In 1962 the India- China war broke out. In the college I used to make the staff do the drill everyday in preparation of any eventuality. My routine was – morning NCC parade; during the day one lecture and one drawing class; evening was solely devoted to hostel duties- I was kept very busy during these days. I was soon selected to be the Asst. Professor in a newly created Drawing department. But soon after this in 1963 I was promoted in my parent department to the rank of Executive engineer and I had to make a choice between the college and this and I decided to leave the college with a heavy heart. By now my eldest daughter had been born; she was named Anita. It was new experience to feel responsible for a tiny new human being.
In the beginning I was posted at the HO (Bhubaneswar). Apa had gone to the USA during this period so we enjoyed staying in her house and using her car! Biju Patnaik was the Chief Minister at this time and he decided to break the monopoly of two to three bridge builders of India viz. Gammons, Hindustan and a smaller Shah construction. I joined the small company and shifted to a place known as Chainpal on the bank of a canal in a rented house. The site was a km or two for a bridge over Birupa and the other sites were minor bridges and one bridge on Badagenguti within 5 km in the Doab of the two rivers. I constructed temp accommodation on the bank of the river with water and electricity.
Meanwhile I had a second daughter, very cute and beautiful. I brought my family to this temporary abode. This had three rooms. Officially we were provided with servants and cooks. My neighbor was a chap from Bangalore, who had come over from Gammons. The work of sinking of wells started in full swing and food and climate was good. I used to go to Cuttack and Bhubaneswar officially, so my wife was very happy.
One major lesson I learnt during this period was not to take unnecessary risks!-
One well refused to sink so I decided to do a limited blasting. We were connecting the detonators with the blaster for a test and the electrician connected the wires ahead of time and there was a small blast. My right side including one eye got sand and copper particles, and the electrician got it in both eyes. We shifted to the medical college hospital and got out after a couple of days, but the other chap got cataract in both the eyes. My company did not help in any way! I hired a lawyer who took a princely sum of Rs 500 for bribing the police not to register a case. My boss Rajeswar Rao asked me to take leave so that no damage suit could be instituted against the company.
I then moved to a large stone quarry at Haridaspur having one primary and about 10 secondary crushers. The main aim was to provide 10 ton stone boulders for the breakwater of the Paradip port. The stones were huge; one truck could carry one stone piece only! After about a year, I shifted with family to a pucca house built by me on the foothills. This had a dry stone compound wall and a small swimming pool built with one side jutting out of the mountain face.
One very queer thing happened while I was here. One of my Asst Engineers Subas Pati was supposed to go to Bhutmundi for some inauguration. I asked him not to go and asked my wife to persuade his wife not to let him as I had a premonition of some disaster. But he did go and died in a jeep accident.
Soon my next project came up and I was asked to shift to the prestigious Mahanadi Bridge on the same expressway. I sent my family to my in laws place in Cuttack, and shifted to the site. Here I built a beautiful house, which according to my boss Rao looked like a cinema hall! Biren Patnaik was my boss for this posting. He was a wonderful human being and I adopted him as my guru and mentor!
This was a period of happiness with different parameters. I really learnt the art of bridge construction here. We enjoyed life with frequent parties; bird shootings; good food and comfortable stay. I did not own car, I had an official jeep. Once while traveling to Cuttack the jeep broke down and I had to hitchhike! Every visitor who happened to visit Paradip would drop in and take me as a guide. I became an expert of bridges and the port in the process.
This period was a prelude to the many changes that would follow me through my life.
Though my wife was unhappy with the frequent changes, I enjoyed them. I learnt all my lessons in life through them. There were many ups and downs but when you are down you can only go up! This thought fueled my optimism and life went on…..
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