Tenure : 25 days
After leaving Trend India I was at home for about 7-8 months doing absolutely nothing ! I was doing a correspondence course in Public Administration from Simla University though. The course materials used to come (I had started that in Ambala ) and I used to dutifully fill the answer sheets and answer whatever the Simla Univ. guys had to ask me about what I understood of the bull-crap they sent me via mail ! All this happened till Somnath came in my life – after his arrival – further studies took a back seat in my life and I became more keen on working (so that I could get married to Him !!- oh! Such an innocently ignorant idiot I was !!).
Anyways so during the 1st term examination, I had written ‘I love Somnath’ all over the answer sheet !!Can you imagine it ?! Well I myself cannot imagine such an atrocious move that I made (heavily under the influence of Hindi cinema). I sometimes wonder how the teachers checking my answer sheet must be reacting to my audacity !! – they must be very amused or very annoyed – I can’t really tell which one !
Well in the mean time my sister came over to our house as she was expecting the second time and since she was having some complications so she had joined us well in advance while she was around 6 months pregnant. So I used to spend time with her and when both of us are there – I do not think we require anyone else !!Chatting all day long and playing & teasing my 2 and a half years old nephew was my job during that time ! After she delivered (18th August 1993) and she was about to leave in December, I got a job in opposite to Lal Bazaar building – some Postman oil supplier branch it was .
Actually this address had been forwarded by my friend Seema Jacob as she had got the offer and she was leaving for Bandel so she though that since I was sitting at home – idle – so I should give it a try. I rang up this lady Indrani Di and she gave me the address . I got up in a local bus first , got down at Birati – caught the Birati –BBd bag Mini bus which took me straight in front of Lal Bazaar and I got down and I gave the interview. I got selected (Dec 1st week) – my job was to collect advertisement space for a supplementary paper from the Bhujiawalas (rich ones) the topic was ‘Sweets & savories’ of Kolkata !
Some stray incidents :
Gaddi of Barabazaar
I was sent to a Tea stall (they also sold cottage cheese etc.) which was closer to the rich shops of Bhujiawalas and their kinds. They were three brothers and the younger one became very pally with me – he was my kind actually – wanted to leave household life and take up sanyas kinds – but later he also told me about his weakness for a neighbourhood girl and how she approached him etc. – & I also told him about Somnath – so that they all maintain a distance from me basically. I used to go to the Bhujiawala shops and usually the shop keepers used to drive me away – first they used to show interest in me thinking that I am the customer but as soon as they saw that I have come for ‘Dhanda’ (business & marketing) they used to shoo me out of their shop – it used to be pretty much embarrassing for me and I used to wonder what I have done in my life after all ! – English speaking, Zoo. Hons graduate from Lady Brabourne being shoo-ed away by illiterate & uncouth ‘Jhahil ganwaars’…and all this was happening to me because of LOVE !! ..since both my parents – esp. my father was very much against my working and he always wanted me to study further !!
Old & aged grandfather of 2 shows keen interest on me !!
The owner of the Post man supply was a haggard old man and pretty sex starved too ! One day he called me to his office (it was open no cubicles there) and started talking to me regarding my likes and dislikes – 2-3 questions – and I knew that the old man had the soul of a rabied, itchy street dog – but anyways it was an open office so he could do me no harm I thought ! He then told me to wait downstairs on Friday as he will come at around 9:30 am or so and take me for coffee to Great Eastern Hotel – well well well – I thought that it would be pretty improper to refuse blatantly my boss’s (Indrani di) boss so I agreed. I had never been inside the hotel so I kinda took the chance.
The inside of The Great Eastern was dilapidated, damp, stincking ! yuk ! I had thought – this is a 5 star hotel !! I thought at that time that it was a 5 star hotel ! Anyways we sat in a hall kind of a thing and a waiter – wearing as dirty a shirt as can be – approached us & took orders – coffee and cashews he (the haggard old man) ordered . And guess what happened – the waiter , trying to please the customer asked him “ Is she your daughter Sir ?” – Oh! Gosh ! that was really funny !! That old haggard said “no no she is my colleague !!Just imagine – anyways I loved the insult !
