RINN & Me........5

Sultan Effect:-

As a team we were around a dozen Indians working in our unit. The leader of the team is yours sincerely” me “! As the senior most person, I am given a family status and individual accommodation inside the factory. Other members have bachelor status with sharing accommodation. I am lucky to have food prepared by my wife. Other members are having servant maids to cook Indian food. Some of the Malagasy servants have excelled in making Indian food items like       Roti ( Flat Indian Bread) , Sabji ( Curry) and other items on a daily basis.

Thus the teams boarding, lodging , washing, ironing etc. are all taken care by local team Malagasy.  Therefore the team was supposed to take care of day today working of the works with 100% plus dedication.

Does this happen anywhere as desired. Boys are boys, that too boys with disposable money and ample time at their  always look for avenues to sow wild oats wherever they can and whenever they can.

Some of the team members were veteran from various nice experiences in African countries. One of them on the very first day itself was asking what were the avenues for him to have fun! He was boasting that in his previous assignments he had a living in companion from local population and he used to always clad her with saree and Indian dress!

Once such a thought process was sown in people’s mind they were looking for easy victims to take their turns.

Sultan was the youngest member of the team. He was good in his looks, dress sense, work and way of getting along with locals as he took extra interest to learn Malagasy. It was purely because he was seriously handicapped with total lack of English knowledge to communicate with anyone. Thus he took extra trouble to master Malagasy. He had flair for perfumes, cigarettes, alcohol and food.

He was also very fond of spending money on locals by way of doling out money whenever he bought credit to charge his phone etc. Thus word spread around that he was an icon in the making to throw money at every available opportunity.

He always had an eye on RINN as he was fond of her. I had seen once RINN sitting and crying in Sultan’s machine when we were commissioning the lines probably because of his provocation.

 When Sultan had been to India he had brought and gifted Indian dresses to RINN which RINN Had told that she got from her distance sister in Mauritius. This also proved to the reason for RINN’s interest in learning Shukriya and other words in Hindi.

As RIIN was the team leader, she used to come to factory early to set things right and arranged. Sultan who also had to report for work early  to start the line. They were found to be in compromising position inside the factory by local workmen who started making fun of the Indian team as well as RINN connecting her with all and sundry.  

 This started going out of hand as the word now spread to the resident director’s ears. Once he had heard this he was then constrained to act. In the meanwhile the man who wanted to have avenue for entertainment was seen in various places with a local girl. Thus the director had to set the whip cracking.  

                                        ............................... to be concluded. 

RINN & ME.............. 4

HR head the villain :-

Generally, people who are supposed to be taking care of people have a bad reputation of abusing power, position and exploiting the situation. In our case too the situation was no different. Our HR head had a notorious reputation due to the following interesting reasons.

He had his wife employed in the factory as a worker. Her brother was also working in the factory. Apart from that his concubine was also working in the factory along with her brother.

There was wide spread rumor that he was always interested in getting money which he used to manage by getting from fresh recruits. This used to be routed through the friend of his concubine.  This fact was being discussed and debated all around on the shop floor. Even some Directors spoke openly about this but no one bothered to confront the person on account of his longevity in the organization.

RINN was never happy with the HR head as she found him to be too nasty and mean. She had confined in me twice that this man used to harass her by calling her to his cabin on pretext or the other. It was also told by her that she was addressed by him in French as “My lady love” which she found very nauseating.  She was asking my suggestion on the way to handle the situation.

I told her to be polite and affirmative whenever she dealt with the HR person. I had also asked her to avoid his company by not listening to his lewd remarks whenever he happened to pass by her. She was also told that she should never visit him alone if summoned by him and should meet him in the company of other lady colleagues.

This matter was also subtly communicated to the Directors who pretended not to be listening to this unwanted issue!!

There were frequent instances of erroneous calculation of salary and wages by HR head. This would be revealed just when the salaries would be dispersed. Instances of fudged over time and leave to people who were obliging him were also in the air for people to pick up the signal.

It was also alleged that in order to employ people he would be seeking amoral favors from people. Money was said to be routed through an agent with in the factory. Despite all these things he had his kingdom to rule and manage with immunity.

Due to some unforeseen reason, probably because RINN was not yielding to the advances and solicitations of HR head she was unceremoniously removed from the position of Team Leader by the HR head. This was not also communicated to anyone on the shop floor. In her place a new lady was posted as the Team Leader. The new girl chosen and  thrust on production team who was not even 10% as smart as RINN. She was also not very popular amongst the members of the team.

As someone who was used to RINN from the beginning I was feeling handicapped. I continued to call RINN to help. Though she used to tell me she was no longer the team leader she could not avoid my requests. Therefore she continued to help me.

By then I could see some change in RINN. She started wearing Indian suit and dress. Along with that there were some times bangles on her hand too !! Sometime she started telling SHUKRIYA meaning Thanks in Urdu!  This I found to be very mysterious  !!

                                                To be concluded……..

RINN & ME...... 3

Trials :-

As our plants were getting commissioned, we had lot of trials for existing products to match what was already being produced as well as make trials for making new products. My dependence on RINN was increasing day by day.

All that I had to do was to carry out the trial and then arrange the materials. RINN would take all precaution, segregate, line up the material, pack, label and arrange everything ready for me for on ward shipping.

