The Jekyl & Hide

LIFT please ! - Shouted one of them and as I told the driver to slow down the vehicle. The newly appointed group of graduate engineer trainees came around my vehicle.` Sir can you please drop us at the simulator building on the way?, The tall guy asked. His team was just holding for my yes and the moment I nodded to their request all climbed my vehicle. Two of them struck up into the front seat of the big sedan car while the rest two onto the rear seat with me. Sir can I please hold your laptop so that we can seat more comfortably , asked another boy unambiguously. I was little amused by such a bold request, They have taken all my seats , now they even want to grab a little space for my laptop too. Immediately I understood that these bunch of new engineers are fresh air in the old culture of our organization. They are not yet tied down to the dos and don't of the organization yet. So they follow their heart and ask whatever they want on the way. Otherwise they would not have dared to ask lift from the ..... of the station. I remember 25 years back I started my career on a dark afternoon at the New Delhi railway station. The rain was insistent while I alighted from the Howrah-Delhi train. My destination was the 'New Delhi kalibari temple where I would stay @Rs:20 / day with free boarding and fooding during the initial joining days. I found quite a handful of guys holed up in Kalibari, waiting to join the same organization with me. We were told to report, empty stomach, for the medical test . The team of doctors would collect samples and carry out several tests of our strength and stamina. In between we were feed with good breakfast ,tea , lunch and snacks. We meet some of our friends cum colleagues here at the medical test centre. At the evening they would announce the test reports. Always some upset faces were found of those who had been declared medically unfit. The drama continued for the next three days. We would return to 'Kalibari' in the evening. Here I meet Sushil who was then, an young aspiring teacher for a prestigious school in New Delhi. In the night when everybody was tired and getting ready for bed , Sushil was searching under my bed for some old news papers.

When confronted he said that he needs to read something before, lest he will not be able to fall sleep. While I came from a middle class family of Bengal , Sushil hailed from an extremely poor family in Tamilnadu. We both became successful in our pursuits of jobs. Sushil got the job of a teacher at a New Delhi school while I got selected as a graduate engineer trainee in this organization. Since then 15 years we kept contact which later on we lost. I don't know where Sushil is now, but teaching was in his blood . He must be a big Professor of some prestigious University somewhere on this planet. Immediately after the successful completion of the medical tests our status changed overnight. We were placed in a star hotel in a group of three per room and the induction program was kicked off. One day, the tailor came and took measurements for our uniforms. We were a big group of 400+ candidates at the entry level job. After five days we were seperated into several smaller groups and each group was sent to a different part of the country for training. I was told to join the Neyveli group. That was the first time I heard the word neyveli. It wasn't mentioned anywhere on any state map at the least. I was perhaps a bit apprehensive, but the mounting excitement of starting of something new and promising, made me look forward to it- spending the next six months in the unknown. Each group was guided by a local supervisor. Our guide took us to Chennai (then Madras ) station by Tamilnadu express. From Chennai we boarded a luxury bus which took us to Neyveli after 8 hours of journey. The training centre was located at the end of the Neyveli Lignite Corporation township, and was simply a splendid picturesque version of the nature. Each one of us was given hostel accommodation. The food was a problem. Most of us were from the northern parts of the country, so in least favour of the South Indian taste. One of us, Minal, took the initiative to manipulate the cook (who knew how to cook only South Indian food) each day, to convert the taste to more North Indian style, to suit all of us. In a few months, we were no longer feeling less at home, atleast while dining. Sunday evening was holiday for the cook so we had to eat outside. Our most -only favourite haunt was the 'Blue Diamond' restaurent at the market place, which was the most buzzing place in the entire lucid township. After leisurely dining on Idli-Dosa-Sambhar, we would return to the centre after 11, quite late. Since the auto rickshaws were not available after 9 PM, invariably we had to walk down the last 2 KM distance on foot. On week days the centre's main gate

was closed after 10 PM but on sundays we were exempted till 11:30 PM. Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) that day was a picture perfect township. The buildings , roads and the lanes were neat and clean. The People were smiling & friendly. The elderly men put on a big 'tilak' on their forehead while women put on flowers on their hair. There was a huge public library at the centre. We were not members but the kind librarian never stopped us reading books in the library even though it was meant for only NLC employees and their families. He even aranged library cards for some of us trainees thru' the training centre. The nearby Cuddalore sea shore was my first interaction with the sea. The beach front was small but full of greenery. All along the roads of Neyveli or the Cuddalore, the cashewnut or the 'Kaju' trees could be found in plenty. The famous Parle company started it's journey from a small village of Cuddalore here. Pondichery is only 6 hours bus-journey from here, so during the weekends, most of us would be found there. It had two main attractions, one is of course its natural beauty, the other (the unsaid one) was its tax-free liquor supplies. Except weekends we were forbidden for any leave of absences but we enjoyed the six months stay thoroughly and fully. There were quite a few theatre halls in that small town. Tamil movies were shown on the screens. Some of the movies we saw here were remake of popular Bollywood movies enacted by the Tamil superstars. It was quite amusing to watch those movies. We knew the script as per the hindi movie but the language was going above heads yet we could follow all the actions meaningfully. Utterly frustrated one day, our colleague & friend Hira bought a Tamil-English handbook. With the help of our Tamil colleague, Kishore, he learnt many Tamil words and scripts. Later, one look at the name plate and he could easily identify whether the bus was meant for Cuddalore , Madras or Pondichery for that matter. In absence of Kishore he became our handy Tamil interpreter. Life was very simple and hassle free at Neyveli. Our workload mostly comprised of studies which we had been doing since before joining this organization, so it was old task, same story as always. Lift or hitch-hiking was easily available on the roads of NLC. Sometimes we were offered lift by the CEO / CMD itself of the NLC. He was even kind enough to send back his car to pick our other remaining colleagues waiting on the way. Sometimes seeing it was CMD's car we kept aside or did not ask for lift but the CMD , Mr Seturaman himself stopped his car and gave us lift, quite unexpected, really. He was an extremely modest and unassuming personality. He invited us to the NLC club during our free times. One call to his PA and the car was always ready to take us anywhere in Neyveli.

During Christmas or the new year party, few of us were always there at the NLC club enjoying the finest food and liquor as privilege of being his special guest. We never knew how those fabulous six months went by in a breeze in that remote place of Tamilnadu. When the time came to return to New Delhi we really felt very bad . By that time, Harsha had become an expert Tamil interpreter and our faces became quite familiar in the central library , NLC club and the theatre areas. We had also developed a good rapport with the proprietor of the blue diamond restaurant and the local clubs. That time we were raw & unsophisticated in our profession yet we were liked by everybody because we were honest , authentic and real. We were upright and spade-a-spade. Today as we grow older and rise higher in the organization we hide our selves behind the mask of designation , knowledge and title. We speak in a different tone, behave in a different, more sophisticated and authoritative way, as if we know every answer pertaining to this organization because we are the boss. Yet when we come home and see our spouse , children or old parents we want to be real. The doting father, the responsible yet amiable son or the loving husband . . . carefree for sometime, showing our true feelings, away from all the pretenses. Like Doctor jekyl & Mr. Hide we want to wear that metaphor everyday. Whereas these young men are just what they are raw and real. I wish I could return to their age and reconstruct the Dr. jekyl of mine. S. Bera Powai

[as told by a CEO friend of mine ]