All of us (Sagar, Jayanath, Sashikanth, venkatesh, Raju, Subbu, Chandra, Chakri, Pala, Mahendranth, Rajmohan, Nag, muthy and Praveen) were in different groups in Bhilai and started merging once we reached Durgapur. We had Andhra samiti and all of us were excited to go there and celebrate Ganesh Pooja. We were introduced to lot of new folks (seniors).. Sudhakar (he left the organization within 3 months of our joining), Bhavani, Goki, K S Rao, Sarma, Babjee, Satyanarayana etc….Bhavani was Andhra samiti’s secretary and was instrumental in collecting Annual/registration fees. Praveen seemed not interested in Andhra samiti and Chakri used to call him Independent man as that was his initial impression (was definitely wrong though). There was a guy named Nani and I was not sure why he used to visit us but was a regular visitor. He was charming, friendly, co-operative and was settled in Durgapur for some time. We used to ask him questions on whether there were any girls in Andhra samithi and how were they and how to approach them whether it was easy etc.. Fortunately he was always positive and encouraging. One day there screened a movie in Andhra samithi and all of us were looking forward to visit. Later there was this Ganesh pooja function during morning and evening. During the Morning pooja, we were introduced to Sachidanandam garu, president of Andhra Samithi, MS Rao (people used to call him Mikasur), Chari, Venugopal etc….All of us were looking forward for that event and especially Sarma, Venkatesh, Sagar myself were part of serving food to the attendees at lunch and it was sweaty.. Venkatesh told me that he was afraid that people would find all the items more saltierJ. In the evening too, we volunteered to serve dinner and then took a lot of photos while trying to grab the attention of some lovely ladies. For reasons unknown, on that day I don’t remember lot of girls coming to the function and when we enquired Nani, he asked us to be a little patient.
Andhra samithi was a very well organized association and brought most of Andhraites together. It has an office cum library in a 16-room hostel. There were lots of cultural and literary events organized every year during all major festivals/events.
The first of such a gathering happened to be during Sankranthi, with Rangoli, songs competition, Dance shows, funny games/events etc. Thereafter followed A FETE in February, Ugadi special programs, Ganesh pooja, Andhra formation Day, Dussera and Deewali. Besides all these, there used to be an annual picnic (during winter-Nov-Jan). This, along with some movie shows once in a while gave ample opportunity to all members to assemble, gossip, participate, win, taste some good food and make new acquaintances. They also had a monthly digest’ Andhravani’ summarizing the forthcoming events.
When our batch joined in Durgapur, we were invited to a party by Sudhakar. He also invited Bhavani (who was a member and secretary of Andhra samithi).
Later this news was published in Andhravani as though the party was arranged by Andhrasamithi. Sudhakar was upset with Bhavani regarding the party since it was his initiative and he had politely invited Bhavani as a friend. But the credit went to Andhra Samithi unfairly and he was not happy with it. There were a series of discussions over the incident, where some people supported Sudhakar”s attitude and some people criticized him for making a mountain out of a molehill.
Sudhakar used to be a very friendly, down to earth guy and was always in a very good mood. One day we were in the mess and he was talking about two individuals, Chakri and Pala. According to him, Chakri was a very decent guy. One day, Sudhakar gave a lift to Chakri on his way to the plant and Chakri was ready to be dropped anywhere in the plant as he could walk down to his department. He did not want to bother Sudhakar to take a different route to drop him exactly where he needed to go. He said” enduku bau neeku antha mohamatam… plantloki enter ayindai modalu.. nannu dimpeyandi nannu dimpeyandi.. nenu nadichi vellipothanu”
On the other hand, Pala, a heavyset guy, would also get a free ride sometimes but appreciated the offer only if he was dropped right in front of his destination. Sushakar recounted, “Now this guy, Pala, as soon as he sat on the rear seat, it was as though my horse had lifted its front legs. Moreover, he has no intention to walk even a few steps – he rather wishes to ride right up to his chair.” Then Pala, laughing good-naturedly, suggested that Sudhakar should get a kid to stand in the front to balance Pala. Then Sudhakar replied that it won’t be sufficient and he needs the crop from the wheel and axle plant that is cut out from the ROUND. Everybody enjoyed the leg-pulling routine and joined in the fun.
Coming back to Andhra samithi, people were of the opinion that our batch was a dynamic team which changed the face of Andhra samithi and brought most of the scattered andhraites together. There was a new momentum in the activities and people were interested to join the club.
I am sure; I will have two to three more bulletins on Andhra samithi as it played some important role in my life.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Durgapur Blues- JOT/SOT Invigilation/Evaluation
During our training period, our services were required to assist in the junior and senior OPERATOR trainee (JOT and SOT) exams-invigilation and correction. Most of the times it was for one task, but interested people can opt for both the tasks (both invigilation and correction) so that they are eligible for two compensatory leaves .We, especially south Indians always opted for double duty, as we were very far from Andhra and any additional leaves will help us to stay with our parents for a couple of extra days.
Either Invigilation or Assessment was mandatory though. So everybody was assured of at least one compensatory leave. But for assessment, they need more people and used to offer the additional comp off. Naturally, there was a competition among lot of people for double duty. Among all south Indians Raju and myself were always present for double duty. I remember how difficult it was for us to perform the double duty without committing any mistakes as it directly affected to lives of so many applicants.
A bus used to pick us up from the hostel and drop us at the examination centers (typically some schools/community centers). We used to assist the invigilators and represent steel plant. All the candidates used to respectfully address us as ‘sir’. We felt very proud for the different treatment. We announce the basic rules and see their reaction. We faced their situation before lot of times, but this is a different feeling to be playing the role from other side. All of us were very friendly and we kept everybody at ease. Once the exam started, we faced many problems as some questions were not printed properly, some answer books were not right. Some questions are fully omitted from a few of the candidates. They had very little time which they could not afford to waste. Unfortunately we had limited options and tried to provide quick fixes. We were sure that the exam was very tough (Frankly, I felt it is tougher than our Management Trainee exam) and nobody could score much. The problems in mathematics were extremely difficult and I was not sure how the examinees could answer such questions.
By evening all the papers were sealed in covers and handed over to the assessment centre (Our Training department and administrative building 7to 8 storied building). We were given a partner for correction (not known till last minute, it is like preventing people from collusion) .My partner and I were given the bunch of answer sheets and the key. We started correcting them, one person reading the answers and other person correcting it. Lot of people could not score much as we expected. But to our utter astonishment, there were people who scored almost 90 percent of marks. I was not sure how it could happen. Frankly we used to believe that there were lots of irregularities in the process.
There were various techniques used by candidates to suggest their identity so that some insiders can help. For example writing something different and marking some pages with some figures/pictures/symbols etc….
Once I Joined the Department (after successful completion of our training), we were asked by our non-executives whether we knew any trainees so that they can pass on some identity hints to us which they expect us to forward it to our friends (trainees) .As a matter of fact, one day during the assessment one senior executive entered into one of the rooms and asked whether we found any sign/symbol. In response, one of our Hyderabadi guys ‘Mahendranath’ strictly ordered the senior person to leave the room and stop encouraging any unethical means. He was not worried about the guy’s role/his status. I still remember and appreciate the gesture.
