“Suspend Kar Doonga!” – The New Headmaster of a PSU!
The worst part is that the meek/weak CMD of the PSU does not dare to question this executive
Newly acquired power can make the mind lose its balance. Give someone authority they have never quite experienced before, put the proverbial cane in his hand, and suddenly an entire office can start looking like a classroom full of errant students.
That, at least, is the subject of considerable corridor chatter in one major PSU, where an executive who has recently been given the additional charge of Director (HR) is reportedly making his newfound authority felt in a rather unusual way.
His favourite phrase appears to be:
“Suspend kar doonga!”
And apparently, there is no particular rhyme or reason to when it comes out.
From the beginning of the working day to the closing hours, junior colleagues are reportedly being subjected to the same familiar warning. Sometimes there appears to be a reason; at other times, the threat seems to arrive without rhyme or reason.
The frequency has apparently reached a point where employees could be forgiven for wondering whether they are working in a major public-sector organisation – or have suddenly found themselves back in school.
Enter the New Head Master
There is an old temptation that accompanies sudden power: mistaking authority for absolute control.
The proverbial cane lands in the hand, and everyone else begins looking like a potential troublemaker.
But a PSU is not a school. Its employees are not schoolchildren, and “Suspend kar doonga” is certainly not a substitute for leadership.
Suspension is a serious disciplinary measure, governed by rules and due process. It is not supposed to become an everyday threat deployed casually in the workplace.
Real authority does not need to constantly announce itself.
It does not need to intimidate.
And it certainly does not need to make junior colleagues feel that one wrong word, one wrong look—or perhaps no reason at all—could invite the suspension threat.
When Power Becomes a Personality
Because there is a world of difference between being powerful and constantly demonstrating power, that too without a cause.
An effective HR leader earns respect through fairness, judgement and institutional maturity. The office should not become a place where employees spend their day wondering when the next:
“Suspend kar doonga!”
will come.
Perhaps the grapevine is exaggerating.
Perhaps it is simply a tough management style being interpreted through the colourful lens of office gossip.
Or perhaps the newly acquired authority has genuinely brought out the Head Master in him.
Whatever the reality, one thing is clear: the corridors have noticed.
And now the question doing the rounds is:
