Experiments in Chemical Engineering , livre ebook

Diamond Books - Gopal Katju Raj

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

122 pages

English

Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

Raj Gopal Katju, scion of an Allahabad lawyer family is an age-old Chemical Engineer who after graduating from the IIT Kharagpur in 1963. surprisingly finds himself still in the regular service at the age of 70. He has over 45 years of industrial and. consultation experience with Indian Rayon Corporation, Veraval. Camphor & Allied Products Ltd. Bareilly, Gujarat Alkalies & Chemicals Ltd., Baroda and Kumar Organic Products Ltd., Bangalore and Baroda. In between official work he has penned anecdotes, essays and short stories in Hindi and English, many of which have been published in newspapers and magazines. He has also authored 4 books each in the above languages. EXPERIMENTS IN CHEMICAL ENGINEERING IS AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ACCOUNT OF HIS SAILING THROUGH LIFE IN AND OUT OF FACTORIES.

Sujets

Sciences et techniques

Informations

Publié par	Diamond Books
Date de parution	06 novembre 2020
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9798128819062
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0132€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Experiments in Chemical Engineering

eISBN: 000-00-0000-000-0
© Author
Publisher: Diamond Pocket Books (P) Ltd.
X-30, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-II
New Delhi-110020
Phone: 011-40712100, 41611861
Fax: 011-41611866
E-mail: sales@dpb.in
Website: www.diamondbook.in
Edition: 2010
Experiments in Chemical Engineering
By - Raj Gopal Katju
Dedicated to my Guru Dr. A.P. Singh Who Protected me for 20 years Taught me how to behave in a Chemical Factory and Allowed me the Freedom toThink and Act
Four generation of male Katjus in October 1944 at Jaora, M.P.– The eldest sons. Sitting: Dr. K.N. Katju, his father Pt Tribhuvan Nath Katju Standing behind: Pt Shiva Nath Katju Standing in front: Raj Gopal Katju
Raj Gopal Katju
Contents
Chapter 1 Prologue
Chapter 2 All in a Day’s Work Comradeship at School Guru Mantra
Chapter 3 The I.I.T Days A Case For Ragging The Beginner’s Race Classroom Capers The Educational Tour Of Wealth and Women
Chapter 4 A Natural in Sports The Epic Match
Chapter 5 Exposure to Industrial Accidents
Chapter 6 A Shocking Incident Doctors Please Try This How Modipon Was Not in My Destiny Misbehaviour of a Reactor The day the Autoclave Caught Fire Entry into Pmhp The Meghalaya Saga Rosin Making from Resin The Pine Tar Story The Boss, the Pigeon and I The Case of the Injecting Syringes Leadership Strike Strife F.I.R. A Tale of Affectionate Nieces A Memorable Journey
Chapter 7 The G.A.C.L. Story The Salt Upgradation Project Goan Adventure Give me the Oberoi Anyday Some Aborted Projects Procuring Land for the Company The Potassium Carbonate Commissioning The Hydrogen Peroxide Project An Ounce of Kindness
Chapter 8 Forays at Kumar Organics, Bangalore I Join Kopl Bangalore The Palmrosa Grass Project Authorship Recognised Return to Bangalore Missed Dreams at Super Salts
Chapter 9 Epilogue
Chapter 10 Appendix Appeared in Indian Express — 22.07.1999 A Note on Consultancy Air Duels A Bengali Film The Value of Time Quotes Which I Cherish Humour The One That Got Away Govt. College Win I. I. Cricket Championship Govt. College in I.I. Cricket Final Govt. College Score Thrilling 1-Run Win
Chapter 1
Prologue

