Employment: The First Innings - I

 

            Employment: The First Innings - I 

Let me turn the clock back a few decades. After completing my Master's in Botany from Kashmir University, I received a call to join the Kashmir Government Arts Emporium (KGAE), a unit of J&K Handicrafts (S&E) Corporation, as Assistant Manager. I had successfully appeared for the written and oral examinations earlier and was placed third in the merit list. However, I had prepared myself for the teaching profession and was attending the B.Ed. classes in Gandhi Memorial College, Srinagar. My father, too, was working in KGAE, and as far as I remembered, had faced a tough time there for almost a decade. Yet he wanted me to join the organisation because the then Managing Director, Mufti Mohd Maqbool, was kind to him. One day, his MD told him that he had come from Delhi after a long time, and his children were suffering on the educational front since the standard of education in Kashmir was nowhere in comparison to Delhi. He asked my father to find a good teacher for them. My father replied, “Sir, my son is a good teacher, but I don’t know whether he will agree.” Mufti told him, “Bring him one day and I shall personally request him.” It so happened that my father took me to his home one Sunday, where his elder daughter, a pre-medical student, requested me to draw some difficult diagrams in her practical notebook. It hardly took me a few minutes to complete the job. She was speechless and quietly whispered to her father to request me to draw all the diagrams in the notebook afresh. I carried the book to my home and did the needful. The next day, when I delivered the notebook, his other four children were waiting for me to teach them. I could not say no to them, as teaching was my passion. I taught them for more than a year without any remuneration. In the meantime, Mufti Maqbool announced many vacancies in KGAE and directed my father to send my application. I refused, but his MD told him to apply himself on my behalf. After this, I received a call for a written examination. My father insisted that I should appear, and I may not need to join if I don’t feel like it. The same words were repeated when the call for an interview was received. In the final merit list, I was placed third, and one candidate ahead of me did not join. 

My father prevailed upon me through his brother-in-law, Pt Sham Lal Saraf, who had served as a Minister in the J&K cabinet for 15 years and was later nominated as MP, Lok Sabha for another 5 years. He had seen life and was experienced enough to be my guide and mentor. He said, “Deepak ji, you know your father is retired and has been given an extension in service. You have three motherless, unmarried sisters. Suppose he doesn’t get a further extension. What do you do? There are no government teaching jobs in the market. It is better to avail oneself of the opportunity available now.”

I explained to him the discriminatory attitude of the employer, as I was offered an Assistant Manager’s job despite having a third position in the merit list, while the candidates far below me were made Managers. Having served as Minister in the state, he was aware of the situation, yet he convinced me not to refuse the offer. He said, “I started my career with just a Rs 10/- per month job after my graduation, but continued to pursue my goals. Nothing stops you from achieving bigger things in life.” 

“Uncle, my educational background doesn’t match the managerial job, because I  am trained to be a teacher. By the time I aspire to be promoted to a Manager’s post, there will be dozens of MBAs standing in line to fill that job in this fast-changing world.”

“I agree, but given the circumstances, you have no choice right now. You can change as and when you get an alternative job.”

I joined my first assignment as Assistant Manager, heading the retail showroom of the Emporium in Chandigarh in April 1971. My basic pay was Rs 140/- pm, and my take-home pay was about Rs 250/-. I rented one room for which I had to pay Rs 60/-. Other daily expenses left no room to save or send some money to my home. As they say in Hindustani, Nanga nahaye ga kya aur nichode ga kya. However, the place had a very soothing effect on my health. The air and water of the developing city, Chandigarh, were clean, and helped me to regain my health. Those days, I was thin and emaciated,  suffering from ulcerative colitis for the previous three years, and blood used to run with my stools. A stay in Chandigarh did the trick. I ate only what was permitted, prepared at home myself and used to have a long walk in the evening up to the lake. I was cured slowly. In addition, I joined art and painting classes next to my residence to pursue my hobby of painting. 

