Mainframe computer system and new breed of programmers

The period I am talking of was a transition period in the computer department.
The huge setup of mainframe computers consisted of punching cards, reading the cards and getting them organized in order to provide necessary outputs. It was a long drawn out process and was getting outdated. The rooms where the system was installed was out of bounds to all except those directly involved. The room was air-conditioned and precautions had to be taken to ensure cleanliness of a high order.

However, there was a change of guard in the department and new boys and girls were inducted. They used to be engaged in work of the payroll and finance departments and the system being used was Cobol. They had got tired of doing the same job over and over again.
Therefore, when I discussed my proposal, they understood that they would get an opportunity to be involved in doing some other type of work that would provide some sort of excitement as well as variety.
By that time I had prepared some basic data on a whole lot of aircraft – these were mostly dates of release into service, dates when they came back for repairs or overhaul from the IAF, date when they were delivered back to IAF after the work etcetera.
Along with dates, I had also prepared some other data on the various accidents or incidents that had been reported on those aircraft. In order to do this in a systematic way, I had generated specific Alpha-numeric codes based on the reports held in individual files.
Armed with these inputs, I went to the computer department and discussed it with its boss. He had a vision of the future and welcomed my idea. But – he wanted an authorization from my boss. A matter of protocol.
I had discussed it with my boss already and when I asked him for authorization, he gave it readily with a clause. In the letter he mentioned that – ‘all matter related to computerization must be addressed to only Ghose.’ (to be continued …)


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