LIFE IN THE SIXTIES- CONTD

ORISSA KAND 

  After receiving the appointment letter I started thinking about whether I should accept the offer at all. There was an improvement in the designation, from upper-division clerk to senior clerk. There was some increase in salary and all the facilities extended by the existing organization like independent quarters to live, free medical facilities and leave travel concessions, etc were also extended. The scope for promotion was better, being a new venture of the Government of India under the Defence  Ministry. However, the minus point was that the factory was located in a remote place with no public facilities. Continuing the studies for the company secretaryship at such a place would be difficult.

  There was a rumour that more people would likely be transferred soon due to the additional requirement of staff in the field. I then decided that I should not continue with a company with the threat of transfer always hanging over the head. I submitted my resignation letter.

I booked my rail ticket to Vizianagaram from where I proposed to go to Koraput by road as suggested in the appointment letter... However, on the way to Vizianagaram by train, some co-passengers suggested getting down at a place called Rayagada and then go by road to Koraput and then to Sunabeda, the place where the factory was under construction,... I thought it would be a little adventurous trip to take a new route and accordingly got down at Rayagada, a sleepy bg village those days. I  did not find even a single bus with the destination board 'Koraput 'in the bus stand and thought I made a bad decision. On inquiry, I was told that there was no direct bus to Koraput till the next day but some suggested taking a bus going to Jeypore and get down at Koraput on the way.

I reached Koraput by around 7 pm and, though a district headquarters, Koraput had no good hotels, I do not remember how I could locate a small hotel run by a Sardarji. Sardarji welcomed me and my luggage was taken inside immediately. He did not show me any room immediately. He simply told me that everything would be arranged according to the available space., after dinner. Since there was no alternative I waited and after dinner, he brought a wooden cot and kept it in the courtyard, and told me that I could sleep on that for the night as no room was vacant.. ...... I spent the night lying on the cot watching the starlit sky and since it was summer it was pleasant and I slept well..

In the morning., had a bath, changed my dress.,took breakfast and asked the hotel manager how I  could go to the Aero Engine factory.of HAL He told me  that I should catch a bus going to Vizianagaram and get down at a place called Sunabeda. No other mode of transport was available then. to reach the factory. I reported for joining at the factory office and while processing the joining time papers the official asked me where I would be staying. I told him I did not have anybody at that place and did not know what to do as coming every day for work from Koraput was also difficult. He was a Malayalee gentleman from Palghat by the name G K He told me that till I got official accommodation allotted I could stay with him. I thanked him profusely and thanked  God. for such an offer. GK became  one of my close friends. .

. The factory for manufacture aero engines was under construction and civic facilities were minimal at Sunabeda. Food during the daytime was available at the factory canteen but at other times we had to depend on small hotels working in temporary sheds on the project site.. The. food was horrible,, neither north Indian nor south Indian, the tables used to be dirty and the whole area used to be full of flies, We had to wave our hand continuously to get rid of flies while eating. After a few days, I was allotted a quarter to be shared with a draftsman belonging to Orissa. He was a nice chap and we decided to cook food in our quarters itself jointly at night. That was an experience  He taught  me how to cook food according to Orissa style and I  in turn taught him how to cook food in Kerala style, and we  continued our joint cooking venture for some time

After a few months, a hotel was opened in the township and we abandoned our self-cooking project and started eating in the hotel during nights. The food was ok in the initial stages but later it became so bad that many  of us decided to start cooking in our own quarters'.. The. food tasted exactly the same every day in the hotel.  It was painful to go to the hotel to have such food. The food in the canteen was a little better but the quantity of food was limited.Many days Ifelt hungry after taking food.

. It was this time that some of the engineers and technicians belonging to Kerala decided to start a mess and I was invited.. I  had some hesitation initially to join because the organizers told me that some days there would be non-veg items. also. Being a  pure vegetarian by birth  I thought I should not join. But as the days passed I had to change my decision and join the mess as there was no other alternative except self-cooking which somehow or other I did not like

. For a few days, the cook at the mess prepared only veg items but later he started preparing non-veg curries also probably due to pressure from members who were confirmed non-vegetarians. The friends including a brahmin engineer from Palghat by the name RK   persuaded me to eat non-veg items to improve my health... Thus reluctantly I started eating non-veg items little by little. I did not relish the taste and the guilty feeling continued for some time that I was doing something my dad specifically prohibited ..

