WHERE IS THE PARTY TO NIGHT

WHERE IS THE PARTY TO NIGHT ………..HAPPY NEW YEAR !

Barely a few hours are left for the count down! Birth of another year 2017 and end of a old very eventful year 2016! Awakening of Hope, Aspiration and Charged Efforts to make a new beginning!

If you look back, there is nothing NEW and there is nothing OLD! All “Maya” if we take a philosophical approach, as everything is in one’s mind! But for a common man New Year symbolizes party, gifts, good time with friends, relatives, colleagues and others!

New Year brings with it the culture of corporate gifts! Gifts are supposed to be voluntary and should be seen as a token of good will, appreciation and gratitude. It is supposed to be very voluntary in nature without any force and should not have any ulterior motive!

Certain companies as a matter of corporate policy ask all their manager’s to declare all gifts that they have received at the end of the festive season whose value is beyond say 40 USD or so.

As I have been corporate world for nearly four decades I have seen different types of Executive’s behavior, Cultures of organizations, Departmental approach to extract corporate gifts and how people down the line take the same. I feel this should make an interesting reading.

This company is known as “Corporate Marwari “-Nothing bad intended to hurt Marwari’s sentiment, as I feel proud that I am a Marwari myself in terms of managing my finance! Departments which are involved in payment to suppliers, equipment manufacturers etc. in this company used to stop the payment to them around Diwali & X-mas. If any supplier starts chasing them for payment immediate response would be to ask for gifts!

I have had a boss who was running a department of around 50 odd people. He used to collect all the gifts that come to him and other individual in his department etc. The same used to be kept in the department. As per his choice he used to call everyone one by one and distribute the gifts like calendars, diaries, pens etc. to everyone and ensure that everyone gets something. As he was father figure to everyone , his Santa Gesture was appreciated by one and all in the department !!

I was working with a MNC in Mumbai. One of the Executives of this company was working in Ahmadabad. He was coming home for Diwali and was given a gift of Mithai Box wrapped in gift wrapper in the station by a manufacturer. When the train was about to start he opened the same to find a silver box being used to pack the sweets. Knowing the value of the silver box this gentleman got down and went to his factory to return the gift as the same was worth much more than the value of gift he can accept! The cultural & ethical value of the company was impeccable!

Apart from receiving end, I was in the giving end for two years recently! From the Ranks of District Commissioner, Judicial Magistrate, Industries Minister, Pollution Control Board, Districts Industries Center, Superintend of Police, DSP and all sundry were at the receiving end. These people are so clever they would never touch any gifts with their hands. Precious ones like Gold Coin etc. would go directly in to the drawer!!

But the best experience I had was in Thailand. The MNC wherein I used to work as a matter of policy collect all gifts coming to the company in the reception. Each and every gift used to be numbered. Finance Controller of the company would phone major suppliers and ask them to gift, based on the volume of business we had done for the year Microwave woven, Refrigerator, Washing Machines etc. These suppliers would send them gladly as they do not have to give any other gift to anyone in the company.

We used to have a budgetary allocation of say 1000 THB (Thai Baht) per person for annual party. So workmen, supervisors, clerks and other staff need not look around where to attend the party. The party used to be hosted by the company in company premises with all dance and fun. Lots would be drawn and the gifts would be given to the lucky ones. The lots are drawn by Managers and thus there is a sense of bonding and employee involvement in the whole event.

Every employee would be given a gift like Umbrella , Pen Set as the case may be every year. Thus no one goes empty handed.Everyone has fun and looks eagerly to contribute his mite next year with enhanced enthusiasm !!

ANANDPUR SHAIB

Anandpur Sahib is an important Sikh Pilgrimage town located in Ropar District of Punjab. It is considered to be “Holy City of Bliss” by Sikhs. The town is located in picturesque surrounding. River Sutlez flows very near it in Southwest direction. In 1665 9^th Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadhur founded this place and gave the name Chak Nanki in memory of Guru Nanak’s mother whose name was Nanki. Later the name changed to Anandpur Sahib.

One of the most important celebration in this place is “ Hola Mohalla” which is celebrated for three long days coinciding with Holi Festival. During that time display of Martial spirit of Sikhs can be seen.

Baisaki is also another great festival celebrated with great fervor as on that day in 1699 10^th Guru of Sikhism Guru Gobind Singh Baptised Panj Pyaras in Anandpur Sahib.

This place boasts of continuous Langar (Mass feeding) for all visitors who flock t the Gurudhrwara. Colorful Nirankhari Sikhs can also be seen here who are known to ride on their horses.    

One must visit Khalsa Heritage Memorial Complex when one visits Anandpur Sahib. This is also known as Virasat e Khalsa also known as Museum of Sikhs. Eastern and Western complex of the buildings are connected by a bridge. The whole complex is very artistically designed and boasts of local architecture.  The Museum boasts of 500 years of Sikh history and 300 years of the birth of Khalsa.

Apart from various exhibits depicting rustic rural Punjab life, celebrations, agriculture, harvest , storage, village culture etc. there are exhibits detailing complete life and history of Guru Nanak and Sikhism’s subsequent Gururs. The audio available is in various languages and the head phone gets activated in respective language when one reaches the exhibit. Sound and light shows are also very interesting.

