Life, Lilies and Surf

Chapter 2

Enough of the philosophy and let us return to our story.  A earning daughter  is an asset as her salary would be handy for the marriage expenses. So, Subbu whole heatedly welcomed Latha's move to get employed and not go in for college education.   Latha, to her surprise got a job thanks to the friendly help of her neighbour and it was a great thing for her. It was only a lowly job, aptly called as lower division clerk.   What else one would get for a mere matriculate ?

Her first day to the office was ever in her memory. She wore a nice saree and  went to the office to join the post on  an auspicious day. After some waiting, she was given the appointment order duly signed by a superior officer, who is classified as Class I officer. She asked for permission to meet the officer who signed the order. The section head was somewhat amused and perplexed by the unusual request.  Anyway why should he try to dissuade her ?   One never knows.   She might even know the big boss.  After all, one does not get a job unless there was a contact.  With these thoughts, he sent in her request to see the officer, who had been empowered by the government to appoint clerks like her. After a short while, she was ushered into the chamber of the officer, who was next only to the head of the department. She expected to see an elderly person. She was surprised to find a young man seated behind a big table with a green top. The room itself was quite large. The expanse of the table along with the largeness of the chamber, later on she understood, denoted the rank and importance of an officer in government hierarchy. She expressed her thanks and promised to do her best. He looked at her somewhat surprised with curiosity in his eyes.  Usually no one came to thank him specifically for any appointment.   However, he thought it was nice to get thanks from a girl that too from a beautiful and fair complexioned one for something for which he was somewhat responsible. He wished her well in her job and life. She left his chamber thinking at heart that one day she too would get herself a job like his. That was a new ambition and load star for her now.

She set aside her dreams of college, learning music and secret ambition of learning Bharatanatyam and perform dance on stage. Being a down to earth person, she  assiduously started  her work which was of routine nature in an office that had more than thousand employees. The job was really God sent as it made her not depend on her father's meager and occasional income. It also allowed her to understand the world, having come out as a fresher from school. It enabled her to think of ways and means of getting a graduate degree, so that she can appear for some competitive examination, where merit would get a better job. She was told that the officer whom he met was a direct recruit by the Union Public Service Commission that selects outstanding persons to higher position of Class I officer in different departments. That is why she found him in high position at an young age. From that time onward, her only thought was how to move upward like him. Her planning would be only towards that goal. One day, she told herself that she too would occupy such a room and handle lot of people working under her.

Coming back to the section from the big boss's room she collected her posting order. She was posted to the section that dealt with administration and establishment matters of the big office that had a strength of more than one thousand people. This first posting was unusual as only experienced hands were posted to administration. Possibly, her visit to the boss had prompted the posting. She knew nothing about the work at all and resolved to learn all the nuts and bolts of work and excel in her work. But she never forgot even for a moment her resolve to get to a higher position by writing the competitive all India examination of the Union Public Service Commission to get a post with great start. She has to find out how to go about it. She is not the one to give up. She has made a beginning and one has to begin somewhere. She started her work with right earnestness after getting instructions from her superior, the section head.

Lunch break was the time when everyone left the section for office canteen. Those who had brought something to eat as lunch would also seek their friends and sit along with them, share their lunch making jokes and anecdotes. Being new to the place she did not know what to do and remained in her seat. She had no doubt brought something to eat and was sitting pensively wondering whether to open her lunch box and start eating or skip the lunch. Much to her relief she found one of the persons in the hall took particular notice of her and came to her seat. He was dressed in white trousers and white full sleeve shirt. A thin black belt kept the white well pressed trouser tight at the waist. He appeared not more than twenty five years of age. He smiled at her and opened the conversation.