Bhutan Beckons

For a few people, adventure of Bhutan is high in their agenda, and for others it’s the culture. Indeed, Bhutan has best of both worlds which can satiate the appetite of an avid traveler. But for me, everything was mind-boggling starting from adventure to culture, monastery to handicraft, cuisine to sightseeing.

Remained unknown to the rest of the world until the mid 20th century, Bhutan, the tiny land-locked Himalayan kingdom, is credited to successfully retain its ancient culture, arts and religious and political traditions despite having two great neighbours - India and China. Besides, the country is rich in natural environment, and to keep it intact, the government has adopted a controlled tourism and development policy. The Royal Government of Bhutan adheres strongly to policy of low impact/volume, high value tourism. But recently, as a long-term plan, the department of tourism has changed its slogan from ‘high value, low volume’ to ‘high value, low negative impact’.

I, in capacity as Reporter for Tashi Delek, the in-flight magazine of Druk Air from Bhutan, alongwith my colleague Pankaj, Marketing manager, started our five-day tour on December 12, 2005 from Delhi. Our company arranged tickets for us in Druk Air, the national carrier of Bhutan that connects the country with other countries. Around this time Bhutan is visited by few travelers due to severe cold.

Watching Everest without climbing!
After four hours delay, our plane–KB-205 took off from Delhi via Kathmandu at 1200 hrs. The delay was due to the bad weather in Kathmandu. It was a normal incident in winter season in this route. I was not worried about the delay, but worried about the possibility of not clearly watching Everest. But fortunately, after few minutes of our journey, the sky got rid of the cloud and fog. The sky is now clear. I could watch the mountain range for kilometers. Out of curiosity, I asked my friend Pankaj to give me the window seat. He could not say no to my interest. From then, it’s fabulous. The sight is something I can never forget. In between, the cabin crew announced, that we are approaching Mt. Everest. Suddenly, all passengers got ready with their cameras to click the snow-capped peak. For me it was an experience of life time. I could know that I can not express the scenic beauty of Everest in my limited vocabulary, so I clicked as many as possible in the hope that atleast these photos can express what my limited word power could not.

Normally, tourists visit other countries to watch the tourist destinations. But here, the journey itself provides a great pleasure to watch some of the highest mountain peaks in the word. It’s probably the closet one can see Mt. Everest without actually climbing it! It’s not the Everest only which fascinates one and all, in fact, K2, Mt. Kanchenjunga, Mt. Chhomolhari, Makalu peaks and the whole mountain range are worth to watch.

Small is beautiful. But it added one more adjective to this cliché – personal care. Yes, I am telling about Druk Air. Matching the scenic beauty, the airline, though small in size, serves drinks, refreshment and lunch. Their personalized service in flight will remind you the hospitality of Bhutanese.

After a journey of around two hours, we reached at Paro airport which is surrounded by high mountains, and is located deep in the valley. The landing was an experience in itself, as landing in such a small airways needs special efforts from the pilots. Passengers’ clapping, I guess, was in recognition to pilots’ effort and the exuberance of landing in the land of the Thunder Dragon.

Paro - The first and last place for a visitor
Being the only airport of the country, Paro is normally the first and last place for a visitor. There is a popular saying about Paro: If ever a place exists where nature and man consulted to create their dearest image, it must be the valley of Paro. The major attractions of Paro valley are the silvery Paro river, majestic Paro Dzong, imposing Ta Dzong (watch tower) and snow-capped mountain range. Here, on a clear day one can get the view of Mt Chhomolhari.

Paro valley is one of the most populated areas of the state. Because of its close proximity to the airport and as a major tourist attraction point, there are some good hotels on either sides of the Paro river. After an overnight stay at Holiday Home, we started our journey to Thimphu next morning.

Paro to Thimphu: watch the country in a nutshell
Distance 55 KM. Driving time two hours. The journey on the narrow and snaky road through the hills and valleys along the snaky Paro river is something different from our normal journey on the Highway. The awe-inspiring vales, mountain chain, dense forest, deep gorges, blind curves, verdant slopes, the distance snow-capped mountains and savannahs made our driving adventurous, yet enjoyable.