Staff are very friendly and co-operative in guiding you to library, book shop etc. It is a must visit when one makes a trip to the holy town of Anandpur Shaib. 

BIRDS

Who does not like birds ! But for a few odd ones, everyone must be enjoying watching birds! I am a bird’s person and enjoy their chirping calling in the morning. Their gliding take- off and landing inspires me every time. Their animated conversation, occasional fights, scurrying walk in search of food; formation flight can be watched with admiration for hours together.

My day starts with feeding a few pieces of biscuits to my avian pets, who are not in cages. If I am late to get up due to any unforeseen reason these Mainas make it a point to come and peck on the window glass as they are used to greet me Good Morning every day! If I stare at them they will not go near the biscuits and touch. I must pretend as if I am getting into my room then only they will land on the patch of floor having the bits of biscuits. Then there will be a morning tea party attended by a dozen birds! Now a days I can make out whether there is any coup and toppling of leader in that group!!

I have been watching a pair of Barn Owl who set out for their business only in the evening. It is stated that in Hindu religion there is a superstition that citing Owls is not a good omen. But I have given a new twist. Goddess Lakshmi is using owl as her vehicle. So if we cite Owls may be she is coming to pay a visit to you !

They will be doing a few somersaults to impress us from the sky and land exactly at the same window sill every day. Later on investigation I have found out that they come there to attack and devour a type of insects who come out whenever there is a slight shower attracted towards the light and end up dead within a span of a few hours. Their dead bodies are devoured by Maina in the morning from the floor. Remaining ones are eaten by Owl and parivar. Recently there is a spurt in their population as I have seen two smaller new ones. After 9 PM when we shut our main door and retire the entire corridor is in the custody of this group who hunt small rats, other innumerable insects and have a gala time!

There used to be great Santa Banta joke, which I heard in Radio City 91.1 FM Bangalore some time back. Santa asking Banta. “Banta mankind has to learn a lot from birds. You see this bird which I have been watching more than a fortnight in this garden. See every day it is sitting with his companion humming a nice song from tree top “.  Banta replies “Santa, this bird is here every day. It is humming a nice song all true. But you do not know that every day it is arriving here with a new companion! We do not get to change our companion so every day we are sitting and talking to each other “ !

Apart from these birds I can see other ones like wood pecker, sparrows, pigeons ( though very rare), King Fisher, Bull Bulls, Cuckoo , Love birds, Francolin etc.

We have a factory of 1800x 1500 sq. feet. The construction is done so very carefully that no bird can enter inside by providing air curtains, PVC strips, wire mesh and what not. But it s the night mare of every food processing person to find a stray bird getting inside the factory on account of the nuisance the same can create. Apart from that in their anxiety to get away it can fly from North to East, East to South and South to West non- stop creating a commotion. If you have any visitor or delegation that day, this uninvited guest would come out and show prominently in front of your official guests so as to facilitate the pulling down of your pants for window dressing.

It so happened fifteen days back a maina entered the production area much to our nightmare. We were on 24x7 production and we were busy with x-mas season sale, targets and related pressure. The bird because of frequent movement of man power here and there in the processing area used to hide somewhere and was sighted on and off. But my sharp eyes were always on the lookout for it. Being a Ahmisa (non-violent) person I did not want any harm to be done to the maina (myna). Therefore I was always trying to take this out of my mind. But in the last two weeks the bird has got used to living in the factory.

Our evening walks were always around the factory. I used to find a line maina sitting on the mesh and pecking it. Slowly I could decipher that it was the companion of the maina inside the factory and they were in conversation. This used to be a routine sight every evening.  But the mana in factory despite best efforts like opening the window, door and letting group of boys to shoo it away was not moving out as it has lost its sense of direction and willingness to move away.

Now, we are busy with maintenance and so much movement of plant and machinery due to installation of a new line etc. I could not find this maina and safely presumed that it had flown away! Yesterday I was going around some electrical work and found instead of one two mainas ! Wow now my problem has become double fold!

If you cannot beat them better join them that seem to be idea of the second uninvited guest! Before we start production I must show my skill to drive this pair safely away….far away !!     

CINEMA ..... CINEMA

Cinema plays a major role in entertaining people. Indian cinema is classified in to Hollywood which is basically Hindi cinema and vernacular cinema in various regional languages. The main heart land of India which is the Hindi speaking belt enjoys Hindi Cinema and regional belts like Tamil Nadu, Kerala and  Karnataka , Andhra Pradesh , Maharashtra, West Bengal have their own regional language films. Thus Tamil Nadu is known as Kolly Wood. Tamil Films, Andhra is known as Tolly Wood and known for Telugu Films and so on !

It is not surprising to find that Hindi Film world spread far and wide produces less number of films than Andhra despite global release of Hindi films which is purely because of the addiction to films is much more in Andhra than in Hindi heart land. It is not uncommon for a Telugu lady to pack her husband to office and then children to school. Then she goes for a movie in the morning from 10 AM to 1 PM. In the evening after feeding the kids and making them to sleep she may go to the same movie with her husband for the night show. I had seen this happening in Guntur in 80s. With multi channel television, pirated CDs available at every street corner this craze has come down. But still Andhra (Both AP & Telangana put together) make more movies and leading the pack in terms of film production.

