My working experiences
Part [1] - Teaching in a Village School (Near Uthamasolapuram)
A few years ago, I happen to work as a Senior Teacher in a village school in Salem. It was an unique experience for me in life. The school management had in fact cheated me. But I digested that injustice and took classes to the young buds with great involvement and self motivation.
The school Principal, Mr.Muthukmar was a terrific gentleman. He gave me a free hand to explore and experiment in many areas in education. I was “almost” working as an Assistant Headmaster. In fact, today I can challenge that the students to whom I took classes can hardly meet another motivating teacher as me in their lifetime. I had worked with so much dedication and devotion.
The school was exactly 8 kms. from my house. Daily I went in a moped. I will have to travel 4 kms in town traffic and another 4 kms in National Highway traffic. Hence, I will have to follow two different styles in my driving.
It was the Salem-Erode-Coimbatore NH and the road was good. However, that was the toughest driving I had ever done in my life. Every second was life and death to me on the road. Driving for almost 200 days or so_ without any accident for a person like me - I consider is a great personal record. Of course, I should also thank the Almighty.
Though the road was 20 feet wide, I always used to consider it only as TWO FEET wide. One feet on either side of the yellow line. I always used to be glancing at the rear view mirror. As soon as I notice any four-wheeler approaching, I will be almost off the road giving way for the vehicle. Once the vehicle crosses me, I come to the centre of the road and gather speed as usual. I bought a new two wheeler immediately on joining this school. Every Wednesday I will have to swap my vehicle with my wife’s vehicle to ensure that both are in good condition.
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Part [2] - Got a job in Thoraipakkam, Chennai
My dare-devil driving experience to the village school 8 kms from home in 2004, gave me the guts to venture into the city of Chennai. I went there seeking for better job prospects. However, I knew that my chances were very low.
On 1st Sept. 2005, I got a job near Thoraipakkam in a wheel chair manufacturing company with a reasonable salary. (Near AM Jain College). But alas ! within a month I lost the job. I was sent out of the job for petty reasons. I was thinking the Wheel Chair company owner was a philanthropist, but he proved to be the opposite.
Part [3] SEARCHING FOR A JOB UNDER GREAT ODDS
Then started the greatest physical, and financial turmoil in my life. I was unemployed for two months. Everyday I was forced to attending interviews. Each day was a challenge. However, I was desperate.
I would carry a city map with me and locate places. I would ask somebody how to reach a particular place and venture for it. I would catch some bus and get down almost one or two kms near that spot. From there, I would either catch another bus or autorickshaw. Somehow I managed to reach the place to attend the interviews aimost in time.
The main road near by lodge was literally like an earthquake zone. It is the old Mahabalipuram Road in Nehru Nagar. Buildings were brought down for the construction of the IT SUPERWAY. Even to make a phone call or got out to have my dinner I will have to struggle walking over this wreckage.
I had to face 6 or 7 cyclones in real life in Chennai. Water, water, water everywhere. When it rain water will stagnate to almost, one feet in many places. My lodge was just one km from Velacheri known for being submerging in Chennai. However, my lodge owner kept on saying that the sea is just two kms from there. And that there was a channel linking the drainage to sea.
While walking I will have to always follow the foot steps of others to ensure I do not slip and fall down. I will have to cancel my trips home or back many times. Cancel train tickets and change plans. I will have to carefully follow the weather in the F.M. news. Hearing tensely, news like “All trains running late.“ “Two Feet water in Basin Bridge”.
Part [4] Happiness means many things to many people
Being a physically challenged person I had to also face the bad side of the public transport, i.e. the city public and the drivers and bus conductors. However, my mind and body was very strong due to terrible physical exertions. Such harsh realities made me more mature. Therefore, offer seats to other people struggling in the bus instead of claiming a seat. Of course, I could not do that daily but did it many times. After offering a seat to others, however, I will hardly give them a change to be noticed that I am in fact a physically challenged person really in need of a seat. “I understood that one can always feel happy by doing good to others and not being appreciated for that.“
Once, I was traveling in a jam packed city bus intensely reading something. I noticed a lad on 20 years about to fall down inside the bus. I almost reached out to hold him. Then I was observing what made him slip. I noticed he was a blind. The next second I offered him a seat and traveled standing. I was shocked to think that so many would have definitely noticed that the boy was blind since he boarded the bus, I wondered why nobody bothered to get him a seat.
For many people happiness means something. For me happiness is really trying to make others happy.
Part [ 5] I got a translator job at the nick of the moment
Finally, one day in Dec 2005 I telephone my wife that I am packing off to Salem. However, as my daily routine, I desparately made calle for companies. Luckily, I was called for an interview for a transiator job. I look a last chance and attended the interview. I had taken along with me a translation manuscript of an article I translated from Tamil (Anatha Vikatan) to English. In fact, I did the translation only on the previous night. Going through it, the person who interviewed me cooly said I can join immediately. It was a pleasant surprise because I had almost packed up and about to leave Chennai that afternoon. However: ne offered me a very low salary. Anyway, I joined the company and stayed back in Chennai.
