Aurangabad-Early Days-01

One of the first things I remember about Aurangabad is my unplanned stay at one of the cheaper hotels near the bus stand, which had beds like a dormitory and you had to keep your valuables for safekeeping with the hotel manager; there being no lockable cupboards. As I had no valuables to carry, that was not an issue; all that my luggage consisted was a small bag with bare minimum clothes. I do remember wondering all the night whether I had done the right thing in believing Jayanta, that this was the land of opportunity.

I went to Aurangabad by sheer chance. Jayant Pandit, my classmate from JJ was working in the department of Town Planning there. He had been to Solapur where I talked about opportunities for starting my own practice, and he had painted a rosy picture of how there were projects for taking in the whole of Marathwada region. Being in the Department of Town Planning, he had some valuable inside information.

At the time, the State Government used to finance the Municipal Councils under the UD-6 scheme for implementing the Development Plans, and huge sums of money were allocated for this purpose. However, as there were very few technical consultants available, leave alone the architects, most of the Municipal Councils in the Marathwada Region were unable to submit any proposals, and the funds were under-utilized, creating a problem of sorts for the Department of Town Planning, where Jayant worked. He saw an opportunity to start architectural practice here, but could not think of leaving the job to do it. So he thought of asking me to start the practice if I was willing to take the risk. He also found a temporary job for me in the Public Works Department (PWD).

Very few people are aware that there is a Department of Architecture attached to the PWD, but it is very much there, and it has regional offices, headed by an Architect (called the Deputy Architect to Government), who is in charge of providing architectural services for all PWD projects. The one in Aurangabad had recently taken up the task of providing architectural services to the Marathwada University projects, on the condition that the University would provide an assistant for doing all the drafting work, and it was this position that was advertised, and for which I had to give an interview.

I was told that the job was purely temporary and carried a salary of Rs. 500.00 per month - a good offer compared to my then salary at V. T. Kota & Associates of Rs. 425.00 per month. This was my first attempt at any formal interview for a job. I had got the earlier job at with Architect V. T. Kota, by just declaring that I have finished my course and was willing to work. This was OK as I had worked in vacations in his office earlier, and he knew me and my work. Facing an interview in an unknown city  was  totally different matter. But the prospect of independent practice was attractive and hence I decided to resign and caught the bus to Aurangabad.

However, Jayanta failed to materialise even after promising me to pick me up from the bus-stand, and I had no option but to seek a shelter somewhere for the night, convinced that Jayanta was kidding me about the whole affair, and that I must go back the next day. Next day, I remembered that I had a distant cousin settled at Aurangabad after her marriage, and I decided to pay a visit before going back. As luck would have it, after listening to my story, her husband helped me to find Jayanta's office, and I finally met him. If that had not happened, I would not have settled at Aurangabad at all.