The Day of Reckoning 17th June 1987 (My interview for PRT)

In the morning of 17^th June ’87 I woke up pretty early.  Mr. Singh’s brother-in-law of Kanpur had knocked at the door as per the fixed schedule.  He had come with a black turban.  As I was already finished with bathing and was dressed up it took about 5 to 10 minutes to tie the turban.  I had thanked him and after taking my breakfast had left for DPS Korba by an auto rickshaw.  It had taken me less than ½ an hour to reach the lush green temporary township of Pragati Nagar of NTPC Korba which was situated across the huge Darri Barrage. The school was spread pretty lavishily in a campus of more than 8 to 10 acres of land. 

On reaching the campus I could see many other candidates waiting for the interview.

I had reported to the office staff and then had taken my seat in the lounge.

On looking around I had noticed various candidates moving around or seated, like me, along with their parents or spouses.  Next to me was seated a young man in tight trousers and shirt.  He was well built and had long hair. I had looked at him and had enquired with a smile, “Where are you from and for which subject have you come ?” He too had given me a big smile and had replied in Hindi, “No English, Only Hindi. I’ve come for Music and am from Bihar.  My name is Ajay Jha.”

28.09.2015

From further talks I had learnt that he too had arrived yesterday and had reached the SCHOOL directly and was putting up in one of the classrooms.

I was provided with a questionnaire which had contained around 20 questions based on Grammar and I was asked to write my views on why English should be taught in India and what are the difficulties in doing so ? I was extremely happy to answer the questionnaire.  Grammar questions were based on speech, voice, modals, articles, tenses and parts of speech.  Subjective based question was from my special paper, in PG i.e., “Teaching of English as a Foreign Language.” So I believe my response must have been good.

After about an hour or so around 10:00 am I was called for being interviewed in the Principal’s chamber.  Later I had learnt that the Staff Selection Committee hand included Mr. R.S. Lugani, Principal of DPS R.K. Puram as well as nominee of Chairman, DPS Society, Mr. Mahesh Bareja, Principal of DPS Korba, Mr. Thakur, DGM, NTPC, GM of NTPC Korba and Mrs. Radha Ratnam as subject expert.

I was asked by Mr. R.S. Lugani, “Please be seated Mr. Thaper and introduce yourself.” I had responded with a smile and had taken my chair and had said, “Sirs and Mam I’m Sukhwant Singh Thaper, though I have come from Vishakapatnam, basically I belong to Jeypore Odisha which is a very remote place.  I was born in Nawrangpur which is about 10 Kms from Kalahandi where people even in todays scenario die of starvation.  I had completed my class X in 1979 and it was around 1983 that one of the branches of DPS was opened in Damanjodi.  At that time my classmates and I had regretted for not having got the opportunity for studying in a DPS.  But at present I’m feeling lucky that I may get an opportunity to teach in a DPS.   I have done my PG in English from Ravenshaw College, Cuttack. I love reading and play cricket, table tennis and chess.”

Mr. R.S. Lugani had said, “How’s your brother-in-law now ?” I was pretty impressed and had immediately felt to have built a close bond with him.  I had said, “Sir, he is doing well and thanks a lot for asking this.”

Mr. Mahesh Bareja had said, “You don’t have any teaching experience”, I had responded by saying, “Sir, I have been teaching my juniors right from the time I was in class X and while persuing my PG in Cuttack I had had the opportunity of guiding a girl Rini Prusty in her classes III & IV, and I feel I can teach the children.”  Mr. Lugani had asked, “Besides English which subjects do you think you can teach and upto which level ?” I had said, “Sir, except Sanskrit I can teach all other subjects upto class X but I would prefer to teach only English.”

Mr. Thakur had asked, “Do you have anyone known to in this area or not ?”

I had said, “I’m totally new to this place.  I know of one Mr. Chatwal uncle whom I had met in Vellore.  Probably he lives in Korba but I don’t know his address.”

Mr. R.S. Lugani had then said, “Mrs. Ratnam, please go ahead.”

Mrs. Ratnam who was sitting quite all this while had given me one of the most beautiful, assuring, genuine smiles I had ever seen and greeted me by saying, "Hello Sukhwant ! All this while I was listening to you, I was wondering about your pronunciation and accent are excellent."

"You come from a very remote place.  How did you manage to pick up correct pronunciation and accent without picking up any regional impact ?”

The sparkle of her smile was matching with the sparkling diamonds that she was wearing in the form of earnings and on her nose.

I had responded and had said, “Thanks mam for your compliment.  This has been due to the blessings of my teachers, keen interest of my parents to enable my sister and me to learn English in spite of the fact that they themselves are not able to do so and exposure to BBC radio and love of reading English books.”

Mrs. Ratnam had said, “Good ! What were your special papers in PG ?” I had replied, “M'am, Linguistics and Teaching of English as a Foreign Language.”

Mrs. Ratnam “OK ! What were your other papers in PG ?”

My response : “Early Poetry, Plays, Novels, Criticism, Modern Poetry and Literary Essays.”

R. Mam           :           “Which was your favourite paper ?”

Me                   :           Mam I loved them all but my favourite was the second paper of Novels.

Mam                :           “Which novels did you have for your course?”
Me                   :           Mam, ‘Women : by D.H. Lawarence ‘Tom Jones’ by Henry Fielding                                               ‘Pride & Prejudice’ by Jane Austen and

Mam                :           “Which one did you like the most ?”

