![]() During this period I came in contact with the diplomats of the Indian Embassy and other India centric organizations. I became an active member and then got elected to the Board. It is one of the oldest cultural associations of the Netherlands, established in April 1954. Another big advantage in the Netherlands was that almost everybody here speaks English.Īs a new arrival I got in touch with the Netherlands-India Association. In the Netherlands, it was a job with normal office hours. In such an environment it is not that easy to follow evening and weekend classes. In the aircraft maintenance division of an airline, some of the employees have to follow a three shifts rooster. In comparison with Germany, life in the Netherlands was very comfortable. As India introduced commercial aircrafts with Jet engines in 1960, it is very well possible that I was the first Assamese who got an opportunity to go abroad for higher training in this subject.ĪT: How your inclination to work in social activities in Netherlands start? One of the newspapers published from Kolkata, reported that I was the first Assamese to be sent for training in Jet engines. One was at Dumdum airport and the other was at Kerala. If I remember correctly, in those days, there were only two institutions in India to study Aircraft Maintenance Engineering. At that time there was no possibility in India to get training in commercially used Jet engines. Air India introduced the first 707 with jet engines in 1960. The Boeing 707 entered commercial services in 1958. Then there was the turbo-prop Fokker’s Friendship aircrafts used in the Kolkata – Assam sector. It was a four-engine propeller-driven aircraft built by Lockheed. I remember the Lockheed Constellation, affectionately known as the "Connie", or Super Connie. In those days in India we had aircrafts with propeller driven engines. Now tell us how did your career progress? One of the reasons I applied for a job in the Netherlands was that as a student from India I was corresponding with a medical student from the Netherlands and she wanted to continue her study to become a medical specialist.ĪT: You are the first one of the Assamese to be sent for training in Jet engines. Milan 2007: with Sattriya dance participants at Milan Festival, The Hague, July 2007ĪT: Why you applied for a job in Netherlands? In the bacground his wife Hannie.įlyer introducing Sattriya dancer Vedajyoti Ozah. Photo by HoffmanĢ5 years jubilium with the same company. Saleh with the mayor of Berkel en Rodenrijs receiving his royal award. So through a “Head Hunter”, I applied for an IT job in the Netherlands and moved to the Netherlands in 1968. But I could not get the residence permit to work in the IT sector. In Germany I wanted to change my profession from Aircraft Maintenance Engineering to IT. I joined evening classes to study computer programming in languages like Basic, Cobol, Fortran, Algol, etc. There I came in contact with numerical controlled machines and data processing. From Munich I went to Hamburg to work with the Lufthansa German Airlines. In Germany, I not only got my training in Jet-engines but I also leant how to survive in an alien environment, amidst a totally different work culture and above all without knowing the local language. From there we took the train and travelling through Switzerland we arrived in Munich in one of the coldest winters of Europe. In November 1963, I left Bombay by ship and after 14 day-long travel reached Genoa in Italy. For few months, I worked as a teacher at the Kohima Government High School. Here I got my first hand experience in DC3, Dakota aircrafts. Before I went to Germany, I joined Kalinga Airlines and worked as a trainee. The college selected me to join BMW Triebwerkbau GmbH, in Munich, Germany for higher training in Jet Engines. From there I went to study Aircraft Maintenance Engineering at Southern College of Engineering and Technology in Ernakulum in Kerala. I had my matriculation from Kohima Government High School and did my undergraduate study at J.B. ![]() He was the Principal of Kohima Polytechnic School. From Jorhat my father was transferred to Kohima. I attended the lower primary school at Jorhat and then joined the Jorhat Government High School. Assam Times: First of all could you please tell us how you spent your early life in Assam and also how you shift to Europe.
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