese company selling bulldozers. They may come in useful in UP.

– MMM