Introduction
Sheshraj ji a resident of village Mavikalan a ward of Saharanpur Nagar Nigam has successfully completed his government service career and now has started using his profession professionally as a Technical Consultancy Service one of its kind. This is a unique and special kind of work and it is being done Dehradun Uttarakhand by giving expertise guidance with staff consisting structural designers surveyors Estimators and geologists etc. Sheshraj ji decided to do so after stabilisation of next generation. Having grandsons and daughters. Let us explore his feelings and try to understand his life
Conversation
Question 1. Please tell us the most interesting incident of your engineering career.
Answer. Engineering is a unique and diverse field in itself. I started my career in irrigation department Uttar Pradesh from Mirzapur District U.P. in March 1969. There was draught and for relief work ponds of villages were being deepend. There the whole project was due to scarcity of water. In July, there were heavy rains and the project was complete. The staff were transferred my self was transferred to Tehri now in Uttarakhand by chance this was longest distance for transfer.
Here the investigation and planning division Tehri was planning for a dam across Bhagirathi river to manage huge water source for hydel energy generation so both the work had diversity in nature.
During investigation it was observed by me that Tehri dam site is connected with mythical history. Just below the dam site a 12 km long stretch of hill having its dip towards river slided towards River creating a 50 km long artificial lake. The water flow was completely blocked causing a huge crisis in the plains of river. Than Bhagirath with due permission of shiva came to rescue and the blocked river was opened to flow. This being quoted as Bhagirath brought Ganga to the plains. I checked it with other technical proof for this & this is interesting.
We can say Bhagirath was a great engineer.
Another such interesting incident is social engineering. In 1994, I was given responsibility to open a road to traffic from Hanuman Chatti to Janki Chatti en-route to Yamunotri Dham. At that time from Janki Chatti to Yamunotri a 13 km strech was being covered on foot or pony. For poor pilgrims it was difficult to afford. The main hurdle was a bridge across Hanuman Ganga. The local businessman were opposing due to fear of losing business. With my day and night efforts this bridge was completed in record 6 months time and the road upto Janki Chatti was completed for running of vehicles. I was incharge for road upto Yamunotri but I never went to the Temple the chief priest was surprised in the matter. My worship was to serve the pilgrims approximately five thousand going on foot everyday. There on foot journey was reduced by 8 kms. For me this is way of life and this was a interesting incident.
Question 2. How did you decide to pursue engineering as a career?
Answer. Fifty-eight years ago in 1965, it was not my decision to choose engineering as a career. In fact, at that time, after passing the high school examination with first division and distinction in mathematics, I had taken admission in class eleventh. That's when my elder brother Meghraj Singh ji passed high school in the second division in 1963 at the age of 15, and he was married in 1964 at the age of 16. The adverse result of this was that in the year 1965 he failed in the Intermediate examination. As a result, the family decided that the same could happen in my Sheshraj ji, a resident of village Mavikalan, a ward of Saharanpur Nagar Nigam, has completed his government service career successfully and now has started using his profession professionally as a Technical Consultancy Service one of its kind. This is a unique and special kind of work, and it is being done Dehradun, Uttarakhand, by giving expert guidance with a staff consisting of structural designers, surveyors, estimators, geologists, etc. Sheshraj ji, decided to pursue this after the stabilization of the next generation.
Let us explore his feelings and try to understand his life.
Conversation
Question 1. Please tell us the most interesting incident of your engineering career.
Answer. Engineering is a unique and diverse field in itself. I started my career in the irrigation department in Uttar Pradesh from Mirzapur District U.P. in March 1969. There was draught and for relief work ponds of villages were being deepened. The whole project was due to scarcity of water. In July, there were heavy rains and the project was complete. The staff were transferred and myself also got transferred to Tehri that time in Uttarakhand and by chance this was the longest distance for any transfer.
Here the investigation and planning division, Tehri, was planning for a dam across the Bhagirathi River, to manage a huge water source for hydel energy generation. So, both the work had diversity in nature.
During the investigation, I observed that the Tehri dam site is connected with mythical history. Just below the dam site a 12 km long stretch of hill having its dip towards the river slid towards river, creating a 50 km long artificial lake. The water flow was completely blocked causing a huge crisis in the plains of the river. Then, Bhagirath with the due permission of Shiva, came to the rescue and the blocked river was opened to flow. This is quoted as Bhagirath brought Ganga to the plains. I checked it with other technical proof for this & this is interesting.
We can say Bhagirath was a great engineer.
Another interesting incident is social engineering. In 1994, I was given the responsibility of opening a road to traffic from Hanuman Chatti to Janki Chatti - route to Yamunotri Dham. At that time from Janki Chatti to Yamunotri , a 13 km stretch was being covered on foot or pony. For poor pilgrims, it was difficult to afford. The main hurdle was a bridge across Hanuman Ganga.
The local businessmen opposed it due to fear of losing business. With my day and night efforts, this bridge was completed in a record 6 months and the road up to Janki Chatti was completed for running of vehicles. I was in charge of the road up to Yamunotri but I never went to the Temple, the chief priest was surprised by the matter.
My worship was to serve the pilgrims approximately five thousand going on foot every day. There on foot journey was reduced by 8 km. For me, this is a way of life and this was an interesting incident.
