Life of a common man

 Life of a common man

Life is full of struggle, ups and down, which I experienced today, while interacting with a stranger. After my gym session I took the lift, where this gentleman was already inside. It started with hello, hi. The lift power went off for a while and after resuming it started going up instead of down. I enquired the young man if he is working in this building. He said he came for a interview. That explains why he wore a suit. I asked him what kind of job he has experienced with. He was looking in his early thirties. His name Gagan Agarwal. He said he was in real estate for six years and his area was sales and marketing. He said he was associated with a company who bought land from farmers and then sell them to prospective buyers. The land development and internal road etc was in scope of developer. His area of operation near Dasna close to Dadri plant. I asked Gagan why he left the job. He said the owner, his former boss now in jail. The land developer did not develop the area as promised to customers. Some of the plots still have disputes as proxy owner came during registration of land. The project was not RERA approved. Customers went to court in Ghaziabad ( for land in Dasna) and Lucknow ( for Noida west) land. The complaint was also against Gagan. He was accused of taking cheque and put in his account. However Gagan had copies of all the cheques which were deposited in company’s account. He was sure he will win the case. But Indian judiciary is known for slow progress. He used to be present during hearing but most of the time complainant was missing resulting in postponement of case as fresh date is given for hearing. There were multiple cases against him. He admitted to court that he was a mere employee and sold plots on behalf of the company as directed by owner. Finally after three years of legal battles he managed a clean chit from court.  He said during this tormented period, many times he thought his. career is doomed, but he bounced back with a strong willpower. Now he is again searching for job. 

He told me that it is well known that  the developers are known as land sharks, but the farmer lobby is equally money hungry. He said, he saw in one case, the farmer got 55lac in cash after selling a plot, went straight to Toyota showroom to buy a Fortuner. When asked for PAN Card, I card, he said he never heard of those things. He is paying in cash. so they are bound to sell the car to him. 

Gagan told me many builders, land developers in UP are in jail because of excess greed. The employees are generally untouched. He said during corona period many builders, hotel owners could not pay back the loan they  took from bank. The owner of both  Radisson, Kaushambi died by suicide after failing to repay bank. 

Gagan is now 37 years old. He was born and brought up in Delhi, though his parents hails from Shikar Dt in Rajasthan. He is still unmarried  . He stays with her parents and brother. At this moment his main focus is to rebuild his career. I asked him don’t you feel you are getting late for marriage. He said .. sometime he feels lonely, it would have been easier to share his woes with some one and in this situation who will be more close than his own wife. Again he thinks, it is good that he is yet to marry. Had he been married with kid his tension would go manifold, as losing job means more financial burden to him if he own a family rather than being single. I find Gagan to be a lean and thin chap, no sign of approaching 40 except receding hairline. He said he lost 15lg during his legal battle. He showed me a six year old photo, unmistakably him with a bulkier figure. With so much ups and down faced by him, he still manage an innocent smiling face.

During the whole conversation I find him more philosophical and calm. Perhaps that given him the strength to overcome setback in his life. 

I wished him best of luck for his interview before we parted. Before that I didn’t forget to get a selfie with him.

Debadatta

22/02/23