Passion as an occupation

I was visiting a friend on a social call.  During our conversation my friend’s wife was complaining that her son, who is an Engineer by qualification, was not doing a regular job but was too busy pursuing his passion for music.  She also told me that he is part of a popular music band, which not only gives performances  across the country but is also involved in creating original music albums.  When I asked her if the boy earned enough money, she beamed with pride and said, “yes- though it is not regular he earns good money.  In fact I am maintaining his bank account”

“So what is the problem?” I asked her.

“You see, he keeps irregular hours.  He works through the night, sleeps during the day.  For several days he doesn’t come home at all.  I get terribly worried!”

I told her not to worry because even in the corporate world executives keep irregular hours and work very hard to come up in life.  I tried to convince her that while many young men / women take up jobs in pursuit of money but don’t enjoy their jobs – at least her son, though a qualified engineer, is pursuing his passion as an occupation  at a very young age and already earning good money.

In the creative world of  music, drama, films, etc., it is common for people involved to keep irregular working hours and not getting compensated enough for their efforts  in the initial years.  Only when they get name and fame, they start earning  big money.

I don’t think my friend’s wife was convinced.  However, I came back from the meeting   very happy for their son. Because I have great admiration for youngsters who are focused and who

pursue their dreams relentlessly.                                           

In recent years, I have been reading case studies of a number of middle aged professionals giving up their lucrative corporate careers to follow their  passions.

Closer home, my elder son-in-law, who was a CEO of a BPO  unit of a software group quit his well paying job recently (at the age of 48) to pursue his many passions.  One of his passions is Food and he was keen to get into the food business.  His idea of starting `Idli factory` to produce rectangular idlis coated with Milakapodi and marketed under the brand name Madras Bars is already doing well in the market as a convenient, take away food for all occasions. Though he continues to work hard, he looks far more relaxed in his new avatar as an entrepreneur where he  is his own boss!

Last week I met a senior citizen who has got involved in promoting kitchen  gardens to produce organic vegetables on the terraces of people`s houses, using a technique he picked up from Israel.  He had spent nearly  three decades doing  jobs in the  private and government  sectors , using his formal qualifications that he acquired in college.

But more than all the jobs he did to earn a living, he seems to be enjoying his current occupation as a promoter  of kitchen gardens the most.  His passion for gardening has become his new occupation.  Proving that age is not a barrier for pursuing one’s passion in life! And that a passion can also be converted into an occupation instead of just remaining  a hobby!

Breezing through Passport Office!

Remember the time you went to the Regional Passport office  to renew an old Passport or to get a new one?  You had to stand in a long queue for hours, often jostling and fighting your way to the counter, only to be told that you had not filled up your application form correctly or you had forgotten to bring some document or the other.

Inside the hall where counters were located there used to be total confusion with no place for anyone to sit. Add to this, inadequate number of fans and visitors had to sweat it out for a couple of hours. It used to be especially tough on old and infirm people and a nightmare for everyone.  Invariably you had to visit the passport office a couple of times before you managed to get your passport.

I am happy to tell you that all that seems to have  changed. At least in Chennai! Today the whole procedure has been streamlined so well that you can apply for  renewal of your Passport or a new one; online. You not only get instant acknowledgement, but also have a choice of three Centres where you can get an interview appointment. Senior citizens don`t even need an appointment. They can visit one of the three Centres in Chennai between 9 and 10 am on any working day. I did not believe the travel agent who helped me with the application formalities (since I am computer semi-literate!) that for senior citizens like me, the procedure would take less than 30 minutes. I had still gone prepared to wait for a couple of hours armed with a bottle of water, biscuits and some reading material. I was surprised to find a stall selling snacks and drinks inside the hall (However, there was no opportunity for me to even open the magazine I was carrying!).

When I reached Saligramam, the location I had chosen, I was impressed with the new double-storied building with a professional security service manning the flow of people. I was directed to an enquiry counter for senior citizens.  After checking my documents, the assistant gave me a token and asked me to go to the first floor and wait in the assigned hall for my name to be called.  The fully air-conditioned hall with false ceiling and sleek looking stainless steel chairs with provision for seating more than 100 people at a time looked as impressive as the exterior of the building.  Though there were more than 100 people already seated in the hall, I was surprised that my name was called even before I could take my seat in the hall.  I was directed to a particular counter in another air-conditioned hall with more than 50 counters, fully equipped with a camera and a finger print machine-all manned by trained assistants.

