Sunday, 19 October 2008

Howrah-Tatanagar & A Few Unknown Faces


Many a times, on the 5:30 pm train from Kolkata to dear old Jamshedpur, we used to sit spotting “TATA Steel employees”. Judging by the way their near cotton shirts& trousers crumpled from the ~4 hours train journey, the black dully shining leather shoes, carrying forward the legacy of the morning, when they were freshly polished, the pastel shirts, the unvarying black trouser, a neat looking suitcase (brown or black), spectacles (full framed) A golden or a ‘black leather strap’ Titan watch, neat combed hair…old timers, was the word!
Morning today, the cabbie asked me even as I was giving directions, “TATA ke office jana hai kya?” I replied in the affirmative, without a thought to why he had asked me that! Walking up to the office building after paying him, I took one long look at myself…Pale blue cotton shirt, full sleeves…black trousers, polished black shoes, a black bag, a large dial sized Titan watch (silver downplayed), a black pen, black full rimmed glasses…
Personally I think I am way back in the process of becoming the quintessential TATA employee as we defined him back then…but I guess, some things can easily rub on in 4 months…

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