Work is worship

At a time when Writers8217; Buildings is rocked almost everyday by violent agitations and demonstrations by state government employees, Himanshu Paramanik...

Himanshu Paramanik, a Group D employee at the finance department in the state administrative headquarters, is a workaholic and a do-gooder. Sabyasachi Bandopadhyay learns that everyone is full of praise for him

At a time when Writers8217; Buildings is rocked almost everyday by violent agitations and demonstrations by state government employees, Himanshu Paramanik, a Group D employee at the finance department in the state administrative headquarters, seems to be alien to his colleagues.

For Paramanik is a religious follower of the age-old adage: work is worship

And the man who stays with his mother and wife and sister comes to office from his house at Cossipore at 8 in the morning and leaves after 7 in the evening 8212;- a routine that most other employees of Writers8217; will squirm at. Strangely enough, he does not claim his tiffin allowance of Rs 10 which an employee is entitled to if he or she stays back after 6-30 pm.

8220;I know only one thing. I get my salary because I work. And I believe shirking work is duping my employer. I love to work. I hardly go to any temple. This Writers8217; Buildings is my temple. And my work is my worship,8221; says the 48-year-old man who joined his service in 1995.

And Paramanik, who has passed Madhyamik, does not stick to the job typical of a peon, like taking files from one room to another. The man, with an excellent handwriting in both English and Bengali, does a lit bit of clerical job too. For example, he makes the entries of the files that come to his office. In fact, except for writing notes on files or operating computers, Paramanik does all other things and that too with dedication and sincerity.

8220;He is an asset to the department. He is workaholic. He will never sit idle. For the whole day he is doing something or the other. Even when there is no work here, he will go to another department and ask if there is anything he could do. Save and except for a few days when his father died last year, he never took leave during his entire career at Writers8217;. Even when a bandh is called he comes to office, if he can. Sometimes he puts us to shame,8217;8217; Ajay Das, his senior colleague, told this correspondent.

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Paramanik says he always got encouragement from his colleagues. 8220;I never get any barbs from anybody. On the contrary, my colleagues always encourage me. And I am not bothered who is saying what about me. I only know my job,8217;8217; the man said.

He also said that he had learnt to respect his job from his father who was an employee at Cossipore Gun 038; Shell factory. 8220;My father was also a workaholic. He always advised me: 8220;Give more to your employer than what he gives you.8217;8217;

Employees at other departments also are all praise for this diminutive man who always stands in good stead at others who are in distress.

8220;He often comes to our department and asks if he can do anything for us. If anybody has any problem, he will rush. He may not give money but he will help in any other way he can,8221; Arup Choudhury, an employee of the land and land reforms department, said.