Circa 2016.
HQ Eastern Comd.
There were a flurry of complaints against the quality of construction and repairs being carried out by MES. The magnitude was so high that it reached the ivory towers.
The COS asked for a conference of all stakeholders who have been facing these issues. All of them were asked to make presentations about their issues. COs/OCs were asked to give these presentations. Five minutes were given to each of these stake holders to gripe about their issues. And the CWE was also asked to attend.
The eventful day arrived. Around 35 COs/OCs came armed with their presentations.
All of them walked into that fifth floor conference hall, with fumes of cheap CSD air fresheners punching into their nostrils, thinking that they would bare the MES naked that day.
The CWE came. Found a seat for himself two seats away from the COS.
The COS walked in, like Caesar walking into the circus.
And the spectacle unleashed.
CO after CO came.
Photographs were flashed.
Fonts in red, blue and black blitzed.
There were broken ceilings, oozing sewers, squirting pipes, uneven stairs.
Seepage was ubiquitous.
As each presentation was given, the COS' eyebrow would crinkle a degree more. The lesser mortals were expecting blood to flow. Or concrete slurry. Something. But they expected something to flow.
But there sat the CWE, a civiliian, in his slightly crumbled white shirt and an egregious looking necktie, nonchalant. He had the expression of an iguana on a sunbath on his face.
It went on for two hours. Tea was served. Coffee was served. Samosas were not. No one knows why samosas were not served.
And at the end of those two hours, the COS turned to the CWE.
"CWE, what is this? Why are so many complaints coming?"
The CWE, in his crumbled shirt and egregious tie, stood up, and spoke in his thick Bhojpuri accent
"Sir, May I take two minutes?"
The COS nodded.
CWE on the floor.
"Sirs, there are two Lt Generals, 13 Major Generals and 27 Brigadiers in this HQ alone. And most of them are staying in appointment houses. Then there are other senior officers in the Area HQ too. Whenever there is a new incumbent occupying these houses, they want everything changed. Green oxide flooring in the living room, red oxide in the bedrooms, fixtures, false ceilings, concealed lights, ornate curtain rods. I,as the CWE, have to oblige. However these do not come under the funds that have been allotted for renovations.
If any of you expect this to come from my provident fund, please do not.
These come from the maintenance funds for your units. "
The silence that followed was so thick that a rat would not dare fart to break it.
Fin.