Faces of IT-BHU: Lal ji Vishvkarma
Hidden from sight …A less known worker at the IDC workshop is Lal ji Vishvkarma . He started off long back (40 years or so) in the 1980s. He was claimed to be the most strict man in all the workshops. His days are consumed by guiding and instructing everyone who comes to perform various activities in the workshop. Though he is not good at English, he still cannot be tricked by any technical terms; especially those related to Mechanical department courses.
He has worked in many workshops in the mechanical department including a machine shop and welding shop. At the very beginning in 1975, he was a worker in the Metallurgical Department IT-BHU. He was then transferred to the Mechanical Department in 1987, and after that, he worked in the machine shop for about ten years. Ever since then, he has continued in the IDC workshop.
He is 68, stands fit, has two children, both married. He says that “Mere bachhe duur duur chale gye, mere bete ne mujhe Delhi bulaya, lekin yahan ka kaam chodne ka kabhi Mann nayi hua“ and he said that he still has many children to take care of.
He has seen things change, his role change, but he says the thing that remains the same is the goodness, nature and intelligence of the students who come here to study. The thinking and innovation skills are what he was pointing to. Ironically he feels that association with BHU was good (maybe because he had his mates there).
The sad part of being for such a long time at a place is “losing friends.” He even mentions that many of his coworkers have left in the 3–4 years after it has been declared IIT (he didn’t mention any particular reason though).
Lal ji gets up at 5 and looks after his small farm near Lanka. He still prefers to take cycle for his works. He reaches workshop at 8 am on every working day and leaves at 6 pm.
When asked about his strictness, he replies humorously “Beta, mai toh shuru se hi perfect kaam ko hi sahi meant huun, iss chakkar mein bachhe log mereko strict maanne lage the.” He is of the opinion that this strictness makes students smart and hardworking.
Standing beside him, Narendra Kumar from Mechanical Department, B.Tech part 4 says “I have worked with him from start of the first semester. You cannot find such hard working and loyal worker these days. He never seeks credit, and personally, he has made me perfect in my specialisation.”
“Till now I don’t think that my age has put any obstacle to my work. I can still work, and I believe that the retirement is too close.” It looks like he still wants to work for the students and he loves this job environment.
Though he has his own “dude” plans after retirement, he has a list of places to visit (#wanderlust of his generation) which includes some holy places, to visit with his old colleagues and his granddaughter.
In the end, Lal ji wants to convey through this quest that, “Yes, there certainly is a lot of scope for development here at every department, but a lot of work has been done since 2012. One just needs to have the sight.” “Maximum people must focus on research and innovation,” he adds.