The whole process of checking my application, clicking my photo, finger printing and collecting the fees took five minutes and the efficient assistant at the counter told me to wait in the adjacent hall for a final interview with an executive of the Regional Passport Office.  Even here, as a senior citizen, I was given preference and called immediately to a counter.  The executive concerned asked me some routine questions and told me that my passport would reach my house by courier within two weeks.  I was out of the passport office within 20 minutes of entering it.  I could not believe it!

Throughout my brief stay I was made to feel like a VIP. And that too without the help of any middlemen, who have been completely eliminated thanks to the new system. It was a great  feeling!

I was told that even for the general public which comes in larger numbers every day the time taken is less than 2 hours, but the important thing is that the waiting is made pleasant and comfortable, unlike the earlier days!

Later, I found out that the whole new system has been designed by TCS, the number one software giant of the country who have not only created the complete software for the project but are also providing trained man power to handle all the technical formalities.  The government agents only have to satisfy themselves that the candidate is a genuine applicant. An excellent example of Public/Private sector partnership!

With the use of technology the government has already made life easier for tech savvy people who can now book tickets for rail and many other services online, eliminating the need for middlemen.

Technology, while making life easy for the general public should also help the government to get rid of the rampant corruption, if only it has the political will.  I think our new tech savvy PM has that Will. Let us hope we Will really see “Achhe Din” under the “Modi Sarkar”!

Hold All

 

A couple of years ago I was sitting on a bench at Gaya station waiting for a train to Kanpur.  The station was crowded with thousands of passengers.  Suddenly the sight of a coolie carrying a heavy load on his head caught my attention.  Not because of the load but because of the unusual site of the Hold All he was carrying on top of a suit case on his head.  The ubiquitous  Hold All! Remember  the one which used to be an important  baggage that our parents and grand parents carried with them when they embarked on any long distance travel by train. Now almost extinct thanks to the invasion of the trolleys and strolleys.

I distinctly remember the Hold All because we had one at home which was packed to the brim  whenever we traveled to Madras from Bombay every three years. Not so much on a holiday to see places but to visit old relatives. 

A few days before the date of travel my mother would take it out of the loft, dust it, clean it and keep it ready for packing.

The things the Hold All could hold was really amazing.  It was a kind of bed spread made of Khaki coloured canvas 6 ft. long and 3 ft. wide which had provision for tucking the pillows or anything else that the passenger thought fit, on both ends.  In the centre of the oblong unit, were flaps  on either side which could be wrapped around the dresses and other materials including the bed sheets needed for daily use, so that they don’t spill out of the baggage.  Anything that could not be accommodated in the steel trunk, which was also another mandatory travel baggage, would go into the Hold All.

There were pouches of varying sizes  to hold   knick knacks & items like tooth paste, tooth brush, soap etc.

When my father  felt that the Hold All had already accommodated the maximum possible items, he would make an announcement that he was now ready to roll up the Hold All and ask my mother if she has forgotten anything.  Having got the clearance from her he would embark on rolling it up.

The task of rolling up the Hold All and tying it with a leather belt with buckles was a strenuous job which needed considerable muscle power and skill.  Because, while my father  managed to roll up the Hold All to a shape with great difficulty, it will unroll involuntarily, when he relaxed his hold even slightly to insert one end of the belt into the buckle. It is at this point the children would be called to lend a helping hand .  Their job was to hold on to the Hold All to prevent it from  unrolling, while  he went to work on the belt and the buckle.

When everything was nicely packed and ready for transport, my father would beam  with pride and pat himself  for having done a good job. But his joy would be short lived as a sheepish call from my mother that she had forgotten some item meant  for the Hold All would make my father almost go into fits. After screaming at my mother for her forgetfulness, he would reluctantly unpack and repack the Hold All, all over again.   Fortunately his children were more than willing to help because for them it was a fun activity.

I remember the Hold All had a leather handle attached to it on one end, used for lifting it and placing it on the head of the coolie.  We children would take turns to try and lift the hold all which was so heavy that instead of the baggage getting lifted, we would fall over it.  For us it seemed like some kind of a game.