A Christian family hailing from Guruvayur used to invite me for lunch on weekends and they used to make excellent veg curries in Kerala style for my sake. It was a great relief for me those days. Mr. J whom I considered as my elder brother was an engineer from Air Force on deputation to the factory and our friendship was very deep. It was he who took me to the house of a Malayalee engineer(B) working in the aircraft engine testing house who was an ardent devotee of Satya Sai Baba and showed me the miracle of ashes and honey continuously coming out from Baba's photo kept in his pooja room... This happened a few days before my resignation from the company and leaving Sunabeda for good

    Work in the office was very hectic, practically no time for studying, etc after office hours, and my plan to continue the studies for the professional examination(CS) was in the doldrums After -office hours were spent with the friends in their quarters. Some of them were in the habit of drinking and they tried their level best to make me drink (for company sake) on Saturday evenings. I resisted but one day they forced me to drink and after drinking I started vomiting. I  told them that drinking was not suiting me and  I did not find any joy in drinking tastewise or otherwise and asked them why should I keep their company at the cost of my health,..I decided that I would never drink, and thus honor my promise to dad that I  would abstain from alcohol for life. Fortunately, after a few days of happening this incident, there was a meeting arranged by the office for all the executives to be addressed by the chairman of the company. The chairman who was an Air Marshall in the Air Force emphasized during the meeting the need to avoid alcohol for the health  of mind and intellect quoting his own example..Though occupying a very high position in the  Air Force, he remained a teetotaller ( he became the Chief of Air Staff of our country later). We were so impressed with his speech that some of us decided to abstain from alcohol for life. During those days I was suffering from hyperacidity and the company doctor also advised me to avoid alcohol at any cost.. Looking back I  feel that it was one of the most beneficial decisions I have ever taken in life. Some who continued to enjoy Booz among our friends later became so addicted to it and when tried to stop became mental wrecks showing withdrawal symptoms. requiring long treatment.

 During my stay in Sunabeda, I had gone to a place called Sitapur in UP  where my elder brother was admitted for an eye operation in a famous hospital. there. That trip made me understand how ordinary people in UP  adore capable surgeons as gods. ..After the treatment was over we visited Kasi Viswanath temple on our way back from Sitapur. This was my second visit to Kasi Viswanath temple and I prayed toVisweswara for protection  and blessings always.

Most of my friends at Sunabeda were either engineers or technicians working in the factory and they suggested taking up another professional examination conducted by the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants and offered to help me to clear papers in engineering and mathematics which were difficult for me... Since the studies for Company secretaries examinations were not progressing well, I thought I  should take up simultaneously this new course so that whichever course I  complete first could be my profession for life. Moreover working in the Accounts branch, ICWA qualification would be more relevant for career growth. compared to company secretaryship. (CS)

I registered for the cost accountancy course, appeared for the first group of the  Intermediate examinations, and passed in the first attempt itself as the subjects were very familiar to me such as Industrial and Commercial Laws, Office Methods and General Knowledge of Commerce and Finance. I could not further pursue the course as I  found that I did not have sufficient background knowledge of mathematics (being an Arts Graduate ) and engineering.though the friends offerred to help.

   The studies for the examinations for company secretaryship thereafter continued with the available time but with a heavy workload in the office and consequent tiredness and lack of adequate study materials in the place(an isolated township surrounded by barren hills, cut off from major cities and towns)  I found it extremely difficult to prepare for the examinations. Still. the studies continued against all odds and all groups in Intermediate and Final examinations were cleared one by one,. . When I  appeared for the final Group.,  I found that in the advanced accountancy paper  I could not clear the balance sheet question correctly which made me depressed as the question carried maximum marks.

 I was thinking with the passing of the final examination, all my struggles for studies would end.

 I   had appeared from Chennai center for the Final  and was staying with my elder brother. I consulted him and my sister- in- law and on their advice decided to visit the Balaji temple at Tirupati to seek blessings to pass the examination.

I visited the temple accordingly and prayed to the lord of the Seven Hills to help me. to come out of the struggles for getting a professional qualification.and settle in life

 

After the darshan, I thought of visiting Puttaparthy, the abode of Satya Sai Baba,  re-incarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba as many friends at Sunabeda advised me to seek Baba's.blessings also.  I traveled up to Dharmavaram by rail and then by bus up to a place called Bukkapatnam where I had to get down to catch another bus to Puttaparthy..Bukkapatanam was a small village...a very backward place with a few small shops near the bus stop. I was told that I could get the connecting bus to Puttaparthy the next day only. It was evening and I found that there was no lodging facility nearby and the thought of how to spend the night at such a place troubled me a lot. While I was enquiring how I  could reach Puttaparthy,  a villager came forward and told me in pure Telugu that he could take me to swami's ashram. I  immediately agreed as it was getting dark. The man took me to a bullock cart, kept my hold all(sleep bag) and the suitcase in the cart, and asked me to get in. He took the cart initially through small roads and then to the paddy fields. It was summertime and the fields were having paddy stubs only after the harvest. It became very dark and I  was wondering whether he was taking me in the right direction. He was continuously talking in Telugu, about Swamy and his astonishing powers, and as I was not very comfortable with his language I kept quiet. The cart journey in the paddy fields under the starlit night was an experience. Finally, we reached Prasanthi Nilayam, the abode of peace, the ashram of Satya Sai Baba. During those days (1969-70)  the place was not that developed. Presently it is a full-fledged town with shopping centers, hotels, etc, and even an airport.

