I often associate anger with fear. The more afraid you are, chances of you being short tempered are quite high, for any fear of misstep may trigger the short fuse, as a defense mechanism to protect one’s ego. On the other hand, the stronger your self-belief, the calmer you are, and it also imbibes a sense of compassion and empathy as well in the individual. For you to love and empathize with others, you need to have a sense of conviction about your own self and confident in your abilities. Without being self-assured it is not possible to provide assurance to others. All these observations are based on closely watching the activities of 2 people who literally mean the world to me. One is my sister and other is my best half. Both have same sense of duty consciousness and ability to impress by sheer perseverance and honesty. They have a nagging sense of idealism and are dead right honest to their work. Both have huge fan following amidst their respective org customers, who literally queue up to their counters for any support. Even when handicapped by language, their sheer effort and sincerity with which they address the grievances have already made them an icon on their respective circles and indispensable to their colleagues. Being professional can be inculcated in some while some may be brought up that way from their childhood. But having compassion and showing empathy are something that I believe are inborn traits that one develops, and both are exceptional in that front. But this post is not about either of them, despite such a long paragraph : )
There is a girl in wifey’s office whom anyone can figure out is not a normal kid in conventional sense. She is autistic and has several medical conditions that would test the mental stamina of any sane person. Even slightest of failures or mistakes triggers a panic stress reaction in her that causes rashes to appear all over her body and those rashes had to be literally scrubbed clean once the inflammation subsides. This kid has been fighting with this medical condition almost since her birth and in addition to these she has speech impediment as well!! When you see her sitting in front office, the first thought that would come to mind is, will she be able to manage my query? Why trouble her so let me check the next counter? But if you take a step back and imagine how she reached where she is, it will tell you a story of courage, fighting spirit and will to win against every odd that nature and god has thrown her way. She QUALIFIED for the job by clearing exam like any other aspirant. She is an undergraduate who has cleared all her papers without arrears. She does take assistance from her colleagues in understanding daily activities in her office and even the slightest mistake upsets her to the extent of triggering stress related rashes!! When wifey came home beaming saying that the kid got confirmed and cleared her probation window, we were all so genuinely happy that there could possibly have been a happy tear or two. That kid sees wifey as her mom and despite requiring a caretaker for even basic bodily functions, (special mention about that caretaker lady who has been such a divine soul that she has been with this kid all throughout her life and has taken care of her from her diaper kid days to being a damsel) how has stayed with her all her life, she considers wifey as one of her 3 moms alongside her biological one and her caretaker. At times when wifey takes leave, she literally cries in office and sends messages that she misses her. Credit to wifey for having not just made that comfortable but for winning her confidence and trust. It is hard to imagine, being in such a high-pressure environment, addressing raging clients amidst tight deadlines, knowing fully well that, had it been a different person, they might’ve had the ability to share some of the workload. It also requires immense patience to deal with kids and especially special ones, in such stressful environments.
I am super proud of both for who they are and how they go about their job. There are certain things that I cannot even imagine myself being in and having an opportunity to witness people acing such things aplomb only sends a sharp realization of the list of things one must be grateful for, that are typically take for granted.
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As for the girl in the office, she is likely to be a huge asset to the organisation. Its been my belief that people who have had some tragedy or a setback in their life, often make the best and finest workers in every sense of the word.