Question 2. How did you decide to pursue engineering as a career?
Answer. Fifty-eight years ago in 1965, it was not my decision to choose engineering as a career. In fact, at that time, after passing the high school examination with first division and distinction in mathematics, I had taken admission to class eleventh. That's when my elder brother Meghraj Singh Ji passed high school in the second division in 1963 at the age of 15, and he was married in 1964 at the age of 16. The adverse result of this was that in the year 1965, he failed the Intermediate examination. As a result, the family decided that the same could happen in my case and I too could fail. Therefore, at the age of 15, I was sent to pursue a Diploma in Civil.
At that time, we were the only two local students who got admission in Diploma after completing high school, the rest were intermediate and graduated with first class in high school. This was very difficult for both of us.
This proves that I did not choose my career voluntarily. My elder brother later earned his doctorate in Botany in 1972 and my three younger brothers did their graduation and post-graduation in engineering. I regret, that, I remain only a high school diploma holder, but because of my experience, I feel proud that today I teach engineering at the graduate level.
Question 3. Has any member of your next generation followed you and chosen engineering as a career?
Answer. There are three sons, three nephews, and four nieces in my next generation. None of my three sons chose engineering. One of my sons, chose Army and after becoming a Lieutenant Colonel and serving the country for twelve years he left the Army and went to IIM. Presently, he trains the forces. Second son did I.I.T. He earned a doctorate in Chemistry from Roorkee and is now the international head of a wing in a multinational corporation.
My third son, provides services to BITS by creating his own software and apart from this, he imparts self-defence training in schools.
Among other relatives in the family, a nephew has done engineering and is a first-class officer, second nephew has just completed engineering in civil and third nephew has done an MBA. And he is doing an interior decor business. Two nieces are in engineering and MBA. Another two nieces did B-Arch. Hence, nephews and nieces have done engineering, but not sons.
Question 4. Will you share your experiences after retirement and your children got settled?
Answer. Generally, after retiring from government service, people try to do social work, but I started social work twenty years before my retirement in 1990 when the Mandal Commission was implemented. I organized a rally in support of the Mandal Commission, that also at a time when the entire country was opposing it.
While serving as National General Secretary of BAMCEF in 1994 and National President from 2002 to 2009, I travelled all over India. Meanwhile, I also got my children married, but during my serving period from 1968 to 2009, I neither bought any plot nor built a house. At the age of 73, I built a house in my neighbourhood, which you can call settling.
In 2013, our organization opposed the Lokpal Bill, because we knew that it was a conspiracy to tarnish the Constitution under the guise of corruption. It will be misused against the officials of the Bahujan community.
We even explained to two hundred MPs, but still, this bill was passed. Therefore, we planned to go to the public in 2014, so that the public can be made aware. For this, when I went among my society, I found that the society does not even know about itself. Therefore, in 2016, he called writers and historians of his society from all over the country to his village Mavikalan, and discussed it for two days. In 2018, I again organized a two-day conference in Saharanpur.
Question 5. How did you decide to start a consultancy after retirement?
Answer. Well, I have already answered this question, but let me clarify. Due to a significant financial loss in the year 2010-11, my mind started getting troubled. So, I found something to keep myself busy, and I believe it's essential to keep doing so.
Keeping this in mind, I started consultancy work. I had a feeling that one should keep sharing whatever knowledge or experience he has. This not only give mental satisfaction along with financial gains, also, an opportunity to feed some people, and a feeling of pure happiness. I am an expert in bridge construction in hilly areas, which is a unique work of its kind.
Question 6. Now, through your consultancy firm, you are playing the role of a mentor and guide to some people, so how do you feel about it, and who is your favourite colleague?
Answer. Consultancy is not a simple task, especially in a hilly area. It has been only 23 years since Uttarakhand was formed, and in this short period, thirty-seven bridges have been damaged here. More than fifty lives have been lost in such accidents and government losses amount to billions of rupees.
The surprising thing is that most of the damage here has happened due to carelessness and inexperience. Not by saving the cement or iron of the contractor.
If there was proper consultancy then half of these people and money could have been saved because consultancy requires a lot of experience and not just bookish knowledge. Consultants get knowledge from many experienced people. IIT. Professor Dr. Anand Prakash, former Chairman of the Civil Department, Roorkee, was my respected and dear friend, who passed away last year. He used to give me a lot of love and support. The void left by his departure has not yet been filled. Some officers in Uttarakhand Public Works Department are technically good, with whom it is a pleasure to work.
Question 7. How do you feel about volunteering in engineering today?
Answer. Engineering is the only field in itself, that gives you satisfaction at various levels in life. Work in other fields gives short-term pleasure and you soon forget (except Research), but in engineering, work is planned from foundation stone to earth and completion gives long-term satisfaction. The irony is that today's politicians are using this discipline only to earn money without understanding the importance of engineering. Due to this, various types of accidents are taking place. Whenever any bridge-related accident happens, I feel very sad.
For the last four days, I have been extremely distressed about the incident of the Silkyara Tunnel in Uttarkashi as to why the American machine was not called for on the very first day or why this tunnel was not being built on the lines of Metro.
Still, I am happy to do voluntary work, because it helps me a lot in doing social work.
Thank you for refreshing my memories.
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