Multitasking porter clears Kerala Public Service Commission test

Kerala: It’s a tough life for porters ferrying passengers on Ernakulam Junction – working at odd hours, carrying large bags and maneuvering through huge crowds and busy train tracks to reach the right spot.

For Sreenath K, this journey comes with extra baggage – he is studying for the civil services.

Multitasking to the max, the porter – or coolie – uses his working hours to not only make ends meet but also studies in the process; he has made it past the Kerala Public Service Commission’s written test.

How? Taking advantage of the Wi-Fi service at the station, Sreenath plugs into his course work digitally and listens to his syllabi while navigating his way to various locomotives. "I have appeared thrice for the exam and this is the first time I used the Wi-Fi at the station. What I do is put on my earphones and listen to the study material as I carry the luggage or solve questionnaires in my mind. This way I can study while I work. I revise all my work at night when I get free time," Sreenath was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

As part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Digital India initiative, at least 685 stations across the country are now connected to the internet.

Sreenath, who hails from Munnar, said the digital revolution offered him a chance hereto undreamed of – he found course material, practice papers and online exam forms at a fraction of the expected cost.

So what’s next for this porter?

"I will keep studying. While I work as a coolie because I have the pressure of running my house, I will keep studying and appearing for exams. If I appear for enough exams, I am bound to get a good job," Sreenath told the news agency.

And as for what he really wants to work as? “A person of some authority to change things in my village maybe," he said.