During correction/assessment, Sagar, Raju, Venkatesh and myself were part of one group. Sagar was reading the answers and all of us were correcting them. We had lot of fun and were urging Sagar to read faster. Raju said’ unable to wait for next answers … read faster….) .
Sagar was annoyed and said philosophically.. "arey, manamu life tho adukovaddu ra…” irritating Sagar made us laugh and encouraged us to do the same again, just to see his anger…
The correction task was tough and for people who were part of double duty. We were sleepy and had back pains and the target to complete so many papers seemed impossible.
I remember Raju saying’ in order to recover from these pains, we need to take 2 days off work.J
I still remember that the very first time that we did the invigilation, Nag, Praveen and I were part of it and we started from Steel house in the first batch. The bus dropped us at Training department. We had big chats during the morning time before we were taken to the examination centers.
After we finished everything, we missed out Nag somehow and Praveen and I discussed a lot during our waiting time for bus to return us at Steel house. We were excited and shared our experiences in excitement. We also discussed about his friends and my friends. That was the first time when I talked to any guy who was out of my network (Sagar, Jayanath, Sashikanth, venkatesh, Raju, Arun Jain, Shashi Bhagat, Subbu). Of course , I knew all andhraites by then, Chandra, Chakri, Pala, Mahendranth, Rajmohan, Nag, muthy and Praveen. On that day, though the bus was delayed, I was happy that I could make another good friend.Though our friendship(Praveen and mine) was very short lived,but was great.
Either Invigilation or Assessment was mandatory though. So everybody was assured of at least one compensatory leave. But for assessment, they need more people and used to offer the additional comp off. Naturally, there was a competition among lot of people for double duty. Among all south Indians Raju and myself were always present for double duty. I remember how difficult it was for us to perform the double duty without committing any mistakes as it directly affected to lives of so many applicants.
A bus used to pick us up from the hostel and drop us at the examination centers (typically some schools/community centers). We used to assist the invigilators and represent steel plant. All the candidates used to respectfully address us as ‘sir’. We felt very proud for the different treatment. We announce the basic rules and see their reaction. We faced their situation before lot of times, but this is a different feeling to be playing the role from other side. All of us were very friendly and we kept everybody at ease. Once the exam started, we faced many problems as some questions were not printed properly, some answer books were not right. Some questions are fully omitted from a few of the candidates. They had very little time which they could not afford to waste. Unfortunately we had limited options and tried to provide quick fixes. We were sure that the exam was very tough (Frankly, I felt it is tougher than our Management Trainee exam) and nobody could score much. The problems in mathematics were extremely difficult and I was not sure how the examinees could answer such questions.
By evening all the papers were sealed in covers and handed over to the assessment centre (Our Training department and administrative building 7to 8 storied building). We were given a partner for correction (not known till last minute, it is like preventing people from collusion) .My partner and I were given the bunch of answer sheets and the key. We started correcting them, one person reading the answers and other person correcting it. Lot of people could not score much as we expected. But to our utter astonishment, there were people who scored almost 90 percent of marks. I was not sure how it could happen. Frankly we used to believe that there were lots of irregularities in the process.
There were various techniques used by candidates to suggest their identity so that some insiders can help. For example writing something different and marking some pages with some figures/pictures/symbols etc….
Once I Joined the Department (after successful completion of our training), we were asked by our non-executives whether we knew any trainees so that they can pass on some identity hints to us which they expect us to forward it to our friends (trainees) .As a matter of fact, one day during the assessment one senior executive entered into one of the rooms and asked whether we found any sign/symbol. In response, one of our Hyderabadi guys ‘Mahendranath’ strictly ordered the senior person to leave the room and stop encouraging any unethical means. He was not worried about the guy’s role/his status. I still remember and appreciate the gesture.
During correction/assessment, Sagar, Raju, Venkatesh and myself were part of one group. Sagar was reading the answers and all of us were correcting them. We had lot of fun and were urging Sagar to read faster. Raju said’ unable to wait for next answers … read faster….) .
Sagar was annoyed and said philosophically.. "arey, manamu life tho adukovaddu ra…” irritating Sagar made us laugh and encouraged us to do the same again, just to see his anger…
The correction task was tough and for people who were part of double duty. We were sleepy and had back pains and the target to complete so many papers seemed impossible.
I remember Raju saying’ in order to recover from these pains, we need to take 2 days off work.J
I still remember that the very first time that we did the invigilation, Nag, Praveen and I were part of it and we started from Steel house in the first batch. The bus dropped us at Training department. We had big chats during the morning time before we were taken to the examination centers.
After we finished everything, we missed out Nag somehow and Praveen and I discussed a lot during our waiting time for bus to return us at Steel house. We were excited and shared our experiences in excitement. We also discussed about his friends and my friends. That was the first time when I talked to any guy who was out of my network (Sagar, Jayanath, Sashikanth, venkatesh, Raju, Arun Jain, Shashi Bhagat, Subbu). Of course , I knew all andhraites by then, Chandra, Chakri, Pala, Mahendranth, Rajmohan, Nag, muthy and Praveen. On that day, though the bus was delayed, I was happy that I could make another good friend.Though our friendship(Praveen and mine) was very short lived,but was great.
Durgapur Blues-Jayanth NameSake
Janardhan Karmakar returned from RMHC site for re-claimer capital repair work. On that day most of the important work from my department of Heavy Maint was over. I asked Janardhan whether he handed over the work to them. He nodded his head in positive way. I checked up the log book later to find the following interesting line
The work is complete and handed over to 'Mr.Jain' I enjoyed the comedy as I recalled my friend Jayanth (not Mr.Jain) from RMHC had later conveyed that the work was handed over by my team and that Janardhan was a very positive Charge man.
Frankly the name Jayanth was very simple and easy to pronounce, but some incidents (3 YEARS before the above incident and the latter mentioned below indicated that still it was not over yet) show that there was a serious issue with it.
Jayanth received his appointment letter in July and he was addressed as JAYANATH. Though it was a very slight mistake, we never thought it to be the beginning of a recurrent series of mistakes.
We had completed our induction training at Bhilai and were transferred to Durgapur .In our Training department we were supposed to sign the attendance registers. We were surprised to see one more modified version of the name Jayanth as
‘JAYAWANTH’ and this continued for almost a month. We started calling Jayanth by different names.
During our JOT/SOT invigilation/correction phase, we have to wait for our partners who were assigned to us only in the last minute. All of us were informed and Jayanth was shocked to see his name printed as
‘JAYAWTH’.
As expected, his partner found it difficult to pronounce his name and was unable to get to Jayanth as no body knew JAYAWTH. Jayanth anticipated the same and he made it to his partner in time. His name continued to be spelt likewise till he was posted to his department.
