Our former Executive Director i/c, Dr M D Nandaswar, Scientist F, used to tell us the above title and it was imbibed in me at the very early stage of my carrier. I have already stated that at the age of 12 onwards I used to work with my father in his business and at that time itself 'work is worship' for me.I used to do all sorts of work necessitated in that Stationary-cum-Vegetable-cum-Coconut shell sale shop. My father used to sprinkle water on leafy vegetables in order to prevent it from drying, due to this the wooden planks start decaying and service of a Carpenter was frequently required for the maintenance. There was an old carpenter used to help us. One day even after 6 o'clock the work was not over and we requested him to complete it. He was annoyed to hear this and murmured that "if God has not created day and night I have to work the entire 24 hours of a day". After this incident I used to do repair works as I can.
After passing my B.Sc (Chemistry) course in 1976, I got a job in 1977 at Beena Rubber Works, Thiroorkad having a salary of Rs250/month with free boarding and lodging(Owned by Rtd. Major KC Ahamed Sahib. He was the first Boss of mine and he is no more now. I will write about him later). This factory was near to the well known Angadippuram Tali Temple and Thirumandam Kunnu Devi Temple.The product of this industry was ISI quality 60% centrifuged latex and pre-vulcanized latex. The ammoniac raw latex availability will be very high from August to January and during the rainy season the volatile fatty acid (VFA) content will be increasing and it will adversely affect the quality of the latex. In order to arrest the multiplication of VFA we have to centrifuge the latex without delay. At that time myself and Mr Bharathan from Anamangad was there as Chemist-cum-Supervisor.Hence I used to work two shifts ie; from 8am to night 1.30am(17.30 hours) per day. So the slogan 'Wok is Worship' is not a new thing for me.
At that time, up to five years, all small scale industry owners can do anything as they like, but after five years they have to provide CPF, ESI and other welfare measures to the workers. When I joined the company, it has almost completed 5 years and consequently the workers formed a Union under CITU and gave their demand notice to the management. The management was not willing to provide any facilities further and they influenced the local people to agitate against the company on the ground that the company is polluting their paddy fields by the effluent discharged from the company. Consequently the Company was closed (Now it is Ahamed ITC, Thiroorkkad) and I was retrenched to the newly formed Beena Rubber Works at Yadavagiri Industrial Estate, Mysore, Karnataka. Some of the workers and my colleagues were posted in the newly formed Glen View Rubber Works, Pang.
After passing my B.Sc (Chemistry) course in 1976, I got a job in 1977 at Beena Rubber Works, Thiroorkad having a salary of Rs250/month with free boarding and lodging(Owned by Rtd. Major KC Ahamed Sahib. He was the first Boss of mine and he is no more now. I will write about him later). This factory was near to the well known Angadippuram Tali Temple and Thirumandam Kunnu Devi Temple.The product of this industry was ISI quality 60% centrifuged latex and pre-vulcanized latex. The ammoniac raw latex availability will be very high from August to January and during the rainy season the volatile fatty acid (VFA) content will be increasing and it will adversely affect the quality of the latex. In order to arrest the multiplication of VFA we have to centrifuge the latex without delay. At that time myself and Mr Bharathan from Anamangad was there as Chemist-cum-Supervisor.Hence I used to work two shifts ie; from 8am to night 1.30am(17.30 hours) per day. So the slogan 'Wok is Worship' is not a new thing for me.
At that time, up to five years, all small scale industry owners can do anything as they like, but after five years they have to provide CPF, ESI and other welfare measures to the workers. When I joined the company, it has almost completed 5 years and consequently the workers formed a Union under CITU and gave their demand notice to the management. The management was not willing to provide any facilities further and they influenced the local people to agitate against the company on the ground that the company is polluting their paddy fields by the effluent discharged from the company. Consequently the Company was closed (Now it is Ahamed ITC, Thiroorkkad) and I was retrenched to the newly formed Beena Rubber Works at Yadavagiri Industrial Estate, Mysore, Karnataka. Some of the workers and my colleagues were posted in the newly formed Glen View Rubber Works, Pang.
While I was working at Mysore I got appointment in CWRDM. At that time I was drawing Rs800/month with free boarding and lodging. Even though I got a lesser salary(Rs693) from CWRDM, still I joined because of the memories of retrenchment and my affinity towards my father, at that time he was also not well. Along with me two more persons appointed. They are Mr K Lakshmanan who has retired from service and the other was Smt Joycee Syriac who then left CWRDM and joined in Rubber Board. We were posted in Water Management (Agriculture) Division as Technical Assistant Grade-I, in the CSIR pay scale of Rs 380-640 in 1980. Dr V K Vamadevan was the Head of the Division. I was put under Dr S Kabeerathumma, Scientiest C . She was an energetic devoted scientist.She got her PhD from Rice Research Institute, Kattak, Orissa. I used to work even in holidays. Her family was at Thiruvanandapuram and hence she tried to get a job at Thiruvananthapuram. Luckily she got it at Central Tuber crops Research Institute, Thiruvananthapuram. She teached me soil and plant analysis. She is one of the guiding stars in my carrier . Now she is no more. I pay homage to her soul.
Today the Pro LDF trade unions conducts all India strike in protest against the 'anti people' economic policies of UPA Government for which the LDF was supporting for the last four years and on the Nuclear deal issue they have parted the collusion and tried to topple the Government with the support of the earstwhile untouchable BJP. The Central Government Employees should remember the fact that, if the UPA Government had fallen at that time itself, they will not be getting the 6th Pay Commission revision salaries from September2008 onwards, which is due from January2006(Actually this should be the 7th pay commission report, if the pay revisions occurred at regular 10 years interval). If the LDF considered the employees benefits, before taking such a decision, I feel that at least they will not have tried to topple the UPA Government until the pay revision is implemented. I think they are not bothered about the employees benefits. Being the staff of a research institution we are not bound to involve in such activities as other trade unions will do, still I used to take leave on these type of days. Now, I feel that, LDF is similar to other parties and hence I attended the office as I have to do much more important duties. This may also be due to the work culture imbibed in me at the very early stage of my career, i.e; 'Work is Worship'
The era of much revered Com AKG and Com EMS has gone.Let us hope that the left will do the self analyses properly and correct the mistakes.
With good wishes
velayudhan
Today the Pro LDF trade unions conducts all India strike in protest against the 'anti people' economic policies of UPA Government for which the LDF was supporting for the last four years and on the Nuclear deal issue they have parted the collusion and tried to topple the Government with the support of the earstwhile untouchable BJP. The Central Government Employees should remember the fact that, if the UPA Government had fallen at that time itself, they will not be getting the 6th Pay Commission revision salaries from September2008 onwards, which is due from January2006(Actually this should be the 7th pay commission report, if the pay revisions occurred at regular 10 years interval). If the LDF considered the employees benefits, before taking such a decision, I feel that at least they will not have tried to topple the UPA Government until the pay revision is implemented. I think they are not bothered about the employees benefits. Being the staff of a research institution we are not bound to involve in such activities as other trade unions will do, still I used to take leave on these type of days. Now, I feel that, LDF is similar to other parties and hence I attended the office as I have to do much more important duties. This may also be due to the work culture imbibed in me at the very early stage of my career, i.e; 'Work is Worship'
The era of much revered Com AKG and Com EMS has gone.Let us hope that the left will do the self analyses properly and correct the mistakes.
With good wishes
velayudhan
