Telecommunications in the 1960’s when the Department was known as Posts & Telegraphs (P&T) Department, was very different from telecommunications now, when we are 20 years into the twenty-first century!

When I joined the training centre at Trivandrum, Kerala, India, in January, 1963 for a full year of training as Engineering Supervisor, I had to undergo ten months of training in Telecommunication Theory at Trivandrum and 2 months Practical Training in Telecommunications in Bangalore.

We were in the growing stage in India, technology-wise. We enthusiastically learnt about Morse code, Dubern Sounders, Manual Telephone Exchanges with Central battery (CB) systems, non-multiple exchanges, CB multiple exchanges, 3-channel carrier systems,  the improved  3-channel stackable systems, 8-channel and 12-channel carrier systems, 24 -channel telegraph systems (FM VFT – Frequency Modulated Voice Frequency Telegraphy), CB multiple exchanges with auto-ringing card circuits etc.

Everything was new, novel and made us privileged to know about something new, which for the less fortunate mortals was difficult to even dream about.

We were subjected to rigorous training called “Common course” and “Special course training.” In the first 5 months, two batches of youngsters, about 40 in each batch underwent common course training.

Then we were exposed to “Special course training.” Ours was Batch 3 in Lines and cables and the other – Batch number 4 in “Carrier Technology.”

Batch 4 considered themselves superior in getting trained as Technical Experts, whereas we the Batch 3 members, were to work outdoors and deal with line staff. I suppose they could be considered the equivalent of present day HR managers.

We received a grand (in those days!) stipend of Rs. 80 per month. Our hostel room rent was Rs. 4 per month. We the trainees would form the Managing Committee for the Hostel Mess. Those days, the mess bill used to be around 40 rupees per month leaving us with about     Rs. 35 for our other needs, like purchasing notebooks, writing material, shirts / pants, laundry expenses like getting our clothes ironed, etc.

We even went on picnics to nearby places like Kuttralam, local beaches, temples and sometimes to cinema theatres.

Every 15 days the Mess used to be closed for the night and we would go out and treat ourselves to dosas made with coconut oil, good coffee at Coffee Board Outlets and occasionally sweets and savouries.

There were several subjects being taught with regular and rigorous tests conducted every 2 weeks and monthly exams. We used to sleep on steel cots with springs, over palm leaf mats. There was no dearth of water, but the bathroom doors were always unhinged, necessitating everyone invariably turning out to be bathroom singers!

In the evenings we used to play in the Recreation Rooms, my favourite being table tennis and carrom boards.

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I have had experience in the Telecom sector from January, 1964 to end of October, 2001.

In fact the dates are surprisingly clearly etched in my mind : 07-01-1964 to 31-10-2001!

On selection as ‘Engineering Supervisor’ in the Telecom department, then we were sent for a full year’s training consisting of ten months theoretical training at Trivandrum and two months field training at Bangalore (Jan 1963 to Jan 1964)

My first posting was at Hubli in Karnataka state. I was given the responsibility of maintaining overhead trunk lines between Hubli and Karwar ( a coastal town), Haveri-Sirsi, and Sirsi-Sidhapur (near Shimoga).

There were two manual telephone exchanges of 100 lines capacity at Karwar and Sirsi. (CB non-multiple exchanges, a Departmental Telegraph Office at Karwar and two small automatic exchanges at Akkiyalur and Hanagal and two magneto boards ( 10 lines capacity at Kalghatgi and Yellapur) quite a handful for a lad all of 23 years, bursting with energy.

Maintaining Hubli Karwar section of overhead lines (OH) was quite a challenge, with the lines running through dense bamboo forests, blinding rains for 3 months from May to July. Rail posts for supporting lines were getting corroded at the bottom and the wires were actually supporting the post instead of the other way around.

Thought honest, hard-working and ever-ready to face new challenges, my cheekiness did pose uneasy moments for my immediate Bosses!

