Of Leaders & Losers 6. The Valmiki- Part I

Prologue:

          This is the story of a man who wasn’t a manipulator per se, but sought to ‘adjust’ to the ‘system’, but finally reformed himself.  We know of several people who reformed themselves, but neither do we nor they reflect on such reformation.  This is an amalgamation of umpteen such transitions, accumulated as one as a piece of fiction.

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          Yes, he had understood it, rather proud to have understood.  He’s managed to get the better of system.  How many people have done that? 

The Story:

          Viswanath or Vishy for short (he wanted his name to sound ‘cool’, you know?) reflected on his life.  It was the decade of the 1990s – a time when technology was in its infancy when it came to public disclosure of information.  It was the year 1998.  He started on his journey in 1995, and in three years, he’s done it i.e., make a mark for himself and his ‘service’, by beating the system.  Of bureaucracy.

          He recollected a train journey which changed his life irreversibly.  It was the Chennai station.  Vishy was seated in AS1, 27 and looked out of the window.  He had recently landed his first job with an export-import firm which empowered him to travel by III class air-conditioned coach whenever he traveled on duty.  He was deputed on work to their Chennai office, so he had traveled to Chennai by III AC.  Now he was returning to Visakhapatnam, and, more importantly, concluding his first round trip in the AC class by train.

          He came back to the present when a handsome young man caught his attention just outside the window.  He was fair complexioned, bearded, and tall.  His face appeared familiar.  He was wheeling a trendy looking black bag (not the type one gets on the streets or petty bag shops).  ‘This fellow must be foreign-returned chap’, thought Vishy.  As he looked at the bearded man wondering, where he had seen him, Vishy noticed him speaking to the TTE with what looked like an ever-lasting smile.  A few words and more smiles (which also showed his sparkling white teeth) later, Vishy found Mr. Fair and Handsome asking of him, ‘Excuse me, the number of my seat is 25, and it is a window seat.  If you can please give me way, I’ll settle myself over there’.  Vishy was momentarily lost.  ‘Not just the face, the voice is very familiar’, he thought.  He soon realized that he owed the bearded guy an answer and an action.  ‘Sure’, he said, and moved away.

The TTE came for a check, endorsed Vishy’s ticket, greeted the other co-passenger in the bay, gave him an excess fare ticket, and left.

          ‘I guess we met somewhere’, Vishy said to Mr. Fair and Handsome, who thought hard.  ‘I think so.  I’ve been brooding over it ever since I’d seen you here’.

‘Did you do your schooling in Kendriya Vidyalaya?’, asked Vishy.

‘No, but did you do your graduation from Government College?’

‘Yes’.

‘Which year?’

‘1994, B.Com.’.

‘Me too, but B.Sc.’.

‘No wonder, I thought I saw you before’.

‘I’m Abhijeet’.

‘Hi, I’m Viswanath, Vishy for short’.

‘What are you doing now?’

‘Working with an export-import firm in Visakhapatnam, as Operations Supervisor.  What about you?’

‘I have my own business of ready made garments in Dwaraka Nagar’.

‘Ready-made garments shop in Dwaraka Nagar?  I don’t think I have the stature or the affordability to even visit your shop’.

‘Oh, nothing like that.  I’m earning my livelihood, and you, yours’.

And the conversation went on.  They discussed whatever came to their mind, or whatever was trending at that point of time – politics, Government policies on liberalization and the resultant increase in prosperity, the popularity of Indian beauties in the world of fashion, the latest films of their favourite heroes, etc.

As the TTE passed by, giving him a toothy smile, Abhijeet remarked, ‘This fellow’s a greedy person’.

‘How do you know that?’

‘How much did you pay for a III AC ticket from Chennai to Visakhapatnam?’

Vishy pulled his wallet out, examined the ticket, and said, ‘Rs. 527/-’.

‘I paid Rs. 800/-’.

‘W-w-what?’ asked an amazed Vishy.

‘You heard it right.  I paid him Rs. 800/-.  I can’t fix up my programme in advance.  So there’s no use buying a ticket.  I normally come to the station and manage the TTE.  I come to Chennai often on business.  I normally pay about Rs. 700/-, but this ‘kanjoos’ (greedy) chap insisted on Rs. 800/-.  When we cannot prevent corruption, why not we take advantage of the system and save our time for more productive purposes?’