After a few months, we had forgotten the incident when one day Jayanth seemed extremely happy. We all asked Jayanth the reason for his sudden high spirits. He proudly showed his name in the mess register (we were having a self run mess and most of the hoteliers were members of it)
‘JAYANTH BELLARI’ (HIS FULL NAME WITH NO SPELL MISTAKES FOR THE FIRST AND LAST TIME)
The work is complete and handed over to 'Mr.Jain' I enjoyed the comedy as I recalled my friend Jayanth (not Mr.Jain) from RMHC had later conveyed that the work was handed over by my team and that Janardhan was a very positive Charge man.
Frankly the name Jayanth was very simple and easy to pronounce, but some incidents (3 YEARS before the above incident and the latter mentioned below indicated that still it was not over yet) show that there was a serious issue with it.
Jayanth received his appointment letter in July and he was addressed as JAYANATH. Though it was a very slight mistake, we never thought it to be the beginning of a recurrent series of mistakes.
We had completed our induction training at Bhilai and were transferred to Durgapur .In our Training department we were supposed to sign the attendance registers. We were surprised to see one more modified version of the name Jayanth as
‘JAYAWANTH’ and this continued for almost a month. We started calling Jayanth by different names.
During our JOT/SOT invigilation/correction phase, we have to wait for our partners who were assigned to us only in the last minute. All of us were informed and Jayanth was shocked to see his name printed as
‘JAYAWTH’.
As expected, his partner found it difficult to pronounce his name and was unable to get to Jayanth as no body knew JAYAWTH. Jayanth anticipated the same and he made it to his partner in time. His name continued to be spelt likewise till he was posted to his department.
After a few months, we had forgotten the incident when one day Jayanth seemed extremely happy. We all asked Jayanth the reason for his sudden high spirits. He proudly showed his name in the mess register (we were having a self run mess and most of the hoteliers were members of it)
‘JAYANTH BELLARI’ (HIS FULL NAME WITH NO SPELL MISTAKES FOR THE FIRST AND LAST TIME)
Durgapur Blues-Chakri's VoterCard
In Bengal Chakraborthy is title/last name/ family name. In south India we have it differently, Chakravarthy (spelt differently, rather correctly. Bengalis do not have letter ‘v’ so they substitute with B) is our first name/given name.
Lot of our folks wanted to have the Voter ID cards those days. Bengal govt was one of the first to introduce them. Most of us were enthusiastic about getting them. (Unfortunately, I could not do that as I was in Hyderabad during those days. People used to pull my leg saying, he works in Hyderabad, as it is head office, and he sometimes visits Durgapur, as it is his branch office).
Chakravarthy was hesitant on getting it done as he got used to being called Chakra borty by his colleagues and on railway reservation forms and by other localites. Unfortunately we failed to make Bengalis understand that, Chakravarty is a name and not the last name. They always insisted that he had roots in Bengal and they were sure that his ancestors were Bengalis.
Anyway, Chakri followed the crowd and proceeded to fill up the voter card application with capital letters hoping that they would blindly copy the correct spelling onto the actual card.
M.K.CHAKRAVARTY, fathers name M.V.RAMA SUBBA RAO.
In the meantime, I decided to jump on the bandwagon for my voter card. I went to the Congress party office in Benachity, near DSP employees Cooperative society and dutifully submitted the application to them. Not sure what happened to it. Chakri was worried that his name would definitely be mispelt. But we were assuring him that Chakri had done the smart thing by writing/filling the application form in CAPITAL LETTERS.
The day arrived when we would all be in possession of our Voter cards. Lot of our Bokaro hostel folks were not curious about their own voter cards but for Chakri’s card. All of us looked on with bated breath as Chakri tore open his envelope. As feared, the govt babus had not failed to do their duty. He was shocked to see the names and our loud laughter reverberated through the entire hostel.
Chakri’s name was printed as M K Chakraborty, but the better part of it was his father’s name, which was changed into VENKATRAO CHAKRABORTY.
God only knows how his father’s name was changed; probably they thought Chakri forgot to put the family name for his father. Later chakri and I tried to change it to reflect the correct name. We visited City centre office multiple times but in vain. Though it was disappointing for chakri, the incident always brings laughter without fail upon recollection. Some time I laugh out loud by remembering the incident and it ends in wistful tears ….I miss Durgapur and miss these wonderful people in my busy life.
Lot of our folks wanted to have the Voter ID cards those days. Bengal govt was one of the first to introduce them. Most of us were enthusiastic about getting them. (Unfortunately, I could not do that as I was in Hyderabad during those days. People used to pull my leg saying, he works in Hyderabad, as it is head office, and he sometimes visits Durgapur, as it is his branch office).
Chakravarthy was hesitant on getting it done as he got used to being called Chakra borty by his colleagues and on railway reservation forms and by other localites. Unfortunately we failed to make Bengalis understand that, Chakravarty is a name and not the last name. They always insisted that he had roots in Bengal and they were sure that his ancestors were Bengalis.
Anyway, Chakri followed the crowd and proceeded to fill up the voter card application with capital letters hoping that they would blindly copy the correct spelling onto the actual card.
M.K.CHAKRAVARTY, fathers name M.V.RAMA SUBBA RAO.
In the meantime, I decided to jump on the bandwagon for my voter card. I went to the Congress party office in Benachity, near DSP employees Cooperative society and dutifully submitted the application to them. Not sure what happened to it. Chakri was worried that his name would definitely be mispelt. But we were assuring him that Chakri had done the smart thing by writing/filling the application form in CAPITAL LETTERS.
The day arrived when we would all be in possession of our Voter cards. Lot of our Bokaro hostel folks were not curious about their own voter cards but for Chakri’s card. All of us looked on with bated breath as Chakri tore open his envelope. As feared, the govt babus had not failed to do their duty. He was shocked to see the names and our loud laughter reverberated through the entire hostel.
Chakri’s name was printed as M K Chakraborty, but the better part of it was his father’s name, which was changed into VENKATRAO CHAKRABORTY.
God only knows how his father’s name was changed; probably they thought Chakri forgot to put the family name for his father. Later chakri and I tried to change it to reflect the correct name. We visited City centre office multiple times but in vain. Though it was disappointing for chakri, the incident always brings laughter without fail upon recollection. Some time I laugh out loud by remembering the incident and it ends in wistful tears ….I miss Durgapur and miss these wonderful people in my busy life.
