Dame luck is fickle they say,
Damsel Money will ever play,
To make mind come under her sway,
To forget the way it was yesterday.
Latha silently went inside her house after a quick look at her mother. Mangalam looked proudly at her daughter as usual. But soon her eyes drew a film of tear. How neat and fair her daughter looked. Fair complexion, she always proudly felt was her contribution. Latha was of medium height, a little shorter than her mother. She had petite features and black eyes. The eyes were not dead straight as a careful observer would notice. But the result was it gave now and then a dreamy result much to the allurement of the boys. Her hair was jet black and was made into single plait. She would have liked to let it down on the shoulders and back, so that it could move gracefully with every turn of her head and that would also turn heads. She had worn on the ears small golden studs too small for her age , but it was there from her early school days. She was wearing a cotton langda, a skirt with plaits covering her up to her feet. Her blouse was of matching colour of light blue. As was the fashion and custom of the times, she had three yards of cloth wound round her with one end tied to the skirt and then going round her waist and covering the blouse in the front and thrown over her left shoulder and flowing on her back like a sail. This piece of drapery popularly called as dhavani was the harbinger of her girlhood. This dress is viewed by poets and teenage boys as a very romantic and possibly by the wearers as not so convenient and some times not appropriate. Depositing her chappal near the door, she went into her room, rather the one that had no kitchenette.
Her mother came into the room and seeing her pensive daughter sat beside her. She fondly caressed her hair and pushed behind her ears the curls that were flowing over her face, and tried to guess what was in her mind.
"Don't you bother, Latha, you would go to college and soon will be studying science course in subject you want." Mangalam assured her. Only bright students with high scores could get science course.
"No Mamma, I would not go to college. "I have already thought about it. I knew whatever be the grade I get in the school final, I may not be able to enter the portals of any college." There was a tinge of sorrow, which she could not suppress despite trying to be casual in dismissing the dream.
"No dear. There is still time and we may have better days."
"And then admissions will close for the colleges and I would sit at home for nothing. I have decided. I have spoken to our neighbour, Ranga, who is already working from last year. He knows some one in his office and I would get a clerk's job." This was her strong point. She was practical and could take decisions for herself. Necessity is the mother of invention.
College admissions were not difficult those days. There was no reservations for large number of seats under different categories dictated by caste classifications. Even among the affluent, few girls made to the college. Stopping the brilliant girls at the matriculation or school final was generally done. This was to help find a suitable match for the girl at the same level of under graduation or graduation. No doubt graduates would ask for more dowry and grand marriage. It would not stop with the celebration of the marriage alone. For every festival that followed for one year after marriage, the girl's parents would have to send presents to the groom and his family. Cost of such presents which included jewels was directly proportionate to the salary, property and educational qualification of the groom and affluence of his family. The girl's parents may beg, borrow or steal, but these strict laws of exploitative largess should go on for an year. Subsequent occasions like child birth, child's first birthday, etc also demanded similar appropriate expensive presents from the married girl's parents. No wonder the birth of a girl baby was not greeted with gusto despite saying that Lakshmi had come to the house and worshiping God in the female form.
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.
"I am Krishnan. I believe, you joined only today. First day is very frightening. Have you not taken your lunch ? Would you like to go to the canteen ? I can take you there."
He had a voice with a timbre and was standing next to her table. She could see, on close quarters that he was on the fairer side in complexion. He had combed his jet black hair backwards with a semblance of partition of hair at the left. The eyes were sparkling and black and there was no tinge of brown like her eyes. He had a fairly good row of white teeth that easily gleamed in his ready smile. A sure asset to make the girls like him. He was clean shaven and the expression on his face was congenial. But there was an air of inner hidden superiority that could be felt only by a discerning onlooker. She was pleased at his talk and favourably impressed by his demeanor.
"Thank you for your concern. I was wondering whether to eat my tiffin given by my mother or skip it. It looks funny that I should sit here all alone and gobble up the food."
"Oh ! That is no problem. You can share your lunch with me. Lest you may starve, we can then go to the canteen and take some vadas and drink coffee. Our canteen vadas and coffee are quite good. You will also come to know where the canteen is and meet people."
"Alright. Let us first finish the food given by my mother and then go to the canteen."
