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Puppet Show at Workplace



You want me to be creative wearing the rigid straitjacket you’ve fabricated. 
You fix the routine of my each day with sirens that bombard my mailbox.
You started as my leader and turned slowly,
Like a mythical insect drawing nutrition from some invisible god’s ignorance,
Into a gargantuan monster whose shadow bedevilled my footsteps
Wherever I went, whatever I did.
And you chastise me for not being creative.

Can a puppet be creative?

Epilogue: “Being creative means being able to relax into uncertainty and confusion.”  [Fritjof Capra, The Hidden Connections]

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  1. Anmol RawatJuly 15, 2014 at 12:52 AM

    Very well expressed and a good thought.
    Also love the vocab :)
    A puppet can't be creative :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 15, 2014 at 11:49 AM

      The vocab is directly proportional to one's emotions :)

      Delete
  2. ManiparnaJuly 15, 2014 at 8:32 AM

    Actually they don't have the right too..creativity is also measured in our modern workplace..a bit of this and a spoonful of that..Oh yes..you're creative..how dare you mix that spice without asking me ? darn your creativity !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 15, 2014 at 11:51 AM

      Very right, you are, Maniparna. Everything is measured today. Only the boss can determine how much of each ingredient is acceptable. In Maruti company, I heard, the boss decides when the staff can pee!

      Delete
  3. AnonymousJuly 15, 2014 at 9:05 AM

    Lovely unique side to an expression....creativity flutters wings

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 15, 2014 at 11:51 AM

      Glad you loved my creativity, though I'm also metamorphosing into a puppet. Is this a swansong? I hope not. I know how to redeem myself.

      Delete
  4. Anita SabatJuly 15, 2014 at 9:56 AM

    How true, Sir!
    How we stiffle creativity & then demand it :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 15, 2014 at 11:52 AM

      Especially in schools? You know it.

      Delete
    2. Anita SabatJuly 15, 2014 at 9:35 PM

      Yes Sir!
      Watched Taare Zameen Par yesterday again & my belief was reinforced...We need more creativity & allowing freedom to our kids to pursue their interests...

      Delete
  5. Rajeev MoothedathJuly 15, 2014 at 10:19 AM

    So very true of the corporate scene! similar sentements I had expressed in my poem"Employee in Knots"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 15, 2014 at 11:54 AM

      It's interesting (and more consoling) to know that there are a lot of people who find my poem relevant.

      Delete
  6. Kokila guptaJuly 15, 2014 at 11:30 AM

    Hmm... by venting out feelings... beautifully in verse ! creativity of puppets:)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Alok VatsJuly 15, 2014 at 11:41 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Alok VatsJuly 15, 2014 at 11:42 AM

    Nicely expressed Matheikal jee. Can a puppet be creative? I don't think so, and I guess this is the reason why companies are becoming less productive these days. I suppose, just because of all these only I wrote that post on why quitting job is becoming the option of serious consideration among young generation.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 15, 2014 at 11:56 AM

      Companies are converting people into robots - mechanical creatures who follow orders or instructions or programmes. Pathetic. I have seen schools where the authority/authorities have to sanction what kind of posters students can or cannot prepare!

      Delete
  9. UnknownJuly 15, 2014 at 1:35 PM

    This is for the first time that I have seen your poetic skills. A puppet cannot be creative. A creative mind is a free mind. If a person is not allowed to think and implement freely he would turn into a robot, a preprogrammed machine which can only execute instructions in a fixed order.

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    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 15, 2014 at 3:35 PM

      Poetry can come only from emotions, Namrata. I generally control my emotions. Or the emotions are not strong enough for poetry.

      Do the systems today allow people to think and act freely? Rigid structures are being imposed on workers in the name of quality control, profit, productivity, or whatever.

      Delete
  10. UnknownJuly 15, 2014 at 4:35 PM

    Truely said, Tomichan! Creativity and autonomy go hand in hand! Let it bloom and not restrict by instruction. Well written!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 15, 2014 at 7:11 PM

      Instruction is good and needed. But when, for whom, how much, for what...? Can adults be treated like children and ordered about? I quoted Dr Fritjof Capra in the epilogue. Let me quote him again from the same book: "A machine can be controlled; a living system, according to the systemic understanding of life, can only be disturbed. In other words, organizations cannot be controlled through direct interventions, but they can be influenced by giving impulses rather than instructions. ... intelligent, alert people rarely carry out instructions exactly to the letter. They always modify and reinterpret them, ignore some parts and add others of their own making."

      I come across management systems that want their employees to be unquestioning, unthinking robots. Follow the orders or get the hell out - that's the attitude.

      Delete
  11. Karan ShahJuly 15, 2014 at 5:38 PM

    you have hit the bulls eye with this...bang on!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 15, 2014 at 7:14 PM

      I can see that many employees today are in the position that Karl Marx described as "nothing to lose but their chains".... Frustration makes us aim directly?!

      Delete
  12. 外人, gaijin...an outsiderJuly 15, 2014 at 6:10 PM

    Very well put Tomichan Ji!

    It's unfortunate that not just majority of our schools but a large section of work environments also do not encourage free and creative thinking, and believe in 'following the norm'.

    Pretty sad utilization of what one should be ideally hired for: 'thought process and brains'. Following norms and standards does not mean that we should not question the status quo and look beyond what is...isn't that the only way to grow?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 15, 2014 at 7:17 PM

      Who wants the growth of the employees? The growth of the firm is all that matters. And if the firm's avowed goals and ulterior motives are different, then chaos ensues. Some choose to be robots, robot-hood is thrust upon some others, and a few manage to find their way out. OUT.

      Delete
  13. NishantJuly 15, 2014 at 11:12 PM

    creativity descends upon us, we cant descend upon creativity :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 16, 2014 at 5:00 PM

      You mean we can't ascend? :)

      Delete
    2. NishantJuly 18, 2014 at 12:43 PM

      when creativity descends we allow ourselves to ascend, it a mutual collaboration, not a single handed job :D

      Delete
    3. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 18, 2014 at 10:12 PM

      Right, buddy.

      The only problem is that it works in ideal conditions: Normal Temperature and Pressure :)

      Delete

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