After one hour driving on our way to Thimphu, we reached at Chuzom which means the meeting of two rivers – Paro and Thimphu chhu. While the driver was reporting to the security personnel at the check gate, we watched for a few moments the beautiful scenery at Chuzom.

Besides its pristine beauty, one can see smiling people in their traditional dress in both sides of the road. The unified housing structure along the road sides with marvelous woodwork shows their workmanship. The scattered house on the valley along the river sides amidst natural setting are fist to the eyes.

Around 1.30 pm, we reached at Thimphu and checked in to Hotel Dragon Roots near the clock tower. After a sumptuous lunch, I visited Kuensel Corporation Ltd that publishes the country’s national newspaper - Kuensel.

Thimphu – welcome to one of the smallest Capitals
The view of the valley-based Thimphu city which lies at an altitude of about 7,600ft is wonderful. Its housing structures, roads, people with traditional costumes and fascinating tiny shops will take you back into the medieval age. Here, both the medieval charms and 21st century developments coexist beautifully. And, this uniqueness is its hallmark.

Being a small city with population around 50,000, most of the tourist attractions in the city are within walking distance. The central location of my hotel helped me visit most of the important places by walking. The roads were not jammed and the day temperature was pleasant to walk. The interesting fact about Bhutan is that there are no traffic lights! Pollution is not a problem at all. Of course, evening was chilled with flowing wind and the night temperature was something around minus three/four degree Celsius.

While in the Capital don’t miss to visit…
Situated in the centre of the city, the Textile Museum is the symbol of great textile culture. The museum houses Bhutan’s finest woven embroidery and appliqué textiles alongwith age-old production techniques like weaving, dying and spinning.

The National Library is another place one should not miss. Established in 1967, the library preserves ancient Bhutanese written and printed resources. Today, it preserves history of Bhutan in archaic texts.

Get the glimpses of Bhutanese art and craft at Arts & Craft School. It is here the techniques of traditional thagkha paintings are imparting to keep its age-old charms in textiles, painting and handicraft. Not far from the Arts & Craft School is the Folk Heritage Museum which provides insight into classical Bhutanese lifestyle displaying original artefacts. To make your visit a memorable one, do purchase small gift items from Druktrin Rural Handicrafts which has a wide range of collection.

Memorial Chorten, Trashichhodzong, Simtokha Dzong, Traditional Medicine College, Weekly Market and many more are places one traveler should not miss. These places show the culture, tradition, art &craft of the country.


Advantage being an Indian
From the dates of Padmasambhava in 8th century AD to present days, India has a very good relation with Bhutan. At cultural and religious level, both countries share some similarities. The Indo-Bhutan Treaty in 1949 further strengthened the relation between the two countries. On this historical background, Indians feel at home while visiting the Himalayan kingdom. Besides, an Indian does not need Passport to visit Bhutan. Voter Identity Card is enough in this regards. Other major advantages are language, currency and dishes. Most of the people can understand Hindi. Hindi movie, serial and song are of great hit among locale. Indian currency is widely in use, no need to convert it to Nu (Bhutanese currency). Everywhere one can find Indian dishes. Besides Indian cuisine, the mouth-watering Bhutanese dishes like Ema/Kewa Datshi and Shamu Datshi are connoisseur’s delight. Ema Datshi, the national dish, is a traditional delight of chilli & cheese/potato & cheese. Its flavour will satiate the appetite for local dishes. We got a standard Ema Datshi @ Nu 50 at our hotel. Shamu Datshi, another popular traditional delight, is made up of cheese & mushroom, and is widely available @ Nu 70.

But what made special to our staying at the hotel is the personal care of the staff. Chief cook Aslam and staff members Durga, Das and B. N. Sharma made every effort to satisfy our taste for food. Aslam and Das are being Indian; they know our taste and serve accordingly. And we never felt outside of our home country. The dish that is similar to Indian Khechidi prepared by Aslam was worth to remember.

Above all, the Bhutanese hospitality will make you feel comfort starting from your arrival to departure. In short I can say: The business tour ultimately turned into a pleasure tour for me.

The missing coconut tree

The other day, I have arranged painting competitions for employees’ children from class one to ten. This is a routine painting competition held in the run up to New Year where the best painting selected for Greeting Cards. This year there was no theme though the cad size defined to 5” X 7”. It was pleasant to look at their creation. All the paintings were so aesthetically prepared that they will give run to the professionals. Colour combination was superb. Concept-wise, these paintings are very relevant. I was just thinking of my schooldays and the way I used to paint. I was just comparing painting of our time, the colour combination and themes to those of NTPC Childrens’ painting.