I also used to feel sentimentally that her hand had a magic touch and whatever she did with care got instant approval.

Thus things were looking good in the factory front. Because of all round appreciation and admiration RINN became the Team Leader in packing department. She was too happy of the new position and started working with further dedication and care.

There was a Chinese machine for which two technicians had come for installation from China. RINN got hooked to the machine from the word go and started taking care of the entire teamin the machine. The high speed machine was looking like it was made for her and started dancing to her tunes!

I was very happy with the developments and started enjoying the job as things started falling in place in the jig saw puzzle. Volume of production was looking up month after month. Our inefficiencies were also going down ward with steady slow trend of defects and rejections.

Now we were about to complete a year in Madagascar. But my lingual skills have not at all improved. Whereas RINN who used to ask “ Do you want me ?” Now started asking very coherently “Do you need any help from me ?” and started using words like “Sincerely” ; “ Hypocrisy”  etc. with ease.

By now I had learnt that she has a younger brother who was school going who is seventeen years old. Her mother was some thirty eight years old and her father was in his early forties working in some workshop. 

As RINN knew that I am a strict vegetarian she would never say that she had beef or chicken for lunch. She would say some vegetables name and say that she had the same in lunch with rice. I also came to know that to save money she would walk two kilometers a day in the morning to catch the local mini bus and evening depending on the time of going out she would either walk or go by mini bus to home. Her journey from and to home took approximately an hour a day.

As a family as we were living inside the factory I would just leave office and be at home in five minutes flat.
                                                                                to be concluded........

RINN & ME .............. 2

EARLY DAYS:-

I moved to Madagascar in June 2015. I had no exposure to French language. Therefore my French was next to Zero. Having loaded my brain with so many languages like all South Indian Languages, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi and Thai , I was in no mood for learning Malagasy language. Malagasy as a language was far too different from all the languages I knew . I could get only ” Salama” a general greeting, “ Manavoona”…. How are you !, “Sara Bee”…..  very good in all these years.

But as my job involved getting things done from locals, I was trying to figure out ways and means of getting a working knowledge of Malagasy.

We were filling various vacancies in the factory. I was trying to get people with some working knowledge of English. But it was proving too difficult. As local people start learning English only in their class 6 and by the time they finish school they forget the same. Moreover getting such highly educated workers was also proving to be difficult.

Members of my team, fellow Indians were also getting frustrated with no English speaking members to translate and get things done. When we recruited a lot of workers RINN came as a very pleasant surprise as she could speak and understand English. Because of her congenial nature she was very becoming very popular among the team members too. 

As the plant was then in trial stage that time she used to work in all possible location and was very active in learning all aspects of production and packing apart from helping in cleaning, mopping and arranging things on the floor.  Slowly she got used to our way of working and was sought after by all in every department as a day to day trouble shooter!

I could now find someone to talk to and understand Malagasy culture, way of life, food habits etc.  I learnt that average Malagasy family has access to running wanted for only limited duration despite abundant rains, free flowing rivers etc.. They have Spartan life style with minimum accessories. Even a fan in the home is a luxury.  Meal generally consists of rice, rice and more rice with limited sprinkling of meat, beef, pork / fish which are the can not afford with their earnings!

Despite availability of many fresh fruits, people eat Banana almost daily other seasonal fruits if available free are cherished and relished. Thus they made their days good with Jamuun, Avacodo, Guva etc. Otherwise they cannot afford to buy!!

Despite all these tough life the general smile on RINN’s face would never ever fade despite back breaking work sometimes.

In the initial days there were some tough days when we failed to make an acceptable product due to lack of acquaintance with the machine or some batches would go bad. I used to be demoralized and sit in a corner in the packing hall brooding. RINN would come and tell me to put a smile on my face and face the challenges. She would state that things would certainly improve for the better. This used to spur me up to become more active and enthusiastic.

I was also constantly told by RINN to learn Malagasy language which she tried to put in my hard head one or two words every day!

RINN & ME.....1

INTRODUCTION:-

We come across many people in our life. These interactions are due to personal, social, professional, community, family, official reasons. Every encounter with someone makes an impression in our mind!  Some people make a lasting impression on account of the way they conducted themselves, the way they treated you, the way they solved your issues, be it personal or professional or something else. Some people make a very bad impression and you wish you never had a chance to meet them in the first place.

This piece is about a person who has made a lasting impression in my mind and my approach towards work.

When I moved to Thailand for an assignment, I used to meet people with very long Thai names. As the same cannot be used in daily usage their names used to come along with a ready to use short names like Tum, Jum, Pop, Ton, Toon etc. Similarly this person in Madagascar has been nicknamed as RINN by me for this write up!

There is another reason for calling this person “RINN”is because in my childhood days my father used to force me to go through a book called "Wren & Martin" which he used to say as the Bible of English Grammar.

The name “ RINN” Rhymes well with “Wren”. Therefore, I chose this name “ RINN” for this lady of twenty two years old .

She is tall by Madagascar standard say approximately 5 feet 5 inches.  Comparatively fair skinned, even teeth and short hair, lean and lanky. Her Lower lip is with a typical pout. Her fore head is a bit broad. Her hair used to be wavy with a good luster.

But due to unknown reason she had cut it a bit short to have it in the form of a bun, probably to accommodate the same in the green color head gear which she had to wear while working. Her hands and legs are long with delicate fingers. Her face mostly used to have one or two pimples earlier but off late they have vanished. The wrinkles on her neck used to make her look like an angel or some sort of a Greek statue! Her eyes are a bit small by Indian standard and eye lashes are neatly trimmed to look like an arch!

The most appealing aspect of this person is her gait. She used to walk erect with fairly long steps, as if she is about to sprint!!

She is a fun loving person with ever smiling face. The reason for the smile is never known. As someone who loves pranks and easy going nature it is natural for her to sport a smile all the time.           

                                                                                          to be continued ........

ANNUAL APPRAISAL….. TALE OF THREE MUSKETEERS.....3

It was decided to transfer the three musketeers to our factory attached to head office. Generally, these people do three to four hours of Over Time every day to meet their growing financial burden. The same was to be stopped immediately in the new location. They would be divided in different sections and departments to avert contact with each other.

The news of the transfer spread like wild fire. It was an unanticipated move. With the summary dismissal of QA Manager and transfer of Three Musketeers the factory discipline was restored to normalcy immediately.

Three Musketeers were reluctant to accept the transfer order. They were called one by one and told of the transfer. They were also told that, if they did not take the letter and report in the new location very next day their service would be terminated, as the company was free to do so. This put in considerable fear and one by one they took the letter.

The next day they reported to the unit attached to HO. They were welcomed by the unit HR head. He subtly but firmly  told  them that they should not be under the misplaced impression that they were going to be there permanently and should look for opportunity elsewhere as the management was not very happy with their deeds.

They all stayed together and did different shifts in different timings. Whenever they were free they plotted together. First they approached the Deputy Inspector of factories and cried their heart out. He called me and told me to take them back in our unit it was politely denied.

Later they approached the authorities in Electricity department. He was also told that we have better things to do than this sort of discussions with him.

Meanwhile, I started getting pressure from domestic front. PG’s wife was calling my wife repeatedly as we all used o stay in the same colony. My wife had told her that it was an official decision and she had no say in that. The next day she called me on my cell phone and stated that her baby was missing PG and without him she would never sleep etc. I told her I had no role in that and she could not get any help from me in this regard.

Meanwhile MT and his wife called on me at home. He was very apologetic and told that he was misguided and ill informed by the other two. He told me the sequence of events that led to this fiasco. His wife was putting a sad face and stated that without Over Time and two establishments their whole family would be ruined as they were spending too much money for transportation too.

But I had to put up a firm face and tone. Offered them tea and then asked them to move with life.   

Mean while pressure from our HR made all three to submit their resignations after three months and thus by June all of them left their job.

But MT was a smart chap. He by then moved his strings in Delhi and from someone in central minster level had called our MD to reinstate MT. To oblige he was taken back. He was teased by all and sundry that with such an influence he should have got a posting in Central Government. He stayed for a further period of three months and left on his own.

Thus Appraisal time always reminds me of this episode which taught me how to handle tricky situations with care and concern to avert any precipitation!!

ANNUAL APPRAISAL….. TALE OF THREE MUSKETEERS......2

       The final increment list was prepared by me alone and it was kept in top confidential manner without anyone getting a scent of the same. The same was taken to the Vice President in HO and got approved on a one to one basis without any one getting a scent of it.

A few Managers were nosy and tried to find out from their sources in HR department. But they drew blank as no information was available.

April Salary was to be prepared with revised wages. The list signed by the MD was handed over to HR Manager on 25^th April to make the salary preparation. By then news started tickling to people in the shop-floor.

List of promotions were announced and the ones promoted were indeed very happy. They came and thanked me personally for recognizing long pending, deserving cases which were ignored due to nepotism.

By then QA Manager had a list prepared of his staff in his own good wisdom with actual increment given and what should have been the increment that should have been given. Poor chap he did not have any discretion, but left the paper with one of his lieutenant. He promptly came and handed over the same to me.

This document then became the main evidence to terminate the services of him as he was in the list meant for firing.  Poor Chap had an unceremonious exit.

There was a group of three old time shift in charges (Assistant Manager Rank ). They were all in night shift. They had a secret meeting amongst themselves. The three musketeers …MT ( Mr.Empty), AS ( Mr.Ass), PG (Mr. Pure Gas)… they ganged up the next day. Like the previous year there was an application in Chaste Hindi. With all that they wanted an audience with me by the end of the day.

A meeting was arranged in the meeting room. All was well till I went inside the meeting room. As I entered, I was shocked to find that the room had every one from Asst. Manager, Supervisory and Clerical Grade levels. I calmly took the letter they wanted to give. Then told that things were made clear to them in the beginning of the financial year itself and everything was done in a fair manner. If they had anything to discuss and debate they got to wait till the papers go to the board.

It was a charged atmosphere and no one was willing to listen. They wanted immediate declaration and announcement of fresh revision of salaries. It was evident from the tone at the meeting that the old Plant Manager was also behind them and the whole thing had his blessing !!

With the HR Manager’s understanding we told the team that they had no choice other than waiting. With that I had to return home as I had some visitor waiting for me! As soon as I reached home my blueberry went ringing! I was told that the team had walked out of the factory en mass and they were luring others to follow suit.

I had a few trusted Managers and they started calling me one by one stating that they would man the positions even if no one returned.

In the meanwhile a few unions too reached out to the group who had walked out of the factory ask them to enroll in their union.

After a few hours, better sense prevailed. Everyone walked back to their respective work spot. Thus that day’s night shift was over without any event.

When we reached office next day, we quickly got our acts right. We had a conference call with our Head of HR, Vice President Technical and MD. It was decided that we would not yield to the pressure.

                                                ………………….to be continued 3

ANNUAL APPRAISAL….. TALE OF THREE MUSKETEERS....1

It is time of the year, when companies ask their employees to sit for mandatory annual appraisals! The final quarter of every financial year.. Jan, Feb., & March brings jitters in the minds of employees!

Management by Objectives (M.B.O), Key Result Areas (K.R.As,) Key Performance Indicators (K.P.Is) what not! As someone had posted jokingly in a social website, during Appraisals employees are shown as if they are far too insignificant and their contribution to the organization is totally negligible.

The same employee, after a few months when he puts in his papers and sits for an exit interview the same boss praises him to the sky and tells him that he is the future of the company. He is a core committee member, has a bright future and what not!!

Well, I had my own share of experience in both sides of the table, attending employee appraisal as an employee. As well as arranging for a year appraisal with K.R.A and K.P.I for my staff in a company.

 It was 2014-2015, a year after a year of getting used to the Himachal way of working in an organization in Himachal Pradesh! The organization had an unique culture of employing mostly known people referred to by one another. This was done to bring in a sense of closeness and ease of working.

The same thing started proving detrimental to the organization as the company started growing and bringing in funds from VCs etc. Thus touch anyone that would set a cascade of reaction across the organization.

Most of the people were from UP in Supervisory and Assistant manager level, who because of years of experience have moved to their glorious level of incompetence! Every manager had his own team of cronies and would jeopardize working of the company if it warranted to safeguard his own interests.  

Everyone had his own zones of Comfort and would never ever move from that. People would not even move from one shift to another as they did not want to manage, monitor and control different crews!

Now they were surprised by terms like K.R.A, K.P.I etc. But as I had made them to sit for appraisal every quarter and feedback mechanism was very active quarter after quarter they had no way out from it.

Around February one of the supervisors came to me and told me not to waste my time with appraisals etc. as all things would not work in that factory. He also warned me that like the previous year, the Plant Manager would instigate people to write a petition and move the board to approve revision of annual increments!

I had a very miserable feeling that I would be let down by the board. The previous year a group of three old supervisors ganged up and did the same. There was a Chaste Hindi application signed by one and all Supervisors. The same was taken to the board in HO. Then we were constrained to revise the increments. This had happened as the Q.A head done the same unilaterally to keep his departmental morale high!

I spoke to my VP and got his unwavering commitment that no such thing would happen this year.

All Managers were called for a one to one meeting. They were told to give the list of Promotions well in time with justification.  They were also told that the final appraisal would be done by a team of three Senior Managers and approved by me based on the ratings given.

A few supervisors told that they would be quitting and therefore they were not going to sit for the appraisals. In the end final list of appraisal and increment was prepared omitting them .They were not given any increment.

                                                 to be continued.....

MY TRYST WITH INDIAN LAW .....6

VCs wife was not told about the arrest. My wife moved to their home to take care of her in the night. As VCs cell phone was with the police officials, in switched off condition no one could reach him on phone. But local population could sense something amiss and started flocking to VCs house.

I could hardly sleep that night, as I was scared of the reaction of our Managing Director and other Board Members. Though they were told VC was in Judicial Custody no one would imagine he was in a cell locked up !!  

Next day we went to the session’s court. The matter of VC was listed for late evening . Though we could meet him and offer food etc. we could understand that he was sulking and angry. By late evening he was let out by the magistrate and he was told that he should attend to the hearing whenever called for.

We asked VC to take a day or two rest and return to work. In the office by then UP mafia had become so strong many were upset that I did not handle the case well as I was exonerated in the beginning.

There was a review meeting in our HO. MD was very reasonable and told that if in a position one did not mind the meta talk ( body language) one was bound to suffer. He was telling about the case of one of his close friend who had slapped a servant belonging to SC/ST and had to suffer a similar fate. We could understand that the same was told to break the ice in the meeting as well as to satisfy the ego of VC. In private he told me that I could not have anything more than what I had done and told that VC was bound to suffer like that which would teach him a lesson.

After a few months things were in status quo. VC had quit the job as he was not given a good feed back in that year’s appraisal. He wanted to go abroad, that was the rumor he was spreading. I had quit the job to move out. Following which PK was found sucking his thumb as he did not get anything out of the case.

In the end to get out of the case VC offered him INR 25000 ( < 400 USD). This was done by arranging a one to one meeting between VC and PK. PK then moved to Una Sessions Court and stated that he was misguided and ill informed. Therefore he filed the case.

The matter was then closed once and for all. Poor VC had to come from Kanpur to Una three to four times to get himself free !!

Law as people say is an ASS ! I learnt it the hard way !!

