Settling in Hubli (6)

Note : Railway Diaries follows the Number on the Post Title

On January 22nd 2003 I reached Hubli at 1230 Hrs. Myself,Seshagiri Rao and Subba Rao took a room in Modern Lodge and went to DPO’s office but we were asked to come tomorrow.

On 23rd Jan, we filled the Service Record and we were divided into four groups and my group was under the guidance of Mr.H.I.Kallimani.

On 24th Jan exactly at 0000 hrs we started the first handling (Handling is the term used for on the job training, this is very important as this is the only time you get to learn the signals and the road for all the routes) on the Train SVM77 heading to Castle Rock. The first time when you are in action, you feel like the world is moving around you but you are constant. The first handling with Driver Daffedar was informative as he mentioned the position and gradient of the signal and the track. We returned to UBL (Station code for Hubli) with Driver Siddique.

On my return it was a real surprise to see that Seshagiri and Subba Rao had shifted the entire luggage to our rented house at Chalukya Nagar.Now the room mates were Seshagiri, Subba Rao, Venkataramana and Parashuram. Handling continued and on 27th Jan myself and Seshagiri purchased provisions and also made 4 duplicate keys for our house.

On 28th Jan, I collected the South Central Railway Identity Card which is a possession in my collection now. Mr.Kallimani was kind enough to sanction leave and I left to Bangalore by Ranichennamma at 2230 Hrs.

From 29th Jan to 03rd Feb I was at home, catching up with friends and relatives. In such a short span these are the folks that I met – Mr. Philips who was my employer when I left for Railways. Sridhar with whom I played a match of caroms, he lost this time too. Mr.Selvaraj from Shivamani industries in Jalahalli.Relatives in Mathikere and BEL, relatives in Vijayapura and KR puram.MICO friend Guru Prasad, School friends Reshmi,Arathi,Mangala and Pushpalatha. (Today I’m in Bangalore and hardly meet anyone owing to the busy schedules that each one of us have).

By 8th Feb 2003 we had all that a house needs which included a gas stove, all utensils and most importantly a Tiffin carrier for the trip.

On 11th Feb 2003 I received my second stipend of 4610/-. On 21st Feb 2003 we had a viva with the ADME at Hubli.

On 1st Mar 2003, I got the ZTC results – 4th Rank with 84% Marks. On 2nd Mar 2003 I was in Bangalore for a day.

On 3rd Mar 2003 I was in Hubli again and I gave my Citizen watch for service. My uncle Srinivasan had presented this watch to me when I stood 1st in my 7th Standard public exam. And since September 2007 I hadn’t worn a watch.

On 4th Mar 2003 we filled the bio-data at DPO’s office and I signed a LIC policy (Jeevan Anand 1,00,000) which I took from Mr.Pulliah (He was the one who got us the rented house and this was an obligation)

On 5th Mar 2003 , I went to Combined Crew Booking lobby and was informed that the independent duty may be booked anytime.

On 6th Mar 2003 I prepared small charts that would help me in identifying the signals and the stations.

On 7th Mar 2003 at 0730 Hrs my independent duty with Driver A.S.Lazarus carrying the Train SVM-10 to Castle Rock (CLR). CLR arrival was 1955 hrs

Thus started the job as a Diesel Assistant in South Central Railways working for Hubli Division.