My early schooldays’ memories at my village school are still fresh in my mind. I still remember how my school teacher Late Shri Dandpani Jena taught paintings. He jovially asks, ‘Pile patra sahita gotia ambar chitra kaar’. (Children, do paint a mango alongwith leaf.) And within 15 to 20 minutes, we all painted on our mud slate using white chokes. That was fun. It is like a popular adv: Budu kaua kabhi colourful hota he kiya. But at our school, we used to make mango white. Few other popular things that we used to paint regularly irregular in our UP schooldays are: Ladder, boat, pot, tree, fish and household things. He never asked to paint Train, Airplane, Industry, etc. May be my teacher wanted us to paint those things which we are very much exposed or things that are part of our (rural) culture.

During our ME schooldays things changed little. In class Seven there was a separate paper in painting containing 50 marks. On every Saturday there was period dedicated for painting. My literature teacher Shri Prakash Chnadra Rath was in charge of painting class. Here, actually we started painting on paper and used colour pencil. Here again, themes are mostly related to our lifestyle, culture and surrounding. Themes like Bullock Cart, Saree Border, Scenery, Jhoti, thatched house, etc. As most of us hail from agrarian family, we are very close to bullock cart. Except one or two, most of us have thatched house. In every Odiya house, there are thirteen festivals in twelve months and houses were decorated with Jhotis especially in the month of Margsir. The scenic paintings are close to our heart and reflected the surroundings. Fortunately, my village is surrounded with mountains, forest, river, stream, ponds and green rice fields. For a nature lover, it is a perfect village. As a typical scenic painting, our scenic painting contained mountain range, sunrise/sunset, stream, two/three coconut trees, hamlet, birds, tube well and muddy road. After class seven there is no sincere effort to learn the intricacy of painting. Virtually, it came to an end. In fact, I am not good in painting.

Looking at the paintings of NTPC children, I was so pleased that I cannot keep myself praising their effort to bring out such a nice copy. Their themes cover almost all relevant issues be it environment, animal, pollution, safety, save earth, save electricity, health, cleanliness, and, of course, the scenery. However, the interesting thing I have noticed in a scenic painting was: Telephone Tower/Mobile Tower.

Instead of coconut tree, the scenic painting was filled with Mobile tower. It is not her fault. What she has seen/observed that reflected in her painting. She spent her life in urban area and watched these high-rising mobile towers. In fact, today every town and rural area is crowded with mobile tower.

This is the change. Though, it is not visible but making inroad into our life, culture and day to day activities. It is not the Coconut tree Vs Mobile tower, in fact there are so many things changed in the last two decades. May be it is the difference of Our times and Theirs times.

An opportunity that changed my life & thinking

History is full of evidence of how a decision that changed one’s life, thinking and course of action. For me it is not the decision but the opportunity which I could not say ‘NO’. Whether it is a decision or opportunity, I am leaving this debate for others to decide. For me this is a subjective issue.

The opportunity (not decision) was: Appointment to the post of Asst. PRO at NTPC Limited. It was not a surprise offer. In fact, I appeared the test and interview. You can say it was concerted effort. Admit. The reason was very simple. After working for three and half years as journalist in the capacity of Proofreader, Reporter and Sub Editor, I could not achieve the level I wanted to be – both in career and financial point of view. I am not blaming it to others. I introspected a lot, and zeroed in on that with better schooling and pronunciation in English, I could have achieved that rather easily. I did have many opportunities but could not capitalize. No regret. Happy! where I am now. However, by saying this I do want to put any break on my efforts to achieve further excellence.

With the slow progress in Journalism career coupled with lucrative financial offer attached with executive post at NTPC is the reason why I left media job. In fact, I was not in the mainline journalism. Before joining the top ranked Power PSU, I was in a publication house in Delhi that publishes a range of travel magazines. The journey from Berhampur University to Delhi and subsequently from one private organization to another and finally to a sarakari organization is full of ups and downs.

My First Job:

When all were busy in watching the Final match of Cricket World Cup between India and Australia on March 25, 2003, I started my journey to Delhi in search of a job in social science and/or journalism. Thanks to Rashmi Ranjan Parida. Had he not called me in time I would have visited Mumbai where my elder brother was working in a private firm. I can’t forget Rashmi’s help during my early days. Both of us applied at TechBook International. I cleared, Rashmi could not. The cruel joke: may be TechBook wanted Rashmi in higher level. Now he is there as Content Writer. That is destiny.

Within one week after my arrival, I started my career as a Proofreader at TechBook International in Delhi with monthly salary of Rs 5000. I have to proof many pages in hard copy in a single day that too in American English with Chicago manual style in reference to 10th Edition of Webster Dictionary. The standard of accuracy is well above 98%. As proof reader, I learned many things. I do not want to share all but one thing sure – the command over punctuation and the eye for details.

In the meantime, I got UGC-NET result in Political Science which I appeared in December 2002. Had the result published before my arrival in Delhi, I would have stayed at home and joined a college as a Lecturer. But the opportunity I got to visit Delhi and subsequent private job changed my destiny. So I could not carried out my childhood job – lecturer.

There is a small story why I always wanted to be lecturer. When I was in my Upper Primary school period (Class 1 – V) with my two other brothers, we used to be scolded by our mother. During those early days we were going through a tough period as my parents were struggling to provide basic requirement to their children. My father always wanted us to be literate while my mother as bonded labour (halia). She has an argument - if we three will work in others’ field we will be richer by getting some annual remuneration. Children of X, Y, Z studied IA, BA selling their landed property but now they are working as labour in Bhabanagar and Surat (Gujrat). You three are also no exception, she reasons. Her question – can you be a lecturer by studying? As she knows lecturer is the only highest paid job. In fact, Shri Narasingh Daini of our village (Nistipur, Ganjam) is a lecturer and living with comfort. Shri Daini is a visible figure for others as far as job is concerned. So despite all odds, since my childhood I always wanted to be a lecturer. I was closer to get it. I did well reasonably in PG Pol. Science by securing first class first. And with reservation background I could have easily got it. But destiny has something in store like man proposes God disposes.

After PG Pol. Science I joined journalism. The joining of Journalism course is again matter of opportunity/decision issue. Vijay (Krishna) and me are very good friends staring from our O Level computer course. Again the joining of O Level course is an opportunity. We got it free of cost. One day suddenly both of us decided to apply for journalism and we got it with reasonably high ranking.

Leave the topic of why I wanted to be a lecturer. Come to my first job. After working for ten months with full of efforts, I found I am not adding any value to my existing knowledge. Doing the same thing everyday like a machine. This is not what I expected (continuous learning) from my work. So one day I decided to resign. By that time I had some balance and now I can survive for at least two/three months even if I will not get a job. In fact, I was quite confident that I can get a job. However, leaving of the job was pathetic. Above all, it is like pehela pyaar and pehela naukri! But now I am happy that I helped some of my friends getting job at TechBook by telling the nuances of proofing and editing.

Within one week of leaving TechBook, I joined a travel magazine as reporter. But left the organization on the issue of byline and credit line. So I am not counting this as my second job. Now the search for second job continued. It continued for three months. Appeared many interviews, cleared written test in many, failed some in interview, rejected on pronunciation but the effort was still on. That is why Rajesh and Sitansu are joking at me - “If you want address of any media organization then ask Sahadev Bhai”. Even during this period, I tried my hand in development sector, another area where I really like to work. I was very close to get the job in PRAYASH and a Kiran Bedi run NGO in Jamuna Pusta area of Delhi. But I never got an OPPORTUNITY to show my caliber in development organization. Again it is a matter of destiny. I have gone through a lot of trauma of sitting ideal at home. The thing I learn out of this: Never leave your present job irrespective of good or bad until you get a good break. The bottom line - are you in job or not considerably influence your bargaining power.

My Second Job:

One day all of sudden I got a mail from Vikram Bhatnagar, as we know him one of the best double trap shooters in the country. He is the proprietor cum editor of the Magazine - Precision Shooting. I appeared the test and interview. He was highly impressive of my editing and offered the job on the spot for reporter cum sub editor @ Rs 7000 per month. Without any second thought I joined very next day.