Durgapur Blues-Benachity the Market Place
We had couple of shopping streets(not complexes) in Durgapur. The closest one to Steel House hostel was a shopping street ‘Benachity’, where we never tried taking snaps or to record memories, but most of our shopping used to be from that place .It was around 2 miles from Steel House. We go straight to Durgapur Club and take a left to benachity. It was a real big 2-2.5 mile street(like Las Vegas’ strip) .You get book shops, sari houses , groceries , vegetables ,electronics , house hold items , furniture, ice cream parlors, hotels, transport communications(of course only STD in those days-No internet).,shoe shops etc… One problem with the street though, they are open only from 10 to1 pm/2 pm and closed for 2-3 hours. Then they are open in the evening . Most of the shops have somewhat lazy sales guys who are mainly recruited/allotted by trade unions. I remember couple of experiences where we tried to bargain items and the salesmen were angry/impatient and they asked us to go to another shop.Same situation in other shops too.We got used to the work culture slowly.One important thing that south Indians definitely remember was the Madras stores, it is one of the oldest stores and a Tamil guy was the owner.He used to get all the spices that we needed.He was multilingual.We really felt happy to see some body talking to us in Telugu.He was also the distributor of Telugu magazines such as Swati, Bhoomi , Film magazines(Sitara , Jyothi chitra etc..)His tore was also very close to the vegetable market .So it is like we get everything in that particular street itself. First day we landed in Durgapur, almost every gang (south, north, and east west. AGAIN IN South Telugu, Tamil etc…) was there and looking at the town .Benachity was real representative of Durgapur. There are mini buses from there (Prantika)to almost all corners of Durgapur. Benachity was very good as we get everything there. In those days (1993-August) we did not find many STD booths. There were two STD booths in Benachity to Biringi. We used to go to a place called ‘Prantika-Heart of Benachity’ and a decent restaurant. We used to have dinner there some times (mostly when our mess is closed-Saturday/Sunday). First we go to the STD booth (it is actually a big room where at least 20-25 people wait to get their turn).There was no queue as such. People wait there after they write/register their numbers. The guy will try to dial the numbers in order but, if u r unlucky your number is busy or connection problem, u need to wait again. Once we register the name /number, we go to prantika restaurant and order items and complete the dinner (Mainly one main course-Sabjee and Roti/Naan etc..)After we check out we go and check our luck at STD booth. In those days the pulse was also expensive .Raju who was the only married guy of our gang, used to call his Mavayya (wife’s father) and wife. He has not allotted the marriage quarters yet. Unfortunately though my parents at Hyderabad did not have Phone connection in 1993.So first three years, I did not talk to my parents over phone from Benachity.
Once, myself and Arun kumar jain went to benachity .Venkatesh, Sagar, Jayanth and Veerraju were also there but after reaching the first booth(near Pranthika), Raju registered his number(in line/queue) but Arun Jain was upset with the rush and asked me whether I can accompany him for his call to another booth(close to the end of the street-Biringi).We both started walking towards the booth and it was really far but we were close friends then and were talking about so many things. Arun Jain was a short, smart and possesses excellent Hindi and English spoken skills. He was from Hardwar and I was invited to his place and we were also discussing, planning about going to Purl also once. He also wanted Bhagat to be joined .There was another guy called Manish Gupta looks very similar to Arun Jain Short/Smart but ‘V’ shape face. For some reason I was not sure whether I wanted Manish as part of our group. As we discuss/plan things we reached the Booth. To our utter astonishment this booth was definitely different than the one at Pranthika. Definitely less crowded and lot cleaner. Arun registered his number and we were sure that our call will be connected and we will be done within next 20 minutes. The guy was dialing numbers and he connected a girl to her registered number. We were watching the girl (as we did not have anything else to do ), frankly there was no privacy. you go to a booth and talk in front of every body. This girl was in a very decent dress and she seems to be talking to her boy friend (though it is not uncommon during those days but not a very common thing as of Today.).We started paying more attention to her conversation. It seems she was asking her boy friend to be confident as he is worried, how to tell their parents about this etc… She was consoling him that she would be there in that city (her native place) and both of them could think about strategies on what needs to be done to convince parents and how to survive by getting right jobs and managing their lives(Like QSQT movie).But the guy was asking lot of questions. Though this girl wanted to end the conversation that guy was really worried and was not ready for disconnection. Finally, this continued for almost 15 minutes and she paid around 600 Rupees .It was a big amount for us in those days as we used to get Rs.3265/- per month during our training. We were upset after the conversation for couple of reasons, For making us wait for 20 more minutes and reminding us that we did not have a confident girl friend(Sorry.. we did not even have a normal girl friend).
Anyway jain finished his turn and we were walking back to Steel House. This time both of us were upset to the core (though did not disclose) and the distance also seemed more. We did not actively continue our plans of Hardwar trip, Puri trip etc… Just discussed about how frustrated we are to be away from parents and close friends back home.
Once, myself and Arun kumar jain went to benachity .Venkatesh, Sagar, Jayanth and Veerraju were also there but after reaching the first booth(near Pranthika), Raju registered his number(in line/queue) but Arun Jain was upset with the rush and asked me whether I can accompany him for his call to another booth(close to the end of the street-Biringi).We both started walking towards the booth and it was really far but we were close friends then and were talking about so many things. Arun Jain was a short, smart and possesses excellent Hindi and English spoken skills. He was from Hardwar and I was invited to his place and we were also discussing, planning about going to Purl also once. He also wanted Bhagat to be joined .There was another guy called Manish Gupta looks very similar to Arun Jain Short/Smart but ‘V’ shape face. For some reason I was not sure whether I wanted Manish as part of our group. As we discuss/plan things we reached the Booth. To our utter astonishment this booth was definitely different than the one at Pranthika. Definitely less crowded and lot cleaner. Arun registered his number and we were sure that our call will be connected and we will be done within next 20 minutes. The guy was dialing numbers and he connected a girl to her registered number. We were watching the girl (as we did not have anything else to do ), frankly there was no privacy. you go to a booth and talk in front of every body. This girl was in a very decent dress and she seems to be talking to her boy friend (though it is not uncommon during those days but not a very common thing as of Today.).We started paying more attention to her conversation. It seems she was asking her boy friend to be confident as he is worried, how to tell their parents about this etc… She was consoling him that she would be there in that city (her native place) and both of them could think about strategies on what needs to be done to convince parents and how to survive by getting right jobs and managing their lives(Like QSQT movie).But the guy was asking lot of questions. Though this girl wanted to end the conversation that guy was really worried and was not ready for disconnection. Finally, this continued for almost 15 minutes and she paid around 600 Rupees .It was a big amount for us in those days as we used to get Rs.3265/- per month during our training. We were upset after the conversation for couple of reasons, For making us wait for 20 more minutes and reminding us that we did not have a confident girl friend(Sorry.. we did not even have a normal girl friend).
Anyway jain finished his turn and we were walking back to Steel House. This time both of us were upset to the core (though did not disclose) and the distance also seemed more. We did not actively continue our plans of Hardwar trip, Puri trip etc… Just discussed about how frustrated we are to be away from parents and close friends back home.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Durgapur Blues-Tales of communication system
During my first 2-3 years of stay(1993-Augusttill 1996),there were only two STD booths in Benachity to Biringi. First we were used to go to the STD booth (it was actually a big room where at least 20-25 people wait to get their turn).There was no queue as such. People wait there after they write/register their numbers. The guy will try to dial the numbers in order but, if u r unlucky your number is busy or connection problem, u need to wait again. Unfortunately though my parents at Hyderabad did not have Phone connection in 1993.So during my first three years, I never tried to dial my parents from Benachity.
Anyway this continued for some time and we had a phone at hostel and I used to wait for my parents to call me at that number on all alternate Sundays during my first year’s stay and on all Sundays later. Unfortunately, from Steel house some of our seniors were making regular personal local calls ,from that number and my parents were getting a busy tone. But I think, I had the best use of the opportunity. I informed those people that I was waiting for my long distance call and requesting them for finishing their local call soon. Though there were some fights initially between some south Indians to localites (I remember one day Venkatesh was extremely angry on a guy and shouted a lot on him. That guy was our senior (of course, we never had any great respect for seniors unless they are from our own department).Some times, I used to get the call only after 1 hour of waiting for various reasons. But after the call I used to feel revitalized and recharged for next week’s chores.
