Chapter 45: Builders of a New India – Expanded
January 1984– Singh Infrastructure & Civil Works Division, Lucknow
The morning fog rose slowly from the ground like a veil of time lifting from the past. Thin rays of sun filtered through the winter haze, falling gently on dusty boots, freshly drawn chalk lines on cement floors, and the half-raised pillars of promise.
Across SinghTech's newly opened Infrastructure Training Yard, people were arriving in slow but steady waves—students, engineers, professors, retired officers—all drawn here not by salary or promotion, but by the strange, impossible idea that roads in India could be built honestly, strongly, and beautifully.
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Recruitment & Arrival
The week before, telegrams and handwritten letters had been delivered across engineering colleges, rural polytechnics, and retired engineers' associations. One line stood out to many:
> "If you've ever been told your ideas are 'too much' for India—come here."
Now, two buses from IIT Kanpur and NIT Allahabad rolled into the Singh campus, engines still warm from the highway.
Inside the first bus, students spoke in hushed awe.
> "Did you see that giant cement 3D printer on the left side?" asked one.
> "That's not a printer, idiot. It's a compression mold press—for bridge beams," said another, correcting gently.
> "This place smells different," murmured Kavita, notebook in hand. "Like oil… and honesty."
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Welcoming by Example
Bharat, just eight years old, stood waiting in the center courtyard with a clipboard, flanked by two field engineers.
He wore a khadi kurta, dusty near the hem, and carried the air of someone older than time. When one professor hesitated at the registration table, unsure who to speak to, Bharat simply looked up and said:
> "You're welcome, sir. The drafting room's waiting. Do you prefer bridge design or flood contouring?"
The man blinked. "I… suppose I prefer both."
> "Then today is a good day," Bharat said, and walked on.
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Small Talk in Small Teams
Once assigned, the newcomers filtered into their respective work areas. Each department had been set up like a micro-campus—chalkboards, tents, machinery, and a lead mentor with a kettle of chai never too far away.
🟡 Design Team – "Dreaming in Concrete"
The design zone was a canopy under neem trees. Drafting boards leaned against tree trunks. Blueprints blew slightly in the breeze.
> "Make your line feel the curve," said Nandini, a woman in her forties with sharp eyes. "A road isn't just drawn—it's predicted."
An intern, sketching a slope curve, muttered, "I've never seen a road bend like that."
> "That's because bad roads don't dance," she replied. "Ours will."
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🟠 Labor Team – "Hands Know First"
The labor training field smelled of sweat and wet cement. Ramlal, a seasoned mason, clapped a young intern on the back.
> "So you're a topper in your college?" he asked.
"Yes, sir!"
> "Good. Now mix this batch of concrete with your hands. No gloves. Then tell me if you know what strength it will set at."
The intern blinked. "Is that safe?"
> "Only if your intention is pure."
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🔵 Engineering Team – "Balance in Every Bolt"
The engineering shed was louder—measuring tapes clicking, slope inclinometers being calibrated.
Engineer Gokhale called to a group, "Who can tell me how many degrees off is this gradient?"
One answered, "Three-point-five."
Another said, "Four."
Bharat walked in, glanced at the layout, and said, "Three-point-two. But it will expand by 0.2 when it's 45 degrees in May."
Everyone paused.
> "Add thermal memory to your measurements," Bharat added. "The sun builds too."
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🔴 Cost Analysis Team – "Saving Through Logic"
In a quiet cabin filled with ledgers, Ruchi explained:
> "We track every rupee—from tin sheets to drinking water buckets."
A boy asked, "Why water buckets?"
> "Because if laborers collapse from heat, the project fails."
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⚖️ Legal Team – "Words Are Cement"
Under a shaded verandah, contracts were being reviewed. A retired government lawyer spoke:
> "We used to write in longhand. Now we fight with clarity."
A professor joined in: "Here, at least, the contracts are longer than the bribes."
Everyone chuckled softly, but there was truth in the silence after.
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📑 Bidding Team – "The Price of Integrity"
The bidding room had maps of districts and cost sheets pinned like war maps.
> "We lose half our tenders because we don't undercut," said the manager.
> "But the half we win—we build on truth."
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🧪 R&D Team – "Tomorrow's Road Today"
Here, crushed coconut fiber sat next to iron slag and rubber mulch.
> "Mix it. Heat it. Test it," said Meenal.
> "And if it works?" asked a student.
> "Then name it after your village."
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🏗️ Training & Internship Division – "Learning is Doing"
Vishal gave instructions over a megaphone.
> "No theory today. You mix, you pour, you measure. Then we talk."
One intern laughed, "I came for a lecture!"
> "This is it," Vishal replied. "The ground is your textbook."
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🚛 Logistics Team – "The Arteries of the Nation"
Inside the logistics tent, maps were filled with pins and thread lines.
> "We tracked a brick truck from Varanasi. It lost 90 minutes to potholes."
> "Next time, we fix the potholes first."
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📣 Marketing Team – "Selling Truth, Not Just Tools"
In a quiet office, Meera worked on a pamphlet titled "Build Your Road, Build Your India."
> "No tricks," she told her writers. "Just stories. Real ones."
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🔍 Cross-Check & Quality Control – "We Watch What Others Skip"
Farzana stood near a freshly laid test strip.
> "Check depth. Check mix. Check soul."
A student whispered, "Soul?"
> "Yes," she said. "Because concrete without conscience breaks faster."
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Evening Reflection Under the Tamarind Tree
As the sun dipped, workers and students gathered for chai. One young student spoke softly:
> "Sir… what if we fail?"
Swaminathan, the retired bridge engineer, smiled.
> "We already failed for thirty years. That's why you're here. So we don't again."
Ajay arrived then, dusty from a site visit. He sat beside them and simply said:
> "What you build with your hands today—children will walk on for decades."
Bharat walked over with a small chalkboard. On it, he had drawn:
> "A school, a bridge, a hospital, a road."
> "Four pillars of real freedom," he said.
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