In April 1953 things started looking up when I attended an interview for a clerical job in the Indian Telephone Industries, a Govt of India establishment located in Krishnarajapuram on the outskirts of the City. I got through the interview and was appointed asa clerk-typist in the Sales department because of my good knowledge of typing. Coincidentally my brother who had since joined us in Bangalore after his schooling in Calicut also got an appointment in the same company at the same time. I quit my job with the firm of Army Contractors and joined the I.T.I. Although salary-wise it was not a big deal, I was happy that I was at last working in a permanent job in a well known company. It was a good 8 kms ride from home to the factory and although there was a pick up and drop facility available I preferred to use my bicycle for commuting to and from the office while my brother took the local train. Cycling to office was indeed a pleasure to me. The city was still young and there were not too much traffic on the roads especially the long stretch from the outskirts of the town to the office. I enjoyed the sceneries on either of the road. Since I was fond of reading I used to read a book while riding the cycle on the lonely stretches in the mornings. It was so refreshing and pleasant. I also picked up a friendship with a fellow rider who was also regularly cycling to work. She was working in an establishment close to my office. We used to be engaged in conversations while riding which took away the tedium of cycling alone. However in the evenings it was a race to reach home first. A colleague of mine was also commuting to the office by cycle. As soon as the siren went off at 5.15 and before the thousands of workers in the factory emerged from their work place and converged at the bus depot for their journey back home I would run to the cycle stand and collect my cycle. Then it was a race at breakneck speed from Krishnarajapuram to the city, a good eight kms. My friend and I raced together on the main road and would cover the distance in about half an hour before the ITI Bus fleet arrived.