Are you being listened to?
It took me one year to try and convince my own organization that it is possible, and that we can look beyond the short term, short sighted view of our mandate. It is not only about finding faults but helping them upgrade the system, and fight false excuses. For instance when people justify leakages arguing that salaries are low, I refuse to agree. Government salaries are fairly ok these days. And security of tenure is there! That level of confidence is worth the difference between a private and public sector salary. Especially as so many people have lost their jobs recently in the private sector, people realize the value of that security. These days, graduates of IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Bangalore are recruited mostly by the government sector! People are willing to live with less as long as they have the security.
So if pay is the problem justifying leakages, then those people should simply go to the private sector and get something for what they believe is their market value! Nobody forces them to be in the public sector.

At times of rough challenges, where do you find the energy?
I studied in economics a phenomenon called “challenge and response”: for me, the greater the challenge, the greater my response and motivation. If I am down and out for some reason, I actually feel I have to fight, forcefully. And I always perform better under pressure.
Each individual has a certain reserve of energy. I happen to draw that reserve at times of toughest challenges.
But again, even under pressure, I must find some degree of peace with myself. Then the best in me can come out.

... contd.