It is a custom of the civic body to call an interim position holder as 'acting' position holder. 'Acting dean' and 'acting head of department' are examples of this custom.
I received a call from the personal assistant of the Acting Boss (the real Boss is on long leave) to ask if I would be available on two specified days.
"What is the occasion?" I asked.
The Acting Boss is going to be away and wants to know if you can fill in."
Acting acting-Boss? This was getting complicated. I could have said no right away, but there was no fun in it.
"Why not ask the person who is usually the Acting-Boss but is not Acting-Boss at the moment?" I asked.
"She is not available at that time" the personal assistant said.
"But why me?"
"You are the most senior person in campus" she said.
"I know. But I was the most senior person all this time when others have become Acting Boss. I am senior to the current Acting Boss too" I said. "Why am I thought of now?"
"Um... yes" was the best she could do. I knew the Boss could nominate anyone as Acting Boss, not necessarily by seniority. She must have known that too, but must have thought it prudent not to tell me so.
"I will be working on those days, but I don't want to be Acting Boss" I said.
"Huh?" she said. She probably could not understand why anyone would refuse that honor.
"If I wanted to be Boss, I would have applied to the public service commission long ago and become Boss of one of the civic medical colleges. I chose not to because I never wanted to. The principle would be defeated if I accepted to be an interim Boss for a couple of days. Besides, I am not suitable for that post. The Boss has to be politically oriented and willing to please higher ups and politicians. I cannot do that."
"But then we will have to look for another suitable person" she said miserably.
"Yes. But that is not my problem, is it?" I said.
When I recounted the story to others, the following responses were heard. I go on record that I do not endorse any of the statements made.
"I heard the Boss' secretary say that you should be the Boss. You would straighten out all that chaos and let them go home at the right time instead of keeping them until late evening" someone said.
"Good you refused. There is too much unnecessary pressure" another person said.
"You could not have made any extra money in just two days" another person said with a leer.
"But the canteen fellow supplies special food to the Boss. You missed out on that" a knowledgeable foodie said.
"Good for you. It seems for every topic there are two meetings. One is with the Boss' Boss. The proceedings of the meeting are of half an hour, but the meeting continues for two and a half hours. Then the same meeting is held by the Boss' Boss' Boss. The waiting period is two hours (spent outside the Boss' Boss' Boss' cabin} and then the meeting takes place over half an hour. You would have hated that" someone who had just attended a meeting with the Acting Boss and heard an earful said. "The Acting Boss says there is not time to work. All the time is spent on meetings."
"You mean there is no time to have a good time?" a sarcastic person said.
"You should have taken the post and made a large budgetary allocation for our department" a hopeful said.
"You should have taken the post and given memos to those nasty people" some aggrieved person said. I knew who those 'nasty' persons were.
"You should have taken the post and terminated services of my Associate Professor who is a pain in the XXX" someone said.
"You could have nominated yourself for Padmashree or BC Roy award" someone said with a grin.
"Thanks but no thanks" I said.
I received a call from the personal assistant of the Acting Boss (the real Boss is on long leave) to ask if I would be available on two specified days.
"What is the occasion?" I asked.
The Acting Boss is going to be away and wants to know if you can fill in."
Acting acting-Boss? This was getting complicated. I could have said no right away, but there was no fun in it.
"Why not ask the person who is usually the Acting-Boss but is not Acting-Boss at the moment?" I asked.
"She is not available at that time" the personal assistant said.
"But why me?"
"You are the most senior person in campus" she said.
"I know. But I was the most senior person all this time when others have become Acting Boss. I am senior to the current Acting Boss too" I said. "Why am I thought of now?"
"Um... yes" was the best she could do. I knew the Boss could nominate anyone as Acting Boss, not necessarily by seniority. She must have known that too, but must have thought it prudent not to tell me so.
"I will be working on those days, but I don't want to be Acting Boss" I said.
"Huh?" she said. She probably could not understand why anyone would refuse that honor.
"If I wanted to be Boss, I would have applied to the public service commission long ago and become Boss of one of the civic medical colleges. I chose not to because I never wanted to. The principle would be defeated if I accepted to be an interim Boss for a couple of days. Besides, I am not suitable for that post. The Boss has to be politically oriented and willing to please higher ups and politicians. I cannot do that."
"But then we will have to look for another suitable person" she said miserably.
"Yes. But that is not my problem, is it?" I said.
When I recounted the story to others, the following responses were heard. I go on record that I do not endorse any of the statements made.
"I heard the Boss' secretary say that you should be the Boss. You would straighten out all that chaos and let them go home at the right time instead of keeping them until late evening" someone said.
"Good you refused. There is too much unnecessary pressure" another person said.
"You could not have made any extra money in just two days" another person said with a leer.
"But the canteen fellow supplies special food to the Boss. You missed out on that" a knowledgeable foodie said.
"Good for you. It seems for every topic there are two meetings. One is with the Boss' Boss. The proceedings of the meeting are of half an hour, but the meeting continues for two and a half hours. Then the same meeting is held by the Boss' Boss' Boss. The waiting period is two hours (spent outside the Boss' Boss' Boss' cabin} and then the meeting takes place over half an hour. You would have hated that" someone who had just attended a meeting with the Acting Boss and heard an earful said. "The Acting Boss says there is not time to work. All the time is spent on meetings."
"You mean there is no time to have a good time?" a sarcastic person said.
"You should have taken the post and made a large budgetary allocation for our department" a hopeful said.
"You should have taken the post and given memos to those nasty people" some aggrieved person said. I knew who those 'nasty' persons were.
"You should have taken the post and terminated services of my Associate Professor who is a pain in the XXX" someone said.
"You could have nominated yourself for Padmashree or BC Roy award" someone said with a grin.
"Thanks but no thanks" I said.
