Today is my 29th anniversary of my first day at work .
On Oct 24th, 1984, I joined Sriram Refrigeration, Balanagar.Prahlad and myself have started our careers as (GET) Graduate Engineer Trainees (with Rs1400 per month stipend) and never stopped working since then ..It has been a long journey ..
Our designation was graduate engineer trainee with a salary of Rs 1400 per month (Rs 8.75 or 21 cents per hour..wow ..it increased by ~350 times in 29 yrs ..outpacing CPI ..). I was posted in R and D and Prahlad was in maintenance dept.. My job was to help Dr. Bannerjie (my boss) run experiments in reducing heating of motors (in hermetically sealed compressors used in Refrigerators and A/Cs).
We used to start at 6:50 AM from Chikkadpalli on Prahlad's scooter (Bajaj Priya) to reach the Balanagar at 8:00AM.
We are supposed to reach the plant sharp at 8:00AM.
The company rule was to accumulate all tardy minutes from punch card and if they exceed 15 minutes for the month, you will loose 1/2 day vacation (15 minutes late equivalent to 4 hrs of salary deduction ..isn't it harsh).
For example, if you show up at 8:01 on first day and then 8:10 the next day and for the rest of month ..you are on a borrowed time of just 4 minutes ..one more 8:04 ..you are doomed ..
One day I made a bold decision to sacrifice 14 minutes in one day itself for the sake of .... none other than actress Sridevi ..my engineering classmate Premnath was going to US (Dec 84) and I went to see him at the airport at 7:20 AM.
I knew it would take exactly 20 minutes to reach Balanagar from airport. After seeing him off at 7:40AM. I was walking out of the aiport lobby and saw Sridevi waiting for her Madras flight Suddenly I was in a dilemma thinking about my monthly quota of 15 minutes vs looking at Sridevi.
I stood there for 14 extra minutes (till 7:54) and took next 20 minutes to drive to Balanagar . Rest of the month I had to eek out on the remaining one minute .. never regretted on throwing away 14 minutes in a day .. well deserved ..
It was almost a prison once we entered Sriram. We couldn't go out and lunch was exactly for 30 minutes and we would leave only at 4:30PM. Weird thing was the week off used to be on Mondays. When the whole Hyd watched Ramayana Serial on Sundays, we were taking assembly rounds in electrical motor winding shop.
I have learnt a lot from my boss Dr. Bannerjie. He was a UK returned Bengali and originally migrated to UK in 1940s
He married a Britisher and had 2 children.
After 35 yrs of British life and family, Dr. Bannerjie decided to return to India in his early 60s.
He joined Sriram Refrigeration as R and D consultant.
Despite so many constraints to settle in India, he was determined to start a new life in Hyderabad at almost his retirement age..
He had to lower his living standard to make his Indian dream come true.
He went down from 4 wheels to 2 wheels.. Lambretta in Hyderabad ..
One defining character of Bannerjie was that he would never pay bribes..
imagine in 1984 getting (Road Transport Authority) RTA driving license without paying any bribe ..
The whole RTA (license brokers and staff alike) went crazy to see this Bengali old man
..not accompanied by any broker ..talking fluent English ..filling in and submitting applications thru' RTA office windows with no references to "commission"..
It was bringing down a big bribery engine to a screeching halt to let go one application with exact Govt fees with no other accompanying cash/letters or phone calls..
RTA staff never imagined to see a day like this in their lifetime of service ..
Finally Bannerjie came out in flying colors with his license ..
following are his travails ..
First time his license was rejected because application was not submitted thru' broker..
he contested the decision on the grounds that he drove for 40 yrs in UK.
RTA was confused as the customer was offering to take driving test and they had to find the driving test examiner / scorecard for this customer..
Finally he was asked to come with his Lambretta to the open field in front of the office .
He was asked to take his scooter around a tree.
As instructed, he carefully drove his scooter around the tree and came back to the examiner. The RTA examiner again failed him.
Bannerji asked "What happened this time ?"
RTA examiner replied "When you took turn at the tree, you never waved your hand indicating your turn"
Bannerji "Indicating whom ? That stupid tree ?"
They got tired of him and finally gave him the license.
There are many more stories that we can share ...
Hi Prahlad, Have a wonderful 29th working (son, husband, dad) anniversary ..
Venkat Aekka
P.S. Prahlad Venkatapuram now lives in San Jose with his family. His startup Mediaq got acquired by NVIDIA in 2004 making him a wealthy guy.
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