MY TRYST WITH INDIAN LAW....5

The local lawyer was recommended by the district law officer. He was young and seemed to be a reasonable person. He had an office near one of the prominent hotel in Una. The office was small and Spartan furniture. When we reached him he was firing his assistant who was busy typing something on the lap top. We sat in a small bench awaiting his attention. When I looked around I could see on the wall a photograph of our local Industries Minister smiling.

As I was staring at that smiling photo the lawyer became aware of my apprehension and told me that his father who was trading in commodities in Una Market was a congress man and therefore he had kept that photo.

He got hold of all the papers and then asked about the brief background of the case. Then he told me he would file for a bail in sessions court the very next day. He told me that VC should be in his office the very next day by 9 AM. I told him of VC’s wife’s pregnancy and asked him VC should not go behind the bars even for a day. He took details of the same and asked VC to bring Pregnancy related papers the next day.

We were a bit relaxed and reached home late.  Next day morning I went of factory and VC as usual very lackadaisical approach reached lawyers office by 10 AM. I was getting repeated call from the lawyer. By then two police Constables were in my office. I told them that VC would come late as he had taken his wife for a medical check- up.

By the look on their face I got the feeling that they were not convinced. After an hour I got a call from my wife that police constables were in my house and they were asking for VC. In the mean while VC’s wife had come to the balcony and started abusing the constables why were they looking for her husband. She was also throwing weight of her father’s glorious past as police officer in Kanpur.

These were enough for the police to get irritated enough for direct action. By then I got a call from our lawyer that VC was under Judicial Custody as ordered by the local magistrate. We rushed to Una court and found our own VC sitting in the sun sipping tea along with police men.  

I was told by the lawyer that in these SC/ST Atrocities case arrest / judicial custody was mandatory. No one could escape. When we asked him when he would be released we were told that the magistrate in all probability release him the next day.  I could understand that this was purely a whimsical decision left to the magistrate.

Using a common contact met the magistrate in his chamber privately and explained our VCs case. We told him about VC’s wife’s condition. He was sympathetic and listened to all our pleas very politely and asked us to take leave in view of his work pressure.

We then met the local police man arranged for their dinner along with VC in a restaurant nearby. After dinner blanket and other accessories were arranged for VC to sleep peacefully in JUDICIAL CUSTODY !!
                                                         .....to be continued ......

MY TRYST WITH INDIAN LAW .......4

When SP visited I received him politely to our main conference room. After initial pleasantries and tea etc. he got on with his business.

 I was asked to attend the enquiry first. I was asked by him what was my caste. On seeing my Tilak he himself wrote “Brahmin”. Then the Plant Manager 1 was called. He was a “Sharma” and hence against his name was also written as “Brahmin”. Now it was the turn of the 2^nd Plant Manager.

When he was called, he barged into the room opening the door with his foot. He was on the cell phone. When he was asked his caste he was speaking arrogantly and told no caste. The SP was a bit disappointed with his behavior. Thus VC who was the 2^nd Plant Manger was found to be in the wrong side of the law by the SP. Based on the suspicion he was implicated in the case.

 We were exonerated. A FIR was filed on the insistence of the Minister and congress union against Plant Manager 2 Mr. VC. VC hailed from Kanpur in UP. His father and brother were lawyers in UP. His father in law was a retired DSP in Kanpur. Because of this he was under the illusion that nothing would happen to him in this case. Police Men came to our factory and took declaration from all three of us about our native, home town address and permanent residence address etc.

They were stating that they would send police man to our home for verification of our activities in home town. To go and verify VC’s home they took money from us and travelled to Kanpur. VC had arranged for their accommodation in local hotel etc. where they stayed for a week. Despite that they returned without any document from Kanpur police station verifying the antecedent of VC.

This too put the local Police off as they thought that VC would arrange all that to get out of the case.

Our company had a regular lawyer in Shimla who pleaded all our tax and related cases. As advised by our commercial head we wanted to use him in this case too.   VC and his colleague went and met this lawyer in Shimla. But he was very casual. He told that so far no conviction had taken place under this act etc. He did not even file for an anticipatory bail.

I was periodically updated by the local police station and district law officer who had become a good friend by then. One day DSP called me and took me aside and told that they were under pressure from Shimla to file an update about the status of this case. He showed me on his computer screen the reports periodically filing by way of lies to dodge further proceeding. He also warned me, if we did not do anything may be our VC would go behind bars.

As Shimla lawyer was not useful we found a local lawyer in Una and handed over the case to him. By then it was becoming a regular feature to see Khaki clad policeman visiting factory in search of VC. We used to ask VC to stay at home or go elsewhere.       

VC who used to stay right opposite my house was getting disturbed by now. His wife was pregnant and was in an advanced stage ready for delivery. She did not seek any help from her mother or mother in law and wanted to manage the delivery all by herself alone. This too was putting pressure on VC.

Keeping this in mind I fixed an appointment with the local lawyer one evening and wanted to meet him in his home as visit to the Sessions Court was proving tiring. We did not have any place to sit and talk freely. 

                                                   ........to be continued 

MY TRYST WITH INDIAN LAW......3

There was lull for 15 days. Then our local SC/ST neta came to meet me again. This time it was to ask for a favour  of asking for a donation for Valmiki Day organized by him in his village. I told him he could collect a cheque after three days. But he wanted all in cash. INR 5000 was paid for that. Then he wanted me to be the chief guest. I had to decline as I did not want to be seen with him on stage.