More on this later…..!

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This is the tale of how I got rid of my Thagara Slate (Tin slate used in those days by school children for writing) as an elementary school boy.

In those days, i.e late 1940s, cooking was not done using LPG, Induction stove, microwave, etc. Even pressure cookers were rarely used. People used firewood for cooking in clay moulded home-made ovens.

Cartloads of tree trunks, branches, etc. used to be purchased and the woodcutters who used to roam the streets, looking for work, normally approached householders for cutting the chunks of tree parts into firewood measuring approximately 18” inches in length and about 4 to 6 inches in width. They would use a wooden axe to do the job.

One such woodcutter had left behind his axe since the work was not over one evening.My little resourceful young mind saw a possible answer to my vexing problem i.e. of getting the thagara slate replaced. Quietly, when I was sure no one was watching me, I used the wooden axe to damage the despised slate a shapeless mass!

The next day, with an innocent (!) face, I showed my slate (or handwork) to my Mother and demanded a replacement. My Mother was dumb-struck. “How in the world did this happen?” was what she managed to blurt out.

She was worried about convincing my Father who was known to be hot-tempered. She had the daunting task of protecting me and getting a new slate.

I don’t know what she went through, but I did get a shining new slate (not a Thagara slate!) the next day!

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Picture courtesy: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/256283035020123877/

It is difficult for me (also) to imagine myself as a young boy! In spite of my present day looks, I vividly remember those days when I was a youngster with unimaginable energy levels and mischievous ideas.

We were living almost near the school I studied in and it would take about five minutes to reach the school. There were days when I would leave the house when the school bell started ringing, run up the distance and still be in time!

We were required to fill up the slate with stuff from our text books – sometimes both sides of the slate as homework. It was no problem as I used to remember my lessons by heart! I used to do my homework while walking to school. Playing all the time that I was awake, left no time slot for homework! It was completed only while going to school and that too, to avoid punishment.

But there were days when I used to run to school and writing while running posed problems. Those were the days the school bell would have started ringing when I was not yet ready to go and thus necessitated running.

But here again, my resourceful brain had somehow anticipated the eventuality and I had chosen my seat in my class where usually the teacher reaches to check, after checking about 25 to 30 students.

That was enough time for me to fill up my slate – either one side or both sides, depending upon what the class teacher was checking with the other boys!

Now, to recall an incident, amply illustrating the capability of my resourceful khopdi (brain) as an elementary school boy ……..

Those days, the slate used to crack into several pieces if it was dropped, mostly by carelessness. My parents thought that they have solved the problem of purchasing new slates for me frequently. They got me a ‘thagara’ slate i.e. a tin slate, a tin sheet coated black on both sides and put in a wooden frame. Though initially it was okay, with passage of time, it used to behave as though it is coated with paraffin wax – you can’t read what is written on it.

I demanded a new slate, but the demand was struck down peremptorily since the slate appeared to be in good condition. I was not successful in convincing my parents.

Then a bright idea flashed in my head and I did get a new one. But how …..?

Wait for the story of how I managed to get a new slate in place of my ‘Thagara slate’ to unfold!

Picture courtesy: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/256283035020123877/

Picture courtesy: https://www.pinterest.it/pin/417568196671211023/

The 7^th Kaandam of ‘Srimad Kamba Ramayanam’ by Pulavar E. Thirunavukkarasu is the Uthara Kaandam. This Kaandam describes Rama sending a pregnant Sita to live in a forest, the birth of twin sons Lava, Kucha, etc.

Here Lord Rama learns through his spies that people are indulging in loose talk that Rama has accepted Sita who spent one year across the ocean in Lanka ruled by Rakshasa King Ravana. Therefore, Rama desires one more ‘Agni Pariksha’, before accepting Sita as his wife!

Now Sita feels “Enough is enough” and she requests Bhoomi Matha to open up and accept her DD.

Her wish is granted.