This rhetoric worked on Vishy.  Here was a man who knew that he wanted in life, and was getting just that.  How stupid he was, to have gone to the booking counter on a Sunday morning (his office worked from Monday to Saturday, so he had to show up at the counter on a Sunday), waited in the queue for nearly two hours and bought the tickets?  He also recollected a ‘thinking aloud’ of a fellow-queue-waiter who complained of poor service by his neighbourhood travel agent, who had taken fifty percent of the cost of the ticket as advance, had not booked it the same day and handed over a wait listed ticket booked a couple of days before the journey.  He also cribbed about the consequent inconvenience – tension and having to ‘deal’ with the TTE (despite charging for the ‘service’, the agent had not ensured the deal).

A brilliant idea struck him.  Why not he become a travel agent who delivered on his promise?  By being an operations supervisor, he earned a modest Rs. 6,000/- a month in disposable income.  If he worked hard on the ‘property’ delivery of service, his clientele would multiply; moreover, computerization of railway reservation saved the agent of the torture of following upon telegrams of onward or return journeys, while allowing for booking from anywhere to anywhere.  What he would require is good liaisoning with the booking clerks and the TTEs, and some officers, if required.  The low investment – decent return opportunity enticed him.  Moreover, he had faith in his ‘people’ skills, or the way he managed people.

When Abhi and Vishy parted that evening on reaching the Visakhapatnam railway station, Vishy was a mesmerized man.  And he implemented the change of heart.

He started off in a makeshift asbestos shed in the garden of his home.  He had no registration, and no investment either.  He would collect the cost of the ticket, and a commission of Rs. 20/- for the sleeper class, Rs. 25/- for III AC and Rs. 30/- for II AC or I class tickets.  He spoke about his ‘enterprise’ to relatives and friends, who encouraged him – after all, he was a reliable and well-behaved boy.  He earned a meagre Rs. 3,470/- at the end of the first month- not a bad beginning, after all.  Then began the summer rush where all could not invariably get confirmed tickets.  This gave him an opportunity to test and succeed in his ‘people’ skills.  He would make a tie up with the booking clerks (whom he called ‘friends’) based on the duty list, and get them to generate the tickets ahead of those standing in the queue.  Because he would get the tickets for the clients at the time agreed upon, they trusted them; they did not mind paying a few rupees extra to ensure prompt service.  He would personally take note of wait-listed tickets and help the passengers out by ‘impressing’ the TTEs at the station.  At first, he did it as a ‘service’ to clientele, but, in due course, he charged a premium to willing clients to ensure they traveled comfortably.  Soon, word spread about his success and he got more clientele, which requested him for his ‘premium’ services.

His net saving in the third month was an astronomical Rs. 9,000/-.  Meanwhile, he opened his office in the Lalitha Nagar area, paying a huge sum as rent, roped in his brother to assist him in his business, got a telephone connection under the ‘OYT’ scheme of the Telecommunication Department, and rose up to the requirement of more business with élan.  His astute sense was in that he maintained his friendship with TTEs.  He knew they wielded enormous power, so they cannot be abandoned during a temporary phase of non-usefulness.  They remembered him when they came back into his zone of consideration, and continued to help him, for a consideration.  Now, money was a routine affair, but what mattered was the attitude towards one another.  They were so chummy that some of them smoked and drank with Vishy, too.

Now, if you are thinking Vishy was wheeling- dealing with all TTEs, please rethink.  Vishy NEVER interfered with the honest officials, and arranged his deal with the clientele based on the ‘shifts’ of his ‘friends’ only.  ‘The gentleman I know in the Railways will work only tomorrow, Sir.  I can give your ticket only by 8 p.m. tomorrow’, he would tell his clients.  Regarding sincere TTEs, he would tell his clients, ‘Madam, the TTE who will man the train you are traveling by is not known to me.  If you can put up with a bit of an inconvenience regarding time, I can arrange for your comfortable travel through a friendly TTE.  This is the premium you have to pay……’

Conscience never troubled Vishy because he thought he did not try to corrupt a law-abiding individual; he had, after all, dealt with people who compromised on their conscience, and actually enable him to deliver value-added services to his clientele, who in turn, felt they were paying ‘service charges’ and not ‘speed money’.

He was proud of beating the bureaucracy. 

* * * * * * * *(to be continued)