I don’t think there is anything particularly special about saying that I’m a Havaldar.
I’m not saying that to disrespect the job, and I’m not saying it to make it sound smaller than it is. It is simply what I currently do for a living. And since work takes up a fairly large part of anyone’s life, this is also one part of mine.
I am currently working as a Havaldar in the Dimapur Commissionerate, CGST Guwahati Zone. I got this job through the SSC examination that I appeared for in 2024, and I joined in 2025.
I’m not going to share my personal details here. There isn’t really any reason to. They are neither particularly significant nor particularly insignificant. They are just mine.
And that’s probably how I see the job too.
I’m not trying to show off because of it. At the same time, I don’t want to pretend that I haven’t achieved anything. Getting my first government job was important to me. I worked for it, I got it, and I’m grateful for it.
More than anything, I give the glory to God for whatever I have achieved so far. I don’t see this as the end of anything. Hopefully, it is just another part of the road.
My work life at the moment is actually quite calm. I don’t have some dramatic story about unbearable pressure, constant stress or working every waking hour. That’s simply not my reality right now. Most days are fairly ordinary, and honestly, I don’t mind that.
There are things about the job that I like and things that I don’t.
One of the things I have realised quite clearly is that I don’t really like wearing a uniform.
I know that might sound strange to some people, especially because the uniform is an important part of many government jobs. I respect it. I respect the people who wear it proudly, and I understand what it represents. But personally, I just don’t feel comfortable wearing one. I don’t wear it every day, but even when I do, it isn’t something I particularly enjoy.
That is one reason I am still looking for opportunities elsewhere.
Unlike many people, I don’t have a plan to prepare for the UPSC examination or keep appearing for every major competitive examination that comes my way. I don’t have anything against that either. It is just not what I want.
What I would like, quite simply, is a job where I don’t have to wear a uniform, where I can sit down, do the work I am supposed to do, finish it and go home.
It doesn’t even have to be a hugely high-paying job.
I know that sounds unusual in a world where almost every career conversation eventually comes down to salary, status or designation. But those things don’t define what I am looking for.
I like making websites and writing, and I like building small projects and experimenting with things on the internet. I already own a few websites, and I intend to keep building more. So I want to earn not only through my job but also through the things I create myself.
That is one reason this particular website is a little different.
This site won’t be monetised.
I don’t want every part of my life to become something that needs to generate money. There are some things I want to make simply because I want to make them. This is one of those things.
Still, despite everything I have said, being a Havaldar is probably the most important part of my life right now.
Not because of the designation.
Because of what the job has given me.
This is the first job I have ever had, and because of that alone, it has introduced me to a world I hadn’t experienced before. I have met influential people I probably would never have crossed paths with otherwise, been to places I might never have had a reason to visit, and picked up on how differently people work, communicate and carry themselves.
More importantly, I have learned things.
Some of those lessons have nothing to do with the actual duties of my job. They are things I use in my everyday life. Small things about discipline, responsibility, patience, dealing with different kinds of people, observing situations and understanding that everyone has a different story behind them.
Maybe that is what makes this job important to me.
A job doesn’t have to be your dream job to change you.
It doesn’t have to be prestigious or permanent to matter.
This is simply where I am right now.
I don’t know exactly where I’ll be a few years from now. Maybe I’ll still be here, maybe I’ll have moved into something else, or maybe the websites and projects will finally be paying enough on their own. I genuinely don’t know.
For now, though, I am a Havaldar.
It is my first job. It is part of my routine, part of my experiences and, whether I like every aspect of it or not, part of my story.
And that is probably the most honest way I can describe it.
I am grateful for where I am.
But I am also still trying to find where I want to go next.
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