By Ponnuswamy Rangaswamy (1992 Barcelona Olympics weightlifter in 56 kg, finished 18th)
Imagine cricket’s big names like Diana Eduljee and Sanjay Bangar coming to drop you off and providing encouragement and waiting outside so you aren’t nervous at your first Railway promotion exams. I had returned from the 1992 Olympics, finishing 18th in 56kg weightlifting.
But giving the test for a promotion made me so nervous that I needed those two Railways giants to escort me. The reason for my jitters was that sometimes promotions could get late, because federations delayed sending certificates. So the all- important step up, even after they saw you on the TV at the Olympics, could get stalled for two years.
I was lucky that I was loved and ended as Senior Section Engineer, with basic pay of Rs 70,000 after 40 years, and didn’t endure a transfer. I tell people, don’t worry about whether officers like you or not. Eventually, if you slog hard, do something for the country and the Railways, rewards will follow. But if you don’t win medals, be prepared for no leave, no support – and seniors saying, “medal nahi hai, ab duty karo (There is no medal, now do your job).” That’s how life works. Unfortunately, they get angry too.
I was always a gym-freak in Coimbatore where I trained in Silambam (an ancient Tamil martial art) and started lifting in 1980, moved to Mumbai in 1984, winning national weightlifting titles for Maharashtra for 4 years. In September 1987, I was recruited by Western Railway at Rs 232 grade salary. When it went up to Rs 532, I was ecstatic. Wrestler Pappu Yadav, besides Diana Ma’am and Gurbax Singh, would help me a lot.
File image of Ponnuswamy Rangaswamy (Special arrangement)
I started as a helper for the first year when work could last 8-10 hours a day. Lifting sacks of cement, buying construction inventory, ferrying pipes, I learnt everything from carpentry, welding, pipe-fitting. I’m very proud of the two sight-screens at the Mahalaxmi cricket ground that I welded from scratch at the workshop. Lifting boxes, erecting temporary stands, channel- welding, building support for metal plates, I learnt it all out of my interest or by watching pros. There’s nothing in engineering or maintenance I don’t know about. New degree engineers and toppers were often assigned to me to learn the ropes.
Those days, we didn’t know protein was important in our diet. So B-Complex and BeCosul were our only supplements. But I learnt to cook a mean meal for 20-30 people – daal, roti, subji everything. I never ate at a hotel.
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Later, some kind officers would instruct the whole office to not assign me any petty work. But I had to sit on one chair for two hours, so we could all pretend I’d been “to office”. After the Olympics, the promotion was a big deal for me.
I was never mistreated, but as my performance went down, after a decade, I told myself it’s obvious that officers will get angry and yell. We were grateful for the job, and my self- esteem was connected directly to winning medals. When medals stop, officers can get angry at you, I told myself.
Now, times have changed.
(As told to Shivani Naik)
