Nobody at work knew he was sick. Ambika Prasad arrived like every other day, a venerable old man of few words and regular hours. He had stopped being an errand boy decades ago. Hardly anyone knew what work was expected of him. If there was need for a precedent, or a happenstance had to be dredged up from the past, people turned to him.
"Ask Ambika-ji," colleagues would tell each other. "More useful than those service rulebooks gathering dust on the shelves."
At other times, he sat and copied documents through the day, even as typewriters rattled in fury all around. For one who never completed school, Ambika-ji wrote a fine hand, generations of bosses had commended. It had made him guard his turf with zeal.
Had he wanted to discuss his illness, Ambika Prasad would have a hard time deciding on a confidant. Early in life, his uncles had warned him about making enemies in an unfamiliar town. It had sounded grave and useful, what could be used in life, taught to the younger lot.
Ambika Prasad had gone to great lengths to abide by it, for it had turned out to be a difficult one to practice.
He could never afford an opinion. If others insisted on knowing his views, he made a quick headcount to see what the majority was thinking and agreed with them. Later, he would make it a point to inform the side lacking in numbers that there was much that was right in what they believed.
To make matters worse, fresh, enthusiastic officers would be asked to head the office from time to time, with a mandate to set things right. Ambika Prasad dreaded those types. One of them was Manas-babu, a lustreless anaemic with shoulder-length hair, who always leant against the steel cupboard while speaking to his staff. Manas-babu had got it into his head that unless an earthquake or communal riots were convulsing the town, all employees had to report for work at half-past ten.
The union was swift to respond: Go slow, it said. Reduce the pace of work.
A signature on a file could take days. Ambika Prasad dragged his feet at work and took loads of paperwork home to help the cornered Manas-babu.
He was found out and ended up being trusted by no one.
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