My first job

 It was a summer afternoon and it was my vacation between two semesters. What better to do than to sleep. But that was not to be. 

While I was asleep, one of those "survey" takers had landed at my doorstep. The survey was for some upcoming cosmetic cream launch or something. Survey duly completed, my mother became curious. She asked the boy, "Who are you? How come you are doing this job? Are you studying?" The boy told her how he was in college, but he was using this vacation as a way to earn, learn and gain some experience. 

And she told him, "I also have a person like this here, but he is sleeping. Give me the address, he will also come from tomorrow"

And thus it was, that my afternoon reverie was broken - with an earful about how college students are being so resourceful and how I, as a college student was lazy. And that I have to show up at 9 at this place the next day since my mother had promised that boy that I would come. 

Thus, I landed up next day at Bandra (from Chembur) at this place that took surveys for a multinational consumer goods major. I was briefed about the survey and trained very quickly followed by one or two "assisted" surveys and then I was on my own. Pramod was my trainer and there was a team leader whose name I forget. And he quickly schooled me on the pithy wisdom of door to door surveys. 

For the next fortnight odd, I covered a lot of Mumbai that I did not know existed - from Malad to Dadar to Goregaon to Cuffe Parade and a few other places. We would meet as a group at a pre-determined location, fan out in multiple directions complete the surveys - sometimes caught up at lunch - a quick catch up with the leader and then went home. 

It was a difficult job to say the least at least at the start. Knocking on people's doors, requesting them to fill a form sometimes cajoling them - but the large part of the job initially was frustration - people shutting doors, shooing you away, asking you to get lost and some politely telling you that they are busy. Later on, I hacked this by carefully targetting homes that had specific names on the nameplate and using my language skills effectively. So I only knocked doors of people whose language I knew. That reduced the frustration level by a significant extent. And I became known as the "fluent" survey kid among the group. 

But yes, I did complete my quota and finished my fortnight with a lot of humility and experience. And the next time a survey taker landed home, I always had a polite conversation. After all, once you spend those afternoons wandering on foot, eating in bus stops or under a tree or in a park, knocking doors fruitlessly, sweaty, thirsty - it builds empathy like no other. 

And about a month later the team leader showed up at my house with my cheque and the news that all my surveys were a success - they had to do a follow up meeting about the cosmetic and my surveys were done well. 

Our paths never crossed again - but this remains a great first paid job experience that I ever had...