He was also sore that PK had taken the case to Congress union and local neta who was also a minister. He was also of the opinion that they were trying to fish in troubled waters without keeping genuine interest of PK or his family’s welfare in mind. I told him the nature of any politician was that only !!

After a few weeks there was a call from local news paper agent who wanted to share a very secret information in person. I gave him an audience in my office. I was told that our Congress Union along with local people were planning to publishing a story on the PK case which would be very damaging to the company. I said they were free to do whatever they wanted and I could hardly stop them.

In return for this valuable piece of information he wanted an advertisement to be released on the birthday of the local minister facilitating for the yeoman service he was rendering to the local population. As it was a customary practice to keep the minister in good humor I had to agree to that too!!

There was a call from local DSP’s office stating that PK had lodged a complaint against three of us under SC/ST atrocities act 1989. He wanted to visit our factory and enquire about that.

He called on me in my office. The complaint was shown to us. In that it was alleged that one of the plant manager had called PK in an abusive manner taking his caste name and claimed that there was no place for such people in our organization. He had taken the name of local Congress Union office bearers as witness claiming that they were standing outside and heard the abuse.

This was far from truth and everyone was aware. The DSP saw our factory. Gone through PK’s personal file and he was convinced that the case was a fabricated one to harass the management. However he took me aside and told me that to satisfy the minister’s ego I should take PK back to avert confrontation.

I told him now much water had flown down the bridge and there was no scope for taking the case back. I also told him that the management was prepared to face the consequences.

By then I came to know through reliable sources that the case was advised to be closed by DSP and accordingly SP had signed the papers dismissing the case.

Meanwhile PK was becoming desperate and he called me repeatedly. Though, I had blocked his calls, one day as he had called using some other I picked up the call. He was desperate to get back to duty as his family was claimed to be starving. He was claiming that he had filed the case under SC/ST act as he was lured by the Congress union that he would be getting money to fight the case.

Sometime later Congress led union went on a hartal in front of Una Collectorate. Their demand was to reopen the case alleging that  the DSP was in hand in gloves with the management.

The District Collector called me and asked me what was our stand. I had told him very politely that we were firm on this and no going back. Then he asked the SP to investigate the case.   

MY TRYST WITH INDIAN LAW......2

PK had little scope for escape and he was promptly moved to another section as a prelude to removal. PK had sensed that and was becoming alert. With the management’s permission he was given marching order to our main factory in Punjab some 100 KM away from PK’s home.   

PK refused to accept the letter of transfer which was promptly sent by registered post later with acknowledgement due. Thus entry to PK to the factory was stopped. Later we came to know PK’s Rasa Leela and his alleged heart throbs within the same department.

As per routine practice in HP local Congress leaders have started calling me one by one. They were insisting that PK should be taken back and reinstated in the same department and same role immediately.

I stood firm on my stand and refused to entertain any such calls. Then the local Congress leader paid a visit along with PK’s school teacher who also happened to be the local area Sarpanch of the village. When PK’s alleged scandal was told to them they were shocked and appreciated my determination in weeding out such miscreants.                                                           

By then PK had sensed my stubbornness and moved to the Congress led union for help. PK’s brother was also working in our company and he was a union leader in Congress affiliated union. Congress led union then took him to the Industries minister.

There was a delegation of SDM, Director of Industries, Pollution Controller and Labour Commissioner all unannounced to our factory on a surprise visit. First there was a request and then threats to put me down and show me my way to Chennai by all of them en-mass.

Management was with me and they supported till the end. Thus nearly two months had elapsed and PK did not get salary or any financial help.

One day there was a visitor to my office along with the HR manager. This Gentleman then showed his visiting card which stuck me like a ton of bricks. He was the State President of SC/ST employees.

He categorically told me that if we do not take PK back there would be riots outside the factory as their number was far too high in our rolls.  Till then I was not even aware of “ THE SCHEDULED CASTE & THE SCHEDULED TRIBES PREVENTION OF ATROCITIES ACT 1989 No.33. “.

I had to show him PK’s personal file to him and stressed the fact that the track record of PK was not good. He had issues earlier including physically man handling fellow worker earlier.

By then this Gentle Man had become close to me as he had a Rakhi sister in Madurai (TN) and showed me his snaps with Great Indian Political leaders like Bhuta Singh who was a leader of SC/ST group , Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi etc. I told him that though, I admired him and his leadership my hands tied in this case. He then wanted to speak o our MD. I told him he was free to do so.

                                                             to be continued ........

MY TRYST WITH INDIAN LAW......Part 1

I have been always a law abiding citizen and respect the laws of my mother land INDIA. Ever since childhood, we were brought up as law abiding students by teachers, parents and everyone. Even when accepting any job offers, I have amply made it clear to prospective employers that cutting corners was not my cup of tea, on account of this have lost a lot of money by way of salary which does not cause any regret in my life.  I value a good night sleep much more than that.

But for a few instance of traffic violations, there were no issues with law all through my life.

But all these things changed a few years back, when I was on employment in Himachal Pradesh. As a unit of the company, we had more than 1600 people on our rolls. Apart from that we used to employ a lot of contract workmen time to time to meet the seasonal demands. These workmen used to be supplied by labour contractors.