She put half of the tiffin in the lid of the tiffin box and gave it to him and ate from the box. He complimented the taste of the home made food. Then they made their way to the canteen, which was in the second floor of the building. It was just like any other canteen of any government office of those times. Giving cash, token had to be taken for the eats and presented at the delivery counter to collect the food. There were queues for getting the token and for collecting the eats. But Krishnan went straight to a table and the canteen boy who was taking away the used plates came to him and asked him just like a restaurant, what he wanted. Krishanan ordered two plates of vadas and two cups of coffee. They were quickly brought by the canteen boy, who said he had Krishnan's money with him to adjust the bill.
While they were sipping coffee, a young girl with very presentable features came to them and said, "Krishna ! Is this your new friend ? Where is she working ? You have not introduced her to me. "
"This is Bhama. One of my friends. We have great plans."
"What plans?" Latha asked.
"Very serious ones. We will tell you by and by. Why don't you join us Bhama ? This is Latha. She joined only today. I am fortunate to be the first person to befriend her."
Latha felt that it was possibly too fast but she liked the implicit compliment. "But you have not told about your serious plans. Are they to take over the reins of the office ?", she asked smilingly.
"No, Latha. We are not to take over this office, but actually the whole department. There is a way to do it. Bhama, you tell her later on how we will do it.", he said half jokingly.
"Not now. Let us go back to work and talk it over later", Bhama said. With this sage advice from Bhama, the three went back to their section and started their afternoon routine. Latha found the work, though new, was of routine nature and there was nothing edifying about it. It was not like solving a difficult problem in mathematics or like reading good poetry.
She came home tired by not doing anything very challenging but happy that she could get a job that was not tough or too much boring. She would wait and see how she would fare. She would ask Krishanan and Bhama how to conquer the world. That could be done the next day.
Her mother was waiting for her return. Her father was checking up the almanac for fixing certain ceremonies and functions for his clients. Her mother was happy that her daughter could get a government job, however lowly it might be. But she dreamt great things for her. After drinking the coffee brought by her mother, Latha was about to change to household clothes. But her mother suggested that she could go to the nearby temple and offer prayers for getting the job. She accepted the suggestion and walked down to the temple.
It was a small temple but was visited by large number of devotees as it had the reputation for granting the wishes of people who prayed there. There was the corpulent kindly looking Ganesa at the entrance. She made here obeisance to him. Touching her ears with crossed hands she made a slight bow by bending her knees a little. It was not a Japanese or Chinese bow but more like the English queen being greeted by ladies by dipping down the knees as if to sit. This is only the limited way girls bow to Ganesa. Men were to come to sitting position and then stand up and repeat this sitting standing exercise, holditng their ears. They say that this was also good for the body. After this royal obeisance, she went round the Shiva's shrine. But who was going before her, around the shrine and doing pradikshana like her ? It was the second in command she met in the office by special permission. He was wearing dhoti not trousers. He recognised her and smiled at her. Most people recognised her invariably. She wished him by joining her hands in a namaste, which was accepted by a graceful nod of the head. He then stood couple of minutes before the Shiva lingam and then moved out to his car. She reminded herself that she should also become one like him and not remain at a lower rung in the office and world. She should not waste time and quickly find out and plan for every thing. Fully occupied by such thoughts, she came home. After eating a spartan meal of rice and buttermilk served with pickles, she went to bed. She tried to go to sleep. But bits and pieces of scenes that happened in the office came before her mental eyes. Being the first day, it was understandable as there was sufficient excitement on such days. She soon was dozing off and the caressing hands of the soft maiden called sleep took her to her kingdom of peace, dreams and rest as no one can withstand her charms in rewarding a toiled day.
She found herself sitting in the big room, where her temple co-visitor was sitting in the morning. She had changed the curtains in the room as per her feminine touch. She was interviewing the man who interviewed her for the job . She asked him what was the capital of Afghanistan and West Germany. He could not reply the second question. She laughed and told him that the information was not in any way necessary for the work. The door of her room opened suddenly and the section head asks her harshly why she did not sign the attendance register. But behind him Bhama was standing and telling him aloud that he should not enter such a superior officer's room without her permission. The interviewed man also joins the conversation and tells the section head to get out of the room. Latha got startled and woke up. The whole thing was a dream and she laughed at herself. Anyway it was not an unpleasant dream. She slowly again slipped into sleep into the kingdom of peace and rest.
Meaning of non-English words:
Vada - a snack prepared from lentils and fried in oil.
Bhama - the full name is Satya Bhama, consort of Lord Krishna.
Pradhakshina - Going round the deity or the chamber of the deity in clock wise direction with reverence - a part of Hindu temple and ritual worship
End of Chapter 2