Yes, in the end, women prove who the stronger sex is!

There are many more things, that come to my mind and I would like to share with you, my Readers.

But I would like to keep this Post reasonably short and hence close this Post here.

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The following are the six main Kaandams of Kamba Ramayana:

1. Bala Kaandam
2. Ayodhya Kaandam
3. Aaranya Kaandam
4. Kishkindha Kaandam
5. Sundara Kaandam and
6. Yudha Kaandam,

There is a seventh Kaandam called ‘Uththara Kaandam.’

It is widely believed that chanting or reading Sundara Kaandam helps bring peace and prosperity to a family in distress. Even in our present times, I have come across families resorting to this practice.

Most of them say that this brought them out of the crisis they were facing. I don’t want to go into the merits or otherwise of this practice.

My bringing this issue of Sundara Kaandam is for a different purpose. Why is it called Sundara Kaandam and not ‘Crossing the Ocean’ or ‘Destruction of Lanka’ or any other?

Well, the reason generally put forward is since this Kaandam’s main character or hero here is Hanuman…. He is also called by other names like Vaayu Puthra, Maruthi, Aanjaneya, Vyakarna Panditha and Sundara. The last mentioned name is attributed to Anjana, Hanuman’s mother affectionately calling him ‘Sundara’ meaning good-looking. For a Mother, her son is the most handsome one in the entire world!

Those familiar with Asterix comics will recall Obelix referring to a certain character as ‘the good-looking one’!  The name Sundara Kaandam hence stuck in preference to other possible names.

(But there is a hidden tale here waiting to be told, maybe in another Post!)

Picture courtesy : https://www.controlaltachieve.com/2018/12/writing-prompts.html)

It is said that with advancing years, man gets wiser. Not me….. though nearing 80 in a couple of years, I have NOT learnt to keep my trap shut. I often flip with it and, well you guessed it right, I land in unenviable situations!

One such occasion was when I innocently (!) queried of my DD, “What is a Prompt?”

I asked for it – she not only explained what ‘Prompt’ is, she went a step further and came up with 19 prompts!

I flipped again. I asked her, “What prompted you to give me so many prompts?”

She PROMPTLY replied, “That is the 20^th one!”

I know, I know – you agree with me whole-heartedly that I have not learnt in my seventy eight years of existence, when to keep quiet!

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Like I had written in my previous post, I came to read the Kamba Ramayanam, to escape from some disapproval at my constant engagement with electronic trivia! I would have used the word garbage, but decided to go with the politer word.

The Kamba Ramayanam is actually ‘Srimad Kamba Ramayanam’ written by Pulavar E. Thirunavukkarasu in Tamil, my mother tongue, even though my usual reading tends to books and articles written in English.

Although I had been nurturing an unexplained fascination for Kamba Ramayanam, I had shied away from reading it, being extremely conscious of my limitations – I mean familiarity with the language, especially in the literary part of it.

This book is recommended for people with limited knowledge and claims to be in easy prose. So I ventured into reading this book, but treaded cautiously. The story of Ramayana is mostly known to many of us and this fact added to my comfort factor.

The story telling starts from Lord Rama’s birth, childhood, going to Ayodhya, time spent in the forest, meeting Guha, Sugriva and Hanuman, Vaali, Maruthi’s mission to Lanka, searching for and finally meeting Sita Devi, building RamaSethu, the actual war, destruction of Ravana’s Lanka, rescuing Sita Devi, etc.

These make up the six Kaandams which are the equivalent of chapters. This particular book has an additional kaandam – the seventh one viz. Uthara Kaandam by the renowned Tamil poet Ottakoothar. Normally this kaandam does not form part of Kamba Ramayanam.

The book takes you through 511 pages. To my utter surprise, I got involved in this book and was eager to read as much as possible, sometimes even sitting with the book at unexpected hours, many a times sacrificing TV shows like Adaalat, CID, etc. (I can spot a mischievous smile on the lips of my LS, who has a fervent aversion for them!)