Regional movies are known to be more innovative, adventurous to experiment new themes and lend their stories & talent to Hindi films! With lower cost of production as compared to Hindi films this has become more possible. Many leading lady talents from regional films have become No. 1 in Hindi filmdom and were known to rule there for years!

It is not uncommon for Hindi film world to make / remake movies from Tamil / Telugu film world. Now the trend is even to go to Malayalam film world and make remakes. Thus we have movies in Hindi released Dhrishyam and Chndramukhi which are made taking inspiration from Malayalam movies.  Kanada film world caters exclusively to local tastes and competes with Telugu, Tamil and Hindi movies in its own state!

Regional movies are also found to ape Hollywood in terms of spending and preferring locations in far away lands like Turkey, Hungry, Australia, Thailand, UAE, Prague etc. possibly for concessions.

I have grown up watching regional films and given a choice would prefer them any day for Hindi films on account of strong story line, realistic approach, ease of understanding and mostly sensible approach! Here is a list of my all time favorites, of course not in the order of preference. This affection for movies runs in our gene as my maternal grand father, my mother are known for their interest in films.

Dikkatra Parvathi ( Tamil):- I happened to see this film in 1975 in a small town called Ambasamudram in Thirunelveli district. The movie narrates the tale of ruin brought out by alcohol on a small marginal farmer’s family. Story was penned by Sri Rajaji and directed by Sri Singeetham Sreenivasa Rao. The film had Sreekanth as a rustic farmer and Lakshmi as his wife. The movie touched all major aspects like greed, lack of resource for farmers and money lending sharks, child mortality etc. The music for the film was rendered by Sri Chittu Babu.  The film won National Film award for best feature film in Tamil. It seems MGR Played a key role in releasing the movie as prohibition was a concept very dear to him. Lakshmi won film fare award for this movie.

  After a decade I met SIngeetham Garu in my marriage and we have become family friends. He has later done since fiction, silent movies etc. but for me, this is his all time great master piece in black and white!!  Emotive performance of Lakshmi and Srikanth still haunts me !

Thulabaram ( Malayam):-  It was probably in 1968/ 69 I saw this movie. The film was directed by A Vincent.Communism was being propagated as a panacea for all illness in the society. Labour movement was at its peak and around that time this movie hit the screens. Sharada who won Urvasi award for the best female actor in that year was known as “Urvasi Sarada” from then on. As she was compelled to kill all her  starving children by poisoning them due to poverty but was arrested for her suicide attempt was pleading in the court in the climax scene .  The scene is still very vivid in my mind.

Thillana Mohanambal (Tamil):-  I saw this movie in Salem probably for the first time in a theater wherein I had seen a Eastman Color film as color cinema was known then.  Those as toddlers we were fond of MGR’s action packed fighting filled movies this film appealed to me because of its aesthetic appeal, music -especially the English note played in nagaswaram, dances etc. Later my mother used to choreograph songs from this movie with my class mates for annual school and camp functions!

The film was Directed by Sri A P Nagarajan and Music was rendered by Sri K V Mahadevan. The story for this film was adopeted from a Novel in the same name penned by Sri Kothamangalam Subbu. The film won Best Feature Film in Tamil Award and award for best Cinematography.

Koshish (Hindi):- This movie acted by Sanjeev Kumar and Jaya Bhadhuri was screened in our college in 1975. We did not know Hindi and those days there was no facility to get sub titles done. Despite this we could enjoy this movie as the main characters were disabled-deaf and mute. Sanjeev Kumar then became my all time favorite Hindi actor. Gulzar was the director and I consider this as one of his famous films ! This film won national award for best screen play and best actor. Both Sanjeev Kumar and Jaya Bhadhuri were nominated for best actor and actress respective for film fare awards.

Sankarabharanam (Telugu):-  I watched this movie probably in 1980 with my father in Trichirapalli that too second show ! Director Sri K Viswanathan Garu had created a unique mosaic with Carnatic music, Dance, very different social message and all unknown cast ! This movie came as a breath of fresh air in very tight film world lacking new thinking and direction. The movie did roaring business in various centers of Tamil Nadu!

This film won Golden Lotus Award for being chosen as the movie providing best wholesome entertainment, Best Music Director ward for Sri K V Mahadevan, Best Play back singer award for male and female Sri S P Bala Subramniam and Smt Vani Jairam and best feature film award Gold.

Pushpak ( Silent Movie):-  It was 1987. One day I got a call to my office phone No. Generally no one from home called that No. and I was therefore surprised to receive a call from some lady. Then Mrs. Kalyani Singeetham introduced herself and asked me and my family to attend the preview of the film Pushpak near Gemini in Chennai.  We were advised to reach by 6.30 PM. That was the first preview in my life and therefore we turned up in time.

Around 6 PM Sri L V Prasad garu doyen of Telugu film world walked inside the theatre.  Mr & Mrs Singeetham Sreenivasa Rao and family prostrated in front of him before every one. The film started and we could enjoy every frame of that movie. We can call that as clean cinema. It had a suspense, thrill, magic, comedy, great music, romance, social message and what not all without a single spoken word ! What a Gem of a movie by Sri SIngeetham Srinivasa Rao. Music by Sri L Vaidhyanathan needs special mention here !