When I reached the ashram, soft evening bhajans were going on in the hall., After the Arathi, people started coming out of the hall. Somebody showed a long shed open on all sides with a roof of  asbestos sheet. where visitors could rest for the night. He also told me that I need not worry about the safety of my baggage as Baba would take care of everything. I had some food in a nearby hotel, a very small one. I slept in the shed after spreading the holdall. In the morning, somebody told me that the prayer hall would be opened early and baba would participate in the bhajans...After...taking a bath in a makeshift bathroom where water was to be purchased?  . Water was kept in big drums. It was a Muslim man who gave me the water and told me something about Shirdi baba and his connection in an earlier life?

I attended the morning bhajans and participated in the parikrama of the place. I found many women weeping while doing the parikrama on touching the walls of the building where Baba was staying. After the parikrama, we were asked to sit in a row to wait for Baba. I was told that Baba was not giving any interviews that day and also for the following few days. I was a bit disappointed as I wanted to meet Baba personally and get his blessings to pass the examination.....Baba came to the row where we were sitting and as I  had closed my eyes when he came near., I lost the opportunity to see him closely

I came to Bangalore from Puttapathy and then to my hometown to see my parents after a gap of a few years as I  was always preparing for the CS examinations and did not get time to visit them.

       I returned to my place of work with a heavy heart worrying about the outcome of the final examination ...When the result was due there was an announcement from the institute that the candidates who had appeared for the particular group should write the examination again( as there were some mistakes in the question paper  I was told). Now that I got another chance to write the examination and improve my performance, I was extremely happy

I appeared for the final examination again from Chennai center, went to the great temples of Ranganathaswamy at Srirangam and  Meenakshi temple in Madurai. before returning to Sunabeda

The result of the final examinatio came, I passed the examination to my surprise since I  was thinking that I did not write well even in the re-examination as the time for preparation was less. I thanked Tirupathi Venkateswara Swamy, Satya Sai Baba, Ranganathaswamy, Madurai Meenakshi Ammal Sudareswar Swamy (shiva) for my success.

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I  was promoted to the post of Accountant after completing one year of service. But chances of getting further promotions in the organization were bleak. So I started trying to get a better job elsewhere. I was called by another unit of our company at Nasik for an interview for the post of Assistant Accounts Officer but as I had not sufficient experience in a supervisory cadre then, I was not selected. However, I  took the opportunity to visit places like Jalagaon, Ajanta caves famous for their cave paintings and architectural beauty, Maihar Devi temple in Madhya Pradesh ( one of the Sakthi peethams situated on a hill and having 1000steps to climb which used to be climbed by BabaAllaudin Khan, the guru of Ravi Shankar.,  the sitar maestro to offer his musical offerings to Devi daily), Jabalpur with its beautiful marble ghats in Narmada river, and the famous Khajuraho temples with mind-boggling sculptures.

Since I  was the first person to pass the company secretaryship examinations from the factory, I requested the management to transfer me to HAL corporate office in Bangalore where my services could be better utilized in the secretarial department. The Chief Administrative Office, an IAS officer from the Orissa cadre, strongly recommended my case to the corporate office. I  went to Bangalore with the letter and met the Director(Personnel). However, the Director did not make any commitment and told me that as and when the vacancy arose, my case could be considered

As I was disappointed with the outcome of my trip to Bangalore I continued to send applications to outside organizations for jobs. Fortunately a central govt. organization having a huge aluminum project at a place called Korba in Madhya Pradesh called me for an interview and  I was selected as Accountant. The scale of pay of the post was better though the designation was the same. All the facilities extended by the present employer were also extended by the new employer...Moreover, the company was new and the scope for promotion was definitely better. . I decided to change the employer and therefore submitted the resignation. I was relieved and I left for Korba the next day. by bus up to Rayagada and then by train to Bilaspur/, Korba.I reached Korba the next morning
Korba was a small town developed after the set-up of a thermal power station of 1000 MW. Of course, collieries of National Coal Development Corporations were there but the importance of the place became more only after the setting up of thermal power project. There were some state government offices also.at Korba . As suggested by somebody I went to the PWD office at Korba and requested to give me a room in the Rest House which they agreed readily as I was from a central govt. organisation.The Rest House  was very neat and clean, located in a calm and quiet place and the cook cum in charge was a nice local chap.