Part [6] My job was like being paid for eating cake.
Again, I had a fantastic working experience. It was a cinema based company. The company’s name was AYNGARAN. They had the copywright of about 400 odd Films. And they were translating and providing Sub-Titles in English to foreign viewers. They were doing the job in almost all the 4 South Indian languages viz, Tamil, Telegu, Kannada and Malayalam. My job was to watch old and new Tamil movies in computer screen and then translate i into English ie type it into the computer program MSWORD.
It was an aristocratic environment. We had centralized A.C. For the first one week or so, there was no interference from anyone. But I knew that my work is being checked by my boss without my knowledge from another terminal.
My work involved using creativity every second and I enjoyed it terribly. It was like being paid for eating cake.
A movie project might take at least two weeks to complete. It was great fun watching the movie and translating the dialogue. However, it was really a challenging job. Especially translating the Vadivelu comedy scenes for a foreigner was really a tough job. It is easy to enjoy the comedy, but it is not a joke to translate it for a foreigner. Moreover, you have just 40 characters (one fine) or 80 characters (two lines) space to communicate the message. In fact, the dialogue (sub-title) will just stay for a few seconds in the screen and will disappear. You will have to tell the “emotion and message” before that.
After about 10 days or working in the new company all the newcomers were assembied for a feedback meeting. My boss, Mr.Kalyana Sundaram give some tips to all of us. He gave many do's and don'ts to translate for a foreigner.
While working there I translated the filme like “Dishyum’, Surya‘’s “AAru”, Kamal‘s Sakala Kala Vailavan, Radha’s Kadal Ooru Kavidai etc
Part [ 7] My first 30 days working in the new company and my traveling ordeal.
Since there was no job guarantee I decided not to shift my room immediately. Hence, I had to go to this new office from Nehru Nagar to Kilpauk Garden. It was the most challenging part again involving 3 public transports daily. From Nehru Nagar I will start at 7.30am from my room. I will catch a Share Auto or Bus to Thiruvanmiyur. From there I will board a Bus and reach Adyar Bus Terminus. There I go and sit inside ea bus that goes to Kilpauk Garden and start reading something.
From there it is almost one hour travel to my office via saidapet, T.Nagar, Nungambakkam, Poondamalee High.Road. I will get down at Kilpauk Garden around 9.00 am and have my breakfast. Then I will attend office at 9.30 am that was just cross the road. However, it was life and death crossing that 10 feet. It is God’s grace that all the drivers acted in time and applied brakes everytime I made a mistake crossing the road. Many time I would be seconds before an accident. I had no other choice than to walk 30 feet to cross this 10 feet road. Soon, I mastered crossing @ busy road in a city. I learnt how to literally “survive” every second in a city.
Around 6.30 or 7.00 pm after office again I will catch a bus to Adayar. And from there to Nehru Nagar just one km from Thiruvanmiyur. It will be peak hour and I will be hungry and tired. Moreover, my bus stop is a “lean stop” hence it is a challenge to get down “exactly” there. Hence, I will have to many times miss my stop and land in the next or in the previous one. However, in the next stop there were good hotels. Therefore, I get down there and finish off by dinner, get some fruits and bun for the next day. By that time it would by 9.00pm.
Then I catch a bus and return to my room. It would be around 9.30 pm or sometime even 10.00 pm. I would be damn tired. Sometimes I take a hot water bath to ease the body ache and then go to bed. Sometimes, I would read Vikatan and The Hindu. Sometimes I write touching letters to my family. Everyday is not the same. Everyday was a challenge. Survival of the fittest. I was surviving in spite of great odds.
Part [ 8] - A promotion that made me quit Chennai for good
At last again with great difficulty I managed to shift my room to Aminjikari, Laxmi Theatre campus on the Poondamalee High Road. However, my peace of mind did not last long. I hardly have understood my new job in that two months of working. But suddenly, I was promoted as the Head of Translation dept. But the salary was the same. Funny I thought. However, I was to control 9 others staff members working in 3 shifts. Even otherwise I could hardly send any money home. Taking all things into consideration I decided to quit the job and Chennai.
Part [ 9] Child Labour
In my native only recently I eat in hotels. But at Chennai I was forced to eat in all funny places. Once I was having my breakfast in a thatched improvised hotel near Thoraipakkam. I noticed a small boy of 5 or 6 years old being hurried to remove my plate. I felt helpless and I was almost moved to tears. There could be many such boys in my native place, however, I had never visited such places there. But in the city everyone is in a hurry to make money. No one has time to stop and think. City life is full of exploitation. Exploitation of employees of all ages and children are no bar. I thought sometime in my life I should make the life of at least one such boy a happy one.
POST SCRIPT : Until 14th April 2007, I was walking without using any walking stick. I used to wear only my special shoes or caliper.
- Ezhilarasan Venkatachalam
Salem
Tamil Based Online English Trainer
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