After this I went back to the office ..but little did I know that the news – that I had gone for tea with the old haggard – had already spread like wild fire ! His wife (a grandmother of 2) had rung up 2-3 times and was finding out the whereabouts of her hubby ! Gosh ! I thought it to be very insulting indeed – a poor old lady was thinking that probably I will snatch her “rabied street doggish” husband from her !!! Poor thing !One day the same rabied old street dog had a magazine lying on his table – that magazine cover was of a model wearing a black lacy bra kind of a thing – it was in fact hanging in every magazine stall of Kolkata !! – I felt that he had purposely kept the magazine on the table top so that I see it ….
Later Indrani di asked me where I went – so I just told her that we had gone for coffee – to this she asked me to give it in writing to her that I had gone to drink coffee because of which I was 45 mins late – I was quite surprised ! After all I had gone with the Boss’s Boss – why should there be so much questioning !
Anyways in the mean time I had come to know that I have landed up in an office of “lust lorn” extremely mediocre people – {who could not even speak a simple English sentence properly – & when they somehow tried (in order to impress me) – it was with an atrociously sickening Bengali accent } – and I should not stay here – so I resigned after a month – I got Rs.1000/- for :
~ sitting and chatting with people at barrabazaar area (Tea & Paneer stall wala)
~ being shoo-ed away by shop keepers of Bhujiawalas
~ go around in the sun begging people to buy space in the supplementary paper .
~ be a victim of a baseless, utterly stupid & unimaginable office rumour that I am gonna snatch a 68-70 years – haggard old sleazy swine of some 55-58 years old jahil-ganwaar (illiterate & uncouth) Indian Woman!….and all this in 25 days! Whew!!
I was not at all street smart
And guess what ? At that point of time I used to travel by Train – Local Train – Dattapukur Local, Bongaon Local – I had made a Pass and used to travel by train – I was not aware of Charted Buses at that point of time ! So I used to travel by train – Gosh ! what a nightmare it used to be !! So over crowded it was – I could not even breath sometimes – it was too crowed – I used to get up in the Ladies Compartment – and then there were Lady thieves trying to steal money/ snatch my purse.
I used to take calculated money – actually I had to be stringent with money as I thought that I better save for my marriage as my parents will never agree to Somnath’s proposal – and moreover I was accounted for as…you see folks I had stolen money for Somnath and I had got caught ! So because of this reason money had to be accounted for. I had stolen some Rs 1100/- from the cupboard – money just used to lie inside and I could open it – My mother was the kind who was not much into calculation – she just used to put her hand inside the cupboard and give money – so I thought that probably she will not come to know that some money was missing after all – first time I stole Rs.500/- and I was not caught but next time I took Rs.600/- and this time I got caught – well that was long time ago of course but then the ‘trust factor’ was lost and my mother is of a very suspicious nature – she does not have to count money – she just comes to know it – feel it. Uncanny !( she used to say a Bengali proverb often : Ghor pora goru – sindoor-er` megh dekhle` bhoye` paaye` – Once the trust is lost – it never can be won back again (this proverb basically means that)
Anyways I left that job as it was too boring and the office area used to make me sick.
Trying my luck in modeling – my visit to Model Co-ordinators (New Alipore)
Actually I always knew that modeling is a very cheap profession and that the model has to sleep around but on second thoughts I thought that there are models for ‘Washing Powder ‘ etc. and thought surely those kind of mediocre looking models will not have to sleep around – so I saw this advt. and I went there – The house of the lady was very big (I think her name was Minoo Chaocharia) and there was a man Raj Mukherjee (I think, not sure it was long time back you see) and they said that I have to deposit Rs.500/- – they will send across my snaps taken by them to 6 big advertising agencies and then forward me the Contacts !
Well I thought that its pretty cool. So next time I went with a saree, skirt etc. as told by them – there were several others on the same day – I went with my parents – my mother was not at all happy about it – but somehow she had counseled herself – she probably thought that it’s a better option than marrying the pauper Somnath !
Anyways they were in a hurry so they did not even let me make up well – I was not even carrying any compact or anything – just took a couple of candid photographs and told me contact later.
