Clean-up Drive

It was late evening when my aunt rang up. “Hello” I said. “Hello!” she said. “I rang up to find out if you were also involved in the 'clean up drive' of your hospital.” “I am perpetually involved in keeping the hospital clean” I said. “I educate people who make it dirty in front of me. These people includes patients, their relatives, visitors, and hospital employees.” “No, I don't mean that. I am talking about the new drive that was in the newspapers yesterday and today.” “No, I was busy with my patients until half an hour past closing time.” “Is it true the head of the institute and leading doctors took up brooms, water pipes and cleaned up dirty floor and such?” she asked. “So I heard” I said carefully. “Do you think it will make people feel ashamed and make the sweepers work harder and people stop making the hospital dirty?” I started suspecting my aunt had become a journalist. Who else would ask such questions? “Since such senior people are doing this, it is likely to work. Would they do it otherwise?” I said. “Don't they find it dirty to clean up peoples' mess?” “We have to ask them” I said pointedly. “But when these three hundred doctors do the sweepers' work, what will the sweepers do?” “We have to wait and see” I said noncommittally. Either they would sit around and enjoy life, or they would do their work. They could even go on strike because someone else was doing their work and their job opportunities were reduced. Only time would tell what they would do. “Are these doctors going to do this menial work in their duty hours or outside their duty hours?” she asked. This seemed to be going on dangerous grounds. “I don't know” I said. “This is a voluntary activity and I did not volunteer. I have so much work that I cannot do this work.” “But they did it in their duty hours today, is that not so?” she said. “Um.... yes.” “Then who looks after their patients?” “They must be doing both the things” I said. “Do they always have so much time?” she must be really mad at our doctors, I thought. Otherwise why would she resent our doctors having free time? “And I read in the papers there are 110 vacancies of sweepers in your hospital. Why are those posts kept vacant while doctors have to do sweepers' work?” “Auntie, you really don't expect me to know the answer to this question, do you? I am just a doctor working there. This recruitment business is done by people in administration in the head office.” “OK. But I think you have 300 doctors doing this extra work with no extra pay up to 11th September, so that the deficiency of 110 sweepers is nullified at least until 11th September. In the meantime, the labor union will be losing face and public sympathy for making doctors do sweepers' work” she said triumphantly. That was brilliant. She was brilliant to have thought of it. If it was indeed true, it was a brilliant move. “Auntie, you are brilliant” I said. “You will do very well as a journalist. Have you started working as one?” “No” she laughed. “I do this to pass time pleasantly. Now here is my last question. Did they do a good job? Was the result better than that of the sweepers?” “Auntie, we will speak some other time” I said hurriedly “I have to go now. My other phone is ringing. I think the residents at the hospital want me.” I put the phone down before she could say another word.