Nothing official-Skelton staff

Nothing official-Skelton staff

When I joined Bharat Electronics during 1974 November, my first posting was in Internal Audit Department. In those days employees were properly placed and not misplaced. There are examples galore. Adithyan in Audit, Kashmirilal in Cash, AC Sharma in Air conditioning plant, Kanoon Kumar in legal department, Bhimsen in Canteen etc. Besides me there were 3 more Accountant/Senior Accountant in Internal audit, another lean and thin fellow Unnikrishnan, and two fat persons Sablok (Not all people) and Malhotra. Subsequently Malhotra left BEL and Sablok was temporarily posted to Regional Office New Delhi. (He remained there for 28 years and retired from there).At that time payment of final bills, purchase orders beyond some value etc were required to be vetted (Not wetting) by Audit before they are released. Some Auditors virtually wet the file containing the proposal put up for vetting by Audit through various means. Many Auditors love to sit on the fence and watch all the mishappenings so that they can come out with voluminous Audit Reports which takes months to read. This practice is being followed by several others also. (Latest example, Adarsh Flats).  Now a days only Post mortem-sorry post audit is there. Head of Audit Department thought of empowering Accountants and prepared a draft proposal. He asked me to go through the proposal and give comments. The proposal reads like this “…..Audit is working with Skeleton staff at the supervisory level…” I told him “Sir, what you have written is literally correct. If Sablok and Malhotra were here, you would not have made such a remark….”

Letter from Sister Nirmala

My profile published in The Hindustan Times

P Bhaskaran Obituary

Letter from Prof: MGK Menon

Another letter from Ratan Tata

Letter from Ratan Tata

Letter from Chairman ISRO

Irrational Directived

Letter from President International Olympic Committee

Dilshad garden temple Foundation day.

Letter from Amitabh Bachhan

Urakkam

Touch Cheyyuka

Naniyamma

Vellamadi

Pakuti

Pasuddanam

(A)Vishishta Vyaktikalkkulla Suraksha Sannaham

Sastra Lokathinu Angeekaram

Ee Masathile Paripadikal Page 2

Ee Masathile Paripadikal Page 1

Loka Malahyali Sammelanam Page 2

Loka Malayali Sammelanam Page 1

Malayalam Ezhuthukal

Ettavum Valiya Aadaranjali

Dr kalam Tuje Salam

Gunvata ka Talash

Khiladiyon ke Saath Anyay

Matham Banane ke Baad Hum So na jaye

Chaploosen se Savdhan

Chahiye Sthayi Samadhan

Avivekapoorna Nirnay

Gunavata ka Talash

Subbalakshmi ko Samman

Badal jayagi Tasvir

TFA ka shantar Khel

AAP's Agitation

Kejriwal’s unprecedented agitation near Parliament House is unbecoming of the status of a Chief Minister. Mr. Kejriwal should realize that he is not only the leader of a political party called AAP, but also the Chief Minister of Delhi who is expected to see the interest of not only his party members but also the entire population of Delhi. His confession of being an ‘Anarchist’ is childish to say the least. His threatening words to “teach a lesson” to the Congress is not befitting to the status of a Chief Minister. AAP leaders should appreciate that mobilizing people is easy but controlling crowd is difficult. Who will be held responsible if the frenzied mob goes unruly and indulge in arson, looting, stone throwing etc? Entire traffic in the capital city has been thrown out of gear and the ‘aam aadmi’ who are not members of any political party are the utmost sufferers. In a democracy one cannot enforce the whims and fancies of few people on a vast majority of common men and hold the entire state to ransom. If creating chaos, confusion, inconvenience, harassment, depression, despair etc to the common man is the yardstick of success, then AAP can be arguably proud of their struggle is a big success. Prolonging the agitation will jeopardize the Republic day programme, which will cause irreparable damage to the image of the country. While the demands raised by Kejriwal & Co may be genuine, means adopted for accomplishing them is not conducive to a civilized society. Further adopting tactics like pressure, intimidation, coercion, undue influence etc are not acceptable in a democratic society. Imagine a situation where other elected bodies  like MCD, NDMC etc adopt similar tactics to coerce Delhi Government, what will be the reaction of AAP? Will it succumb to the pressure tactics and agree to all the demands raised by these bodies irrespective of the fact that they are genuine or not?. One should not do anything which he/she does not expect others to do with them. Accepting even genuine demands under pressure tactics is a sign of weakness and succumbing to pressure policy will open the flood gates with flimsy demands. At a time when AAP is spreading its wings to the length and breadth of the country, such reprehensible actions to appease a small section of the society will only help to crumble the edifice of the party. AAP should understand that the gap between hero and zero is very thin and today’s hero will become tomorrow’s zero. A party which has come up with great expectations and aspirations should not meet with a tragic end which will be suicidal and detrimental to the interest of the nation.

Plight of farmers

According to Newspaper reports, there is a bumper crop of Tomatoes in Karnataka and farmers are forced to sell it at throw away prices ranging from 60 paisa to 1 rupee per KG. While the hardworking farmers get pittance, the wholesalers, retailers and traders make exorbitant profit.  It is a pity that people who toil for days and months together to feed their unknown brethren at other parts of the country are not only rewarded but also cheated, deceived, hounded and harassed. People who virtually do not do any hard work become affluent at the cost of these poor farmers. Waiver of loans and giving compensation after committing suicide are not the panacea for the problem.  The authorities should ensure that these deprived farmers should get remunerative price for their products. Unfortunately, no political party is concerned about the plight of these unlucky farmers as they do not constitute big vote banks. It is high time a co operative movement is started and farmers sell their products through their own societies eliminating the greedy middlemen. Operation flood originated by legendary Verghese Kurien in Gujarat was a great success and we should do something similar to that to ameliorate the predicament of these hapless farmers.  At a time when land holding has become very small and agriculture has become unremunerative especially in states like Kerala, people should consolidate their holdings and start co operative farming. A civilized society cannot become a silent spectator of looting of the suppressed, oppressed and depressed class of society by a small section of shylocks

DTC Fare Structure

Minimum fare in Delhi Transport Corporation is Rs 5/=, .Thereafter, it increases in the multiples of 5. I.e.; 10, 15, 20, 25.  While the minimum fare varies in different state transport corporations, the increase in fare is in multiples of one rupee.   Whereas you pay one rupee extra for the next stop hardly 100 meters away, in Delhi you have to pay 5 rupees extra for the same distance. Although charging Re 1 extra is reasonable, extra charges of Rs 5 is ridiculous. What is the logic and rationale behind fare structure is difficult to understand. Apart from the fact that it is illogical and irrational, this creates coin problem also. Many people whose mother tongue is not Hindi find it difficult to understand the corresponding Hindi words for say, 33,49,87,96 etc whereas they understand the Hindi words for round figures like 50,60,70 etc. Does the DTC face similar problem? A joke is running round that DTC should consider appointing highly qualified persons as conductors in city buses who can correctly count from 1 to 100. DTC should rationalize the fare structure to make it more meaningful and also to shed the wrong image created. 

Chahihye Sthayi samadhan

Dr Kalam Tuje Salam

Eithihasik Nirnay

Shiny Wilson ka Sanyas

Avishishta vyaktikalkkulla Sujraksha Sannaham

Sastra Lokathinu Angeekaram

Ee Masathile kala (pa) Paripadikal

Loka Malayali Sammelanam

Thayambaka

Khat Khadi Karna

Long back I was staying in Srinivaspuri, a middle class Government colony. I was working at NAFED and their office was at Sapna Building East of Kailash. My office timing was from 10 AM to 5 PM. Office was only 10 minutes walking distance from my residence.  In summer going to office at 9. 45 feel as if I am going to office half day. After joining BEL Sahibabad during  November 1974, my routine changed dramatically. I have to catch the bus at 6.50 AM. After boarding the bus at Srinivaspuri it takes us for a virtual Delhi darshan visiting several places like East of Kailash, Kailash colony, Kalkaji, Malaviya Nagar, Saket, Haus Khas, Green Park, INA, Lodi Colony, ITO, Laxmi Nagar etc and reach factory at 8.20 AM. During summer we use to sleep at the terrace.  Since I have to wake up early in the morning, I walk down silently without disturbing others.  Hence I told my neighbor “ Jab Aap udke jayega, mera khat bhi khadi karna” (when you leave the terrace, please keep my cot also in standing position)

Retirement salary

I told a young man who recently joined Government sector that his salary will be around Rs. 50 Lacs at the time of his retirement. He could not believe it. (There is no point in guessing the salary of Private sector as there is no limit).My first salary in 1971 was Rs 150/= per month and the monthly rent I was paying was Rs 40/=.First increment was 10% of the salary. Before getting the second increment I left the job and joined another company where the salary was just double Rs 330/=PM. My first salary in BEL was Rs 520/= and last salary is not being disclosed. (I joined as Accountant and retired as Manager (Finance).Senior citizens can reveal their first salary and junior citizens can forecast their future salary at the time of their retirement. Small kids who are reluctant to disclose their name are taunted as they have no name. Similar situation should not happen to senior and junior citizens 

