Once upon a time, I used to be an engineer

Every year on 15th September, we celebrate our National Engineer’s Day (It is the birth anniversary of legendary engineer Shri Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya).

I had completed my Mechanical Engineering degree from Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI), Mumbai in 1996 and started my 1st job at the age of 21 in the Chembur refinery of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited.

Every day, I used to wear a brown boiler suit & work as a maintenance engineer along with a batch of 20 GETs (Graduate Engineer Trainees).

In my very 1st job, I quickly learnt that while perception management is important, sheer hard work matters more. I remember once during the planned maintenance shutdown of the FCCU (Fluid Catalytic Cracker) plant, when I went to my General Manager and told him I do not have enough work; he really appreciated my gesture by giving me more work 😊.

I was remembered for this and eventually rewarded too.

My dear uncle, Dr. Diwaker Gorhe advised me to get an MBA degree and said that I will earn much more. This turned out to be true. I kept on seeing many engineers moving on to the MBA career path, till the tech boom and later the fintech boom happened, they started getting handsome compensations in addition to well-deserved respect.

I completed my MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow and left my career as an engineer – giving up my glass of cutting chai on the field & exchanging it for a cup of black coffee in the Board room.

I still regret that I wasted a seat of a deserving candidate who would have been a true-blue mechanical engineer, adding value to the society at large, like some of my dear classmates of Batch of ’93 (Ronak Modi, Prakash Khanzode, Vijay Pinge, Vikas Dhanuka, Prabodh Ahire Sunit Padhye, P. Eng., Vinayak Malavade, Atul Bhandari, Vimal Bhuta & some more – seen in this old college photograph)

On 15th September this year, my sister, Dr. Mugdha Keskar, jokingly wished me a happy RETIRED engineers’ day - rightly so.

Hence, I say, one upon a time, I used to be an engineer. No longer…

Cheers to all engineers.
Wish you a happy Engineers’ Day, Week, Month, Year & decades to come…
Thank you for all your amazing contribution to this World.