Later our Boss Atul Kapoor got a connection and he offered e to use the phone(receiving).It was a great help to me and I was always appreciative of his help.The communication was becoming better day by day.
By the time my parents got phone connection, it was amazing; almost every 100 yards from our hostel till benachity/biringi ,there were countless number of ISD/STD/PCO booths. The booths were no more crowded. You reach the booth, dial the number and talk to your dear ones. The pulse rates were also drastically reduced for STDs. So we started calling our parents/close friends as and when we wanted. Especially after 7:00 PM it was half rate and 8:30 PM- 1/3 rate. After 11 PM it was ¼ pulses.
During this time some old timers (Durgapur senior citizens) were not happy with the fastest service they are getting because of the countless number of booths. Now they cannot chat (and meet people of similar mindset/habituated to have ‘Adda’) during their wait time before they are connected. One day, I was shocked to see the rush at a public booth on my way to Benachity (thru a short cut) where still the same old procedure of registering the number, 15-20 people waiting to be called and blaming the operator and the world as a whole and having ‘Big ADDA’ (where as there are at least 2-3 other booths which were at a stone’s throw distance). I immediately understood the situation though.
Frankly, all of were benefited to the core-especially ½ and 1/3 pulse rates. This also distributed the traffic. KS Rao benefited (or lost lot of money) by using ¼ pulse. He got engaged during that time (our 4th year in Durgapur) and we all shifted to Bokaro hostel (though Venkatesh, Sashikanth, Sagar, Nag, Jayanth moved to Tagore house). Myself, KS, GOKI, Praveen Chakri, Subbu, George, Sitaram, Sastry, Raj Mohan James, Sarma(he did not shift to our hostel but used to stay with us during his wife’s leave/absence ).
Everyday, sorry…… every night KS used to approach one of us for borrowing some money to call his wife (sorry, was not yet married) for hours together and used to spend Rs.300-400 during ¼ pulse. He was prompt in paying back his debts though, we all were praying god that he gets married soon so that he can start saving. He was irregular to office and used to take countless number of leaves (Of course I am also same kind but I think I only second to him).
Anyway this continued for some time and we had a phone at hostel and I used to wait for my parents to call me at that number on all alternate Sundays during my first year’s stay and on all Sundays later. Unfortunately, from Steel house some of our seniors were making regular personal local calls ,from that number and my parents were getting a busy tone. But I think, I had the best use of the opportunity. I informed those people that I was waiting for my long distance call and requesting them for finishing their local call soon. Though there were some fights initially between some south Indians to localites (I remember one day Venkatesh was extremely angry on a guy and shouted a lot on him. That guy was our senior (of course, we never had any great respect for seniors unless they are from our own department).Some times, I used to get the call only after 1 hour of waiting for various reasons. But after the call I used to feel revitalized and recharged for next week’s chores.
Later our Boss Atul Kapoor got a connection and he offered e to use the phone(receiving).It was a great help to me and I was always appreciative of his help.The communication was becoming better day by day.
By the time my parents got phone connection, it was amazing; almost every 100 yards from our hostel till benachity/biringi ,there were countless number of ISD/STD/PCO booths. The booths were no more crowded. You reach the booth, dial the number and talk to your dear ones. The pulse rates were also drastically reduced for STDs. So we started calling our parents/close friends as and when we wanted. Especially after 7:00 PM it was half rate and 8:30 PM- 1/3 rate. After 11 PM it was ¼ pulses.
During this time some old timers (Durgapur senior citizens) were not happy with the fastest service they are getting because of the countless number of booths. Now they cannot chat (and meet people of similar mindset/habituated to have ‘Adda’) during their wait time before they are connected. One day, I was shocked to see the rush at a public booth on my way to Benachity (thru a short cut) where still the same old procedure of registering the number, 15-20 people waiting to be called and blaming the operator and the world as a whole and having ‘Big ADDA’ (where as there are at least 2-3 other booths which were at a stone’s throw distance). I immediately understood the situation though.
Frankly, all of were benefited to the core-especially ½ and 1/3 pulse rates. This also distributed the traffic. KS Rao benefited (or lost lot of money) by using ¼ pulse. He got engaged during that time (our 4th year in Durgapur) and we all shifted to Bokaro hostel (though Venkatesh, Sashikanth, Sagar, Nag, Jayanth moved to Tagore house). Myself, KS, GOKI, Praveen Chakri, Subbu, George, Sitaram, Sastry, Raj Mohan James, Sarma(he did not shift to our hostel but used to stay with us during his wife’s leave/absence ).
Everyday, sorry…… every night KS used to approach one of us for borrowing some money to call his wife (sorry, was not yet married) for hours together and used to spend Rs.300-400 during ¼ pulse. He was prompt in paying back his debts though, we all were praying god that he gets married soon so that he can start saving. He was irregular to office and used to take countless number of leaves (Of course I am also same kind but I think I only second to him).
Durgapur Blues-Damodar River
Everyone was ready and waiting. Chakri was still getting ready . We all had another round of Tea. Out side the steel house there is a small tea stall where we all used to spend time waiting for our friends , Buses and most of the times ‘Just pastime’.
People slowly started getting irritated , Arun Kumar Jain started cribbing ‘ agar abhi hhi hum ek admi ko ane ke liye bolega tho bhi itna time nahi lagega’ . Arun kumar Jain and Sashi Nath bhagat were really getting impatient for two reasons, one, they were the only folks from North and other being Chakri was getting ready for 2 hours.
Since I was the organizer (was called a guide to Durgapur Darshan, frankly it was my first time too but I was always interested in seeing the places and used to capture the information as much as possible so that I can visit one day), I had to answer every body’s questions and handle their frustrations. It was during our first 2 months in Durgapur. I used to have one old camera (Yashika), we all visited lot of places in Durgapur. Suddenly we all saw Chakri running and rushing from his room wearing a red shirt. It was like a great moment for all of us as the waiting of our life time was over. We all got into the mini bus and reached Damodar River. There is a dam over the river and was built during British rule. It has lot of picnic points and Trees. The downside there is not much water as only 1-2 gates were opened. The river was called as ‘Sorrow of Bengal’ by some and ‘Sorrow of Bihar’ by others as there are lot of uncontrolled floods and calamities which ruined lot of families. We started taking photos. Suddenly, some one from the controlling room called us and asked us not to take the pictures of the dam. Those days were, frankly, not as restricted as current days but for some reason they seemed not liking us/group of youngsters walking on grass, shouting , taking photos etc… By then we already had taken around 10 photos.
On that day I never thought I will visit that place later so many times. Once we all purchased scooters, we explored lot of areas there (Dam).
