Thursday 31 July 2014

Choice

Fire is just fire
it is neutral
it is niether good or bad

One can use it to cook
use as light & warmth
in a dark cold forest
or use it to burn others
or self like the suicide bombers..

similar is the truth with poetry & the fine arts
can be used to lament, condemn
dwell on the dark sides of life
wallow in self pity..

One can also use fine art & writing
to exhort, motivate
focus on the rainbow & sunshine
rather than on the dark clouds.
the choice is yours...

Monday 28 July 2014

Harmonious Happiness


Ms Mahalakshmi of Finance and her fiancé Karthick (who had worked earlier in the company in GA department) had come down to invite me for their wedding on 5th March 2012. They pointed out that 4th March, the reception date was a Sunday, and so convenient to attend.

I was pondering over this. It is a fact that normally a function on a Sunday is an advantage. But this particular weekend, I would be out of station. How could I convey my regards & warm greetings to the young couple even when not being physically present?   Suddenly an idea came to my mind. What if I went back to my notes & shared the lines of wisdom imparted by Mr Sugi Sivam, noted speaker in Tamilnadu, during the “Newly married Couples” program organized by our ER department.

So through my notes, I journey back to the 18th  of February 2010- This is what he said then:

1)       Do not give room for a third person to enter into your married life- not even your mother, brother or sister

2)      Accept certain things which form the core or basic nature of your partner. Don’t try to change him or her in this aspect. As for example your partner is very religious & you don’t like this.

3)      Retain the closeness & attraction that you feel for each other till the end

4)      Problems arise because of the many expectations you have from the partner. Instead practice acceptance

5)      Never compare your spouse with anyone else. Can you compare a Rose with a Lily? Each flower is  unique & beautiful in its own way

6)      His advice to husbands: when you come home tired from office, wife tells about a lot of problems, just listen to it silently

7)      The moments of love is the only thing that remains at the end of life

8)      You can’t love anybody if you keep looking for limitations /faults  in the other

9)      When you go out with your wife, give undivided attention to her and don’t focus on friends  or other people

10)  Avoid being self centered; keep the wellbeing of spouse always in mind.

 It is my belief that these are pearls of wisdom from a distinguished personality who has been guiding many people over the years. I wished the young couple all the best. I had put it up in knowledge management site of our company intranet so that many more could benefit. Now, I am publishing it in my blog with the prayer that  my readers enjoy harmonious happiness in their lives.

 

Sunday 20 July 2014

Ramanujan - Movie Review

yesterday I  had the privilege
of watching the biopic
'Ramanujan' on the silver screen
a story of the trials, tribulations
success, glory & pain
of the mathematical genius..
Srinivasa ramanujan

lived every moment
along with the protagonist
as he moved from childhood to adulthood
his brillance as a child and later..
maths craze, bordering on madness
financial struggles, rejection

marriage, fleeting,stolen moments of love
pains of seperation and journey to UK
alienation in culture,food, climate
yet unstinted support from Hardy, the mentor  professor
falling prey to the dreaded tuberculosis
Glory atlast - declared fellow of the Royal Society

Return to India to a tumultuous welcome
some moments again with the beloved spouse
TB's victory & world's loss
of a genius at 32!
his findings serving many disciplines
like computers as late as in 2012


Whom do I thank
for enlightening us on a great son..
for making this Indian  proud
to share citizenship with a genius-
the writer Director gnana Rajasekaran?
the wonderful technicians behind camera?
or the perfect cast of Abhinay Vaddi, suhasini,Bhama& others?

And what rating can I give
a cinema so balanced
no number relevant
for saluting this  work
on  the man of numbers
a must see for all  Indians!


