written above was latent information accumulated in my mind, but it had not become my knowledge.
/ Whenever Union used to raise the issue of Canteen in discussion my position used to be straightforward and bookish. Canteen question was and is always a matter of permanent headache for Personnel managers. My argument used to be, that let the individual worker decide whether to bring his food from home or buy it from canteen. Company will provide Space, Furniture, Water, Electricity, Utensils and facilities for washing in the canteen to the contractor. Workers must pay from their pocket for the actual food consumed by him/her at the market rates and there should be no subsidy in the prices. The company should pay everything in wages.
Food and shelter or roof overhead are basic needs of every human being. I had also crammed this lesson at the school. I had not understood all the implications of that till late in life. I received the first shock of it at Oberoi Hotel in Delhi. There was a conference of Company Secretaries and Financial Controllers held in New Delhi. All participants were occupying senior positions in their respective Companies and needed dieting as an urgent health requirement. Almost all of us were overweight. The first session of the conference was late in concluding. None of us was likely to be very hungry. The session ended at last and then all of us entered the huge dining Hall of that five-star-hotel. The long tables were laid with great care and even pomp and were full of enticing food dishes prepared to meet all tastes. The hall was full of the pleasant aromas of the cuisine. My colleagues who had been sitting with me in the conference hall very ferociously attacked the Buffet laid out in the dining hall and finished it in no time. In few minutes all the food laid out was consumed and there was shortage of food. The way participants ate food and clamoured for more was a unique experience for me. Participants almost fought for the delicious dishes and the entire atmosphere was marked by clamour and absence of any discipline. I had similar experiences later in my working life at various conferences, seminars and meetings. That first experience was
shattering.
Many of my college classmates were employed in major Industrial and Business corporations like Tata, Mafatlal and Birla at senior level of management. They unfailingly mentioned about the lunch coupons that were given by their companies in Taj and Oberoi Hotels in Mumbai. It was almost a badge of honour for them. Increasingly I realised importance of Good Food more than its money value and independent of money value as such. Between good food and more money people preferred good food. This was a new realisation for me.
ot expecting five-star arrangements I was calculating only the cost of
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Unichem employees were Nn like Taj or Oberoi in their Canteen. �
