AUTO DRIVER TO BOEING MECHANIC

AUTO RIKSHA DRIVER TO BOEING MECHANIC

( Patu came to Bangalore from his village as a raw stuff. His brother-in-law found him a job at Mico as fitter. Day he worked at the factory. Evening he drove Autoriksha- to help his family. Fortune smiled on him when he got a chance to work in Middle East as a mechanic. Enterprising man he is he utilized the opportunity to join the American Aircraft Company-Boeing)


A dropout from Military Patu spent his time idle in his village. Patu is the second in his family of 8. Rest of 6 is all girls. Family circumstances forced him to move to Bangalore at the invitation of his brother-in-law. This is the first Turning Point in his career. He got an opening at MICO- a spark-plug company as Fitter-trainee. Unable to cope up with the meager income he drove Autorikshaw in the evening to earn extra income.


Patu did not keep quite in the house. He joined ITI- course for Fitters and Mechanics and got certificate to that effect. He would sleep only 5-6 hours in a day and the rest of the day was busy for him. Slowly he started to feel confidence in him. Often his father called him to solve the house problems. Be it was arranging marriage of his sisters or settling disputes over land. Not much property behind him it was an uphill task. He decided to break the family tradition and agreed to marry them to-whom so ever ready to come forward – only condition he should earn and comes from respectful family-irrespective of caste.


He himself practiced the same by marrying the Sister of her brother-in-law. People
critzised him. He was very firm in his conviction and worked in this fashion for few
years. He carved out his path on the lines of one of his close relative that went to
Malaysia. From that time he started to think of opportunity to go abroad. At the job level in his factory due to hard work he was elevated to supervisory position.


Mico is a German Concern manufacturing automobile parts- Spark plug. It was doing
very well and demand for people from Mico grew. In 1970s –Middle East started to look for Indian Technicians to man their Industries. Opportunity came to Patu and he grasped the same. Thus he had his second Turning Point. There are some people who were very successful in living without family though married. Patu was one. He was able to adjust his life. This enabled him to save much and send home for the study of his children.

Some People are fortunate to get reliable person to look after the family in his absence. Patu got such person by way of his brother. Life was sailing well for him and his family. Another opportunity presented to Patu. Boeing-the Aircraft Manufacturer offered him the mechanic job at Seattle- USA. It was a golden opportunity and finally settled down at States.


He made it a point to get his family also by his side. It was not easy for him-since he was only a Mechanic and temporary. He struggled for 15-years and finally in 1990s he was able to get them. To day all his 3-daughters were all married and settled down at States.


He voluntarily retired from the Company. The compensation package made him to
purchase a flat and carve out a new career. He chose to be a Purohit-that is conducting marriages, ceremonies, performing religious functions like SathyaNarayana Pooja at homes, Astrology and Predictions, Santhi Homams etc.


Analysis:


Giving higher education alone is not a guarantee for a successful career. This lad passed only the School final examination (some people question this also) But he had a vision amidst bleak future he should face the reality- that was hard work that required and he was prepared for it. He had a Godfather-in his brother-in-law who was ready to provide him shelters till he reaches a stage to look after him.


He educated himself along with earning- that was an asset, which got him the first
overseas assignment. He was looking for opportunities for betterment and grasped the
same when they presented.

· Hard work.
· Updating his skill.
· Bold decisions.

R.Jagannathan.