Mumbai: After 39 years of maneuvering his way through the Western Railway (WR) suburban network,Ranjit Singh Pardeshi hung his boots up on Monday.The motorman has more to his credit: he represented the Indian team in the 1973 hockey World Cup.
A senior motorman,Pardeshi told TOI,With my retirement there will be no motormen left with Western Railway who has joined through the sports quota.There is a dearth of sportsmen in our cadre.
Pardeshi,who hails from Madhya Pradesh,started his hockey career in school and moved to Mumbai to work with the railways.He recalls always playing either inside left or left out forthe team.I was offered a lot of positions when I joined the railways but chose to be a motorman as the job held a lot of pride back then, said the 5 foot 6 inches slim,bespectacled man who stopped playing in the 1980s.
Pardeshi,who celebrates his 60birthday today,was a standby player in the world cup hockey team in 1973.He was also the first motorman to pilot the first 15-car train that was flagged off from Dadar by Union railway minister Mamata Banerjee in 2009.
Pardeshi says his job always required high levels of alertness ans hes happy to be free of the tension.I would still,however,advice people to take up the job after all it is so difficult to get a job today, he said.
One of the challenges of the job,he says,is seeing a person come under the wheels of a speeding local.At least 60 persons have been hit by my train.The first time I nearly got a heart attack;I was trembling with the shock.However,with time we know we cant help certain situations.Besides trespassing cases I have had an accident-free career, he added.
On Monday morning Pardeshi was given the traditional farewell by the Motormen Farewell Committee of WR.His career achievements were highlighted through a big banner put up at Churchgate station.
A senior motorman,Pardeshi told TOI,With my retirement there will be no motormen left with Western Railway who has joined through the sports quota.There is a dearth of sportsmen in our cadre.
Pardeshi,who hails from Madhya Pradesh,started his hockey career in school and moved to Mumbai to work with the railways.He recalls always playing either inside left or left out forthe team.I was offered a lot of positions when I joined the railways but chose to be a motorman as the job held a lot of pride back then, said the 5 foot 6 inches slim,bespectacled man who stopped playing in the 1980s.
Pardeshi,who celebrates his 60birthday today,was a standby player in the world cup hockey team in 1973.He was also the first motorman to pilot the first 15-car train that was flagged off from Dadar by Union railway minister Mamata Banerjee in 2009.
Pardeshi says his job always required high levels of alertness ans hes happy to be free of the tension.I would still,however,advice people to take up the job after all it is so difficult to get a job today, he said.
One of the challenges of the job,he says,is seeing a person come under the wheels of a speeding local.At least 60 persons have been hit by my train.The first time I nearly got a heart attack;I was trembling with the shock.However,with time we know we cant help certain situations.Besides trespassing cases I have had an accident-free career, he added.
On Monday morning Pardeshi was given the traditional farewell by the Motormen Farewell Committee of WR.His career achievements were highlighted through a big banner put up at Churchgate station.
