Nurungukal…2..contd….

    

         At first I could not recognise the caller. The sound was feeble and cracking. More over the clarity of the sound system of my phone, an outdated model, as descrbed by my grand daughter of age eight years, was weak. I changed my positions with the hope to improve the reception but in vain. It was a female voice and a distant call. When she introduced her and confirmed the person at the receiving end, a thrill passed through me, awakening  a sleeping memmory. She was none other than one of my staff working at Calicut warehouse a few decades ago. The number of such callers have increased recently. Some old workmates made a courtesy visit also. Every such ocassion  gave me a chance to recapitulate at least some of the important events in my official life. She was one of the most efficient staff I had ever had. Very soft spoken and hard working. Everready to accept challenges. She was the first female employee I met, who volenteered to work in the godown along with the men engaged in loading and unloading activity who was always prone in those days to raise volatile issues of labour demands. But to the surprise to all of us she managed to work with them in perfect harmony and it made my job much easier. All though in those days the gender awareness had not attained its present status she managed to prevail upon other male staff in equal terms and at times much above. The trade union activity was just gaining momentum then in the warehouses and I had to be on several occasions function in the roll of a negotiator. It was a challenge which gave me chance to learn much about the chemistry of trade union activity. In fact my tennure at Calicut was a learning ground in labour management, which helped me to face very volatile situations else where in my service. In a way Iam thankfull to the Calicut experience. ….cntd