And then the Yellow Sun rose...

anxious...FIRED...shock...sadness...anger...REHIRED...joy

all this in a matter of 2 days. It is indeed the JET age.

When jet decided to relieve it’s 1900 or so employees, there must have been some thought-process behind it. The aviation industry is in doldrums. The firing was inevitable. But then Naresh Goyal decided to rehire them. Why? No one knows. Maybe it was political pressure. Or maybe it actually was that his conscience did not allow him to do so.

But then does that serve the purpose. By taking them in again he is only going to make matters worse for himself. How long are these employees safe? Judging by the current conditions, not for long.

And surprisingly, no one from the centre is willing to help him out here. He was right when he said that the aviation industry would do with some tax cuts. The petroleum minister, Mr. Murli Deora is however unmoved. He has his own issues. Naresh Goyal had apparently promised him personally that Jet would never default in paying their dues. And they did default, so as a punishment, he will not help him out here. So what actually happened? Did Naresh Goyal actually pinch his neck and say ‘Maa kasam’ while stating that he would never default. Maybe he used his left hand or maybe he just kept his fingers crossed. But then who is Mr. Deora punishing, Goyal or the entire aviation ministry.

On hearing the news of their firing, thousands of Jet employees, understandably distraught, dressed in blinding yellow, were out on the streets. It was almost as if the yellow sun had descended on to the grounds. They were crying, pleading doing whatsoever they could do at that moment. Meanwhile, the Raj Thackeray controlled MNS started putting pressure on JET to Rehire the employees.

And then the seemingly impossible happened. Naresh Goyal rehired all his employees with no pay cuts. He claimed that having a 19 year old daughter, which was pretty close to the ages of almost all the fired employees, made him change his mind. Raj Thackeray claims it was his efforts which did it. And now even Aviation minister Praful Patel is taking responsibility for the rehiring. What really happened one can’t say. Maybe it was a bit of everything.

The point being, this is not a solution to the problem, only a temporary fix.

Now, ridiculously enough, one of the other airlines has come with a scheme wherein it’s employees will have to take a 3-5 year leave without pay (LWP). Even Kingfisher is planning to axe a few hundred employees.

The yellow sun may have risen again, but we may soon see a red, blue and many such colours on the streets soon.

Touch Wood.