After a week or so they called me to have a look at my photos – and Gawd ! my photographs were as ugly as can be – my face was looking dark and oily and sick – ! In the mean time the photographer – Raj – as trying to be flirtatious with me – gosh ! He was a 5’2” short blob of fat flesh and he probably thought that he can have a good time with me ! Anyways I understood by that time that my Rs.500/- has got wasted so gradually the modeling got out of my mind.
I went there once more to meet few people who claimed to be Directors of serials – the Director told me a story that “I will be a frustrated wife of an aged dog and have an affair with a younger subordinate of the aged dog’s office …and that it might be of adult nature !!” I immediately left never to return to that F……place again !
I registered at a Placement Consultant at Golaghata
Someone told me that there is a good Placement Agency near Ultadanga. I knew of only one agency at that point of time and that was ABC Consultants – where they had point blank refused on my face that I was a plain graduate and not eligible for their kind of job offers. But then this Golaghata one accepted my application – registered there by giving Rs.100/-. They gave me a call and sent me for an interview at another end of Kolkata – that was Hastings (near Babu ghat) !
The main office was in Dalhousiie area – when I reached there, I was asked to catch a bus to Hastings – there was only one bus which went there from lal bazaar area – The Alipore – Yadavpur mini – so I waited for it – and went to the remote office –Positive Electronics Ltd., 5, Commisariat Road, Hastings.
It was a proper looking office (sigh!- for a change) – I went inside and was gestured to sit on a chair – unfortunately it was loose and a wheel was broken – Aaaouch ! I screamed – and the rest of the people started smiling – unable to suppress their laughter !
I was interviewed and got the job. Mr. Pradeep Kayal (tall, thin face but broad shouldered boss ) asked me whether I can come all this way from my home and I said of course – I will anyways have to come to Kolkata proper for working. He got convinced. I think it was basically my confidence in spoken English that I got through anywhere I went for an interview. hmmm..well well thanks to the Political Leaders of West Bengal for introducing English late in the schools or else I wouldn’t have found any job here !!
Saboot Ke tor Par : As Proof !
Folks, my second job – where I had to collect advertisement from ‘Bhujiawalas’ and ‘big showrooms – having clothes etc’! I was shooed away from almost everywhere – GOD only knows how I continues for 22 days in this muck !!and to top it all – I used to travel by Train !! Bongaon / Duttapukur Local – they are the most dangerous ones ..with pick pockets, lady thieves,fish sellers, vegetable sellers …. my daily journey comprised my journey from Palace to Pauper,dirty,unkempt slum areas…the only thing to look forward to for me was to reach home, put on the geyser, take a hot bath, have dinner and sleep on my soft dunlop bed..only to get up early in the morning and prepare to go to hell! – gosh! Love is truly blind and stupid and idiotic and hell...at least my love led me to all this !!…since I was doing all this for financial independence so that I could tie the knot with the ‘greatest Illusion‘ of my life !
The Boss was a Lady …some Ms. Indrani Mukherjee I think- she was a nice Lady – homely looking.Since I could not sell a single space in 20 days (I absented also) – i heard that she told my colleague – “Tomorrow I’ll give Aparna Rs.1000/- – I feel that it is money that I am throwing in the drain”…well she was right from her point of view – I had failed to sell any space !!..‘Sweets & savouries of Kolkata’ was the title of the supplementary page we were creating !
After hearing it I felt sad for her – I was the cause of wasting her money – well I left immediately -as simultaneously I got the job in Salora. She had this impression that the melting old haggard pig – her boss- had given me the job! One day she rang me up at my new office and asked me “Tell me honestly Aparna, how did you get a job – so highly paying ?(1600/- was highly mind you!!) – did the old man help you – is it through him that you got the job – is it his reference?! – I plainly said what was true – I told her about the Golagahta Placement Services and that am having to pay my first month’s salary to the Placement Agency – she sounded unconvinced !!- she kept on with the same story – tell me the truth – goodness gracious me !! I thought – what does she think ?! I am some Bengali Movie poverty stricken heroine who is doing favours to a haggard ‘old street dog’ and hiding it from the rest of the world …lest the 70 plus years old wife does not come to know of it !!!????? – Kolkata definitely is the hub of poverty stricken, deep shit mongrels …..that people think like this about others – meaning – stoop to any depths to make money !!
