It has almost been 11 years (10 years 10 months to be exact as on date) since I joined Paradip Refinery in 2013. The journey has been long, but it has given me immense satisfaction as well as learning.
1. In TS, it is difficult to learn the dynamics of a plant in operation. The confidence gained while operating a process unit is priceless. I was lacking that experience and I thought getting a good commissioning experience at a young age will be priceless.
2. Being from Odisha and a new refinery was coming in my state, hence, I did not want to miss a chance to be part of something which would eventually change the energy landscape of the eastern India.
Based on the above to reasoning I had applied for transfer and got posted in 2012. However, I joined in 2013 since I was retained in Mathura for 1 year. Finally, I joined on 14th May 2013, and a new chapter in my life started.
Initial period in my personal space as well as office was difficult. I had to start from scratch since no one knew me here. Gradually things started to fall in its places and life got easier. There have been learnings in personal as well as professional life in the last decade, which I will try to summarize.
1. Getting Out of Comfort Zone:
Working in Tech Services in Mathura Refinery was comfortable. I never worked in Operations, which I feel is more challenging than Tech Services. I was afraid if I could handle man and machine in an operating plant. Initially I was apprehensive but over a period of time I developed skills to manage people and learned how machines work. Working in a new plant gave ample opportunity to fail and learn. The learning is that once you settle for comfort, you stop growing. In professional life, try to have as varied experience as possible during the initial period and trust me, there is not a single job or experience which does not teach you something. So next time a new assignment or an extra work is required to be done in office, volunteer to do the job. The worst thing is that you will fail, and the best thing is that you will succeed. Either way it will enrich you.
So next time, when your boss gives you extra work, do not ask your boss "Why Me?", but instead ask yourself, "Why Not Me?". That will make all the difference in the long run.
2. Trust the Process
There have been times in Paradip, I have felt dejected and on the verge of emotional breakdown. I am a person who is expert in hiding feelings. Hence those emotional turmoil were very hard for me to digest, and I had almost given up on life. But somehow, I survived. I don't know if I am a better person than I was 10 years ago but now, I believe that whatever problem someone goes through is designed to teach them a lesson. It has taught me and changed my perspective on life and hopefully I am better and wiser.
3. What happens, happens for good.
On 15th Aug 2022, a freak accident in the plant, I fractured my ankle. I was lucky that I did not fall from height which could have been fatal or did not get head injury (thanks to the PPEs). But the injury was at a time when the unit needed me the most (on going plant maintenance), and the injury was in my ankle which made me immobile for a month. If I had injury in any other part, I could still have contributed. Overall, the timing of the accident and injured organ was the worst possible thing that could have happened. But, on hindsight, this was the best thing that happened to me.
First, my junior, with who I had together made all the execution plan, did an excellent job in managing the turnaround. An uncomfortable situation was forced on him, but he came out in flying colors. My team completed the shutdown and startup of the plant in my absence. So, the confidence of the refinery management in my team increased multifold.
Secondly, because of the injury, I got a change in assignment which would have been very unlikely otherwise. One thing led to other, and I feel my next assignment was related to the change in job profile that happened earlier.
4. Invest in Yourself
Since 2006, I did not take any professional/certificate course. However, changed policy in the corporation, allowed for higher studies in 2018/2019. In the year 2019, I was chosen to go on a foreign assignment for a period of about a year. During the same time, I also had the opportunity to go for the company sponsored M.Tech. I did not take more than a minute to decide between MTech and foreign assignment. Even though, foreign assignment would have been a learning opportunity, but it would have been a repetition of the work I had already done. Hence, I choose to go for higher studies. And I have never regretted the decision. Irrespective of the learning from the course work, what the professors from IIT/ICT taught me was that we should always strive to learn. Reading and learning new things not only gives you knowledge but also changes you as a person. Hence never ever hesitate to invest in yourself and your growth. Keep learning.
5. Keep the Child inside you alive.
I still love to make models at home as I did in childhood. Last time me and my daughter made a replica of a boat for Kartika Purnima. Before that we made a model of the James Webb Telescope. I get immense pleasure in working on the bonsai plants I have nurtured. I feel a sense of satisfactions when I see the trees planted around my quarter has grown up to big ones bearing fruit and harboring birds. My daughter has learnt this habit from me, and she cares for the plants also. Even if you don't have a kid, keep the child inside you alive. Be inquisitive, and teachable. Develop a knack for questioning things and trying things without a care for success and failure. Take pleasure in small wins and forget the losses. Adopt a hobby, preferably one which involves outdoor activities. Life is shorter than you think, so fill the moments with small memories. As one of dear friend says, life need not be fancy, but it should be fulfilling.
2024, has been great till now. A lot of things have suddenly gone right for me. Since I will be going to a new location, I have a tinge of sadness for leaving a place with so many memories. But I am also excited to explore the new one and opportunity it will provide for me and my family. Paradip is also a place I got married and became a father. I am forever grateful to the almighty for giving me a wonderful life partner who has supported me, changed me for better. Also grateful for the biggest blessings of my life, my daughter, who has provided a new meaning to my life.
In the early part of my life, I used to think that petrol pumps directly extract petrol from underground and they are located where there is a petroleum reserve. In the late 1990s, as a school going kid, I had heard and read about a planned refinery in Paradip in the eastern coast of India. I grew up to study chemical engineering and work in Indian Oil (that itself is a story of serendipity). I was lucky to be a part of the team that received the first crude oil in the refinery and the 1st Process Unit (Crude Distillation Unit) was commissioned when I was the Panel in charge on 26th April 2015. I have been lucky to have worked with people having immense work ethics and talent. From a driver who had gained so much knowledge by just listening to conversations, to JEAs who have crawled under equipment's to check its correct installations, to people who have selflessly put themselves in danger in case of firefighting, to my bosses who have guided me, they all have been a source of inspiration.
In life in general and in Paradip, I have been lucky. People have trusted me and advocated for me even though there are more hardworking, smarter and more knowledgeable colleagues than me. I have got more than I deserved in life. But from reading about a refinery to commissioning it, has been a wonderful stroke of luck.
rabindra
14-March-2024
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