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Those stolen moments

Last Updated 22 February 2015, 13:57 IST

This photograph was taken in Woodlands Hotel where we, the employees of HMT, had a send-off party for three of our seniors who were transferred. Those days, HMT not only produced Machine Tools but workaholics too and I was one of them during early 1960s.

When we joined HMT, we had to go through rigorous training at the Training Centre like in the Army. There was a display at the entrance of the Training Center — ‘The greatest temple on earth is built where man works hardest for the benefit of mankind’ — a saying of Pt Jawaharlal Nehru. This was practised in true spirit at HMT.

As the production of machine tools was doubled during early 1960s, most of us worked for almost 10 hours a day and on most Sundays. Work was fun. I could enjoy only Saturday afternoons by going for a movie, mostly English, having a glass of beer at Koshy’s on Brigade Road (it is not there now) as we worked on most Sundays. We got low wages and no extra money for working on Sundays. On Sundays, we all shared lunch brought from home, irrespective of the positions we held as if it was a picnic. When I used to work during festivals like ‘Deepavali’, my family would think that I had a girlfriend at work as I was a bachelor then.

Late Dr SM Patil, who was the MD, was a role model, responsible for converting most of us into workaholics. One day, I saw CR Nagendran, deputy manager then, collapse on the floor around 6 pm due to exhaustion. We used to start work at 7.15 am.

One Saturday, some metal chip entered my eyes when I was testing a machine. At the HMT ambulance room, the chip was removed and my eyes were bandaged. But my friend had bought a ticket for an English movie at Rex. This was for the evening show. Those days, I used to enjoy movies of chocolate heroes and heroines like Rock Hudson, Gregory Peck, Tony Curtis, Rex Harrison, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and Doris Day. I also enjoyed movies of heroes like Charlton Huston. So after removing the bandage, I watched one of my favourite movies that day. Citing eye pain as an excuse, I skipped work on Sunday. On Monday, my favourite boss Rajaram Ramani, who looked like Rock Hudson, took me to task for not coming. I told him that I had a bandage on my eye on Saturday. I remember him asking me immediately, ‘How could you see a movie with bandaged eyes?’ I was caught!

To my bad luck, the head of the department Srinivasan and Dr Patil saw me as they were in the rear stall at Rex. For a couple of years, I worked on all Sundays for about five months, ie from October to  March. I would wait for April to enjoy my vacation. But then, HMT would pack me to some customers across the country with a result that my earned leave lapsed. BJ Paul, my immediate boss, made me cry at work for not completing a task on time. Then there was Chandrashekhar, who looked like Elvis Presley, my senior colleague, who would work hard and enjoyed well with his girlfriends. He later moved to USA. Later, I thanked BJ Paul for making me cry at work. During my visit to the US in 2005, I thanked Rajaram Ramani, who has settled in Los Angeles for the tough grooming, which made me stronger to face the world.  NK Krishnan Kutty, former marketing director; CR Nagendran, who retired as executive director and under whom I worked for many years, V Rajgopalan, chief engineer and many others were icons. I express my admiration to them whenever I meet them. 

In a nutshell, in HMT, most of us enjoyed life by working hard, had fun whenever there was time for fun. Laxmi was not with us but Saraswati was close to us. Those days evoke sweet nostalgia.

T Vidyadhar

(Former Deputy General  Manager, HMT and former Regional Manager,
HMT International USA)

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(Published 22 February 2015, 13:57 IST)

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