I continued my BEd studies because only examinations were left. Flew for my practical and theory examination from Chandigarh and was successful in due course. 

The organisation did not suit me, and the staff indulged in corrupt practices, which I tried to stop. This resulted in their non-cooperation, but the branch showed progress in sales. Suddenly, the management thought of opening branches in foreign countries, and therefore, shifted me to the Ashoka Hotel, Delhi Branch, so that I could join Spanish classes in Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan, KG Marg, Delhi, which I did. Three other officers were also directed to learn the French and German languages. Since they did not report satisfactory progress, the scheme was abandoned halfway. I had completed one semester of 6 months and stood first in the class, which had two IFS officers also. This encouraged me, and I thought let me also compete in the Civil Services examination. I took initial guidance from them; however, some distractions delayed my resolve, though the idea kept knocking at my brain regularly. 

In the meantime, I registered myself in the Employment Exchange and got offers from private educational institutions. I had some noteworthy experiences during the interviews. When I reported for an interview at the Apeejay School, Faidabad, one of the members of the interview board remarked that he had a very bad experience with the Kashmir University, wherefrom I had obtained my degrees. He said that he had learnt that the University delays payments of evaluated answer books, and therefore, insisted upon payment before the answer books are returned to them. Neither did they send the payment, nor did he return the answer books. The University declared the result without receiving the answer books. I felt that the story put a question mark in the minds of other members about my capability. I had to make an additional effort to win them over. 

I said, “Sir, do you want to assess the university or my ability? If it is me, please ask whatever questions you feel like, and I shall try to answer them.” This restored their neutrality to some extent. Then a volley of questions was put by each member, which I answered satisfactorily. At the end, I asked them, “ Sir, may I know whether I have got the job?”

“There are another 12 candidates to be interviewed, how can we tell you?”

“Sir, I appreciate that. I shall wait till the end of the interview because I have come all the way from Srinagar on my own and can’t bear the expenses further.” After saying that, I left the room.

At the end of the interview, I entered the room again and asked the same question, “Sir, now that you have interviewed all the candidates, may you please tell me the result?”

“No, it is not possible. Though we have finalised the result, we shall have to put it before the top management for approval before it is announced.”

“Sir, that means you, too, are bound by prescribed rules and regulations, as was my university. The rules said that they cannot send the payment until the answer books are received back by them. I hope, Sir, you now understand how the system works. Anyway, if I receive a call once I am back in Srinagar, I fear I may not be able to join unless I am paid for the journey.” 

After a few days, I received a postcard asking me to join immediately. I replied through a postcard myself, informing that since my offer on the spot was not honoured, I am unable to join. This, however, I could afford to do because I already had a job in the Emporium.

I was called for an interview for a Post Graduate Teacher (PGT) post in the Delhi Administration. I had learnt that usually they get candidates with an MSc degree or a BSc & BEd degree, but not MSc and BEd together. This worked to my advantage, and I was selected. While I waited for the order, a Khalsa School organisation called me for an interview at their school in Lajpat Nagar. I reported in the office and met an elderly Sardar with a long grey beard. He sympathised with me and told me to come to his home in the evening, and he would put in a word to the Principal. I suspected his intentions and replied, “Ok, I will see.” In the interview hall, the chairman saw my testimonials and was surprised. He asked, “What is this, BSc (Hon’s), M Sc (Botany), B Ed, and then Adibe-Mahir (Urdu)? 

I replied, “Sir, I completed my education to become a teacher and got the Urdu degree as I write Urdu short stories.”

“Why do you want to be a teacher?” 

He expected me to say that I want to serve my country or children, but I did not oblige. Instead, I replied, “Sir, I am an introvert and teaching is a profession that suits me. His face looked blank as I guessed, so I continued, “Sir, there are two types of personalities, the artistic or Introverts who like creative jobs and the athletic or extroverts who like  

Outdoor and business-oriented jobs.”

