Ravi is a 400m Andhra state champion. (Special Arrangement)
by Ravi (400m Andhra state champion, Multi-tasking Staff at Income Tax)
No one prepares a state 400m champion for false starts in the job market. After becoming the Andhra Pradesh quarter mile state champion and picking up 20-25 national-level medals, including the Senior National bronze in 2012, I started trying for a job in 2014-15.
I would diligently apply when notifications came out. I’d promptly give trials. Two or three times, I even received offer letters, but they would be withdrawn at the last moment without any explanation. So when I finally landed the Income Tax job in 2023, I was very grateful.
Yes, the work is almost of a peon. I’m a ‘multi-tasking staff’. The job involves typing letters, serving notices, sorting out mail, filing, and odd jobs in the cash section. When I started playing volleyball and athletics, and won district selection trials in 2009, I didn’t think it would end in a 10.30-6 job in the tapaal section, but at least my officers treated me well, asking me to sit on a chair, and talked properly. At my previous government job, life could be tough.
If the officer was good, he’d let you leave by 3 p.m on half-days. If strict, they could delay you till 5.30 pm and dump lot of work. Those who understood sport would be respectful, but two or three out of 10 could make you feel like you had no value. Entering cabins could induce panic attacks. They would bar you from sitting on a chair in cabins, and insist you stand and talk.
Their anger would spill out in saying, “idhar itna kaam hai. Koun karega? (There’s a lot of work here. Who will do it?)” This one time, an officer offered me juice. But another wouldn’t let me leave till all the work was done late in the evening. He would say, “Shortcut se (sport) job mila hai. Ab theek se kaam karo. (You’ve got the job using an easier route. Now work properly).”
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I come from a family of distressed farmers in a drought-prone region and migrated to Hyderabad without telling my parents because I thought my running talent would take care of me. I was at a Sports Authority of India (SAI) hostel till 20, but was removed after a hamstring injury. So I took up a part-time job helping shuttlers improve speed and strength between 6 am and 10 am. With that money, I got my two elder sisters married, and now earn Rs 30,000 per month after starting at 18,000 and send most of it home, managing in Bengaluru on Rs 10,000. Some Railways bureaucrats helped me access a gym, but my 400m career didn’t take off as expected.
Even so, if some officer offers me water or tea and offers a chair and talks about sport, I still get emotional.
as told to Shivani Naik
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
