My Dad was born in Udupi , where Lord Krishna temple and Malpe beach is the key tourist attraction. On 12th Feb 1930 my father was named Krishna. He studied in Christian High School, and moved over to Mumbai to complete his diploma to at VJTI Mumbai in chemical Eng. He was fifth in lineage of the dozen odd children given birth by my grandmother. He joined as a part time telephone operator in the night shift and did finish his college education in day time. This is obviously to share the burden of huge family of his. Then he was lucky to get a break in Burmah Shell which was a MNC in petroleum sector. He joined them in 1955 as an operator, and progressed in his career. He was drawn into union cadre since he was a good orator and understood the needs of his fellow workers.
The Shiv Sena was just rearing its head in the late 50s. wherein all Madrasis were asked to vacate Mumbai, well Madrasis not only meant Tamilians but also meant South Indians in General. Being from the strong lobby of Tulu dynasty he mobilized to save lot of Mallus and real Madrasis being maimed, belted & targeted They sheltered them with great risk to their own lives till the agitation died its own natural death. Suddenly the event took shape of union strife against the management of Shell for increased wages and recruitment of locales. This was when Dutta Samant came into prominence. Well the management wanted to buy him out by promoting him to foreman’s post to compromise on demands, he chose to quit Shell, a cherished MNC. He gave up his house in Shell colony to his brother stay and vacated Mumbai in September 1960.
Just a few months back, he was married to my mother in April, so I was conceived in Mumbai but born in Bangalore on the same day on Shivaratri day in 1961. Of course my birth both him luck and he was offered a job in IOC, with a lesser package, which he willingly took over. He missed all the perks of Shell, such as club house, cricket etc because IOC was a start up company and could not afford all those luxuries of MNC. But after the Nationalisation of Petroleum company in 1969 things took a turn for the better with perks jumping up steadily. Being a out performer he was offered a promotion and shift to sales which would have meant higher perks and opportunity to travel, but he refused anticipating that he may have to compromise on his ethics.
Being in Petroleum industry one has to constantly fight against a powerful lobby of politicians and business men and the mafia, once he caught hold adulteration racket. The trail lead to the highest in the BDA echelons. He asked the owner to apologise in writing and pardoned him with a warning not to repeat. Immediately he was offered a site 60x40 any where in Bangalore, he had to just choose his location at a pittance of Rs 5000/- He refused. His colleagues and peers were cursing him as a fool, and the title DEREBAIL THE TERRIBLE was stamped on him since he could not be corrupted by Oil Mafia. But we titled him a little different.
My dad was sport to the core, because when he got my brother his medical seat, he expected him to pass out in flying colours. But my brothers had other plans. He was given Jawa bike and petrol, so he took it as a license to see movies along with his anglo India girl friend. Naturally he dived in his exam and he used to sportively comment don t worry son try to perfect your medical knowledge, don t kill patients in future. Lol. My brother was taught a lesson by my mom who started attending college on daily basis which set off cat among the pigeons and eventually he completed his MBBS after 8 years instead of normal 5 years. Continued……………part 2