Pushpak film won National Film award for best popular providing wholesome entertainment in 1987. It is also listed by CNN as 100 Greatest Indian Films of all time.

THAVAMI THAVAMIRUNDHU (Tamil):-  I watched this movie using a CD in Bangkok. We had never heard about a Director called Cheran and probably for him this was a first directional debut ! Being a person from middle class family back ground I could relate to the aspiration of a father who pins hopes on two school going sons, who in the end gets disillusioned by the results. The father lying in his hospital bed asks the youngest son “ whether he had left any disappointment to him too” was the climax as the eldest son had accused him of not fulfilling his wishes ! Great action and narration!

The movie won National Film award for best family welfare.

Kaadhal ( Meaning LOVE ) (Tamil):- I wish I did not watch this movie. The movie is about a couple who get married against the parent’s wishes. As the marriage was against established caste equation the couple was lured to return to the village and the hero gets beaten black & blue in public. The heroine was forced to remove her Mangalsutra (Sign of marriage),  to save the hero from further beating she obliges.  She was forcibly married to other person. The hero of the film becomes mad and roams around town as a mentally retarded beggar. The heroine begets a child from her second marriage and while travelling in the town finds her first lover. The second husband admits the beggar into a mental asylm.

 The movie was full of violence and done very crudely but the social message is very loud and clear. In down South Tamil Nadu nothing but caste rules the social values!!  It is worth mentioning here that the movie was based on a true incident!

Though there are many more films which I would have watched and admired for a short time these films have made lasting impression in mind and I can recall them any time!!

 

THAI CILAPPATIKARAM

                                                                                                                       Tamil Literature has five great epics pertaining to Sangam Literature era. Cilappatikaram, Civaka Cintamani, Manimekalai, Valayapathi and Kundalakesi. Among the five only Cilappatikaram is a neutral one as it doesn’t belong to Hindu, Jain or Buddhist religion. Other four epics are either inclined to Jainism or Buddhism.

                                                                                                                               

Cilappatikaram literally means in Tamil “The Tale of an Anklet” depicts the life of Kannagi, a chaste woman who lead a peaceful life in Poompuhar capital of then Chola Kingdom with Kovalan her husband who was a businessman. Her peaceful life went astray with the association of Kovalan with unchaste woman Madhavi. 

Due to some misunderstanding with Madhavai Kovan realized his mistakes and returned to his devote wife Kannagi. Kannagi and Kovalan duo wanted to resurrect their life in Madurai then Capital of Pandya Kingdom. There Kovalan wanted to sell one of the Anklets of Kannagi to raise capital for his business but was falsely implicated as a thief who had stolen the Anklet of the queen and murdered. Kannagi with another anklet in hand went to the King’s palace and proved her husband’s innocence and burnt the entire city of Madurai by her chastity. Thus goes the story of Cilappatikaram in Tamil.  

I had an opportunity to witness Thai Cilapparthikaram live in my working days in Thailand and played a crucial role to avert burn out. Thus ensured that all was well in the end !!

It was probably in the year 2007. I was sitting in the interview room going through candidates for the position of Supervisors to take care of packing section.  There was a candidate by name Ning. If I tell the detailed Thai name your head will start spinning, therefore this short name.  The candidate was rightly qualified and very suitable for my department. 

But on carrying out the interview further I could understand the fact that the girl had exceptional numerical skills. She had worked with an Indian owner in a plant that was export oriented and making Parothas ! After understanding the way she had planned production in a complicated set up like that I felt that she should go to Production Planning Department wherein she would fit well and help my counter- part there.

Accordingly a note was prepared and sent to the Production Planning Manager who on seeing my interview papers and notes immediately took Ning under her fold as Production Analyst and deputed her for training with me for a period of two weeks in Biscuits division. Ning proved to be an asset and started getting good name and fame.

After a few months as my departmental vacancy remained unfilled there was a bunch of application for interview. This time around, I took my assistant manager too for the interview as I felt may be I was expecting too much out of candidates. 

During the interview process my assistant jokingly remarked that we should try for Ning’s boy friend for the supervisor’s position as I was not getting convinced with that day’s candidates.  On casual enquiry I learnt that Ning had a boy friend, who on some week days travelled 90 KM one way in a two wheeler just to meet her. Weekend he traveled again to spend Sundays with her.  

Next day, I broached the topic with Ning who blushed and stated that it was true and she wanted to talk about that with me after months as she was still in probation.  We got hold of the application from her and interviewed the candidate whom we can Sing !

After marathon interview Sing was selected for supervisor’s position. Though Sing was not very good in English he was assertive as regards to manpower management, planning of machines etc. Thus he too joined our company and got allocated to Biscuits division.  Both Sing and Ning opted for Living in together arrangement to save money and doing well !

After a few month’s Sing asked for a salary certificate. I was a bit taken aback as with all other Thai staff I thought he was going for a new car? But I was told by him that he was buying a condominium near factory. I was very happy. Later I came to know that in order to get good rate and short period of repayment the loan was taken as joint one with Ning.

So far so good ! Now Madhavi had to enter to have Cilapatikaram effect. Due to expansion of business we had to hire one more Supervisor. This time we had to go for a lady supervisor as from the group of people interviewed this girl had a good university degree, relevant experience and good spoken English which was very rare. This girl had a nick name as “Pla” (meaning “fish” in Thai language). 