On our way from Steel House to Damodar River, you first cross ‘city centre’ and then pass by an area where there was a hill. You cross CMERI and the road splits into two, as we reach close to railway station. One route takes you to railway station (from there you can go to Damodar river by taking right) another route will directly takes you to the river. But this route is really a great route as you drive on the pathway next to water/river and you run along with it/parrelel) and reach the Dam’s entrance where the other route merges.
Though I came with Chakri once, Goki once and Rajmohan once but there are multiple number of times I came with Praveen. Especially on Sundays. There are four to five places we used to sit/relax/chat/enjoy the dam, water and mother nature.
You can walk down the dam and can sit in the sand (gates were closed).I was doing my MBA 2nd year during that time and myself and Praveen visited that place and sat on the sand and were studying. He was reading some general stuff and I was preparing for my MBA exams. Praveen also used to bring his Speakers which he did purchase few days before and tried to connect them to his walkman. Definitely it was great time. It is winter and afternoons in winter, especially in Durgapur and at Damodar river used to be top class. You don’t feel cold and don’t feel hot.
Another place is, walk on the dam and reach other end, there were some cement benches where you can see the controlled water (lot of water controlled by 20-25 gates) and its peaceful sound. Power plant at a distance and extremely peaceful surroundings. Other than Sundays, this was never crowded. This place was good during evenings(till 8:30 PM). The water was not flowing but the sound of the water trying to cross the gate and gate not allowing it to flow down was really great. I remember one specific incident. One day it was around 7:30 PM and I and Praveen were chatting there for almost 1-2 hours, we just walked here and there and looked around for some water/snacks. There was a very small tea shop and this shop did not contain any thing. It was a very very small shop and we were little disappointed. That shopwala was also seemed not keen on expanding his shop as very few people visit that place. To our astonishment the tea tasted real good. I think the timing was right, mood was on and a very peaceful day without any tensions and responsibilities. There was always a sense of belongingness, cohesiveness among all of us. As we were far from Andhra and nobody to take care of. I think the days in Durgapur are the best considering many factors. While penning my feelings now, I strongly think, I should visit Durgapur again once (which I have been planning for the past 10 years).This thought is strengthening day by day.
When u r driving from railway station to Dam, you find a mini dam .This is fabulous, probably my best pick. There was a giant tree and you see the water running /flowing/roaring. This dam is probably the right canal of Damodar river which supplies water for Drinking and day to day usage. The water was so great that we never had water filters/aqua guards etc... We used to collect/drink water from bathrooms for all purposes. On the other note, as they had the abundant supply of water, the usage /wastage of water was also at higher levels. You can sit near the tree or walk to other end (there a re only 3-4 gates) and watch the roaring white waters, the large tree. This place was best for all seasons and all times of the day. After my marriage was settled I visited this place 3-4 times.
People slowly started getting irritated , Arun Kumar Jain started cribbing ‘ agar abhi hhi hum ek admi ko ane ke liye bolega tho bhi itna time nahi lagega’ . Arun kumar Jain and Sashi Nath bhagat were really getting impatient for two reasons, one, they were the only folks from North and other being Chakri was getting ready for 2 hours.
Since I was the organizer (was called a guide to Durgapur Darshan, frankly it was my first time too but I was always interested in seeing the places and used to capture the information as much as possible so that I can visit one day), I had to answer every body’s questions and handle their frustrations. It was during our first 2 months in Durgapur. I used to have one old camera (Yashika), we all visited lot of places in Durgapur. Suddenly we all saw Chakri running and rushing from his room wearing a red shirt. It was like a great moment for all of us as the waiting of our life time was over. We all got into the mini bus and reached Damodar River. There is a dam over the river and was built during British rule. It has lot of picnic points and Trees. The downside there is not much water as only 1-2 gates were opened. The river was called as ‘Sorrow of Bengal’ by some and ‘Sorrow of Bihar’ by others as there are lot of uncontrolled floods and calamities which ruined lot of families. We started taking photos. Suddenly, some one from the controlling room called us and asked us not to take the pictures of the dam. Those days were, frankly, not as restricted as current days but for some reason they seemed not liking us/group of youngsters walking on grass, shouting , taking photos etc… By then we already had taken around 10 photos.
On that day I never thought I will visit that place later so many times. Once we all purchased scooters, we explored lot of areas there (Dam).
On our way from Steel House to Damodar River, you first cross ‘city centre’ and then pass by an area where there was a hill. You cross CMERI and the road splits into two, as we reach close to railway station. One route takes you to railway station (from there you can go to Damodar river by taking right) another route will directly takes you to the river. But this route is really a great route as you drive on the pathway next to water/river and you run along with it/parrelel) and reach the Dam’s entrance where the other route merges.
Though I came with Chakri once, Goki once and Rajmohan once but there are multiple number of times I came with Praveen. Especially on Sundays. There are four to five places we used to sit/relax/chat/enjoy the dam, water and mother nature.
You can walk down the dam and can sit in the sand (gates were closed).I was doing my MBA 2nd year during that time and myself and Praveen visited that place and sat on the sand and were studying. He was reading some general stuff and I was preparing for my MBA exams. Praveen also used to bring his Speakers which he did purchase few days before and tried to connect them to his walkman. Definitely it was great time. It is winter and afternoons in winter, especially in Durgapur and at Damodar river used to be top class. You don’t feel cold and don’t feel hot.
Another place is, walk on the dam and reach other end, there were some cement benches where you can see the controlled water (lot of water controlled by 20-25 gates) and its peaceful sound. Power plant at a distance and extremely peaceful surroundings. Other than Sundays, this was never crowded. This place was good during evenings(till 8:30 PM). The water was not flowing but the sound of the water trying to cross the gate and gate not allowing it to flow down was really great. I remember one specific incident. One day it was around 7:30 PM and I and Praveen were chatting there for almost 1-2 hours, we just walked here and there and looked around for some water/snacks. There was a very small tea shop and this shop did not contain any thing. It was a very very small shop and we were little disappointed. That shopwala was also seemed not keen on expanding his shop as very few people visit that place. To our astonishment the tea tasted real good. I think the timing was right, mood was on and a very peaceful day without any tensions and responsibilities. There was always a sense of belongingness, cohesiveness among all of us. As we were far from Andhra and nobody to take care of. I think the days in Durgapur are the best considering many factors. While penning my feelings now, I strongly think, I should visit Durgapur again once (which I have been planning for the past 10 years).This thought is strengthening day by day.
When u r driving from railway station to Dam, you find a mini dam .This is fabulous, probably my best pick. There was a giant tree and you see the water running /flowing/roaring. This dam is probably the right canal of Damodar river which supplies water for Drinking and day to day usage. The water was so great that we never had water filters/aqua guards etc... We used to collect/drink water from bathrooms for all purposes. On the other note, as they had the abundant supply of water, the usage /wastage of water was also at higher levels. You can sit near the tree or walk to other end (there a re only 3-4 gates) and watch the roaring white waters, the large tree. This place was best for all seasons and all times of the day. After my marriage was settled I visited this place 3-4 times.