I was the one man army there. I have to look after stories, advertisement and circulation. I had a great time there until one Rajan Kumar, a senior journalist, joined there to start an adventure sports magazine. He is tough master. Though good in pampering he is a very good writer having more than 25 years experience. One day he complained to the Editor that Sahadev does not know the basic of grammar and writing. He can’t write word ‘Competition’ properly. The next day the editor called me and said do not take it other way. Be positive. I know how good you are. I am not expelling you, he told me.

The complain urged me to improve further. I asked Mr Kumar how to improve writing skill. He said that no body can help you in improving your writing. It is the YOU who can help yourself. Just follow a simple thing: write everyday one page for 100 days. On 101st day write the same topic you wrote on the first day. Now you compare you will find the difference. The moment you can improve your own copy….believe me you are good enough in writing. I did the same religiously. Now I do not know whether I am good enough in writing. Un/fortunately I could not associate with Mr Kumar as he left the organization. After few months, I also left the organization. One thing I learned during this period is: expressing my thoughts in writing. Again before leaving the organization, I helped Sitansu to replace me. I worked for one and half years there and it was a nice experience in shooting sports as I got an opportunity to meet almost all the BIG shooters of India. In the mean time I got an offer from Durga Das Publication to join as Sub Editor. This time I got the offer when I was in job so I bargained some extent.

My Third Job:

Unlike my earlier media organizations, here at Durga Das Publication there are around 50 employees. There is no one man army. There is a hierarchy. Stories should go through proper channel. There are beat reporter who file stories. There are seven people in desk including me. Initially, I was looking after editing at preliminary stage and proofing at final stage. In the mean time I also assigned reporting and filed very good stories. But to be frank…I struggled in my early days as I could not write error free stories. Similarly, my edited stories were also with lot of grammatical errors. Once I received warning from the editor. Somehow I overcame this turbulent phase and did well in later phase. One of our seniors from BU, Srikant Tripathy was there as Copy Editor. He helped me greatly.

Now I consolidated my position there by virtue of my hard work. I was given independent charge of a magazine – Cargo Talk. I was also asked to work for two magazines from Bhutan and Sri Lanka in association with one of the eldest editors. Also assigned to look after E-news. Got an opportunity to visit Bhutan and work with Tourism deptt. of Bhutan Govt. Visited thrice, and every time the hill-locked country enthralled me for its natural beauty, culture and traditions. Filled many travel stories from Bhutan for Tashi Delek magazine.

My last travel to Bhutan was on 25th December, 2006, the day I was called for interview at Powergrid, another PSU, but could not as I booked ticket. Missed another opportunity? Maybe. But upon my arrival at Delhi from Bhutan I received another opportunity, the last one of the series: Offer from NTPC. After one month notice period, I left the organization. Again before leaving, I helped Sitansu to replace me. It seems he follows me until I was in private/media organisation! His run behind me come to an end as I joined sarakari naukrai. No. He is doing very good job in a popular television channel. I am happy for his progress. In fact, we both have mutual respect and admiration.

The NTPC offer says: Appointment to the post of Asst. PRO in the grade of E1 with place of posting in Jharkhand by latest February 04, 2007. The financial offer was lucrative. For a struggling journalist with lower middle class status, the offer was so good that I can not say ‘NO’. It is not that I have not consulted my peer groups before joining. Most of them favored. But for one person, I thought twice before joining. He is not other than Shri Pradeep Chintamani Mohapatra, Journalism lecturer at BU. In short he defined PR work as “DIGNIFIED PEON WORK”. No doubt money is there but where is the work satisfaction, he asked? Initially, I thought either he is pessimistic or over realistic. But today I realize his interpretation. May be other journalist turned PR professionals are interpreting the same in their own way.

The post sarakari naukri effect

Finally, I joined NTPC on January 29, 2007 at Ranchi office. It is a significant jump/change in my life. It changed everything: work culture, ambition, perception about life, thinking and many more.

Now I am a sarkari babu. There is no deadline to wind up the work. No pressure from my boss. Unlike private organization there is no strict attendance. The freedom inside the office will make you easily a reckless man. The number of leave one will get is sufficient. The additional perks will make your life comfort. Everything you will get as per your entitlement, it is like a fundamental right. You will get your salary on time. There is a sense of job security.