I was getting busy with new products, projects and other budget work etc. 

Things took two to three months to get myself to learn the realities of ground level petty issues ! That day Ning had come with day’s production plant for me to sign and acknowledge. I asked her to sit down. She then started shedding tears. I asked her what was the matter? She told me that Sing got hooked by Pla and he was no longer staying with her.  I asked her to remain calm and let me know if she needed any help. 

As the matter was too personal and involved Supervisory staff, I was feeling that my hands were tied. Local culture, tradition and values were also alien to me. Thus I was keeping a low profile. 

By then my Departmental Senior staff had got a wind of the going around and started confiding in me the developments in that case. Based on that, we moved Sing and Pla in tow different shifts so that the contact time was narrowed.  

Sing was called by my team to my office and told in clear terms that it was Ning who had brought him into the company by recommending him. It was she who had signed as the guarantor for his new condominium and paying installments monthly for acquiring the property etc.  All these and other pressure tactics had little effect on Sing as he was in a vice like grip of Pla.

Ning was losing weight, interest in work life and personal life. Once in a while I was telling her to stop paying EMI for the condominium and reverse her association with bank in the loan. But Ning remained steady and told me that she had full faith in her love and Sing would return to her. It was a very pathetic sight to watch Ning in such a pitiable plight as she used to be a lady bubbling with enthusiasm.

By then HR department had sent me paper’s pertaining to Pla’s appraisal prior to confirmation. I wanted to use that as the lever and get that issue sorted out. I met HR Manager and General Manager in person. Accordingly it was decided to terminate the services of Pla on account of unsatisfactory performance in probation. Prior to that Sing was called and advised by the Works Manager in clear terms to mend his ways and not to mess around to save his job. As he was in deep issue of EMI etc. he had no choice other than falling in line !

After a week Sing returned as a new man and started staying with Ning. As Thai people are very particular about their prestige it was decided that the topic would not be recorded in official personnel records and Sing would be let off with verbal warning and loss of increment for that year as a facing gesture.

It was my birthday party as I was winding up my work in Bangkok I threw a party to my team. Both Sing and Ning were present with a neatly wrapped parting gift. I was very happy to see both of them. The party was arranged by me for Biscuit department but Ning from Planning came uninvited. She asked me whether I minded her presence in our department’s party. I said not at all as she was the bride of our department and I advised her to ensure that her marriage with Sing got done at the earliest! I could see abundant gratitude in her eyes.

Thus Thai Kannagi did not have to burn anything but because of her steadfast, unassailable faith in her love got Kovalan back in her fold !! 

  

IN PRAISE OF RIVER TAMIRABARANI

River valleys have always sustained civilization and ensured prosperity to those who settled in its banks. Thus we have great stories about Nile Valley Civilization, Indus Valley Civilization etc. Tamil Nadu has two great rivers which have sustained its brilliant clans Cauvery which gave rise to typical Tanjore culture and Tamirabarani which gave rise to Thirunelveli culture. Both these rivers nurtured some of the brilliant academicians, artists, industrialists etc.

An Interesting article about one of the perennial rivers of Tamil Nadu... Tamirabarani which flows through Tirunelveli and Thuthukodi districts of Tamil Nadu. "TAMIRAM" in Tamil means "copper". If you take bath in the river in its point of origin you can see a copper glow on your skin. My father used to be so fond of this river he made it a point to take bathe everyday in it in Servalar where he was posted.

The slides presented in the article show rich diversity of flora and fauna ! Anyone having some connection with these two districts would enjoy this write up.

The banks of river supports both " Saivm" ( Those who worship Lord Siva) and " Vaishnavam"            (Those who worship Lord Maha Vishnu) . So you can find great temples of Siva as well as Vishnu on the banks of this great river. As someone who had his schooling and college days in the banks of this great river I salute her. I offer my humble pranams for the awakening it has given to me !!!

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WHY I LOVE NATIONAL DAIRY RESEARCH INSTITUTE, KARNAL, HARYANA, INDIA.

It was in July 1978, I came to NDRI as a lad of 18 years from a faraway place in down South near Kanyakumari. All along, being the eldest son of a C.T.B (Conservative Tamil Brahmin) family, I had a cocooned existence and knew little Hindi. When my train crossed Andhra I started feeling the cultural shock as the language, dress and behavior of people- everything changed so very abruptly. That was the first time I had moved away from Tamil Nadu !  

On landing in New Delhi station, I could manage to find my way to Safdarjang enclave, Green Park and stayed with a bureaucrat overnight. Next day morning, I was asked by him to take a bus and catch another bus from ISBT (Bus- Adda) and get down at Karnal. For someone, with no Hindi knowledge it was a Herculean task accomplished with great nightmare. 

The bus journey in rickety Haryana roadways, followed by the sight of buffaloes grazing in green fields on a sultry day made me to think twice before taking a plunge in NDRI education for a four year Dairy Technology Course. There was a girl in the bus who bought ticket for “Dairy Farm, Karnal”. She was having a bedroll, bucket etc. Thus I was sure there was someone getting down in Karnal, that too to take admission in NDRI. But those were the days of strict segregation of genders. Therefore I did not dare to talk to her. 

