You should walk

One weekend last month, I was returning home after completing some banking work in the morning. As I was nearing home, I saw a neighbor coming along in the opposite direction. It had been quite a few months since we met and so I waited after greeting him. He returned my wave of my hand with his own and then stopped near me.

This maamaa is a tall and well-built person, so you do feel a little small (both in age and size) near him. He started talking and the conversation (Tamizh portions translated) went like this:

Tall maamaa: I will tell you this. You should walk. What time do you leave for office?

Me: Around 7:30-45 (It was a lie because I knew his next query would be around when I get up)

T.m: Then you wake up at least by 6:30 (Told you he’d hit that sour point) and walk for some half-an-hour.

Me: Yes yes, I am trying.

T.m: I know you are all hard working (forgive him; elder people tend to generalize) and it is difficult. But why I am saying this is because you all are sitting all day long and need some exercise.

Me: yes maamaa, I will definitely try to walk.

T.m: Otherwise, how are things? Is Amma fine? I was out of town for 2 months.

Me: Oh, that’s why I didn’t see you.

T.m: Yes yes. I came back only last week. Ok, I will go to the Bank before it gets hotter.

He then walked away. So, here is this old man, who is meeting me after almost 2 months and the first thing he tells me is “You should walk”. And this is even before exchanging pleasantries and complaining about the weather. Even as I wondered what the world had come to, I then realized where the problem was.

It was the shirt I was wearing. It was a stiff material and kind of stuck around my mid-riff, more stuck than how INC is with Rahul Gandhi. It obviously irked him to the extent that he jumped right to the topic.

Subsequent to that conversation I took necessary action. The shirt is now hidden in the far reaches of my cupboard. 

Suitable Job Opening

A couple of weeks ago, one of my neighbours was speaking to me. It was just a casual evening talk about nothing in particular and it is my mother who usually talks to him. But that day she had to take care of some other work and I was left to take over her position.

After talking about this house and that house and the other house, the conversation veered towards his job. In fact he asked me directly if he could get a job in my company. I told him that I can ask around since I didn't know of anything off-hand. Then I asked him why he was looking for a job change.

He said that he wasn't getting paid that well. In his opinion, for the hours he puts in at work on a daily basis the salary is just not commensurate. I told him that his office took care of his accommodation, but he said that they take some 5% out of his salary of accommodation and for food as well.

Moreover, he came to know of other new joiners in his organization, whose job profile is pretty much the same as his. But, it turns out that they were earning some 20% more than him. Furthermore, he said that they don’t slog as much as he does and stick to a fixed working hours per day. He, I was told, goes the extra distance without any fuss, but the new fellows didn’t do anything of that sort, unless they got monetary compensation for the extra work. I told him if he had spoken to higher authorities about it and he replied that it was of no use.

He then told me that another neighbour of ours who had moved out, was now getting almost 40% more than what he got when he was here. So the market rate was clearly higher and he said that once he gets some such opening, he would quit. He planned to bring in his family as well and that was also the reason for looking for a change.

So I am putting out the word through this blog to any potential employer, that there is a guy looking for a job opening as a car driver, expecting around 13K per month. He is from Bihar, but speaks Tamizh and is very well versed with all road routes in Tamil Nadu – right from Chennai to Kanyakumari (specializing within Chennai and the Chennai-Sivaganga route).

Note: I call him my neighbour because my next house functions as an office, with a lot of spare rooms being used as guest rooms.