These migratory labour used to come from places like Bihar, Jharkhand, UP etc. These contractors used to bring labour to the factory. They used to stay within the factory premises to take care of their wards. They used to be provided with a few rooms and facility to cook within the rooms. Company used to pay money to the labour directly and a over- riding commission to the contractor every month.

Thus there used to be good rapport between the local supervisory staff and contractors. Some Supervisors were alleged to be in the pay roll of contractors, as they used to be found dining, partying with the contractors. This had led to some acrimony among some of the contractors and I had prior information that some mischief by way of inflated numbers, extra over time, proxy etc. being done by one supervisor by name PK.

 PK was put under watch and he was soon caught red handed with such malpractices and relevant documents. PK was one of the old school supervisor and a local person too. He was vehemently opposed to local communist union. In our factory we had three unions one by congress party and the sitting MLA from the area was the industrial minister of the state. Second one was Communist union which was more popular among the workmen and staff. Third one was dormant BJP union which was living in its past glory.

                                             ............ to be continued ...

PALAKOLLU ...WEST GODAVARI DISTRICT. MARRIAGE EXPERIENCE

We are bound to visit so many towns, Cities, Villages, States and countries. A few we remember for our life time. A few we never want to remember anytime.

One beautiful small town in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, which I shall never ever forget is called PALAKOLLU. This is a small town on the banks of river Godavari. I was living in Andhra Pradesh for nearly three years since 1982. I was stationed in a place called Guntur. I was not knowing, Telugu the local language in 1982 when I moved to Guntur. But in a span of six months i became quiet fluent in the language at least to speak and understand.

I had the opportunity to travel to various places in coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh like Nellore, Chirala, Singaraya Konda, Tanuku, Vijayawada,Tadepalligudam, Sattenapalli, Tenali, Narasaraopet, Eluru, Rajamundry, Kakinada etc. But the opportunity to visit Palakollu came in the form of a marriage invite. One of my classmates was getting married in Palakollu sometime in the early 1983. Thus we were all told to attend the wedding in Palakollu on that particular day. There was a group of six to seven boys who all joined together in Guntur railway station in the morning. We took a train to go to Palakollu and reached the destination around 1 PM.

We went to the station master and told him that we had come to attend so & so’s marriage. The Station Master asked us whether we represented the bride’s party / bride groom’s party. When we told that the Bride Groom was our class mate, his total approach towards us changed. We were given a bench to sit, the best he could arrange in his small station. Then he immediately went to call the bride’s father stating that Bridegroom’s friends had landed in chaste West Godavari Telugu. He then told us that a bullock cart was on its way to pick us up.

We were then taken to the bride’s house. We did not know that Telugu marriages were generally performed in the night and guests especially from bridegroom’s side landed up only in the evening. We were told to wait for a few minutes and then served with tender coconut water. We were then told that fresh rice was being made for us to eat. After a rich Andhra Bhojan we were told that we would be taken to a cinema theater to see a Telugu movie.

We had the fortune of watching one Krishnam Raju’s movie. Generally in South India ladies do not sit by the side of male members ( at least then) in busses, trains and especially in cinema theater. In Pallakolu, a girl was sitting and watching the entire movie by my side without any fuss.

Once the movie was over we were taken back to the Bride’s place and shown beautiful rooms to get freshened up. The type of bathroom so lavishly built and accessories there made me to wonder whether we were in some star hotel. Nice perfumes, soaps, hair oil etc. were on the shelves. We were made to help ourselves.

When we entered the marriage hall we could see some of the most beautiful girls all decked up from head to toe in gold. There was not a single girl without the OTTIYANAM (waist band made in pure gold!!). There were damsels with golden anklets (In South it is still a taboo to wear gold on the foot!!). Lavish display of wealth from land giving out golden crop was visible everywhere!!

In the late evening my friend, the bridegroom landed with his whole family. He was sorry that he was not there to receive us when we reached there. But we told him that we had the best reception which anyone could have ever had in Palakollu in his absence!!

Thus unknowing the local culture and custom we landed in a marriage party much earlier than the anticipated arrival time. We were treated very politely and taken maximum care by the bride’s party. We were made comfortable and  made to enjoy the local hospitality to the fullest possible extent in Palakollu !!

Oh to be a driver !!!

Oh to be a Driver !!!!

One tribe I love with my whole heart is that of Drivers, professional drivers. Be it a cab driver, Chauffer, Taxi driver they are a breed apart. They are admired by all and sundry because of long hours they put in staying away from family and friends. That is probably the only reason even lord Krishna chose to be a charioteer for Arjun in Mahabharat !

Whenever I hire a taxi, anywhere in the world, I try to raise a conversation with the driver. This apart from helping me o develop the much needed rapport helps me to send my time usefully during the drive to elicit necessary information about local gossip, political trend, news about all & sundry, at times even tips on local stock market !

We were on a conducted tour in KL, Malaysia a few years back. The driver of the minivan acted as a tourist guide. That was the time Don staring Sharukh Khan was released. After initial warming up our driver cum guide had all of us bursting with laughter giving snippets of his encounter with Sharukh & Priyanka Chopra. We got to the brands cigarettes smoked by them and what not !