Me                   :           ‘Pride & Prejudice’

Mam                :           Name the two men around whom the story revolves.

Me                   :           Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley.

Mam                :           How many sisters were there ? Name the first two sisters.

Me                   :           Five sisters were there in the story.  Jane and Elizabeth.

Mam                :           Can you recall the beginning sentence of the novel ?

Me                   :           Not exactly.  But I can convey what it meant.

Mam                :           Yes, Please go ahead.

Me                   :           “In the first sentence Jane Austen mentions that a man in possession of                                           good wealth and name is in search of a good wife.”

Mam                :           Good ! Among all the novelists what attracted you towards Jane Austen ?

Me                   :           Description of country side story in simple words by Jane Austen attracted                                    me.  Right from page one the readers get glued to the story and look                                               forward to what will happen to the fate of all five sisters.  Moreover                                               inspite of having lived during the French Revolution time we don’t come                                       across any mention of it in her writings. This had made it more appealing to me.

After this Ratnam Mam had asked me a few Grammar related questions which I had answered  to the best of my knowledge.

Mr. R.S. Lugani had asked we to wait outside.

I had thanked all members and had come out.

As the day had progressed I got to meet other candidates among whom I’m able to recall only the ones who were selected on that day for joining DPS Korba like Mrs. Renu Jain, Mr. Sudhir Khare (for Hindi), Mr. Christopher (as office hand) and Mr. Ajay Jha (for Music).

We had to spend the whole day in the school campus itself.  During lunch time we were guided by the office staff Mr. Negi and Mr. Kotwal towards Indian Coffee House of Pragati Nagar.

After having ovr lunch Ajay had taken me to the classroom in which he was staying.  I had found him to be very down to earth and an interesting man to know.

Slowly we observed the crowd of candidates was getting reduced.  Candidates were appearing for their interviews and leaving.  Only a handful like me were asked to wait.

I was recalled inside Principal’s chamber somewhere around 9:15 pm.

After entering I had wished all the members, “Good Evening”, and had waited for their response.  Mr. R.S. Lugani had once again offered me the seat and had straight away asked, “Mr. Thaper ! What if we select you what is the salary that will suit you ?”

I was not prepared for the question.  I was not very familiar with the salary pattern. So I had responded by saying, “Sir, in the advertisement it is mentioned Rs. 1260/- basic so that will suit me.”  He had again said, “No tell us what minimum pay will be acceptable to you.”  I had said, “Getting the job is my priority and not the salary part.  However since you are asking let me tell you that as a student in Cuttack I used to receive Rs. 400/- to Rs. 500/- from my Dad for my monthly expenses.  If you give me around Rs. 1000/- it will be quite enough for me.”  I remember this had made Mr. Lugani laugh and he had said, ‘OK, Don’t worry you will get more than your expectation.”  He had told to Mr. Mahesh Bareja in my presence itself to put me on PRT regular scale, GM of NTPC Korba (I’m not able to recall his name) had asked, “Mr. Tahper when can you join us ?” I had replied “Sir whenever I’m asked to.” He had said, “Tomorrow we are reopening the school after summer break.  Can you join us from tomorrow ?”

I had said, “No Sir, Please give me some time so that I can come prepared.” He had said, “So we are asking you.  Within how many days can you join us ?” I had immediately said, “Sir I will join from 1^st July 1987.”  Mr. M. Bareja had said, “OK, we will wait for you on 1^st of July.  Before you leave submit one of your original certificates in the office.” I had said, “Sir if you say I can leave my whole file.” He had said, “No, one certificate will do.”

Mr. R.S. Lugani had said, “One last question, given an opportunity would you like to join DPS R.K. Puram, New Delhi ?”  I had said, “Cost of living in Delhi is very high.  Within this salary it may be difficult.”

Mr. Lugani had said, “You join here and after couple of months come over to DPS R.K. Puram, and then let me know.”

I had said, “Yes Sir,  I will surely do that.”

At this Mr. Bareja had said, “You may leave now.”

Mrs. Ratnam had said, “See you on 1^st July.”

I had said, “Sure.”

I had thanked everyone and had wished them good night and had come out of the chamber.

I had straight away gone to Mr. Kotwal and with lot of enthusiasm had handed over my Class X original marksheet for his safe keeping.  His response was something like, “Oh ! So you have been trapped.”

I had said, “Pardon Sir, I didn’t get you !”

At this he had smiled and had said, “ I’m just joking.  They have asked you to leave your original so that you would return. “

I had said, “That I’m sure to do.  You may keep my whole file.  It will be rather good for me.  I won’t have to carry it all the way to Vishakapatnam and then again bring it back.”

He had said, “No please submit one certificate itself.”

I had done so and with lots of happiness had left the campus for Korba.

I had reached the hotel around 10:30 pm. Had changed my dress and had decided to take ‘Kurla Express’ at 1:00 am from Champa for Raipur.

Before leaving for Champa I had gone towards the house of Mr. Singh (of Singh Enterprises) to return the turban. But the house had a big iron gate which was closed.  I had not woken them and decided to return the turban in July.  However, I had dropped a written note of thanks in their letter box and had left for Champa.

I could manage to get into the Sleeper Class of the train and had reached Raipur early in the morning around 6:00 am and had gone straight to Guru Nanak Nagar to my Buaji’s (father’s sister’s) house.

(28.09.2015 – 10:10 pm)