A Job Description..

Two years back, I read a book from Shashi Warrier called The Hangman's Journal. One incident from that book keeps visiting me again and again. The Hangman of the novel has had an unusually hectic week. Though his usual average is a hanging every 3 months, this week just happened to have three hangings on consequent days. After the second hanging, he came home and found out that his pregnant wife had delivered. His hand goes out to touch the baby but suddenly stops. A thought suddenly strikes him," What if this baby is the person I hanged a few hours back".

Despite the very irrelevant fact that this incident is rooted in the Hindu belief of rebirth, what is particularly striking is the kind of situation in which this hangman finds himself. Which job in the world would push you in such a situation? And still, someone has to do the job . Since its that time of the year when job descriptions are flying around, lets try and write a job description to hire such a guy:

"Positioning the knot under the prisoner's ear is the most important part of the job. Getting the positioning exactly right and making sure that there's not a quiver from the rope except for that little jerk at the drop,when the neck breaks.Basic knowledge of geometry and Newton's law of Gravity would be an added bonus.

Should have demonstrated experience in shutting out difficult memories and checking the flow of sadness in toughest circumstances. Should be specially adept at facing the eyes of a man about to die.

The role would be of an individual contributor and expected work hours for the full year would not, in normal circumstances, exceed 100 hours( including making the noose and setting up other equipments).

Compensation and other benefits are amongst the best and fully negotiable. No prior work experience required."

Well, it would be really interesting to see how many people would apply despite the most excruciating circumstances they might be facing because of the lack of a decent livelihood. None the less, it definitely raises questions about all of us and the "civilized" societies that we have created around us,which still requires someone to do such a job. The job is to deliver the ultimate justice but who would deliver justice to this guy??