When Lord Rama asks Sita Devi to undertake ‘Agni Pariksha’, it hits you hard as you genuinely feel that it is unfair to the womenfolk. Why should women undergo such hardships just to satisfy men folks’ EGO?

Lord Rama’s asking Sita Devi to undertake ‘Agni Pariksha’ evokes an automatic revulsion in us, as we genuinely feel that it is positively unfair to women. Why should only women have to subject themselves to these acts, just to prove their purity? Shouldn’t the same rule apply equally to men?

Were these ‘Parikshas’ intended to satisfy the male ego? Barbarious, isn’t it?

But aren’t we forgetting the times when these events took place?

Our present day practices too, even the ones that seem reasonable to us today, may be scoffed at by future generations!  

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For the past few weeks, my daily routine has been predictable.

It is like this – speak to my LS –  Loving Son in the night over the phone, around 10.00 pm, go to bed around 11.00 or 11.30 pm and sleep around midnight….. Again get up in the morning around 06.30 hours, feel it is too early to get up and thus justify going back to sleep, only to get up around 08.30 hours, brushing and enjoying the copious Kaappi – a large dose of excellent coffee brewed and lovingly brought by my SIL – son-in-law….. Then spend time with my cell phone – checking Whatsapp messages, etc. and the iPad…….

I had been doing this unaware of a disapproving pair of eyes – yes, you guessed it – the eyes belonged to my DD – Darling Daughter! She had been tolerating this, exercising a lot of restraint in the face of extreme provocation from my end, of course without my realising it! My spending considerable time with electronic garbage was definitely distasteful to her. I have the feeling if my LS – my other child knew of it, he too would feel the same.

I would like to state here that my DD does not show her disapproval openly. She started hinting that I do something that I had wanted to do, (according to her…!) but somehow could not do ….. like reading some good book. I didn’t take her seriously and continued blithely with my routine.

Then Stage 2 ( no, no, not the corona virus, dear Readers) started unfolding before me, even taking centre stage!

My DD put quite a few books before me – books by authors like Dick Francis, Jeffrey Archer, Sidney Sheldon, James Patterson, Robert Fulghum, Mitch Albom ……, books in English and Tamil (my mother tongue) caught my astonished eye.

And she said that I should choose any book I liked. Then I did the most unexpected thing – I took up a book at random and thought I had purchased peace. I was sadly mistaken. 

My DD who is made of sterner stuff, had kept the book that I chose separately and asked after a day or two, how many pages I proposed to read daily! The question jolted me and I looked at the book I had chosen.

I realised I had chosen a book entitled ‘Srimad Kamba Ramayanam’ by Pulavar E. Thirunavukkarasu, published by Narmada Publications, T Nagar, Chennai.

I sensed the issue was now fast moving to Stage 3 and it was time to give in …… and I did!

And that is the saga of how I came to read Kamba Ramayanam!

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Khushwant Singh is my favourite writer.

In spite of a seemingly brazen style of writing, if you care to observe closely, there is an honesty which is sorely missing in many of the other authors. His was a ‘ tongue in cheek’ style.

If I remember correctly, the cartoon of the author himself seated beside a pile of books – all inside a bulb carried the title ‘With Malice Towards One and All’.

(My DD found a picture for me on the Internet, based on my description of ‘the man in the bulb’!)

Those days when he was the chief editor of ‘ Illustrated weekly’, the first thing I used to look for was his ‘With Malice Towards One and All’ column.

I do miss his racy style of writing. When the next gathering of book lovers to discuss the writings of Khushwant Singh takes place in ‘Joy of Books’, Annanagar, JBAN, I would love to occupy a chair in the front row.

You can read all about it in the blog post of JBAN using the link:

https://joyofbooksin.wordpress.com/2020/02/27/kushwant-singh/