“Do you mean you are an artist?”

“Sir, one doesn't need to be an artist; it is merely one’s trait. However, I do write  short stories in Urdu and have painting as my hobby”

He told me to wait outside till the other candidates are interviewed. At the end of the interviews, he personally came out and found me sitting in the office. He directed me to come to the interview hall again. We had a fruitful discussion for almost half an hour. Tea and hot samosas were called for the interview board, and I also had a nice cup of tea. Suddenly, he rang the bell; the same person, with whom I had interacted earlier, came in and was asked to prepare an order for my appointment immediately. He told me that I shall personally come to see you delivering a lecture. But that did not mature as I got a call from the Delhi Administration, which was preferable, being a government job. 

In those days, I was holding the entire stock of my branch personally since my salesman had gone on leave, assuring me that he would come within ten days, because I had told him that I was likely to get a job. But he did not return. I rang up my father and asked him to talk to the MD and get me relieved, but he maintained a stony silence because he was himself averse to the teaching profession. The only other person I could think of was my maternal uncle, who was working as a Principal in a Delhi school but was not reliable. He told me that he is going to Srinagar and will convince my father, but on his return, he said, “Deepak, your father has duplicity of character. He did not want to commit. It seems he has a lot of faith in his MD, who has assured him of making your future. I failed to convince him.” In the meantime, his wife had approached BN Raina, Deputy Director in the Andrews Gunj region to which I had been allotted and got me further posted to the School in Sector 7, R K Puram, which was within a stone’s throw of my residence. All my efforts failed, and I had no option but to continue in the Kashmir Government Arts Emporium. (to be continued) 

Pandit Sham Lal Saraf - A Gandhian & A Freedom Fighter

Pandit Sham Lal Saraf

 - A Gandhian and a Freedom Fighter

I knew him very closely. He was my uncle, married to my father's sister, to be precise. He was simple, clean and tidy, modest, unpretentious, had strict principles and was a true Gandhian. He was reserved and unrevealing about his accomplishments. Though an introvert he still managed to be in politics and public life. Had I not seen him I would not have believed that a person called Mahatma Gandhi, whose disciple he was, ever lived and walked on this earth. 

Sham Lal Saraf was born on July 4, 1904, in Rainawari, Srinagar (Kashmir) in a Kashmiri Pandit family with the surname 'Tikoos' though they were generally known as  'Sarafs'. Maybe some of his ancestors worked as goldsmiths. The family observed the festival 'Tike Tchorum' which showed their belonging to Tikoos originally. His father's name was Pandit Sansar Chand Saraf who as I learnt was a strict disciplinarian.  

Saraf Sahab was educated at the famous CMS High School, Srinagar known for quality education, sports and character building. He participated in sports and was a member of the school hockey team besides cultural activities. On completion of his schooling, he graduated from S P College, Srinagar. Thereafter, he plunged into business and owned two shops of Kashmir handicrafts bearing the name 'Sudesh Arts & Crafts', one situated on the Bund over the bank of river Jhelum, next to Shaw Bros, and the other in the Central Market (Shop No 115). My father also joined him in his business later on.  Once Saraf Sahab joined the freedom movement of the state called the 'Quit Kashmir Movement', he handed over both the shops to my father who managed them single-handedly up to 1962 when he too sold them, One of the Bund changed the signboard to 'Ganymede' (See picture below) and the other was thereafter called as 'Desh Arts & Crafts'. Despite giving up his studies after B A, he kept in touch with books and current affairs all his life. In 1968 when I was preparing for my graduation, he dictated two essays to me titled, 'Students Unrest in India' and 'Arab Israel War' that opened my eyes to the depth of his knowledge on the subjects. I was fortunate to use both in my final examination because students were asked to appear in the English paper again as some students had gone on strike in the first one.  