 

Monday 7 July 2014

Evening of Life

I thought I would make a telephone call to Gopal. It had been a long time since I had talked to him. I called his number; it rang a number of times but there was no response. Two days later, I tried once again, with the same result. A week later, I attempted a third time. As no one picked up the phone this time as well, I decided to go down and meet Gopal at his residence. When I reached and rang the calling bell, Sandeep, the youngest son of Gopal, opened the front door. “Is your father at home?” I asked, soon after entering the house. He gave me a strange look. “You don’t know? Father expired two months back. We had given information about it in two leading newspapers.”  I was shocked to hear that. I had been out of station around that time and had somehow not heard about it.

Gopal’s wife walked in and joined in the conversation. They seemed to be very matter of fact about the whole thing. As the discussion progressed, Sandeep said, “Father never bothered about anything, except about his own needs. He wanted to eat and sleep well, particularly looking forward to the non-vegetarian preparations at the week end.” I was surprised to hear that. After all, he had as the sole breadwinner brought up four children. Sandeep dismissed my observation on these lines with a smile “I know dad’s friends think a hell of a lot of him. For us, he was nothing special. You should see the amount of financial and other support parents give their children. Uncle, I know you would have done a lot for your children!”

I was a little embarrassed. I could not claim to have done anything extraordinary for my two sons except provide the normal sound education. Not wanting to listen more of such talk, I hurriedly took leave. “Keep visiting uncle” called out Sandeep as I stepped on to the street. In my mind though, I kind of knew that this would be my last visit to this place, given the fact that my friend no longer lived there. As I trudged along on the street pensively, memories came flooding into my mind, of our association and the various activities that we had engaged in together over the years…. Memory of the last time I had met Gopal came rushing in like a flash.  His face had been troubled; he wanted to tell me something, but was holding himself back. I had encouraged and cajoled him to speak. Yet when Gopal completed his tale, I did not know what to say.

 Gopal had been a colleague in a previous company and had retired 8 years ago. We were meeting after a long time. He had seen many ups and downs in a working career of over 35 years. He started as a clerk, worked his way up and was a manager at the time of retirement. During this period, in the home front he focused completely on the education & wellbeing of his four children. He had the satisfaction of seeing all the four doing well, three of them boys, engineers and the girl a dentist. After retirement, he was living with one of the sons in Chennai, the others working in other parts of the country. His earning was a monthly pension under the company's pension scheme.

Gopal had shared with me about the small, little ways his son was seemingly humiliating him.... A diabetic, he needs to go for periodic checkups. Recently, his son accompanied him but soon disappeared at the hospital. The consultation fee was to be paid at the cash counter before meeting the doctor. He searched for his son, Sanjeev but he was nowhere near the counter at the reception. He later found him standing in a corner far away and had to request him to pay the fee.

When he finally met the doctor, he advised him to take three dozes of an injection to avoid kidney complications. Each of the doze would cost Rs 1500/. Sanjeev said he would cross check with other hospitals & confirm whether this procedure was absolutely necessary and whether a less expensive medicinal doze was available. He had a doubt that the doctor was suggesting unnecessary procedures. Now, one and half months had passed and still there was no sign of Sanjeev taking him for the injection. Gopal had reminded him 3 to 4 times but he didn’t seem to pay attention. Now he didn’t know what to do. His eldest son was coming from Kolkata next week. Perhaps he should tell him of his plight and seek his help...

As he was sharing with me his problems & feelings, Gopal's voice broke a number of times. “You know," he told me "This Sanjeev was an introvert, could not speak English well and lacked in self-confidence. I went and fought & cajoled a premier college in the city to accept him. I had also arranged private tuitions in the subjects he was weak. Today he has blossomed in to a very confident young man. He is earning a handsome salary in a software company. He has a wife & a little girl who is going to play school. He has no other commitments. Yet, he is reluctant to help me in times of need...."As mentioned earlier, I did not know what to tell Gopal or how to console him... I mumbled something like "It is sad. Children should show more care..." I had waved to Gopal and moved on with a heavy heart.

Now as I walked further away from Gopal's residence, the same thoughts came to my mind. "Today's employee is tomorrow's retired employee. I wonder what fate awaits me in a couple of years...."