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Thursday, January 11, 2018

The Memoirs of an Eighty year Old- Episode XXVI

Episode: Medchal (1964-1966 end) (Professional Life)


Hello, again readers! Hope you are enjoying reading the previous episode of granny’s birthday. :P

Due to personal reasons, I could not post in the month of Dec 2017. But worry not, I am back and the episodes will continue as before. :) 

Now we go back to the series and continue where we left. So after a small stay in Basara, they moved to Medchal. It wasn’t by chance, but because grandpa’s previous trainer wanted to have grandpa working with him. The man was nearing his retirement and wanted someone who could take control of things for him. And he knew grandpa was the best man for that job.


So on special orders, grandpa was appointed as his subordinate. But, the main HQ of grandpa was Masaipet, a remote area, almost like a jungle. The house given to them was also in a bad state and definitely not livable. So the trainer/Sr. Inspector offered his official bungalow to grandpa while he lived in Secunderabad with his family. It was of course officially done. Now grandpa had a beautiful place to live for the next three years, but he also had double the workload.

“I enjoyed it and learned a lot. I learned about audits, inspections, handling labor issues with care, etc,” he told me.

“The first two years were professionally very good, but then the Sr.Inspector retired and we gave him the best farewell ever. An entire train was decorated and we dropped him in his house with utmost love and respect. He was beyond elated and remembered it till the end. He was the man I looked up to and he gave me equal love and affection.” Grandpa added.

What happened next?

“Well the new Sr.Inspector came and he was jealous of his predecessor. He took out it all on me. First, he told me to vacate the bungalow we were residing at. Officially it was his so he wanted it back. He told me I could find housing elsewhere if I wanted to work in Medchal HQ. I had two small kids by then, (yup, baby P was born) but then the Station Master was my dear friend; in fact he still is. We are very in touch with each other even today. He offered me his quarters to live for the rest of my tenure at that place since he was living elsewhere. I am very thankful to him. Next, he started to dominate me and belittle me, mocking that I was his subordinate.” He said.

So did you continue there under that man?

“Not for long. I worked another six months maybe. I put in a transfer application. My mentor got to know and I told him everything. He then spoke to the higher officials and got me transferred to Mehaboobabad for the remaining three months. I was anyway in due for a promotion. It is near Khammam and had a broad-gauge track while the ones I worked till then were meter-gauge. I got my promotion and was given a totally remote area called Kinvatt in Adilabad. It had only one train per day and there was absolutely no communication available even with the nearby villages.” He answered.

So did you go there?

“No. My elder brother also worked in Railways, so I asked for his help. He arranged for it to be changed to Sailu, Maharashtra. I was promoted to be an Independent Incharge, after all. I needed to prove myself and he explained the same to the officials.” He explained.

So how was it in Mehaboobabad?

“We weren’t there for long like I said. But it was closer to Warangal where my brother used to work, so I was in touch with him. We spent some time together. And I learned to work on a broad gauge.” He said.

What’s the difference?

“Technically, meter-gauge means the inner distance between the two rails is 1 meter and in broad-gauge, the distance is five feet six inches. All main lines are broad-gauge. The process of dealing when their repairs and maintenance changes a lot.” He said.

Now we need to talk about our dear ammama.

“Yes. She went through quite a lot because we had some family pressure and financial crunch during then. But you know her, she was strong and totally supportive.” He replied.

I am going to deal with the family life in another episode though grandpa wanted me to finish everything in a single one. I prefer to segregate things and that’s what I am doing.


Meet you guys in the next episode, until then, be happy, be kind. 

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