Carrying it from home to the station and bargaining with the coolie at the station for taking it to the compartment etc. was an ordeal by itself.  Once we were settled inside the compartment and the train started my father would unroll the Hold All on our reserved seats- the hold all will transform itself into a bed spread through out the journey.  Remember those were the days when the Railways did not provide bed spreads or pillows!

The Hold All was indeed a multi- tasking companion during the long journey from Bombay to Madras!

Feedback welcome on rvrajan42@gmail.com

Amby – Mechanic`s delight; Owner`s nightmare!

The news from Hindustan Motors regarding the stoppage of production of Ambassador Cars has led to a host of people writing about this old war horse which ruled the passenger car market in India for over five decades. Let me add my bit of nostalgia about this `Hold All’ of a car!

Yes, the first thing that struck you about the car was the sheer space – both for passengers and for their luggage.  In the model I had, with the gear stick attached to the steering wheel, there was space for three adults in the front (including the driver) and four adults in the back, apart from any number of kids.  The moving space on the rear side was such that old people could literally walk into the car as against struggling to get into the modern day car with its low seat and limited space!  As for luggage, the dicky could easily hold 3 to 4 large suitcases, apart from a host of other small bags.  Amby was truly a `Hold All`.

I remember once while on a visit to a water fall near Arkonam my Amby had 15 passengers including my cousin`s family whom we picked up from their home in Arakkonam! On another occasion four kids were accommodated in the open dicky of the Amby, while driving a short distance from my home to a nearby marriage hall.

While in terms of capacity it scored high as compared to any other car in the market, on all other parameters it failed miserably.

The old fuddy-duddy look of the car which the company never changed suffered heavily in comparison  with the sleek  contemporary looks of the new generation vehicles which were naturally preferred by the younger generation.

Speed was a limitation in the car.  On highways it behaved well as long as you were driving at 60 kmph or less but the moment you stepped on the accelerator to take it beyond 60 kmph, the engine would start protesting, the vibration was  so bad that the passengers would feel very insecure. Due to the speed limitation, it naturally took longer to reach its destination.  Though the company tried to address this problem by offering a version with Isuzu engine, but that could not match the fuel-efficient-maintenance-free engines of the modern day vehicles.

The hard steering wheel was another sore point of the car.  For those who take power steering for granted, driving an old Amby could be a nightmare.  One needed a lot of energy to steer the steering at turnings! Unless you were used to the vehicle you would find it difficult to even change the gears in an Amby, (that was an art by itself!).

During long distance travels or while climbing hills, the engine would become so hot that one had to stop the vehicle at periodic intervals to replace the boiling water in the radiator with cold water. During our trips to Tirupathi in the good old days we had to stop atleast three to four times on the way to perform this ritual.

Similarly during rains, you would find maximum number of ambassador cars stuck on the flooded city roads as water would have  entered the carburetor located at the lower end of the engine.  In such situations the driver had no choice but to wait patiently for the water to drain and the carburetor to dry before he could  start the engine, while watching with jealousy as the small Maruthi-800s’, waded nonchalantly through the flooded streets!

Amby was a favourite of all the `hole in the wall’ roadside mechanics- because they had enough Amby owners ambling along with some problem or the other. As long as Ambys’ were ruling the roost, the mechanic`s life was good. Yes, Ambys’ were the mechanic’s delight but owner`s nightmare!

My first car was a 1956 model `Morris Minor` which I acquired in 1969 and which belonged to the Morris Oxford family, the parent of Ambassador car. I bought the vehicle for Rs 3500/- and after driving it for two years sold it for Rs 5000. Morris Minor was such a popular car those days that inspite of my being the fourth owner,   my 15 year old Morris commanded a good resale value!

The first official car I got was an Amby with a driver attached  when I became the Dy CEO of an ad agency I was working for in Delhi in the early 70s.  I bought my own Amby -my first airconditioned car in life-a couple of years after I started my agency in 1986. I progressed in life and in due course could afford to buy Maruthi Esteem- with all the advantages of a modern day vehicle. I was proud of my new acquisition, but my parents thought otherwise.

I distinctly remember my parents` comments after I took them on a joy ride in my new vehicle- ` “What kind of a car is this? It is so difficult to get in and get out! Your Ambassador was any day a better car than this!”

And I am sure that a lot of senior citizens of that generation would be inclined to agree.