Prologue
Till now I have been writing anecdotes and short stories many in humorous vein completely sidelined from my professional life. The idea came suddenly that some true and pleasant events unaware to even closest colleagues, bosses and to the better half may be narrated. These form the seeds for Experiments in Chemical Engineering.
Grandfather the eminent jurist and later statesman wrote the account of many of his High Court battles in a very judicious manner in the book “Experiments in Advocacy.”So I decided to jot down some engineering incidents in simple laymen language. These form the subject of this book.
About three decades back I came across a very fascinating essay in the Time magazine. Titled “Count Your Blessings.” It was aimed at educated people like us who read Time. Summary of the essay was that most of us tend to forget the 90% blessings bestowed on us by God and crib about the 10% pin-pricks we suffer in everyday life. A good professional degree, safe job with enough avenues for advancement, happy balanced and well behaved family, a home which we can call our own etc are conveniently forgotten when we are faced with temporary setbacks-missing a bus, a harsh lecture from the boss, delay in promotion etc. By these cribbings we make our lives as well as those of our near and dear ones miserable. Petty comparisons bring out harmful and self inflicting jealousies-which ultimately have no long term consequences.
Medical science has recently proved conclusively that 100% of the diseases of mankind start from the mind. Negative traits release harmful hormones which then do their dirty work-may it be cancer or heart attack or brain haemorrhage or stomach ulcers.
Hence it is advisable to avoid traits such as depression, tension, worry, comparison, jealousy, anger, hatred, loneliness, sadness etc and think of the blessings gifted by God. Its easier said then done but one should try one's utmost
How do we know that the superior person we are comparing with is not suffering from some bad negative trait himself and not at all happy? History is full of stories of celebrities who took their own lives at the prime of their careers. Remember Ernst “Papa” Hemingway, Marilyn Monroe, many Rock Stars? Reason—depression or boundless ambition or some other life draining trait.
So when working in the factory I tell my colleague or subordinate “Look old boy, we are in this factory-say prison from 9.30am to 5.30pm whether we like it or not. This stay is permanent. Now its up to us to remain either smiling or tense. So why not smile? Also the 8 hours have to be passed. So why not happily take up as much responsibility as given and work on them. In this way we won’t even know when the 8 hours are over till somebody shakes our shoulder and says” Come friend, its time to go home.”On the other hand if you shirk responsibility your boss will be annoyed, yau will remain tense throughout the day and glance at the watch every half hour waiting for it to come to 5.30 pm. So what do you prefer?”
By and large they see reason.
Regarding depression I philosophise to friends as follows, “If anytime I start feeling a temporary attack of depression coming I will plan a trip to the railway station in the evening. Do you know why? Because I will find hundreds of people preparing to bed for the night under the open sky; for no fault of theirs, just bad luck. If God would have wanted He could have had me born to a beggar woman. At age 1 my hands would have been broken and I would have been begging throughout my life. But no, in his infinite wisdom He allowed me to come in this world through the Katju family and that too in Allahabad So there was no lacking in upbringing and Sanskars. Credit also goes to Him for getting me through the LLT, good jobs and I am still working full-time at 70. What more can I ask? Minor pin-pricks such as delays in promotion can be and should be tolerated. So that's the philosophy I employ.
Let me admit it. I have had a fairy tale childhood. Though not exactly born with the proverbial golden spoon or for that matter silver spoon it was however quite a smooth sailing since Independence of the country.- 1947. In Jan 1948 got promoted within half hour from 1 st to 2 nd Standard because of proficiency in Arithmetic. Later when I asked mother how this proficiency came about she replied “In the latter half of 1945 you were laid down for 5 months with Typhoid. There was no cure then for this dreaded disease other then total bed rest. The disease had taken toll of a distant relative also 5 a few months back hence I kept extra vigil for you. Praying, spending quality time with you, teaching you Arithmetic tables, sums etc and reading tales of Ramayan and Mahabharat while you were bed-ridden.”
Thus the mystery was solved.
Summer vacations during May and June each year from 1948 to 52 were spent at the Govt House Calcutta thanks to the express instructions of Grandfather the Governor of West Bengal. He loved his grand-children very much and I being the eldest son of the eldest son was the favourite. Alternate years we used to take off for Darjeeling the summer capital. Flying from Calcutta to Bagdogra was an experience by itself as flying was in its infancy in India and the old Fokkers used to roll and sway a lot causing vomiting to 30% of the travellers. No wonder vomit bags were provided behind each seat. Govt House also provided facilities of swimming, table-tennis and billiards besides Royal English feasts during breakfast, lunch and dinner hence all in all those were wonderful times.
Quite early in life I found that I was a natural in Sports playing games such as cricket, badminton, table-tennis, athletics etc with a flair that surprised many including myself. Example in an inter-collegiate cricket final between M.I.C. and G.I.C the former were all out for 73 runs on a turning wicket. In our turn we fared no better and were tottering at 60 for 8 when I walked in.2 runs later the captain Ravindra Singh was bowled for 27 the highest individual score. Our supporters started weeping expecting the last rites any minute. In walked friend Bhaskar Mitra the last man. Somehow, I do not know how we both defied the fiery Masood Alam (who had captured 7 of the 9 wickets that had fallen) for over after over scoring a single here a two there with the ball missing our stumps by an inch or so many a times. Friend Masood used to look skywards imploring the Gods to oblige him. They did not. After it seemed an eternity in desperation I swiped at the ball, the bat connected and we ran three. The total reached 71. The crowd held their breath, Another heave and again the Almighty helped. Another three and we had crossed the hurdle. To confirm our victory we scored some more runs. The crowd went berserk lifting both of us on their shoulders parading us along the stands. My shirt got torn but who cared?
Next year the story was repeated when in the semi-final against C.A.V. College Bhaskar and I came together at 108 for 8 and took the score to 214 both scoring half centuries. We had become veterans—the khalifas. We won easily and then scraped through in the final by a solitary run-73 against 72. Details are recorded in the Appendix.
At the Allahabad University 2 years later the swimming brigade were stunned to see yours truly securing the silver medal in the 100 metres Back-stroke event It surprised me too. Another surprise was getting through B.Sc missing the 1 st Division by 1%. Normally University students proficient in Sports used to fail in Science subjects because of not putting in enough hard work. Where was the time?
With these credits in mind and competing for a place I sailed into the I.I.T. Kharagpur in 1959 seeking the Chemical Engineering degree.
Coming to my working lif