Our Probationers – Bond Beyond Professional Realms

I consider the most fulfilling period of my professional career, the three-year tenure as Director General of Forest in the Government of India. But, personally, my five-year stint as a faculty member at Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA) was the most satisfying period. Since all new entrants to Indian Forest Service (IFS) spend their initial two years at IGNFA I had the pleasure of interacting with everyone recruited from 1991 to 1997. My wife and I developed a special bond with them, which we cherish even decades later, with almost every probationer (officers under training referred to as probationers) of that time.

I bump into them once in a while in course of our professional engagements. And they always reciprocate with warmth which goes way beyond professional relationship. But, my wife shared an even better friendly relationship with them. She as a professional singer travels extensively all over the country for her stage shows but hardly bothers me with logistics arrangements. She would say, “We have ‘our probationers’ wherever I go and they are always more than willing to make my stay and travel comfortable”. I make futile attempts to correct her: “It is not appropriate to refer to them as ‘probationers’ as they are by now pretty senior officers”. She would brush me aside, “You don’t bother about that, they don’t mind and I am more comfortable that way”. Maybe she is right. In July 2022 Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change organized mid-career training for officers of the 1993 and 1994 batches and on their insistence, I was invited as a resource person for the programme. I was too happy to reschedule my prior engagements to attend. It was like reliving their days as probationers and mine as their Course Director! And they wanted me to consider them as my probationers.

In the past three decades whenever I have sought any help from “our probationers”, professional or personal, the response has always been prompt, enthusiastic and sincere. If I start writing about such incidents it would take the shape of a book. I would like to just narrate one such incident to establish what I am trying to convey: Alessandra, an Italian girl and a close friend of my daughter Ankita who stays in Frankfurt, Germany, visited India in 2017. She purchased three precious stones from a registered shop in Agra and left for Jaipur. She sent photographs of the stones to her mother for whom she had purchased those. Her mother promptly recognized that they were not genuine. A crestfallen Alessandra called up my daughter for help. There was hardly any time at hand as she had to catch a flight back to Frankfurt the next day, from Delhi. I thought it was a hopeless case, but still called up “our probationer” Ramesh Pandey who was posted at Agra as Conservator of Forests.

He immediately swung into action and contacted the shop owner who insisted that he only deals in genuine products. Therefore, Ramesh decided to get the stones tested by the gem promotion council through a friend. But, that would have taken at least a day to carry out physical and chemical tests to ascertain authenticity. He spoke to the director of the testing laboratory at Jaipur and persuaded him to get the test done by evening. Alessandra cut short her sightseeing at Jaipur and rushed to hand over the stones for testing at the laboratory around 12.30 pm. By evening, the laboratory confirmed that the gems including the emerald were cheap imitations. Immediately Ramesh confronted the shop owner with the report. After a bit of persuasion, the shop owner agreed to send a person to Delhi to take back the gems and return the money. The next day the gemstones were collected but money could not be handed over as payment had been made through credit card. Alessandra left for Germany. But, money wasn’t transferred to her account even after 15 days. Again, Ramesh swung into action and pursued the shopkeeper and the Bank. Finally, after one month, he got a message from a grateful Alessandra that money has been transferred to her account. She told my daughter, “I know in tourist places the world over people do get conned by unscrupulous elements, but I am really impressed with the way the system in India responded to refund my money.” My daughter was relieved as her country’s reputation was at stake and I felt so proud.

During my field postings in the State as Deputy Conservator of Forest (DCF) from 1986 to 1992, I mentored several IFS officers from 1984 to 1989 batches undergoing their on-the-job training. We also had a similar relationship with these officers. Rather, it was more personal as these officers almost lived like a family with us and we met almost every day. In fact, we have a similar relationship with officers whom I have not directly mentored. I recount one incident to highlight that. I had a very short tenure as DCF, Sambalpur, in 1992 and during which I faced a series of personal tragedies. In December 1992, I rushed to Cuttack for a medical emergency and had to remain on long leave. Vikram Singh, an officer of the 1988 batch was posted in my place. When I left Sambalpur, I didn’t have time even to pack my things and as such, I didn’t have any place to transport those. I requested Vikram to use my personal effects and not unpack till I had done some arrangements. In April 1993, I was deputed to IGNFA. Vikram packed my personal belongings and got those transported to Dehradun, without me having to go to Sambalpur even for a day. I am grateful to Vikram that he also helped and stood by me to overcome certain personal traumatic events during this period.

As per Robin Sharma, “The business of business is relationships; the business of life is human connection”. And I have always believed in humane connections.