All is not lost for the pensioner!

A week or two back I bumped into a long lost friend who though in a mighty hurry even overlooked the office register's red line for a brief chit chat with me. As I moved along jostling in that pavement all too overcrowded, I was taken aback by what he had to tell me when I asked him how work was. But the shock was first momentary for soon I was into stark reality.

"Work," he shot back. "You know my story no. Let me be quite frank. I don't need to worry over my standard of English. I give the something to someone and get done everything," he added guffawing in fits of laughter.

While this NGO guy's salary runs into lakhs, bearing his work load is his neighbour, an old uncle to whom he pays a monthly Rs. 5,000 who even delivers the completed work to this guy's door step.

Everything these days is on a hired basis. Hired furniture hired killers, hired workers, hired purchases, hired women (incidentally the world's oldest hiring) and now even hired writers and what not keep the daily show going.

Yes, let's be quite open about it. On the rise are plagiarism and ghost writers while the second category is hired the first is best left unsaid. So not to worry, if you are worst off lacking in English language fluency, all you've got to do is to hire an old pensioner whose work output will be more than prolific provided the something is doled out which when coupled with his monthly pension not only would keep his home fires aglow but would also fatten the close by tavern owner.

Just imagine a couple of these old guys - children all married off what with only a crotchety wife at home - no pecuniary snags except what comes off her nagging!! What a wonderful way of spending one's sunset years!!

So don't worry over retirement. You could always be of service to someone who needs your services for therein lies merit. Never mind thriving on some others' ignorance!!! Merit boy merit.

We as a nation are great seekers of merit (pina). So why not have a go and help someone while he helps himself giving you something paltry?

Gone are the days come retirement, one's hair stood at end pondering over coming days. Today, retirement is a prelude to wallet expansion for the opportunities that keep coming one's way thanks to knowledge and language shortfall of those an service!

All these may not have been if not for politicization itself - not only party politics but politics at individual communal and societies levels as well. Contemporary times are fashioned by getting to know someone to get in somewhere which is also part of politics.

A sexual favour here, a couple of chips there, some expensive liquor battle elsewhere will obviously take you places, not to forget that kind of poster pasting, electioneering and the rest - all qualifications for future post placement.

Once in the hot seat why bother? Even though a nincompute you'll still have chances of getting some other to do the task expected of you - never mind whatever you posses - language incompetency, lack of knowledge, atrocious pronunciation and the like. Come retirement your extension is assured.

Be it post retirement service extension or retirement per se, luck is on your side and merit indeed for propping up those dumbos and intellectual dullards. Being an emerging trend in this country we don't need to challenge authorities that declare Sri Lanka as a failed state.

Significantly this feature has been around for a long time and certainly was not one that fell from the skies only the other day - the only difference being its increasing presence being felt with time's passage.

So when some old woman declares her son to be a position holder Eya Dan Loku Rassavak - hold it - there's always an old pensioner or an on 'the verge of retirement personality' who keeps the guy firmly implanted in that hot seat which then is not to lump the effectively functioning private sector into that category.

Private corporate ventures not being of a lackadavical nature is intolerant of ineffectiveness - a distant wail from the state associated sectors where nincomputes thrive. Their gratitude then is to the hired old pensioner out there though living in sunset years has the sunrise in his favour coming off system shortfall.

Just imagine what Sri Lanka's fate may have been if not for private sector involvement in national development not to miss out on what may have been to this country's benefit in the presence of an effective public service.

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