Back To The Future -VI

My name is Dilip. While on training my surname was shortened to 'Banjo'. After 32 years in the Armed Services, I am to retire in 2016. In anticipation of my retirement I have done the course of Business management in ASCI. Why do any course at all this late in life? One may ask. It is like this ; My father was also in the services and I have led a different life than what the average run of the mill civilian does. Moreover , there was never a need for me to understand civilians. Bahgwan ka diya sub kuch tha mere' paas. Even my wife's father was from the Forces . An interesting snippet of information is, that I knew her way back in time and she knew that we would marry me, when we were doing our primary schooling. Well her intuition proved correct. Now both our daughters are settled as far as jobs are concerned and I have no intention of  leading a Armed Services engineered enforced separations due to posting in difficult Areas so late in life . I want a settled life and a peaceful job...

20 Nov 2015

After the completion of the course at ASCI we are finally graduating today. We are eligible for a certificate in Business Management. The instructors were good and we have learnt a lot. The teaching was nothing new for us . In fact we had put the management principles into use in the Services  long before it became a science. But what I did learn was to deal with civilians - something I did not have to do much in my service life. All the others who are doing the course with me - I do not think I will meet them again - not that I do not have the desire to do so but they Will be busy wherever they are..

29 Feb 2016

Right till this day I had been confused as to whether I will continue in the Services or switch to the civil life , for which I had done a preparatory course back in Nov last year. In the end I decided to stick with the Armed Services. The new Pay Commission had vastly improved my pay and allowances. It seemed a good Idea to continue,,,,,. I was posted to Pathankot. Soon I was again doing the job I was doing before my extension. While I was still undecided as to whether this was right for me, A year into my extension and everything was clear. That lingering sense of dissatisfaction which was in my heart that my talent was not being fully utilised  was now becoming a full blown certainty My daughter was earning more - as a 23 year old - than what I did throughout my life. Time had finally come for me to hang up my boots from the long service to the nation. Not that it meant that I would stop working, but to do some different work. Three months notice to the Services and I was ready to switch careers. Applications along with my CV to various organizations were a step in the right direction into the corporate world....

31 Mar 2018

Right now, I do not have the time for idle conversation. It is the closing of the  financial year. Filing of taxes,settling of accounts , shooting off nasty letters to people who owed us money, clearing of accounts with the insurance companies , working out strategies for the new year, wage revisions, hiring and firing of staff, new contracts,plans for new infrastructure , meetings , trips - my orderly world of the Armed Services was turned upside down. People here were more ruthless than a soldier's conduct towards his enemy. Luckily my interaction with civilians and the short course at ASCI came in handy and I did not suffer due to the change all that much. The negatives were that my wife was constantly complaining about the lack of quality time with the family. But then you have to break an egg to make an Omelette.

Prior to leaving the Armed Forces in 2017 I had considered various jobs which would suit me. After a lot of consideration and searching for suitable positions I decided that the best suited job for me was that in the Health Sector as an Administrator. Adequate grounding in this sector at ASCI and my own interest helped me land a good job at Global Hospitals Lakdi-Ka-Pul. The remuneration was fantastic and now I could look my daughter in the eye and say ' Your dad is earning as much as you are" Balance had been restored at home...

25 Dec 2020 

The call came out of the blue. Jaggu's familiar voice came on the phone. He was one person who you could rely on to keep in touch even if  you did not have the desire. He had justcompleted his four years extension in the fauj and was back in Hyderabad . I was talking cautiously to him. I definitely did not want someone to ask me if there was a vacancy at the hospital for a job. But his words reassured me - he was not looking for any job . His son was doing well at Motorcycle racing and he had turned a full fledged manager for the youngster. It was only an invitation for meeting the rest of our course from ASCI that evening - Was I free? The relief of not being asked a favour was immense. I agreed immediately- moreover it was the holiday season....It would be fun to exchange notes with everyone....