Why an electrician in Pune has not taken a day off. Fifty-nine-year-old Sadashiv Lad wakes up at five in the morning. After his bath,his wife makes him a cup of tea and some breakfast. Lad eats it all,without tasting the food,his eye always on the watch. I will get late. Call me after work, he says as gets ready for the 11km ride to his work. Its a routine hes followed for 28 years,never getting late nor taking an off. Lad is an electrician working with a private company in Pune and has created a record of sorts,by not availing even a single holiday in the last 28 years of his service. He did not take a day off when his son and daughter got married,nor did he go on leave when his father died. He now hopes to get his name registered in the Guinness Book of World Records for working without a days leave. Lad did his industrial training course from Ahmednagar in Maharashtra. He then got placed through his institute with Kalyani Carpenter Special Steels Limited in Pune,where he has been working since November 1,1974. In those days,it was about working and not wasting time, says Lad,whose starting salary was Rs 250. To say that Lad is a model employee would be an understatement. When he first joined,he requested his office to cancel his weekly off as well. But they wouldnt do it,saying that it would be a violation of human rights or something, says Lad with a tinge of disappointment. But maintaining his record hasnt been easy. There have been times when I could not even take my ailing baby to a hospital,my wife had to do that by herself, says Lad looking fondly at Asha. Once,when Lad got stuck in traffic,he had to get down from the bus and run 12 km to his office. My clothes were drenched in sweat. I could see that people on the road thought that I was a madman. But I had no choice. I could not let my record of a lifetime break, he says. Ask her about her journey with a man obsessed with his work,50-something Asha smiles ruefully. It has been sort of lonely. I used to get scared in the beginning. But now Im used to it, she says. Asha is fond of travelling,and has travelled all over the country with her friends and relatives. Lad chose to stay at home and go to work. Ask Lad why he does what he does and there is no definite reply. He likes the work,he says sometimes,and at others,he says that he wants his name registered in the Guinness Book of World Records. But one thing he is sure of,he is going to be very bored when his service ends and he retires next month. A lifetime of work has left me no time to indulge in any hobby, he says. If theres one thing he intends to do,it is travel. I have to make up for all these years of working, he says with a smile at his wife. They are planning to go to Nepal first,and then maybe to Amarnath. He is waiting for a reply from Guinness Book of World Records office in London. I have sent them a copy of my companys letter,my pay zslips and other documents via post. I had contacted them a few years ago,and they had asked me to keep up my good work, he says,staring at a receipt from the post office that bears a London address.