Now everything seems to be settled. Now I saved some money, added some property, constructed the village house. I am now 29 and its time to get married. Until now no body approached for marriage because I am in private organisation. Now I am in sarakari naukri and we started receiving proposal from many. What a contrast?

After two/three search here and there for suitable match, we arranged the marriage in Berhampur in a well-educated family. My marriage held in the last week of April 2008. Marriage is the best thing happened in my life. I am happy with my marriage life and my partner.

But post marriage, I added additional comfort in my life in the form of purchasing equipments. I can not say no to all these things, it seems the system is working not me. Now I feel I am luxurious enough. I am not working as workaholic as I used to do just three years back. That is why I added some weight. I am not physically fit as I was. Earlier my work keeps me fit. Now I work separately to keep myself fit. Before marriage, I was thinking the well-being of my whole family. Even today I am thinking the same but can not as used to do. I did many things for them by purchasing land and constructing house. I know my brothers are just living a normal life, while I am thinking of purchasing a land/apartment in town, having four-wheeler, investment, purchasing shares etc. My priority has shifted. My family members expecting more from me, but I am doing little for them now. I do not know why the shift. May be it is temporary in nature, maybe it is a metamorphic change. But I still believe ‘I am the same person as I was….I am not changed greatly, believe me’.

But the significant change with the opportunity to work in PSU is: I am not adding some value in my existing knowledge base. I am not frequently referring dictionary to know the meaning of a word. Not a voracious reader now. Not watching news channels …. entertainment is. Not reading articles seriously, just headlines. Not interpreting new developments either politically or socially. Not bothering what is happening in and around much. Not showing emotional whenever there is any incident, rather take it as professional.

Is it like if summer comes winter can not wait? Am I going through the summer season? Shall the winter come in the form of another opportunity I am waiting for? Shall I get an opportunity to be lecturer to fulfill my child hood dream or an opportunity to do something for the family, village and the society in large?


The learning so far: I never set any target to achieve. Today whatever I am, it is just because of opportunity. I do not say I deserve it or talented enough. I know there are many talented guys who can do better but they are just waiting for a suitable opportunity.

Remember! The suitable opportunity never ends! Keep trying.

General Election: Living and Leading as GENERAL

When I was not a government servant, I never imagined the volume of work a district administration undertakes in the backdrop of General Election. I still remember my early days as a citizen in my village – Nistipur, Ganjam. As an ordinary citizen, I used to watch the election rallies for fortnight and then on the Election’s Day I just went to my village school, normally the preferred place for voting, and voted my choice candidate.

I never observed the dos & don’ts in and around the 100 mts radius of polling station; the informative posters on notice board; the preparation of polling teams and their individual responsibilities; the role of security force; role of polling agents and many more. But after returning from the election duty in recent past, I am now rich in experience as far as electioneering process is concerned.

I hope everyone loves to add the electioneering experience in their diversified work profile. Leave the veterans in this field…but for the first timers it is just a fascination to be part of this. Being a Political Science student, I always wanted to be part of this process. Albeit to my government service in Jharkhand, I got a chance to conduct the General Election-2009 in capacity as a Presiding Officer in Chatra Parliamentary Constituency, Jharkhand. In the very first instance when I came to know my name is in the polling party list, I was excited. But during the next few days my excitement faded away. Everyday there is report in the media about suicide attempt, false medical report, bribery at district headquarters to delete the name from election duty, prayer from family members to save their husband/brother/father. Of course, they have some substances to feel so.

If past record of Chatra district is any indication then it is an issue for peace loving people in general and the polling party in particular. In every election, be it Assembly or Parliament (no Panchayat election held till now in Jharkhand), the district witnessed hundreds casualties both civilian and armed force. As you know, Chatra is one of the top-ten Maoist-affected districts in the country. Poor in human development index in the country, the district is lagging behind other districts as far as communication and transportation is concerned. That is why the district despite huge natural resource could attract very few industrial houses. Abundant with Coal reserve, the district managed to attract CCL and, of course, ours as we are a coal-based thermal power. With few Govt. organizations and acute man power, the district administration has no luxury but to take NTPC employees. Thus, I got a chance to be part of this great electioneering process.

