Once upon a time I was working as an Engineer …only for four months… not more…
It was just after the Tsunami catastrophe. The site was a big housing project at Southern province. It was a sudden bloom of construction field. So, there was a lack of skilled workers everywhere…four engineers at the site. Three of us were not experienced…just passed out... only one Engineer with experience… Though there was a Project manager, the position was vacant most of the times. A project manager comes… he gets a better offer within few weeks…he leaves…like that.
Other staff also same… consultant even try to steal staff from contractor to another site where he works… the owner of the construction company also same…(This worked very well for around 2000/+) it was such a struggle … not much experienced people… some technical officers were at their training period… still it was like that. It was about the site staff.
Work force…
It was also same… sub-contractors were not professional...most of them had no experience about work sites…some had, still in small scale. One I can never forget, from the far end of Southern province, he is very hot tempered, still a very good man… one I have ever seen. He is a traditional mason and a carpenter both, with his deep knowledge of our heritage of construction…, when I had a little bit of relax; I used to grasp little bit of his knowledge. Anyway he was the worst person to get adapted for a site.
All were more or less like this…they just want to work five or six days per week, in their rhythm, get money, go home and again start work in the next week… how awful for a site.. We were hardly struggling to go for construction target…
Masons and carpenters from my village were working there, among the other sub contractors. The nicest experience is that…they used to tell me “chuuti noana”, when I was a kid… still if they see me at home…even today… if they meet me…
They worked for my instructions at the site… yes, it was very well ok… but if they work at my home and ask for my idea…
Oh My God…
My father thinks that they knows it better than me…he says “Do it in your way.., she does not know… these things…much”
What a nice experience…
My father was so happy when I became an Engineer… at my convocation… but still I m the baby girl who played with extra cement and sand making any of the structure I could make with various small small cups I had…in his point of view...
I don’t know why I got these things into my mind suddenly today… and what s the reason it made me to write in English… Anyway it came into my mind… and made me to write in English…
This was the first time I moved in the real world of construction other than my training period; probably last time too... But that good old memory still makes me please…