Sham Lal Saraf was married on March 20, 1923, to Tarashwari Budki (Gunwati Saraf after marriage) who was the daughter of Pt Ram Chand Budki residing at Krala Teng, S R Gunj, Srinagar. She was a humble, devoted, pious and highly spiritual lady who did not eat non-vegetarian food from the very childhood though she cooked tons of meat and fish for her husband, family and guests all her life. Despite getting married to a person who later became a State Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament, she never changed her lifestyle nor participated in official dinners and banquets. She was a devotee of Lord Shiva and had a dedicated puja room in her house, called 'Thokur Kuth' in Kashmiri, where she would sit for many hours performing puja. She had no ego, no pride and no self-conceit. Gunwati bore him more than a dozen children but only one daughter, Sudesh Saraf survived. Sudesh became a lecturer at Women's College, Srinagar after her post-graduation in Hindi and was married to K L Zutshi, an engineer by profession. Unfortunately, Sudesh left for her heavenly abode a few years ago.  

Pt Sham Lal Saraf initially became a member of a Kashmiri Pandit organization called Yuvak Sabha which later merged with J&K National Conference. The latter got associated with the National Movement of Congress before 1930. Other members of the organisation were Jia Lal Kilam, P N Bazaz, and Kashyap Bandhu. He was a signatory of the National Demands Document presented to the then Maharaja demanding inter alia freedom of speech, adult franchise, self-governance and reservation of vacancies for the state subjects. He became a member of the J&K Constituent Assembly in 1951 proclaimed by the then Sadre Riyasat J&K.

Saraf Sahab was a Member of the State legislature, from September 1951 to April 7, 1962, and was later nominated as a Member of Parliament 3rd Lok Sabha for the next 5 years by the President of India. He served as a Cabinet Minister in the State of J&K from 1947 to April 1962. His first assignment was as Minister of Tourism and Education. 

 Besides, he was a member of several associations and societies interested in social, cultural educational and religious movements. He travelled widely and visited Sri Lanka, the USSR, Britain, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Poland and Sweden. 

                                        (Meeting with Turkish press delegation in March 1952)

In 1953 he got embroiled in a confrontation with his mentor and leader Sheikh Mohd Abdullah who had delivered the notorious secessionist Ranbir Singh Pora speech as a consequence of which his cabinet planned his ouster. As a retaliation, Sheikh Abdullah tried to dismiss him from the cabinet and even planned to put him behind bars but before he could execute his plans, Sheikh Abdullah himself was ousted as Prime Minister of J&K in 1953 and Bakshi Ghulam Mohd took over the charge instead. Allegations levelled against Saraf Sahab were that his brother-in-law (Sala), who was serving in the Jail Department, had stolen a clock from Saraf's office which was recovered from his car. This is documented in his autobiography 'Atish-e-Chinar' written by a ghostwriter, M Y Taing. Unfortunately, the writer had not verified the facts. Saraf Sahab had only one brother-in-law and that was my father who was a shopkeeper and till 1962 had never worked in any government office.  Moreover, the truth about allegations of corruption can be gauged by comparing the assets left by Sheikh Abdullah and all other Ministers during Sheikh's and Bakshi's regimes vis-a-vis what was left by Sham Lal Saraf. He possessed just one incomplete three-story building in Gugji Bagh, Srinagar and that too was built after he demitted his office. In this regard, I asked him once, "Hindus don't credit you with the ouster of Sheikh Sahab saying it was Bakshi who did it while Muslims blame you entirely for dethroning him? So you get no credit whatsoever." He replied, "My direct confrontation could have taken a communal colour and my community would have to bear the brunt of it if I had openly come out against Sheikh Sahab on that occasion. In fact, I preferred to lay low for a long time and even refused to join the new cabinet of Bakshi Sahab for many days to avoid public gaze."    

