By N.K.A. Ballal,  Retd. Sr. Vice-President, ITDC

A cold storage in the US. They employ about 200 and Mary Hoppins was also one of them. She had regular timings and was considered a pleasant  employee. One day, at about  5 pm, she found some discrepancy in the records and went to check the packages in a deep freezer. By chance, the door of the deep freezer closed and she was trapped inside. By 5.30 pm,  most of the employees had left the premises and she was aware of this.

Mary resigned to her fate.  Nobody could hear her shout,  her body started  to get cold and she knew that she had only an hour or two to live. By 6 pm she heard the sound of the door opening. A security man stepped  inside, found Mary Hoppins unconscious, rushed her to the nearby hospital where she was revived.

Mary Hoppins called her saviour, the security guard and asked him curiously, “John, how come you came looking for me?”  He replied, “Madam, everyday morning when you come for your work, you are the only one who greets me by my name and you repeat the same routine in the evening too. Today, I realised that I had not heard your voice in the evening wishing me. And that is the reason I came looking for you.”

Simple story but this is true.  People working in the low positions like watchmen, waiters or room attenders etc., look forward sometimes to small and basic courtesies from their superiors which they always cherish.

I was working at Calcutta as a Deputy Manager. A Vice-President and two Assistant Managers had come for inspection from our corporate  office. I had placed all vvip courtesies like fruit baskets, chocolates, cookies, nuts etc., in the room of the Vice-President and not in the room of the Assistant Managers. My General Manager Kachru admonished me and said,  “Please treat all by the same yardstick.  Vice-Presidents when they come for inspections are used to these courtesies but Assistant Managers are not. They will remember your gesture for a long time and it will help you in your career.”  I did not agree with his views then but nevertheless did as his bidding.

Years down the line, when I became a General Manager, I realised the value of his advice. Meanwhile all the juniors who I  had  pampered also rose in ranks and became some Departmental Heads in their respective Departments. But these people never forgot the special treatment we had given to them when they were just juniors. Whenever I visited the corporate office, all my work would be done in a jiffy.

Now, of course, it has become  a habit for me. I thank every one who helps me out or gives me a service. I have noticed that  most of the people I smile or greet are ready to go out of the way to help me out. As I was writing this, I came across another story in my WhatsApp, which I thought I should share  with SOM readers. 

Air Commodore Vishal was a jet pilot. In a combat mission his fighter plane was destroyed by a missile. He however ejected himself and parachuted safely. He won acclaims and appreciations from many.

After 5 years, one day, he was sitting with his wife in a restaurant. A man from another table came up to him and said “You are Vishal sir! You flew jet fighters. You were shot down.” How in the world did you know that ? asked Vishal.

“I packed your parachute sir,” the man smiled and replied.

Vishal gasped in surprise and thought if the parachute had not  worked, I would not be sitting here today.

Vishal could not sleep that night, thinking about that man. He wondered how many times  he might have seen him and not even said “good morning”, asked how are you? Or anything because, he was a fighter pilot and that person was just a maintenance worker.

So friends, who is packing your parachute? Everyone has someone to provide what they need to make it through the day. We need many kinds of parachutes. We need the physical parachute, the mental parachute, the emotional parachute and the spiritual parachute.

We call on all these supports  before reaching safety. But we  fail to say a simple Hello, Please or a Thank You to someone who has a hand in making our day wonderful.

As you ring in this New Year 2020, start thinking about the persons who pack your parachute, people around you responsible for making you the man or woman you are at present — from your driver who takes you to your workplace safely everyday or to your Assistant who implements all your instructions. Your resolution for this New Year should be  to “Wish,” “Thank” or “Compliment” all those around you who make your life easier and better. Those who pack your parachutes as we say.  As Mary Hoppins found out, one never knows when he or she would come to your rescue !

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