Happiness is a state of mind... and the punishment for sleeping at work...

For many of us, today is a Special day… a day that dawned with much expectations….. and when expectations run riot, it is difficult to match them.. !! ~ there are reasons to be happy… Happiness is primarily  a mental or emotional state of well-being characterized by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy; though some Philosophers often define happiness in terms of living a good life, or flourishing, rather than simply as an emotion.  There are simple persons in life, who live life as it is ~ taking things as they come… reads simple, but too difficult to follow !!  For many life is full of expectations, it is unending long ‘wishlist’…there are so many things that we desire to have ~ and many a times wish that we have, what others do not have…

For all of you, who achieved success and are moving to bigger milestones, Congratulations, feel happy and celebrate your success with your near and dear…….for others, who felt a bit desolate in not getting what they wished for, never allow dull movements in your life…….it is you who decides how happy you should be….even small things can add up to make you happy but nothing is big to dampen our lively spirits.  Achievements are accomplished by hard work, capability and recognition at the right time.  If somehow, people fail to recognize, it is not our fault…. One’s  pleasant demeanour should ensure that all around feel happy and celebrate your success.

So when you go home, ensure that you go with sweets [halwa] and perhaps with jasmine flower……….. here is a newsitem that appeared in BBC of date ‘on the mistake committed by a bank worker and the way it was treated’……….. by the German labour court…

The cardinal rule is that ‘people will be punished’ when they make mistakes and the penal action would depend on the gravity of the error. In banks, people are well paid and possess skillset for the position they hold ~ responsible for the volume of financial transactions that they handle.   In the instant case, a clerk  was to transfer an amount of 64.20 euros (£54.60)  [Rs.5000/- approx]; when he dozed off with his finger on the keyboard, resulting in a transfer of 222,222,222.22 euros.[Rs.1733 crores] ~ looks like a cinema comedy…how many can possess so many crores…. His supervisor also failed to check the transaction.

The Bank took action and the supervisor was fired for allegedly failing to check the transaction. The incident reportedly occurred in April last year when a tired bank clerk fell asleep at his computer with his finger pressed on the number two key. The matter went to Court and the 48-year-old supervisor, an employee at the bank since 1986, told the court she had not noticed the error and approved the transaction. Another colleague spotted the mistake later and corrected it. The bank accused the supervisor of not even verifying the clerk's work.

A German labour court has ruled that a bank supervisor was unfairly sacked for missing  the  multi-million-euro error of the colleague who fell asleep during the  financial transaction. Newspaper reports suggest that the Court heard that on the day of the erroneous transaction, she had checked 812 documents for mistakes, with most taking just over a second of scrutiny. The judges ruled that there had been no malicious intent on her behalf, and that she should have received a warning. As a result, they ordered the bank to reinstate the supervisor, saying her work contract could not be terminated.

Moral of the story.. : ‘you are not in Germany … and not all things get replicated in life’

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.

11^th June 2013.