Durgapur Blues-Tales of Chakri's Scooter and Hammer mill
“Vasu, give me your scooter keys….” I turned in response to Chakri’s voice in our Bokaro Hostel breakfast ‘Adda’. I was in B shift (2PM to 10PM). Chakri told me that he had a flat tire and wanted to borrow my scooter as he was in general shift (7:30PM to 4:00 PM). I understood the urgency and immediately handed over my scooter keys. I can change the spare tire within 5 minutes, so it was not a problem.
Chakri’s scooter (WB40A7026) was bought a week before I bought mine (WB40A 7081). His vehicle maintenance was excellent during those days. He made sure that all the accessories were in place before actually driving the vehicle and used to ensure its regular/scheduled maintenance. To tell the truth, Chakri had decided on the scooter in lieu of a motorbike because he needed the reassurance of the spare tire, which was not possible with a bike.
We started playing our daily game of cricket (George, Sarma, Subbu, KS, Nag, Myself). At around 10:30 AM, we were done with the game and I was ready to change the tire. It was very difficult to remove the tire as all the bolts were tightly fixed. I requested Subbu to help me. He also tried a lot but finally he gave up. Sarma was our subsequent choice for this tough task. Sarma is a well-built, healthy guy. He was one of the most charming persons in our group and he never said no to anybody.
Sarma joined us and started rotating the spanner in the right direction. With his energetic efforts, he was able to loosen all the bolts. Subbu and I were balancing the scooter to assist Sarma’s fitting job. Both of us were cursing Chakri on why he had not done tire rotation IN YEARS.
Finally Sarma finished fitting the extra tire. Subbu decided to take the scooter for a trial run. I was surprised to see that and informed Subbu that mechanics did that once they had completed the repair works. We had neither repaired anything nor was Subbu a mechanic. Even before I could finish my sentence, Subbu had started the scooter and taken it a little further. He did not even go beyond the gates and stopped, saying that there was still some problem with the vehicle. Upon closer observation, we found the problem to be that
“The front wheel had the flat tire and we had replaced the rear tire”.
All of us were in shock, then burst into laughter and started blaming one another for working on the back tire. Subbu was of the opinion that it was very easy to change the front tire and solved the problem in a jiffy. Anyway, Chakri was the subject of ridicule for some more time since it was most unusual to have a flat tire problem in the front wheel. When I recounted this tale to Sarma in 2000, during my stay in Omaha and had tracked down his contact details, we laughed hysterically one more time. It also reminded us of another hilarious incident.
Later that day, I went to work (B shift). I regaled my Bosses and colleagues there with what had happened earlier in the day and almost all of us forgot the office etiquette and burst into an uncontrolled bout of loud laughter. I was in a department called ‘heavy maintenance ‘which does a central mechanical maintenance for Durgapur Steel Plant. Our Boss Jhaji was a very charming person and he is a senior ‘promotee’ officer. He was always down to earth and never was a believer of hierarchy. After listening to our story ‘according to Heavy maintenance standards you have done the right thing”, he recalled another incident (official). Once ‘Heavy maintenance’ was called to perform a replacement work in Hammer mill .The building was huge (3-4 floors) and it housed two hammer mills, one in use and another standby. We were asked to replace the defective one. We reached the site and there was nobody at the site to show us the job on that day. All non-executives waited for some time and became impatient and started saying ‘ humko itna door laake aap officer log harass karthe hai’ .Then Jhaji(under pressure) instructed them to check the hammer on our own and start working (the hammer was extremely huge and difficult to remove from its position, then the new one has to be positioned and tightened).We checked both the hammers and neither of them were working and we assumed one to be defective(as it is close to the repairing bay) . We duly removed it and positioned the new one.
Satisfied with their effort, all the people came back from site by noon. Suddenly AGM Sundaram got a call from Hammer mill department and they wanted the work to be started, Sundaram thought we finished the work and informed them the same. He was ashamed to the core when he was told that
‘ your people have replaced the working hammer mill with the new one and they did not remove/repair the defective one”
Chakri’s scooter (WB40A7026) was bought a week before I bought mine (WB40A 7081). His vehicle maintenance was excellent during those days. He made sure that all the accessories were in place before actually driving the vehicle and used to ensure its regular/scheduled maintenance. To tell the truth, Chakri had decided on the scooter in lieu of a motorbike because he needed the reassurance of the spare tire, which was not possible with a bike.
We started playing our daily game of cricket (George, Sarma, Subbu, KS, Nag, Myself). At around 10:30 AM, we were done with the game and I was ready to change the tire. It was very difficult to remove the tire as all the bolts were tightly fixed. I requested Subbu to help me. He also tried a lot but finally he gave up. Sarma was our subsequent choice for this tough task. Sarma is a well-built, healthy guy. He was one of the most charming persons in our group and he never said no to anybody.
Sarma joined us and started rotating the spanner in the right direction. With his energetic efforts, he was able to loosen all the bolts. Subbu and I were balancing the scooter to assist Sarma’s fitting job. Both of us were cursing Chakri on why he had not done tire rotation IN YEARS.
Finally Sarma finished fitting the extra tire. Subbu decided to take the scooter for a trial run. I was surprised to see that and informed Subbu that mechanics did that once they had completed the repair works. We had neither repaired anything nor was Subbu a mechanic. Even before I could finish my sentence, Subbu had started the scooter and taken it a little further. He did not even go beyond the gates and stopped, saying that there was still some problem with the vehicle. Upon closer observation, we found the problem to be that
“The front wheel had the flat tire and we had replaced the rear tire”.
All of us were in shock, then burst into laughter and started blaming one another for working on the back tire. Subbu was of the opinion that it was very easy to change the front tire and solved the problem in a jiffy. Anyway, Chakri was the subject of ridicule for some more time since it was most unusual to have a flat tire problem in the front wheel. When I recounted this tale to Sarma in 2000, during my stay in Omaha and had tracked down his contact details, we laughed hysterically one more time. It also reminded us of another hilarious incident.
Later that day, I went to work (B shift). I regaled my Bosses and colleagues there with what had happened earlier in the day and almost all of us forgot the office etiquette and burst into an uncontrolled bout of loud laughter. I was in a department called ‘heavy maintenance ‘which does a central mechanical maintenance for Durgapur Steel Plant. Our Boss Jhaji was a very charming person and he is a senior ‘promotee’ officer. He was always down to earth and never was a believer of hierarchy. After listening to our story ‘according to Heavy maintenance standards you have done the right thing”, he recalled another incident (official). Once ‘Heavy maintenance’ was called to perform a replacement work in Hammer mill .The building was huge (3-4 floors) and it housed two hammer mills, one in use and another standby. We were asked to replace the defective one. We reached the site and there was nobody at the site to show us the job on that day. All non-executives waited for some time and became impatient and started saying ‘ humko itna door laake aap officer log harass karthe hai’ .Then Jhaji(under pressure) instructed them to check the hammer on our own and start working (the hammer was extremely huge and difficult to remove from its position, then the new one has to be positioned and tightened).We checked both the hammers and neither of them were working and we assumed one to be defective(as it is close to the repairing bay) . We duly removed it and positioned the new one.
