EVERY WORKPLACE AS OPERATION THEATER

“You cannot enter here. You have to wait from here,” says the nurse, as they took my wife into the Operation Theater (Delivery Room) for child delivery. Seeing my nervous movement, the doctor gave me a smile and entered into the Operation Theater. My status as husband didn’t qualify me to enter. My profession as Theological Professor does not hold any privilege to enter this restricted room. Common people and untrained medical workers are all forbidden. High status, power and wealth do not qualify a person to enter. Even an invisible agent (be it microorganism or germ) that could cause harm to the health of a patient is kept under control. This is purely a reserved room for the much help-needed-patient and those who are fully equipped to handle the matter. Any wrong movement with surgical instruments could complicate a patient’s life. A slight mistake could cost the life of a patient. Therefore, even trained doctors and nurses have to strictly follow certain food habits (such as avoiding drinking wine or taking any intoxicant) and also follow certain dressing habits (they cannot wear whatever they want to but only dresses meant to be used in the surgery room) as they work in the operation room. The patient also needs to give full cooperation with the medical team. It is the place where someone meets life and death every day. Certainly, Operation Theater is ‘the holy of the holiest’ place in the hospital where only fully trained and committed people can enter and work. The sole concern of the Operation Theater is to heal and to save life.

Coming back to the story again, 50 minutes later, the doctor came out from the Operation Theater, smiled at me and said, “Your wife has delivered a baby boy.” My uneasy feeling suddenly turned into an ecstatic joy. This incident took place at Olive Christian Hospital and Research, Dimapur. The overall environment of this Hospital is very friendly and healthy. The campus is very neat and clean. Daily devotion of hospital staff enlivens the weary souls. This kind of environment should be the standard of every office and institution. Doctors, nurses and manual workers work efficiently 24×7. They are very responsive to our call anytime. Their working ethics are excellent. At the end of the day, we are reminded that only if we treat our workplace as a hospital, our profession as doctors and nurses, and our office as Operation Room, there will be no lapse and negligence in our work.

For development and the betterment of our society, we need to maintain work ethics in our workplaces. What if the Chief Minister considers himself/herself as doctor and office as an operation room, will he/she not be more careful and dutiful in handling the administrative work? What if MLAs consider the Secretariat Office as an operation room, will they not respect it as a sacred place and show seriousness in their discussion? Their profession as policy makers carries the fate of the whole state. Will not our bureaucrats, engineers, contractors and officers respect their profession and office, work honestly and dutifully as if they are working in Operation Theater? What if all teachers/educators (both in secular and religious institutions) consider themselves as doctors and every institution as a hospital, and their office as an operation room, will they not work much better than now? What if all pastors/priests consider themselves as doctors and all the congregation as patients, will they not be more serious in saving the lost? If the pulpit is treated as Operation Theater, will not the preachers be more serious in preparing and delivering sermons? Will not the pulpit be respected and used only by those who are fully trained to handle the word of God? In whichever profession we are in, and wherever our workplace might be, we are working with God for the enhancement and saving of life. Moses met God in his workplace (wilderness) and a serious liberation movement to save lives began. Every profession and every working place is a sacred place assigned by God to each one of us. This demands commitment and dutifulness in our work.

We cannot be like doctors keeping alert 24×7.But each one of us has to give our best as we all are engaged in saving life in one way or the other. Learn from doctors. They do not keep their work half done. Patients must be healed completely. Many of us keep our work half done and even wait for bribes to process the file. We should give up the casual attitude in our work. Many came to the office for time pass spending the whole day playing cards, ludo, carrom, phone games and partying. Unlike hospitals, many workplaces remain very unhealthy with cigarette butts, betel nut and tamul stains in every corner of the room. Toilets and campus’ drainage get stagnant and stink. It’s time to change our mentality towards our work and our workplaces. As long as we remain insincere with our profession and disrespectful to our working places, every one of us will continue to suffer.