HUMAN-the By-product.

I know for sure, that all of you are so big hearted not to hate me, if this stuff is really uninteresting.

It is about the added side of my life with the kind of people who are teaching me everyday “love every one, no matter what the shit happens”.

That was the second time I was visiting that particular customer for a Maintenance program even though he has clubbed with my competitor. He must be one of the biggest Printer, thus we are left to run behind him like a dog though my instinct doubted, would he even show us the cookies??!!

I met Mr.Machiner on that morning and closed in for a hand shake, thinking he remembers me. But I was asked "Who are you?" annoyed for a hand shake as if I had disturbed him in middle of a rocket discovery. I started to introduce myself with the same old slogan which I had repeated at least a hundred times since I was assigned to support the Customer. Meanwhile He called his supervisor to take over with me and went back to his rocket discovery.

The strategy here to make a relationship with customer is if you could make him feel a dump joke as interesting, then half the problem is solved. I wouldn't have tried this animatedly if I was hinted that he was goanna be the scoundrel!

My maintenance work started with a new machine, as the scenes were unfolding slowly. 

One of the problem here is I have to get introduce myself all the way from owner to supervisor to operator to cleaner, and the worst part in it is, I have to make them like me.

I came to the machine operator with the predetermined smile which I did very intentionally.

As if the operator doesn't like my smile he replied, “don’t waste my time, ".

I was wondering then, have I asked him for a political debate?  understanding that how much he loves us!!

The operator explained then in a professor style, “You guys are coming here only for ruining my machine”.  "Sir, (Worst word of respect) this is the first time we are doing this program on this machine and sure you will see the better results after this program" I said convincingly. He hesitantly permitted me to the machine as if he himself is the owner of the Komari Corp.

By afternoon I came to the third machine, Thank God the second machine went well without any cold fumes.  The third machine operator already with enough information of me from morning treated me as if I have blown down the other two machines. He determinedly not listened to the course of action I was telling and was at the peak of his egoism. He was second lecturer of the day.

During my college days, at least I was able to understand some words during the lectures whenever I gave my dreams a break. Though I sincerely wanted to listen here, I still neither understood his kannada nor his PhD. He stiffened his face further, and the cleaning started.

As per the policy, I behaved as if I knew nothing about printing. I was shaking my head very sincerely to show him that I became a student to him if not anything else.

All of a sudden there was a big flash in the operators face as if he had won against Alexander, The Great. He pointed me the drowned dust in the roller still persisting after cleaning. Damn it! All surrounded me, ready to fire me out. I knew that the cleaning is not expected to remove the paper particles which would be removed by not the chemicals but with some plain water (paper and gum particles are insoluble in oil!!). But they were ready not to listen to me. One guy told “Our experience is your age, how dare you teach us?”

I don’t know how the F*** is their experience had the Power to oppose the basic fact and knowledge that even a beginner in Printing would know.

I was wondering that whether this world needs any more PhD scholars for printing, while having this “experience” headed machine operators. But for me, at that time it was equal to getting as many as 5 PhD, if I would escape from them. 

Every time they argued with me, there were words came out very fast but got stuck at my throat, as my mind was remembering the slogan "customer is king and he is always right".                

After all the drained out words they parted me for a lunch break. I did not guess that this is just a premier of trailer and the main show is yet to start.

After lunch the supervisor called me to his cabin and said “You can leave now. All the machines you have touched are having some problem. I will tell my boss that all the machines went on well. Don’t give me anymore headache. I told myself, “though you guys gave me some fever, still blaming me that I give you headache.

To my surprise the owner entered the cabin ready to sue me. He already with all the news shouted at me “Get out of my factory. All the machines are under problem because of you. Don’t ever come again with your stupid things”.

He called out the security guys to send me out. 

He was so angry as if I had eloped with his daughter. Even if that was the situation he wouldn’t say his son in law to get out, for the condition that I was already owned by his daughter.

If am to stand there for another couple of minutes they would bundle me and thrown out as in Telugu movies (Owner is from AP). I went out of the work floor and waited in the reception. I couldn’t leave because I din wish to risk losing this customer as this is a long term project. 

I waited for an hour and went to meet the owner. As I started explaining, he said that he is not ready to listen to any rubbish story and that he would talk to my TL later.

I noticed that for the first time in life my hands not shivered all through the day which usually happens under these situations. The inner me told “Pandi, you are growing up man”.

“Growing up! I stood there boneless. I would rather prefer to work in my farm than to be here” .

The inner me replied, “But you were the one who wished for a job that handles humans, to involve in with different people and not with steel and iron. Now you got what you wished for. Shut up and live with this”.

This is not the situation I wished for, the people I wished for. One can survive here only if he is stupid enough to accept what they say, dump enough to hear all the yelling’s, this owner lives with the machine and he too had become another machine.

But the worst thing here is, though he is living with the humans for ages, still he could not able to understand a human being. Yeah, yeah it is okay to get angry when you have problem but you can’t simply screw up the living things for the sake of the currency papers and steel plated non living machines!!

All these operators were smiling at me as if I had been sentenced to death.

I still got no idea why he told me to get out when the fault is not on me and he din even give me a chance. There are more human values higher than the machines, money and business. 

Money making is important, as long as I am doing it without losing my human values. Because in the end it doesn’t even matter if you are a millionaire or beggar but have you lived your life as a Human Being?

I came out of the factory thinking that, talking with those paddy fields and coconut trees in my farm are far better than those machines and its siblings!!

My mind convinced me that this is the way by which you can build a stronger heart, though it knows people don’t bother about building greater hearts, as they don’t respect it anymore.


The big debate here: who is the By- product  - "man" or "money". 

with love,

murugapandiyan p