In the blink of an eye, it was July.
Throughout the month, the construction of the refineries attracted a lot of attention from the surroundings. Both the refineries, clearly visible on the coastline, imdiately beca a topic of discussion for the locals around them. What's more, only a few days after Vijay left the refineries, Raya Petroleum started to set up tenders for various local logistics companies in order to handle transportation matters for the company.
When this news got out, there was a frenzy among local businessn to hoard as many carriages as possible in order to bid for the tender.
The refineries suddenly beca magnets, attracting rich people within 100 kilotres of their surroundings.
Furthermore, with the strong stimulus provided by the refineries to the logistics industry in the local area, jobs were created for thousands of carriage drivers and service personnel.
For a ti, the price of carriages increased by a whole 50%, making them unaffordable for middle-class and even high-class individuals who wanted to buy multiple carriages. But at this ti, seeing the profitability in transportation, high-net-worth individuals started to rent out their carriages to poor people in order to earn a little stake in the transportation of oil to and from the refinery.
---
The present day...
Rana Bhatia, the general manager of Raya Petroleum, held an executive eting with the factory managers from both refineries.
"What's the status? Are the refineries ready to go into operation?"
A person sitting on the left side of the table imdiately got up and bowed with respect. "The Jamnagar refinery is ready to comnce operations, sir. We have already begun to receive loaded barrels from the oil well in Yudhaya Nagari as well as from the four oil wells in the Persian Gulf along with the Middle East."
Another man from the right side of the table stood up with a namaskara and replied confidently, "The Chittagong refinery is similar, sir. It is ready to begin operations, and the oil barrels have begun to show up from the oil well in Ahom, the neighbouring Toungoo Dynasty, and from the three oil wells in Southeast Asia. As for the one in Siberia, due to the distance, we have yet to receive the oil barrels, but we have received the ssage that in about four days, we are going to receive 10 barrels at a ti."
Rana Bhatia was satisfied. "What about the personnel? Are they all trained, and is the logistics sorted out?"
The Human Resources managers, as well as the logistics managers from both refineries, stood up.
"Logistics have been taken care of, sir. As you ordered, contracts have been signed with local businesses in nearby towns and cities," the logistics manager of the Chittagong refinery replied.
"It is the sa in Jamnagar refinery as well, sir. Over 23 different logistics companies have been contracted. We have many replacents, so we do not have to worry about being bottlenecked due to logistics."
Rana nodded while he continued to listen seriously.
"A total of 60 engineers have already been recruited, sir. They have already moved into the dormitories of the refinery. There is no issue with the skills of the technicians; all of them have been recruited only after practical tests, and all of them have been recruited from first- and second-tier universities," the human resources manager of Jamnagar refinery explained with a smile.
"Our situation is similar, sir. All 57 engineers have arrived at the refinery and have settled in. Also, in order to operate the refinery without any hiccups, we have conducted hands-on training workshops with the engineers who constructed the refinery taking the lead."
"The training for the last batch of engineers might be going on as we speak."
Rana Bhatia had heard enough. He did not have to worry about the financials since the company was very well financed by the royal family, and at least until a few years after the operation of the refineries started, he did not have to worry about financial growth. He flipped open the docunt that was on his table, signed an executive order, and looked up with determination. "In that case, let the operations begin as soon as possible."
The factory managers looked at each other and seriously nodded.
"Yes, Sir!!!"
---
At the sa ti, Chittagong refinery,
The waves of the Bengal Sea hit the shore with great montum. The sll of salt was in the air while the sea breeze blew, relieving the fatigue of a middle-aged man, Prithvi, and his son, Jitendra, who were sitting in a carriage waiting to get into the refinery with two barrels of oil in their large cargo carriage. Carriages like theirs were only a part of a long, long queue of similar carriages, making it seem like a snake crawling into the giant refinery.
The scene was very tense and chaotic, with so many carriages making a lot of noise in their movent, but it was sowhat orderly as well, with there being a unique sense of beauty in the hustle and bustle.
Jitendra, looking around and waving away the dust that rose up with the movent of people, asked his father with a frown, "How long does it take to enter the refinery, Father? Does it usually take this long?"
Prithvi shook his head in confusion. "No, usually it would have been opened by this ti. However, I cannot really tell if there is sothing wrong with the refinery. I have only been here a couple of tis, after all." Thinking about it, he added, "Your brother would definitely know. Let's ask him when we get inside."
Jitendra nodded. His elder brother was one of the engineers who had been selected to work in the refinery. It was for this reason that he and his father were able to take out a large loan from the bank, purchase a couple of carriages, and obtain a small transportation contract from Digboi to Chittagong refinery and Chittagong refinery to Dhaka.
"Dong!!!"
Suddenly, a loud bell sound rang continuously five tis.
