1st
of June triggers a few interesting memories from my past. It was 1st
of June, when I joined my first job after completing my engineering. Despite
many years have passed, I have vivid memories of a few things, due to the
nature of those. I remember the day I landed in the city where I was to join my
job – Kolkata.
My date
of joining was one of the earliest in our batch. Just a few days ago, our last
papers were done. I had vacated my hostel and went to a relative’s place for a
few days. I needed money for my expenses. In those days, there were no internet
banking or ATM cards. My father often gave me cheques which I deposited in my
SBI bank account at our college branch, and then stood in long queues spending
a few hours in order to withdraw money every time. There were no mobile phones
and I needed to stand in long queues in front of PCO (Public Calling Office)
booths, in order to make STD call to my parents’ landline phone number. Because
of the nature of urgency, I was asked to visit the relative’s place, spend a
couple of days there and take money from them. I even had to buy a luggage
there, because I did not have any proper big size luggage after leaving the
hostel. A day before 1st of June, I caught a train to reach Howrah. No
AC compartment, and perhaps an unreserved ticket since the distance was not
much.
I arrived
at Howrah railway station and came out dragging my luggage. I had visited the
city a few times before, twice visiting the Passport Office and once for site
seeing. Even in those days, I loved visiting places and monuments of historical
importance, as I found those inspiring. After I came out of the railway
station, I found myself in middle of a crowded mess. I talked to a few taxis
who were charging very high fare. Then, someone suggested that the public bus
that was standing nearby was about to leave and it would drop me exactly at the
place I wanted to go. Quickly, I entered the bus, carrying my big luggage. I
had no idea of what was in store there for me.
The
public bus was too crowded. I could not get a seat and hence I just stood. But
I had to put my luggage somewhere and hence I put it by the side of one seat,
trying to cause less inconvenience to others. But I soon realized that it was
indeed much inconvenient to others. The bus started and when the conductor came
to offer me ticket, he objected to the luggage and I offered him to buy one
more ticket, so that it is accounted for. But by that time, the other
passengers had already watched me, understood me, and even formed an opinion
about me. They soon delivered a verdict that I was nuisance creator, too
selfish and a miser. A person started saying loudly that I should have taken a
taxi instead of boarding a bus. Then, another person, from far away in the bus,
started complaining about increasing selfishness in society. Then, another man
said something else about me. They were all talking in Bengali, which I could
understand only little, but I had understood their meaning. The bus was too
crowded, exit gates were packed, and I could not deboard it even if I tried to.
During whole journey, which felt too long to me, people kept discussing me and
my luggage. All the while, I was standing in the over-crowded bus, being
subjected to ridicule as a punishment for my ‘sin’ of having entered it. I had
experienced discrimination and things like regionalism before, and I knew how
to deal with it: keep silent and tolerate it all. So, I did exactly that.
Next day
at office, I came to know that travel expenses including local conveyance was
to be reimbursed by the company and hence I should have taken the costly taxi
at the railway station! A young engineer from a small town, it was certainly a
steep learning curve for me. From the same day onward, I started taking taxi to
travel between office and the hotel the company had booked for me. There are
perks of being a ‘corporate slave’ as they say, and we need to enjoy the ride,
learning the ropes on the way.
- Rahul
Tiwary
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