NTC engineer, always cheerful and diligent at work

Ashok Kumar Ajmera, 54, could never say no to anyone. 8220;Yes boss, ho jayega he would say cheerfully whenever I gave him any task,8221; recalls VD Zope...

Ashok Kumar Ajmera, 54, could never say no to anyone. 8220;Yes boss, ho jayega it will be done he would say cheerfully whenever I gave him any task,8221; recalls VD Zope, Chief General Manager technical of the National Textile Corporation NTC.

So two years ago too, when he was told to move to the head office to work on a different project, Ajmera despite eing reluctant, since it was a desk job, couldn8217;t say no.

He was then a Chief Engineer at the Tata Mills at Elphinstone, and had served the better part of his 21-year career with the NTC ensuring the smooth functioning of machines. 8220;He was quite comfortable with the grease and dirt on his hand. He told me that he was not cut out for a desk job,8221; says Zope, who convinced Ajmera that the new job would be more challenging than what he was doing.

Ajmera8217;s brief was to assist senior colleague AG Bapat, a consultant with NTC after retirement, in all issues relating to mill land redevelopment, especially with regard to sale and litigation on Development Control Rules 58 and heritage.

8220;He jelled with Bapat very well, and both were a remarkable team, putting in long hours everyday,8221; says Zope.

He had taken to the new job as if he had always been made for it, adds NN Kamath, Deputy Manager Management Services at NTC. 8220;It was always the challenge in the work that motivated him.8221;

On July 11, Ajmera and Bapat were returning home together in a suburban train. The bomb went off at Jogeshwari station. Both died.

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Colleagues recall that everything seemed to be going well for Ajmera, who would have turned 55 on December 30. He and his wife Savitri had moved into their new flat in Thakur Village at Kandivali only three months before. His two sons had good jobs. And he had just become a grandfather to elder son Pravin8217;s daughter.

8220;Ajmera had a cheerfulness about him that was so contagious that everybody around him felt good,8221; says PM Bidri, a colleague.

Zope recalls how his family was taken by surprise during a trip to Badrinath in June when a man came running towards them and caught Zope in a tight embrace. It was Ajmera, unable to contain his excitement on his seeing his boss at the same place he was visiting.

8220;When he came back from the trip he told me that next time I should be ready to meet him at the Puri temple. I told him that I had already been to Puri and wished him good luck,8221; says Zope. 8220;Unfortunately, he never realised his dream to visit Puri.8221;