I got the call letter mentioning “appointment for Presiding Officer” from the district collector. It also mentioned to attend the training programme at the district headquarters WITHOUT FAILING. As per schedule, we attended the programme. Thousands of government servants - young and old - attended the training programme held in the stadium under tent without any basic facilities – no sound, no visibility to projector presentation, no sitting arrangement, etc. That is the first impression of how state administration operates. Well, no complain!

Subsequently, there were two more training programmes at Block level. Now, I am aware of electioneering process in paper. I have to translate my theoretical training into practical on the Election Day. There is no chance of pull out. I have to move. I am not worried about conducting the election. I was more concerned about the booth that will be allotted just two days before election. I was summoned by the district authority to attend at the headquarters two days before the election. I am still not aware of the booth though I know the Polling Party No and my Polling Party Members by this time. My team has a female member, so there is a shy of relief that I may not be placed in hinterland may be in and around the town.

With four-day election duty plan, I started my journey taking lot of dry food and other accessories to face any eventuality. While leaving my home I observed tense in the faces of my parents and spouse. It is just like I am going to war.

Here is the actual process what I did as Presiding Officer besides earlier training.

Collection of Election Material:
After reaching at headquarters I checked my booth no. Thank God! it is in the outskirt of the town. Then I met my polling team (a polling team consists four members- Presiding officer, Polling 1, Polling 2 and Polling 3) and security force. The three members of my polling team are well above 50 – P1 (Asst. Teacher, male), P2 (Asst Teacher, female) and P3 (Peon, male).

I collected 108 election materials from Match Box to EVM Box all required for voting. A large chunk of these materials include 64 forms and envelopes which the presiding officer has to fill up in Hindi and submit on the Election Day to the district polling officer.

Reaching at the Cluster Centre:
My cluster centre was in the town itself so there is no panic of reaching there. Amidst acute vehicle, there are very lucky few who could travel by bus. But most my colleagues who were posted in the far away areas travelled with their polling team and security in dumper and truck. For them the travel itself is a challenge, forget the landmine and bullet from the Naxalite.

My cluster centre named Nagar Bhavan (town hall) though in the district headquarters is like a big hall in the barren land. Free from entry from all sides, the hall hosted 15 polling parties around 100 staff. It is an old building, can collapse at any time. No body lives near by area. Anti social and animals can enter any time. How I spend those two days at cluster I know. It was pathetic. Electricity is the dearest thing of the area. After hola bola with the authority we could manage to get a generator for light NOT for fan. I spent two days without fan in scorching sunlight. The night spent in companion with Mosquito. Toilet, bath room and water connection…..God knows. Fortunately, there is a tube well which provided water to 100 people for drinking and bathing. Bathing and attending the nature’s call is the worst experience. My childhood village living style saved me from the embracement. What I did is that I got up early in the morning around 4 am and went to the ground with lota and …………used the tube well water for bathing before others get up. I repeated the same in the second day too. Fooding? As there is no hotel in and around the town hall, my fast/dry food saved me. Of course, Bihari saatu, a nutritious drink especially in summer, saved me to some extent. I was just imagining if the situation is so worse in the town what it would have been in the interior areas. Now I lived two days amidst……. Today is third day i.e. Election Day.


On Election Day:
Get up at 3.30 am. Completed all my morning work and am ready to move 4.30 am. I alongwith my polling team and security reached at Polling Booth by 6 am. Now I have to arrange everything as per guidelines from election commission. I inspected the 100 mts radius area of the booth that comes under the jurisdiction of Presiding officer. Arranged the booth: sitting arrangement of Presiding officer, Polling team, Polling agent; Entry and exit; arrangement of Electronic Voting Machine both ballot and control; displaying voter list.

By 6.30 I arranged every thing. It’s now time to go for mock poll. I did the mock poll in the absent of polling agents and issued the concerned certificate to Sector Magistrate. I tagged the EVM as per guidelines, a tough work. By 7 am, some poling agents arrived. I declared the start of voting and issued certificate. While saying confidently all these, if I will not admit that there was no nervousness, it is lie.

Voting continued for next eight hours peacefully i.e. till 3pm. In between, I filled all the forms whenever I get free. The closing was unfortunate. As I declared the closing of voting, one police officer shut down the door. Inside all the polling members and political agents trapped. We were busy in winding up the procedure and completing all the formality. However, for the outsiders it is sign of bogus voting. Around 20 people shouted and complained bogus voting and forcibly entered the room destroying the door. By that time police have arrived there for rescue. But it is the voting register where the actual voters register the name before voting saved from any untoward incident. The last voter who signed confirmed that he is the last voter having Sl. No 214. The total voter in electronic voting machine is also 214. After the hiccup we rushed to the strong room at district headquarters where EVMs are kept.

To submit the EVM and all filled forms took more than five hours in queue. Standing in queue was more pathetic than conducting election that too in empty stomach for the whole day. By 10pm I am free. For other friends it took seven to eight hours. By 2.30 am all my friends submitted the election materials. By 4.30 am we caught our company bus and reached home after two hours drive. The smile in our family members returned so also we returned to our normal routine. Two-day election hang-over and now we are back again …..

Sahadev, you have missed to say 'Ji'!

So next time when you are speaking in Hindi, do not forget to add 'Ji' as suffix of the name or surname that you have just spelled out. If s/he is a senior person, missing 'Ji' is a blunder. People from non-Hindi belt, are you listening to me? You should be little cautious in your wording while speaking to your seniors in Hindi, as there are every possibilities of missing 'Ji'. It may happen that others take it as disrespect. So be careful. The other day, my CM (HR) asked, "Sahadev, what the news is all about?" I replied spontaneously, "Sir, it is all about the statement of Mandal, Saha and Pandey." The CM-HR got the answer that there was no coverage of our GM's statement. But my colleague Durgesh, sorry Durgesh ji, who hails from the heart of Hindi-belt and of course helped me in improving my Hindi, picked my error. "Sahadev, you have missed to add 'Ji' to all the three senior persons you have just named," he pointed out. I replied him politely that it was not intentionally missed. In fact, I replied the CM-HR in English, so there was no chance of adding 'Ji'. But he was not convinced and advised me to add 'Ji' whether it's in English or Hindi, at least if you are in Bihar or UP.I admit of my fault of using 'Ji' regularly irregular. But it does not mean I do not have any respect to my seniors. You may blame it to my state culture (Orissa) or my professional experience as journalist in Delhi. In Orissa, we never use 'Ji' as suffix; rather we use Sir, Mr, Madam and Mrs according to their sex. Hope, people from South India, North-east and West Bengal will agree with me on it. Remember, people from these areas are highly prone to miss the 'Ji' in general. Similarly, working as journalist, I think, has incorporated the MNC culture in me. When I came to Delhi straight from my village in Orissa, I faced the same cultural contradiction. In the beginning, I used to call my seniors as madam and sir respectively to their sex. One day, my Editor, double to my age, called me to her cabin and said, "Look, in a media organization no body is Sir and Madam. We are all working as team, and all are equally responsible for a quality output." It took me a long time to call her by name, which is against my cultural value that I nurtured over the years. Changing a cultural value normally takes a long time. Hope most of us will agree with me. As far as using of 'Ji' is concerned, I look it at holistic perspective. Adding 'Ji' as a mark of respect irrespective of age is part of natural-Hindi speaking people and Hindi language. So we all non-Hindi speaking people should respect their sentiment. However, here I would expect from my original-Hindi speaking brethren to be patient with non-Hindi speaking people. It is commonly accepted that thing learned as natural is certainly different from the same learned as part of profession. In present organization, thousands employee will agree with me that they learned Hindi only after joining NTPC. So here, to what extent one can speak or/and write Hindi is a subjective matter. In NTPC, with more than 25,000 employees coming from all parts of the country, it is very difficult to have a common language. However, Hindi language has its advantage. Besides being the national language, most of the NTPC projects are in Hindi-speaking belt, which give an opportunity to Hindi to consolidate its position as common language. However, some people may argue for English. For them I have one logic: If I communicate in English, half of my colleagues, mostly at the bottom of the hierarchy will remain aloof. But if I speak in Hindi with minor mistake (initially), I can communicate all – top to bottom. For me the top as well as the bottom people is essential to successfully discharge my responsibility. Above all, with numerous options provided by my company to improve Hindi, what I need is a positive attitude: I can do it; I can write and speak correct Hindi.