As has been written earlier, Pt Sham Lal Saraf was a member of the Cabinet of Sheikh Abdullah from 1947 to 1953 and later Bakshi Ghulam Mohammed from 1953 onwards to 1962. In the photo on the right, he can be seen taking the oath of Office as Minister in Bakshi's Cabinet. The oath was administered by the then Sadre Riyasat, Dr Karan Singh. He acquitted himself with unparalleled integrity and industry. He was a stickler for principles and I always thought he could have been more successful as a bureaucrat than a politician. This trait of his made him unpopular among the public, especially the Kashmiri Pandits, who approached him to bestow them with undue favours but he did not oblige them. Examples of this could be seen that his own daughter was neither a doctor nor an engineer and he could not manage a medical seat for me or my sister though he was in power at that time. On my asking that Muslim students with far lesser marks got the seats, he replied, "For a Muslim of Kashmir, who doesn't feel integrated with the country due to indoctrination since 1953, India is from Uri to Qazigund while for you India spans from Kashmir to Kanya Kumari. If I don't give him preference in education and employment in J&K and bottle him up, he will surely break that bottle upon my head one day." How prophetic! Subversive forces used this very plank in the 1990s to incite young Kashmiris to take up the gun. I appreciated his viewpoint and in fact, it changed the course of my life. He too acknowledged it before his wife saying, "This fellow never turned his back to seek help. Whatever he has achieved is all on his own."  

Saraf Sahab was a true nationalist. He stood his ground in 1953, and later, on 11 September 1964 he despite being a member of J&K Congress supported a bill introduced by an independent Member of Parliament, Prakash Vir Shastri demanding the removal of Article 370 from the Constitution. During the debate, he said:

"In these 17 years, our state has suffered by not having been brought at par with the rest of the states in the country. Our people have suffered. Everybody has suffered. Let the people have the proper benefit of what flows from the Centre to other states. As it is, people suffer in a number of ways, for instance, in getting scholarships, getting seats in colleges and universities in other places etc. Not only that, there is the non-application of labour laws."

Saraf Sahab also highlighted what he said was the plight of the working classes in the state then: 

"In my state, there are lakhs of people working in various forests, handicrafts and factories, and all the beneficial laws that we have in the Centre, and which are applicable to the rest of the states, they are not benefitted by them. I know the feelings of workers in that State. Every time they say: why do you keep this wall of separation, let us also get the benefits as the rest of our countrymen." 

It was my good fortune to know him personally and watch his behaviour closely. He was very serious and did not indulge in loose talk. He was a true Gandhian and held Nehru in great esteem. I never heard him speak ill against anyone behind his back not even Sheikh Sahab despite the great betrayal by the latter. He would often tell me not to be so facetious and take life seriously. He had a high moral standard which often touched spiritual realms. Notwithstanding the climatic conditions, he would get up early in the morning, take bath and do some routine yoga exercises, then read Gita, Ramayana and Jap ji every day. He would constantly emphasize that a person has three facets of his personality i.e Physical, Mental and Spiritual and one must nurture them all. On this, I would often disagree with him. I used to argue that a person cannot achieve excellence in one field if he lays equal emphasis on all three, for example, if he wants to become a Dara Singh he has to ignore the other two aspects except the physical aspect, if he wants to become a Buddha he cannot afford to develop the physical side and in case he wants to emulate Shakespeare, he has to ignore the physical and spiritual faculties. The issue, however, remained unresolved. 

Saraf Sahab left his mortal remains on 26 July 1983. May his soul rest in peace. Om Shanti.

                        (With Sadre Riyasat Dr Karan Singh & Foreign dignitaries. Mir Qasim, Sadiq,

                         GLDogra & Bakshi can also be seen)

I must confess that whatever I achieved in my life was all because of his teachings that guided me to lead an honest and to some extent principled life though I could not match him. I am reminded of a couplet of Allama Iqbal:

                  Hazaron   saal   Nargis    apni   be - noori    pe   roti   hai,

                Badi mushkil se hota hai chaman mein deeda-var paida. 

*****