I got down in the same place where she got down, hired a cycle rickshaw in the same corner, followed her and got into Dairy Science College. Mr K L Prashar was the officiating Principal. He told me I was late to come to college and hence had to wait till the Director gave permission. 

As advised by Mr Parameshwaran, who was the administrative officer then (At last there was someone to speak Tamil!) I wrote a letter to the Director seeking his permission to condone the delay which was beyond my control and got it approved by him, then paid the fees.

Thus from July’78 to May’82 NDRI became my abode for- education, extracurricular activities, shaping up my personality, building network, learning management and what not.We were a batch of 48 students with a single girl from Moga,Punjab. These guys became my friends, brothers, companions and roommates. 

We had a wonderful Director Dr D Sunderesan. We learnt administrative skills from him. Every notice he circulated was done with great communication skill. They would drive the message down to every single person who read the same. He was very fond of Reader’s Digest (RD) and got the library stacked with most of the books from RD. They were treasure of information be it family values, gardening, cookery one could get up to date of anything & everything under the sun.

We had “Earn While You Learn Schemes”. The two hours we spent in various labs, library, cattle yard, parlor not only enriched us but also gave a sense of exposure to all that goes in those places. We also became rich by INR 125 per month…very big amount to foot the entire mess bill! Because of this in corporate world later we never any job below our dignity and rolled up our sleeves to help or lead.

Words of Mr M M Sharma our Librarian those days, before Peter Ducker he taught me value of Management by walking around (MBW), he instilled the value of MBW, as he used to be the surprise visitor in the library late night, where I used to do part time work. His words still ring in my years, “You are doing the worst crime on earth….wasting time. Use it more productively! “ 

We had some of the wonderful teachers. I can hardly venture to name all of them as the list is too long. We had the best facilities for laboratory, model dairy etc.We were extended family members of most of the faculty members, who loved our visits to their homes during our stay in the hostel, even after graduation. Thus we never missed any festivals. On Holi we used to be treated to mouthwatering goodies from every faculty member's house !

We were made to the run the mess. Thus we learnt the art of procuring, planning, organizing, budgeting and management of feeding hundred plus members. High tea and special feasts in the mess were arranged with great interest.

Facilities for one to quench his thirst in academics, experiments, sports, extra curricular activities were left open for 24x7 ! 

Whenever we visit NDRI we come with the great interest like a newly married bride makes a first visit to her mother’s home, looking at each and every corner of the house with additional interest to see the changes that had taken place in her absence. We also feel the warmth and affection of every single member of the extended family.

Well above all NDRI gave me the confidence to face the industrial world without any fever. The exposure we got to students and faculty from all states gave a wider perspective. Thus we could excel in any multicultural teams be it in India or overseas.

Now with an active alumni association in NGA we look forward to every year for the annual pilgrimage to catch up with the recent developments in the field to Science, Technology, Management as well as with our old batch mates as well as budding professionals.

Does one need any more reason to fall in love with an institution like this !

24x7 CUSTOMER SERVICE NUMBER

A telephone call from my brother on 9th Sep'14. made me to retrieve the ticket I had booked for a trip to Chennai on 22nd Oct’14 from the internet immediately. On seeing the boldly printed 24x7 Sales & Reservation phone Nos. I asked my secretary to change the date of booking of the ticket to 25th Sep’14 so that my wife could proceed early to take care of my mother who requires some medical intervention. There were two telephone numbers listed and I just left it like that.
Before going home my secretary came back and stated that she could not reach both the numbers whole day (9871803333 and 9654003333). After marathon effort, finally a break- through came at about 6 PM wherein I could reach a customer service agent who said that I could change the journey date and I need to pay INR 1500 plus INR 268. He was polite enough to remind me that the fares were dynamic and I may have to pay more if I delay the same by a day or two.
After reaching home from 8 PM till 10.30 PM all that I could hear was a jingle which was made very badly and so very irritating, in view of the emergency I was forced to bear with the same. After hearing the jingle now I can sing the same even in reverse order but the listeners would vanish from the room.
By 10.30 PM I lost my hope and tried to get the same done using the websitewww.spicejet.com. But here one cannot change one ticket like we do with IRCTC etc. should do both the passengers name at the same time.
At last by 2 AM I could reach the call center executive. Initially he was also telling INR 1500 plus INR 165. Then on pushing a bit strongly the tone changed to INR 165. To pay INR 165 I was put on a IVR gateway. There to use the credit card I had to generate a OTP (one time password). For that I had to disconnect and go to my credit card website. The call center executive of my credit card gave me a great counsel of generating OTP using website and doing it by myself to avert disturbance to him during the late night.
On reaching Spice Jet call center after repeated calls and the same irritating jingle, I was asked to key in the OTP. After three plus attempts, the transaction got declined. By 3 AM the call center executive gave me an alternate suggestion of opening my lap top and going to their website and doing the transaction myself using a new PNR number. By doing this I got a refund of INR 75.
Morals of the story…………… 24x7 help center numbers are not really 24x7. It may be 24x7 for you to lose your sleep and not for the airline.
Airline fares are dynamic, but help and empathetic attitude are not! Dynamics of fares can be both ways !
Airlines are always right and customers can never be right. 