Satisfied with their effort, all the people came back from site by noon. Suddenly AGM Sundaram got a call from Hammer mill department and they wanted the work to be started, Sundaram thought we finished the work and informed them the same. He was ashamed to the core when he was told that
‘ your people have replaced the working hammer mill with the new one and they did not remove/repair the defective one”
Monday, July 6, 2009
Durgapur Blues-Difficult to be away from Home
It was the summer of 1993. I would soon turn 23 and had completed my B.Tech. the year before. Since I was unsuccessful in landing a job right out of college, I had registered myself for the MBA course. Along with my regular post-graduate studies, I applied myself diligently to the preparation for subsequent interviews and written tests. I appeared and qualified in all the eight exams that I felt were suitable and my confidence levels peaked with each letter of acceptance that arrived in the mail. Just before heading home from classes, I had reiterated the luxury of having a job while pursuing higher academic goals to my close friends.
This indeed was a summer of happenings. We had recently moved into our very own newly constructed residence which in itself was a dream come true. When I arrived home, my mom was resting on the verandah and I had a hearty lunch. Just as I belched and burped to signal the end of my meal, my mom produced an envelope from SAIL and I literally jumped from the chair. She beamed proudly with a triumphant look while I tried to digest this latest attestation of my performance. I was invited to attend the training program for Management Trainees at Bhilai, with Durgapur being my eventual destination.
Once the enormity of the news sank in, I felt this strong need to share it with others. But I had no friends in the vicinity (remember, we were new in this colony), no chatty neighbors, no telephone connection and our home was pretty far from my extended family’s location. So, I remember blurting it out to the builder of our house who was the only familiar face there. And then I waited for my father to come home at night. I was on cloud nine – the feeling of having proven my mettle was all-encompassing.
July 20 was to be my last day at home. My friends were invited to an impromptu birthday/ farewell party while I made sure that I had packed well for my first solo journey away from home. I was functioning on an adrenalin rush and the gathering was a smash hit. Unwrapping their gifts and birthday cards late into the night did not tire me out. I even managed to squeeze in the movie 'Disco Dancer' that was telecast on Doordarshan and which I had waited for a long time, before succumbing to slumber.
My mom was constantly at my side while I dressed to leave the next day and as I carried my bags to the auto stand a couple of hundred yards away, she accompanied me. I was mildly irritated and asked her to go back home when I saw her anxious face and bare feet! My sense of euphoria was replaced by the practical comprehension of the journey that I had embarked upon. I would be completely on my own with no mom to come home to, I would miss my home and my personal belongings and nobody would care for me as my mom had done so far.
And to think that she did not say a word about her state of mind! I was her baby and to date, she was always a busy mom tending to her child’s needs and comforts. How she would miss my presence and how my memories at home would be vivid yet not reassuring! Her life revolved around me as I had never stayed in a hostel in my entire student phase and with me gone, she would take a while to adjust to me being absent. My entire trip to the railway station was filled with painful longing for my mom and shame for my ineptitude at gauging her situation.
My friends and relatives were crowding the platform to wish me well and it did serve to lift my spirits. They were extremely proud of me and their blessings and wishes galore reinforced my decision. I had an uneventful sojourn from Hyderabad to Durg with a break at Nagpur where I had to switch trains.
I was greeted by a welcoming group at Durg who guided our batch of incumbent trainees to the hostel and our rooms. Even though the environs were new, I met some old acquaintances and spent the evening in idle chatter. I retired for the night exhausted both mentally and physically and when I awoke at dawn, I sat bolt upright. Neither the window by my bed nor the scene outside looked friendly or personal. My doubts resurfaced with renewed aggression – why did I have to come so far away from home? What have I set out to accomplish in my life? Does forsaking my family, friends and hometown guarantee success in my profession? Will every morning be identical to this as long as I opt for a career with SAIL? Am I stuck with this scenario for a lifetime?
The sense of ‘not-belonging’ followed me everywhere – the only constant then was my loneliness. Though outwardly I was surrounded with colleagues and I was busy forging new friendships, I somehow knew that this would not last a long time. My time here was limited and I promised myself that I would make sure of that.
This indeed was a summer of happenings. We had recently moved into our very own newly constructed residence which in itself was a dream come true. When I arrived home, my mom was resting on the verandah and I had a hearty lunch. Just as I belched and burped to signal the end of my meal, my mom produced an envelope from SAIL and I literally jumped from the chair. She beamed proudly with a triumphant look while I tried to digest this latest attestation of my performance. I was invited to attend the training program for Management Trainees at Bhilai, with Durgapur being my eventual destination.
Once the enormity of the news sank in, I felt this strong need to share it with others. But I had no friends in the vicinity (remember, we were new in this colony), no chatty neighbors, no telephone connection and our home was pretty far from my extended family’s location. So, I remember blurting it out to the builder of our house who was the only familiar face there. And then I waited for my father to come home at night. I was on cloud nine – the feeling of having proven my mettle was all-encompassing.
July 20 was to be my last day at home. My friends were invited to an impromptu birthday/ farewell party while I made sure that I had packed well for my first solo journey away from home. I was functioning on an adrenalin rush and the gathering was a smash hit. Unwrapping their gifts and birthday cards late into the night did not tire me out. I even managed to squeeze in the movie 'Disco Dancer' that was telecast on Doordarshan and which I had waited for a long time, before succumbing to slumber.
My mom was constantly at my side while I dressed to leave the next day and as I carried my bags to the auto stand a couple of hundred yards away, she accompanied me. I was mildly irritated and asked her to go back home when I saw her anxious face and bare feet! My sense of euphoria was replaced by the practical comprehension of the journey that I had embarked upon. I would be completely on my own with no mom to come home to, I would miss my home and my personal belongings and nobody would care for me as my mom had done so far.
And to think that she did not say a word about her state of mind! I was her baby and to date, she was always a busy mom tending to her child’s needs and comforts. How she would miss my presence and how my memories at home would be vivid yet not reassuring! Her life revolved around me as I had never stayed in a hostel in my entire student phase and with me gone, she would take a while to adjust to me being absent. My entire trip to the railway station was filled with painful longing for my mom and shame for my ineptitude at gauging her situation.
My friends and relatives were crowding the platform to wish me well and it did serve to lift my spirits. They were extremely proud of me and their blessings and wishes galore reinforced my decision. I had an uneventful sojourn from Hyderabad to Durg with a break at Nagpur where I had to switch trains.
I was greeted by a welcoming group at Durg who guided our batch of incumbent trainees to the hostel and our rooms. Even though the environs were new, I met some old acquaintances and spent the evening in idle chatter. I retired for the night exhausted both mentally and physically and when I awoke at dawn, I sat bolt upright. Neither the window by my bed nor the scene outside looked friendly or personal. My doubts resurfaced with renewed aggression – why did I have to come so far away from home? What have I set out to accomplish in my life? Does forsaking my family, friends and hometown guarantee success in my profession? Will every morning be identical to this as long as I opt for a career with SAIL? Am I stuck with this scenario for a lifetime?
The sense of ‘not-belonging’ followed me everywhere – the only constant then was my loneliness. Though outwardly I was surrounded with colleagues and I was busy forging new friendships, I somehow knew that this would not last a long time. My time here was limited and I promised myself that I would make sure of that.
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