Under the shocking gaze of the newcor Jitendra, the large door of the refinery slowly began to open.
Father Prithvi imdiately beca excited. He cried out, "Hayah!!!" and flicked his wrist to make the bulls move.
The noise of people montarily beca a little louder as the carriages began to move quickly towards the interior.
"Carriage number 345, route # 6, origin Toungoo Dynasty, transporting from the Chittagong Port."
"Carriage number 252, route #1, origin Ahom, transporting from Digboi."
One at a ti, the drivers in the carriages started to report their carriage numbers, route numbers, origins of the barrels, as well as where they were transporting the barrels from.
When Prithvi heard the driver of carriage number 345 say that he was transporting from Chittagong Port, he beca a little envious because Chittagong Port was only 18 kilotres away from the current location. 'How comfortable the journey would be,' he thought. Even though he would earn more money than carriage number 345, he was old, after all. In so things, he preferred convenience over a little bit more wealth.
Soon, it was his turn.
"Carriage #248, route #1, origin Ahom, transporting from Digboi."
He was soon led into the open field of the refinery. As he moved forward, he saw a man wearing a grey uniform with a yellow hat, carrying bright yellow sticks, directing his carriage towards the rightmost pillar.
Looking at the pillar that was 10 feet tall, as well as the biggest container present currently in the Bharatiya Empire with a capacity of 50,000 tons, Prithvi did not feel anything since this was not the first ti he had seen it. But his son Jitendra had his eyes wide open, and his mouth was agape. There were others like him who had co to the refinery for the first ti and were shocked. They even stopped their carriages for a few minutes. It wasn't until the ground staff forced them to move that they finally did.
"Father, do you think those massive containers can hold as much water as there is in our village well?"
Prithvi looked at the container and hesitantly nodded. "Maybe. Co on, let's quickly unload the barrels. The quicker we finish the work, the more ti we will get to talk with your brother."
"Ah, ok," he imdiately realized and started to loosen the bolts with a spanner.
In order for the barrels to not move, they had bolted down the barrels to the body of the carriage with the help of one-inch thick cloth belts.
The carriage slowly ca to a halt near a concrete platform only a few feet away from the tall pillar.
"Quickly unload the barrels," the person who was directing them to the location imdiately ordered.
Jitendra jumped up from the back of the carriage and imdiately rolled down the barrels with the help of an inclined wooden piece.
Taking a deep breath, he rolled one barrel after another to the side, wanting to take so assistance from his father to roll the barrels further. But when he looked forward, he was pleasantly surprised that there was a rail system present in this place as well, very similar to the one he saw in Digboi.
He no longer had any difficulty. Holding his breath, he firmly pushed the barrel onto the rail platform while he went to get the other one.
anwhile, Prithvi, with a pleasant smile on his face, asked the refinery worker about his son.
"What? You an Mr. Kirthan? Look, he's over there," he said as he pointed out a group of people near the left-most pillar.
Prithvi squinted his eyes as he could not see properly, but he imdiately recognized the vague face of his son. He was gesturing sothing to him, which he could not understand. Fortunately, his second son, Jitendra, had loaded up the second barrel at this ti.
Jitendra looked at the railcar that was moving on its own with a click-click sound as the person on top of the platform turned a lever. He smiled in satisfaction, but suddenly, he heard a call from his father and ran over.
Understanding what his father ant, he imdiately looked to his right, and without any surprise, he saw his brother communicating with him using sign language.
Their family was a special family because all the mbers of the family knew sign language—not because it was a fancy new language the governnt had brought to the basic curriculum of all the schools, but because, along with the two sons, his father also had a daughter. Unfortunately, Pavitra was deaf. She could not hear anything, so their family had to learn sign language.
Jitendra quickly understood what his brother said and told it to his father. "Hey, old man, eldest said that he is taking training from the chief engineer of the refinery. He said that he cannot et with us today."
Prithvi imdiately realized and nodded in understanding. "Is that so? In that case, it's all right. We can see him once again in a few weeks."
Turning his head, he looked at the worker in the refinery. "We still have nothing to transport to Dhaka, huh?"
The worker smiled wryly and shook his head. "No, old man, the refinery is not yet fully operational. Until now, we have only done trial runs, and the products produced until now are transported by the carriages doing route #6. But don't worry, the next ti you co, you should be able to do the Dhaka route."
Prithvi let out a deep breath and sighed. "Well, all right then, if it is how Brahma wishes—who am I to disagree?"
He lanted as he turned the carriage around and left with his son.
To be continued...
P.S. I support anding the WAQF bill—not that it's a surprise to anyone—but I'm putting it out there. I searched to see if there was a petition I could sign, but unfortunately, I couldn't find one. So, I guess I'm left with only making my voice known through social dia.
P.S. I guess if anyone wants to do the sa, y'all have my gratitude.
#AndWaqfBill
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