I was working with a MNC head quartered in Mumbai. The Managing Director of the company was driven around in a Toyota Corolla those days. The joke in the Head Office was after the MD the next powerful man in the organization chart was the Driver of his car as he knew more about the company than any Vice President et. al.

I was sometime back constrained to travel too frequently to Ahmadabad in Gujarat from Hyderabad. As a unit was coming up for our company the travel was inevitable. Mostly I used to take the early morning flight from Hyderabad. To make the pick-up and drop a routine regular activity I had tied up with a local cab operator. He was very resourceful person and call him at anytime he was around to reach you in ten fifteen minutes maximum.

The interesting thing with him was he used to give juicy gossip every time you take a ride in his taxi. Once he was cursing loudly the evils of modern life style related denigration in social values etc. As he was only in his thirties then I told him in chase Hyderabadi what was wrong with him and how come he aged so fast in a span of two or three weeks as only the previous week I had used his taxi. He told me that only a few days back he was hired by a middle aged woman from the airport. As he was entering the city to drop her in to the hotel where she was supposed to check in she asked him about the availability of drugs in Hyderabad and if he was in the knowledge of any reliable supplier.

Our friend lost his breathing and quickly disposed he off at the hotel and refused to entertain her phones the next day stating that he was busy and tied up !!

The height of best driver I have ever had was this one from Ahmadabad. This gentle man was sent through our regular car hire. He was on time to pick me up from the hotel. He was driving as if the road was his private property cursing two wheeler drivers, pedestrians, fellow car drivers in his choicest cuss words. I had to make him to stop the car and give him a piece of my mind.

He then reduced his curses but was driving at break neck speed. Then on the way to thaw the ice he was interviewing me about my background, professional experiences, mission of the trip etc. Then I asked him politely whether he was playing the role of Human Resource Manager part time in some company. He burst into laughter and told me indeed he was a human resource personnel who got retrenched from a big power supplier in Gandhinagar.     

Then he started narrating his life story. Where he studied , when he got married, number of children etc. By then we reached the factory. On seeing the crowd of personnel hanging for interview he became a HR Manager again. He told me he would short list the candidates according to age, experience, domicile etc. and send short listed candidates for the final interview by me. Thus my days job became all the more simple, but in order to be sure I had to ask the chosen / short listed candidates whether any money exchanged hands !!!

Bidding good bye !!

The toughest thing in one’s life is to bid someone “Good Bye”! though "good bye" is something which holds good till we see / meet again, i dread the thought of bidding good bye to anyone!  

I equally do not enjoy receiving anyone either, be it in airport, railway station or bus stand. by and large planes, trains and busses do not come on time. we got to wait, wait & wait endlessly in places where little facility exist. crowded, without the comfort of good seating, air conditioning (most places do not even have fans!!)…. that too in very odd hours.

but in life one cannot avoid these rituals of receiving and bidding good bye as both are inevitable.

.

there were times when i had gone to the wrong railway stations as in city like Hyderabad there are three railway stations big ones in which interstate trains arrive, Hyderabad, Secunderabad and Kachiguda. Once my brother was coming from Mumbai for the first time to Hyderabad. I went to Secunderabd station to receive him. After a great wait I learnt that the train reached Hyderabad and the Journey for it ended then & there. By the time I reached home my brother was already there to receive me.

Once to receive my boss I went to Airport in Chennai. By the time I reached driving my car, my boss got lift from someone and reached his hotel. Thus the day began on a bad note and continued whole day!

forget about reception now let us go to send off !! it is certainly a very painful experience, especially when it involves members of the fairer sex ! Tears, more tears and many many more tears!

We were moving to Malawi on 1^st May’1995. My father had a brain tumor surgery a few weeks back. despite that as a brave man he consoled my mother when we were moving out of Chennai to Blantyre. The scene is still very vivid in my mind ! My esteem of him rose many more notches that day !

There was a time when I had to see my daughter off for her college in Raipur. Her train was from Chennai Central and I had travelled along with her from Bangalore to Chennai. In Chennai I could spend just ten minutes with her as my return train to bangalore was about to start. I handed over her to my brothers in Chennai station and ran to my train only to start crying inconsolably as my daughter was shedding tears when she bid me good bye! Though I had put up a tough front in front of her I could hardly control my tears during my journey to Bangalore !!

One Good Bye for me which I shall never forget in my life span ! It was my last working day in Thailand. I was warned by my wife to return home in time. She was also insisting that if possible I should avoid visiting office that day ! But I was asked to be there for the first half. Therefore I was there in my cabin after winding up all & sundry waiting for the clock to reach 12 Noon !

By then one by one all my team started coming to my cabin with a plastic rose ! I accepted all of them with great humility ! after that all the flowers were made in to bouquet and handed over to me. then i told my right hand man that time was up and I must leave. By then all the pregnant girls who were given light duty by management lined up in front of my office, followed by team leaders, supervisors, shift in charges, Asst. Managers and Managers. There was literally a procession in front of me. Around 70 people in all walked slowly with me up to the car park. I was seen off from there by the General Manager.

My car was Driven by my right hand man. Then from home to airport he drove the car. In the airport I was seen Off by him.

Thus at times, I used to joke that in the Thai “Good Bye” I have seen a rehearsal of my funeral with bouquet instead of a wreath !!!