A Soft Landing in L&T

( Contributor : K Narsaiah / Switchboard Group  )

Sent by :  HRS

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was 9th December 1969. I was standing at gate No. 7.

After convincing the Security that I have been given a job in SPE and it is the day of my joining duty, I entered SPE (Switchboard Product Engineering Department), located on the 2nd floor of stage I building.

There was nothing to crow about my earlier job in BEST in Maintenance Department of O&M, as Substation Inspector.

It was an entry level job. We were allocated about 25 Indoor substations (11 KV substations) in a given Area.

We are supposed to visit all of them daily, along with a sweeper, get the floor cleaned and remove cobwebs.

The Technical part of the Job was :-

Record 11 KV feeder lines load (Ammeter reading) in a load sheet kept at the station.

Report abnormal Load  - heat/sound of OCBs (Oil Circuit Breakers) and Oil level, Silica gel colour of Out

Door 11 KV / 440 V power Transformers for replacement, etc.

Jyotiram Dhere, a colleague and me were of the opinion that we were wasting our time and knowledge in that job and we must look for a better job elsewhere.

One day, he came with the news that there was an Ad in the newspaper for Electrical Diploma Holders as Technical Assistants at L&T, Powai.

We both applied but only I was called for interview. He joined All India Radio as electrical engineer later.

V G Purohit and me were asked to stay behind after the interview and the rest were told to go.

We were offered lunch in the canteen and asked to come the next day again, for final Interview.

VSK (V S Kaushikkar) took me to MPW in C building, Gate No. 1.

Later, that evening, I was standing at the BEST bus stop opposite gate No.2 for a Bus to Andheri station.

A car came from Gate no.1 and stopped in front of me. It was VSK. He asked me “Where are you headed?”

I said “Andheri station”. He told me to hop in.  

Since I was already employed elsewhere, I was bold enough to ask him whether I was getting the job, since I had already spent 2 casual leaves.

He didn’t say YES but said that I was being considered.

I got the appointment letter subsequently and thus joined L&T on 9th December 1969.

That was the beginning of my third innings, after the first one at Handloom House and the second one at BEST a long one in that.

That happened to be my best innings, better than the BEST innings.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Corporate  Culture  :

Concern  for  candidates