Actual truth is, I should have become a doctor!

My Aunt Jim, (dads’ older sister), insisted I should. After passing my pre uni studies with rather average marks, she tried every trick under the sun to get me to pass the entrance exams for St. Johns Medical College, Bangalore Medical college, Jipmer Medical college in Pondicherry and even the lowly MS Ramiah college in Bangalore. Glad to say I failed all the exams! God had other plans for me!

I would have become a great surgeon because I have a very steady hand with 10 beautiful fingers, but didn’t have the capitation fees that these institutions craved! Aunty Jim (bless her soul), couldn’t cough up the bribes either, unless she sold her Austin Cambridge A55, and that was never going to happen, she would rather lose a couple of ribs instead!   As a last resort, she suggested I apply to the Dental College, but that’s where I drew the line.

Why I became a science graduate I really don’t know, with no concrete plans for the future, I decided to do my Masters, but that’s where mum stopped me. There was no money! She instead scraped up Rs400/- to get me to a driving school for a heavy vehicle licence! The plan was to put my hands and legs to work and supplement the family income. I did get my HV Licence, but couldn’t land a driving job till I had some experience! Be a man, mum said, truck drivers earn good money!

My First Real Job

I have to thank my little brother Philip who got run over by Murray Culshaw’s car, and landed in emergency at the CSI Hospital.  Murray offered me an Office Asst. job which lasted a few months.  My first pay of Rs 140/-, was proudly handed over to mum. My future was still vague, but that was the last thing on my mind.  I was an earning member now, nothing else mattered. Four months later I was jobless again.

The Second Job

Murray introduced me to the Rev. Victor Lamont, an avid photographer and a keen Batik printer. He taught me all about SLR cameras and lots more on Batik Printing. We moved the Batik unit to the Rayalashema Dev. Trust under Fr Ferrer in Anantapur.  It was here that the Batik unit expanded and we had about 120 unemployed locals producing batik prints on all kinds of clothing, which were marketed locally.  For a fleeting moment, I thought that was my calling, but it also was short-lived!

Back in Bangalore, as a Batik artist, I made wall portraits and sold them, one of which depicting Ram and Sita Bai, graced the hall in Rolle College, England. I also played bass for a rock band from my college days, called The Spirals. We played gigs for the Catholic club, the Bowring Club, the RSL, and a few nightclubs, hoping to make big-time money, but sadly, the truth (according to my parents and others) dawned on me that artists don’t make much money, so I was back contemplating where to next?

The Third Job

After a few months of Batiking and zero income, Dad who had an accounting job with AFPRO-Action for Food Production, Coimbatore based, told me to meet the boss at AFPRO-

Bangalore for a job, any job. The wonder of wonders, I got an accounting job, which later morphed into a field asst. helping a team of geologists investigate for groundwater in the driest of areas. Thanks to mum, I already had a valid HR driving licence, and could drive all the company vehicles, even maintaining them and doing the odd repairs, and even fixing them when they broke down in remote locations! My boss would refer to me as the engine whisperer! And I never let him down!

That was it!  I finally discovered what I was capable of doing, what I loved doing!  Other jobs followed – diesel mechanic with Khamis in Muscat, diesel engineer with Cummins Diesels, retiring as a diesel mechanic with Caterpillar in Australia!

Thank you, God, for your guidance!

Conrad Peter