WOW Experience

When was the last time you had the WOW experience as a customer! We are all customers. We act as internal customers as well as external customers. Everyone claims that “Customer is King”. But actual experience we have as a customer is not always that of a king’s experience, sometime it is worse than that of a street beggar. Here I wish to take you through some of the wonderful and not so wonderful experiences I have had all these years.

Be it a bank, telephones, internet providers, photographers, caterers, restaurants, we are always treated very …………ly. I leave it to you to fill up the blanks. 

When I was touring Hyderabad in 90s I had to dine in a mess. The food was delicious and spicy, thus rice had to be eaten with gun powder and many spoons full of ghee. As we were dining there was a lone customer dining in the nearby table. He was asking the server many questions. Thus the server got a bit annoyed and started walking away farther. This lone man did not leave him and started shouting to seek his attention. 

The server then walked up to him and asked him in native tongue a bit loudly what the matter was. The lonely man stated that he was the guest of the establishment and therefore the server should stand near him and repeatedly ask and serve him whatever he wanted. The server literally lost his cool and rebuked him in higher decibel “ If you felt that you wanted to behave like the proverbial son –in-law you should have can gone to your mother in law’s place. You had walked into a wrong place. Hog and move out as soon as possible.” That was the end of the story. In my next visits despite the wonderful and tempting Andhra food in that place, I never stepped into that mess. 

There is another classic episode on food. There was a marriage of a friend of a classmate in Pallakole a small town in Godavari district. A few friends got together and took a train from Guntur and got down in Pallakole station around 1 PM. We had no clue on how to reach the venue . We walked up to the station master and asked him showing the invitation necessary direction. We were made to wait in his office and after 10 minutes a bullock cart came and we were sent to the venue. The marriage was in the night but we had no idea of the timings & customs. Therefore we had reached 12 hours too early. 
The bride’s family requested us to wait for 10 minutes. Fresh rice was cooked as they felt the groom’s side people should not be served cold rice and we were served delicious food and sent to a local movie hall for a Telugu movie to spend our time. 

Though there was no commercial interest involved we all did have a WOW experience because in any city we people would have been treated as a nuisance but we were treated like state guests of Godavari District in Palakole. 

Banks….Till a few years back I used to dread the experience of going to any commercial bank. My father was instrumental in getting an extension counter for one public sector in our colony. He was the first one to open savings bank account in that branch. He transferred his pension account there. Alas he was bed ridden for six long years. Every year to get a existence certificate from the branch manager to claim the pension was an Herculean task as my was immobile. The branch manger would never oblige to visit our home to verify his existence despite offering a free ride in a bike or car. 

We had to hire a van to take him to the branch in a stretcher. Insult to the injury was the refusal of the branch manager to walk up to the gate to meet him but forcing us to carry our father to his desk. 


Compare this with my experience in Malawi third poorest nation in the world. If one is not greeted by the counter staff properly you would get a credit of 10 Kwacha to your account. Thus after spending time there when I moved to Thailand my experience with the bankers was very pleasant. Being an expatriate all the form filling was done by the local bank staff. You are periodically given gifts like flasks, umbrella, wind cheaters etc. as a good will gesture by the bank. The manager there used to distribute sweets to everyone on the queue in case of inordinate delays etc. 

On reaching Hyderabad I had to open a salary account with a giant public sector bank. It took me three hours to deposit INR 1000 to open the account. The assistant manager who used to live next to my house was screaming from the roof top asking staff not to accept cash or cheque as there was no power in the branch. The ATM area was totally dirty with over flowing paper slips strewn all around the place. 

After five years, when I went to close my savings bank account in a private sector bank in Bangalore the manager did not even bother to ask for the reason of my action to close the account abruptly. All that I was asked was to surrender my ATM card and Cheque books thus a relationship built and nurtured for more than five years snapped in a few seconds !!!

I keep looking for some WOW experience!! May be one day I will be able to narrate one !!

ENCOUNTER WITH MODERN .......BUDDHA !

Mornings are very precious. It is not worth wasting time in the morning ferting over trivial issues which may bug you the whole day. Good or bad a nice long walk helps one to start the day afresh and set the pace for a good, peaceful day. That day morning, I was walking on the road towards Anna Nagr tower park in Chennai. As I was about to take a turn a car came near me and halted abruptly. A young man was at the wheel and asked me the direction to go to Ayyaappa Temple.I told him to take the first left turn and was about to move. This man asked me whether I was going in the same direction. I answered in the affirmative and he sought me to get into the car. I was a bit hesitant, but the twinkle in his eyes told me to get inside. I got inside the car and asked him casually whether he won't kidnap me. He burst into to laughter and asked me if he did kidnap me how much ransom should he ask ... 10 or 20 crores. I told him naughtily that if he made such a demand my folks would abandon me and I would become a burden on him. Then he told me that he was going to pick up his girl friend who lived near the Tower park and told me that rather than being an unpaid driver, voluntary ATM, all time errand boy and permanent body guard for his girl friend it would be worth looking for the job of a kidnapper ! He asked me my name. I told him mine and he told me his name as Gautam ! So this is the enlightenment I got from Modern Buddha near Ayyappa Temple on that day morning !!!

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TALE OF TWO TONGUES

I am not writing about any freak creature having two tongues or something like that. Even with one single tongue people can cause you so much harm to others !