Operation and Maintenance Manual

Now a day’s even small items are also accompanied with an operation and maintenance manual, even if you buy a costly shoe.  Unfortunately God has not provided any handbook of Operation and maintenance manual while sending human beings to earth. (These are available in various scriptures, but we can’t expect lazy people to read it)  Animals and birds do not require this as they are better aware of the use and misuse of their organs. Many youngsters are under the illusion that the legs are provided for changing gear and applying break and not for walking and/or running and several other use. Many people do not use their “Dimag” also and immediately ask for answer, when a question is put to them. Lot of people is also under the wrong impression that if they use, it will diminish but actually its power increases.  If there had been a manual giving all details of operation, frequency of use, minimum and maximum use, frequency of service,  do’s and don’ts etc, countless problem would have  been  solved-nay those problems would not have arisen. Now at least some Godly person can think of making an Operation cum maintenance manual for the benefit of the mankind. 

Likes and Comments

Many people including intellectuals gives ‘likes’ and ‘comments’ based on the person (Their Caste, creed, region, religion, profession, status, group, connection,  political leaning etc)  and not based on the contents. When will we learn to come out of these narrow considerations and evaluate things unbiased, dispassionately, forthrightly forgetting the fact that who has posted it. This is the typical mindset of petty politicians who behave like sycophants and flatters and blindly support their leaders in spite of the fact that what their leaders preach and practice is illogical, irrational, wrong, bad, unconvincing, incorrect, erroneous, not in public interest etc. On the other hand they oppose everything proposed by the rival parties irrespective of its merit. (In fact the word opposition itself is a misnomer, which creates an impression in the minds of public that their duty is to oppose anything proposed by the other party).Such attitude will create an impression in the minds of ‘Leaders’ that they are infallible, indispensable and unassailable which is not in  their party’s or country’s interest. This is precisely the reason for the dictatorial and arrogant attitude of many leaders in our so called democracy. A handful of people hold a vast majority to ransom is the outcome of such mentality. Let us not become HMVs (His Master’s voice).It is high time; political workers and public at large should come out of this shackle and herd mentality and show the courage of conviction to call a spade a spade. This will be the harbinger of a new era of purification in Indian politics. We should make the leaders realize that they are the servants of the people and not their masters. It is the common man who makes them or breaks them and not vice versa. Let us empower ourselves and not allow horse riding on us by the Politicians and their henchmen.

Rajdhani Travel

Yesterday (8th January 2014) I landed at Bangalore at 3.20 PM.  Train was late by 8 Hours 40 minutes only. This is the longest delay by Rajdhani Express as experience by me.  Sometime back, somebody asked me as to where I am settled. I told him that I am unsettled and sometimes at Delhi, Kerala, Bangalore etc. When he further asked where I will be most of the time, I said that most of the time I may be in then train. It appears to have boomeranged. However, the record for longest delay is that of Ernakulum Duranto Express on my journey during July 2011 which reached 36 hours late.  Due to heavy rain at Konkan region the train had to take a U turn and diverted the route via Pune, Bangalore etc.  Since it has only one stop after the starting station, it need not follow any route and can run vertically, diagonally etc and in the process gave a Bharat Darshan to the commuters. (When the Duranto trains were introduced I objected about the name of the Train as it is not a local train running through Bengal, but running across the length and breadth of the country. If Railway Ministers belonging to various states gives names of their regional language, what will happen can be left to wild imagination). On another occasion Mangla Lakshadweep Express reached 26 hours late. While the passengers were aware of the delay, passersby thought that it is delayed by 2 hours only.

It was very cold outside and inside also. One should feel comfortable with normal clothes in an air conditioned room or compartment. But it was cold after using sweater, jacket and blanket. AC attendant was conspicuous by his absence. I think Railways should have another class of compartment like Freezer 2 tier, Freezer 3 tier etc. Air conditioned people of Indian railways should be given some basic training with Delhi Metro to know the atmosphere in an AC compartment. Quality of food was also very poor. If this is the state of affairs in the most prestigious trains, less said is better about  other trains.  

Considering the spate of accidents, we should be thankful to Railways for a safe but uncomfortable journey.