Professor Jayadev, Principal-in-charge visited the department and was shocked to see the pathetic state of the lounge adjoining the rooms -around sixty  broken chairs, tonnes of garbage, cardboard boxes filled with papers and empty covers, badly damaged ancient printers and roller printers, rusty towel hangers, magazines, 70s calendars, partition boards, broken  notice boards, albums and hundreds of other nick-knacks strewn all over, with just a narrow walking space to reach the rooms. 

What surprised me pleasantly was that, he immediately rolled up his shirt sleeves and got his department students to remove chairs to his workshop to fix them and make them usable and distribute them  to the departments  and called up the Admin ministerial staff to find out what, of the papers, was important and not. Within an hour, everything was cleared and now, we don't have to jump over chairs and push the garbage aside to find our way to the department.

Whew...I'm glad valuable space is now available for academic purposes instead of being wasted as dump yards. And, but for the vigilant eyes of the Principal, this would've gone unnoticed, as it had, for the past five years. However, it is sad, that the sanitation staff do not take their work seriously and need to be prodded to do their daily work. If this is the case in a department, there is no wonder that the first year students always complain of untidy and unswept classrooms. 

Pro-active heads, who take quick and practical actions, are not afraid to take risks and are  ready to lead by example are needed to get the wheels rolling. In his stint at office, Prof.Jayadev has initiated a number of measures to allocate rooms for the first years; he has asked each department head to specify what they need for the department. He is accessible to students, goes on rounds and is in touch with the ground reality at the institution. 
The Office Automation Software, a valuable asset to the departments and the office, which had remained unused for the last two years, was once again given a new life, again, because the Principal realised the utility value of the software, contacted the software provider, arranged his accommodation and in a week, got it going at full strength. 

I'm really taken aback by  Principals who , heart of heart, through their long years as Professors and Heads of Departments, cherish a desire to transform and usher in changes for the better, for the institution. Maybe, that's how an institution keeps growing, when changes are for the good.