Yesterday...Guru Porrima Day... on returning home I found my " Better half" a bit low in enthusiasm. I thought the usual "Chennai visit syndrome " ...after every visit to Chennai she goes to a low level on enthusiasm and recovers a bit slowly.

She said that that was not the case. But said that she was planning to visit a temple with a friend of hers and as they were getting into a two wheeler, she was told by the neighbor that even if she feel down on the way, now the town has got a new ortho. So she was told to take the ride without any fear.

I told her not to feel bad. But asked her to take walk along with me to the nearby park. She got ready and we went for a walk. After entering into the next street we were greeted by a resident . Their garden boasts of the best roses in Nangal town and we always used to take a break and stare at them. The lady asked us where we were all these days etc. We told them that we were away in Chennai for Diwali and returned two days back. Then the master of the house joined us in the conversation.

He told us that they were blessed with two sons and whenever anyone of them would get married they would give the first invitation to us. We were very surprised and asked why. Politely both of them told that they found us close to each-other, very pious and friendly. These words were enough to pep up my better-half.

Same town, same folks ...whereas one tongue spits out venom and reveals the negative feelings, other one shows the admiration, adulation to unknown people !!

God unique are your ways !!!

I LOVE MY INDIAN VALUES

 

 

I Love my India ! If I say that the same may sound hallow... I would be telling a lie.

However I love THE INDIAN VALUES which are deeply ingrained in the following acts of kindness. 

Grand Old Ladies sprinkling sugar in every ant pit in the morning during her morning walk !

Warm greetings of unknown strangers, when I set out for my morning walk chanting Ram Ramji !

The act of feeding first Roti with ghee to the cows wandering around the house in the morning !

Pouring of full glass of milk to galloping stray dogs so routinely in the morning !

Feeders who take time to feed Jowar and other grains so fondly to flocking Pigeons who literally eat out of their hands making merry in the University area !

In the summer months the strong heat wave does not bother cattle in Gandhinagar as every house has got water filled up to the brim in big earthen pots to quench their thirst !

Lady from the South so fondly placing balls of rice remembering her ancestors to feed the crows !

Langar... free feeding to hundreds and thousands of people who flock Gurudhwaras ( Sikh temples) across the state in every nook and corner in Punjab.

Unsung / unheard people who leave blankets on poor and elderly sleeping on street during winter months in Northern India.  

Tea vendors who refuse to take money from any defense personnel in uniform in Northern Belt as a gesture of gratitude for their valor and service !!

Muslims cleaning Hindu temples affected floods in Chennai !

I love my Indian Values for these acts of kindness !!

COFFEE FOR COPYING !!!

 

It was 1974 ! I had just joined PUC (Pre University Course.. class 12)  in Sri Parama Kalyani College (SPKC) Alwarkurichi. We used to have mentor system then which is now copied by all corporate giants to keep the staff under their wings. We used to have every Saturday weekly tests in the afternoon, only for PUC students. The tests were held to make us get used to set pattern of questions and answers as well as to make as practice the art of writing exams. On that Saturday we had Physics test. The invigilator was Mr C Neelakantan ( CN). He was our Physics lecturer as well. The test was about to end at the least for me as I had written all the questions. After revision of the paper I was about to get up and hand over the sheets and go. I was getting some nudging from behind. My bus mate, school mate Mahalingam was there sitting behind me. He was asking for some sheets to copy.

In all my innocence, I passed on one of the papers to him. I was waiting for him to return my answer sheet. Mr C N had walked up to the door and was looking outside intentionally ! I felt that was the Perfect time to get my paper back. Mahalingam was returning my paper and I was collecting the same from him. Mr C N casually walked up to us and caught us red handed. He used to wear powerful spectacles and we used to joke that he had four eyes. The same had become true.

I had no face to show to him. I had to return home with a swollen face as I was very upset. We both were told to meet the Principal.

My father used to work in Servalar 35 KM away from our home at Kallidaikurichi. He used to visit us once in a week during weekend. He arrived that day night. I narrated him all that transpired. He reprimanded me for my foolish act. Next day he told me to accompany him.

We went to Alwarkurichi. Visited Mr K H Narayanan our then Principal in his home on that Sunday. He was very courteous and received us. After his usual inquiry he advised me to be careful and not to repeat such stupid act of helping friends in exams. We were treated to delicious Degree Coffee and snacks. He also advised my father to take me to Mr C N in Ambur nearby village and inform him about our meeting with him. We visited Mr C N too in his home. He was also very courteous and advised me. He also treated us to nice coffee. Then along with my father I went to Ambur bus stand where my father treated me to Thirunelveli Halwa in a small sweet stall. Those days landline telephone was also not there in all these villages and every thing was done face to face !!

Through out the day, my father never complained of the trouble he faced running around all over in local bus. On the contrary it made our bonding much stronger.

I learnt the very act of accepting one's mistake and taking necessary IMMEDIATE Corrective action then and there from this simple instance. My father is no more and he passed away sixteen years back, KHN is no more. I have never met CN after 1978. Looking back the amount of love and affection these teachers had make me proud of our college especially for the value they have inculcated in us in every simple act !

It was one of the unique experience in which my father demonstrated his unassailable faith and love in me and became very close to me !!!!