Accelerated Promotion

by K Jambulingam

ACCELERATED PROMOTION

I was writing the annual confidential report of government employees placed under me. Their performance was always satisfactory sometimes it was good and exemplary. If I write good and above remarks, the reviewing officer above me , would return the report and I had to substantiate my remarks. Then the officer agrees with me. Most of the times, the twenty employees worked with me, earned only their satisfactory report. 0nce my wife was away for the delivery of my child. She stayed at my village with her mother for as long as six months. I had to take the help of my masalchi. He was a young bachelor with a big family to support from his salary. When the time came to write his report I recommended for accelerated promotion. The reviewing officer caught me on the wrong foot. I did not have any proof to support my report .The result was that he earned an average report and I received advice to be careful while writing reports of that nature.

We had arranged staff picnic on the river bank and the water fall was a few hundred feet away. The staff and children enjoyed the swim in the river while the young officers settled with their beer near the huge truck. Everything was very enjoyable till the bees started their attack on the picnickers. Under a huge tree a group of people were preparing the picnic lunch. The aroma filled the air and the smoke from the firewood choola disturbed the bee hive on the top of the forty feet high tree. The bees thousand in number chased human beings, I saw a number of them above my head. It reminded of the film Bird by Alfred Hitchcock. People started running here and there. Some children got into the river one of the women shouted that her son in the river did not know swimming and someone must help him. No one could dare to jump into the river which was flowing towards the three hundred feet waterfalls. Before I could realize what was happening, my masalchi jumped into the river and saved the boy. Everyone thanked the brave masalchi and the mother gave him a bottle of rum. We returned to the unit. The commandant called me to his office and I gave the firsthand report of the picnic. The reviewing officer was briefed about the act of the masalchi. During the time of my report I recommended accelerated promotion for the masalchi in the existing vacancy of Cook. The reviewing officer simply agree with the reporting officer


Rate this submission

Characters:
Dialogue:
Plot:
Wording:

You must be logged in to rate submissions


Loading Comments