Posts tagged ‘India’
Working Women and Parenting
2Sides of Life
My mother was a homemaker (to use a modern terminology). I do not recall a time in my childhood when Ireturned to an empty home and made my own snacks or lunch/dinner. I grew up taking for granted that mothers are always at home to receive their children. The outside reality slowly sunk in and I realized that women who went to work also were mothers whose children bid them good bye each morning and waited for them to come back to relate the days adventures.
I recall one blog written by a TV Newsreader which is particularly fascinating. This is two years old blog, but timeless in terms of contents and I am giving below a link to it.
The comments in response mostly from women are equally interesting. They are worth reading.
In today’s context when female education is emphasized and they are equal or should be equal to male in terms of opportunities and abilities , it is not fair or correct to tell a woman that her main job is to be a “homemaker” rather than fulfill her personal and professional aspirations. At the same time, children in the early and formative years require close attention from at least one of the parent. This need not be on a 24/7 basis, but ideally should cover a significant portion of the children’s waking hours and their time spent in the house. As the children grow up, the degree and span of attention could vary and reduce.
I am seeing in some cases grand parents being substitute parents. Some grand parents are frequent flyers to gulf and USA to care the grand children. I always wonder whether the parents bond well with children brought up by others? Do grand parents have the same energy they had as parents? Is’nt it a a bit tiresome for grandparents to do once more what they had done over three decades back? Would they not be looking thru the prism of values and mores which may not be relevant three decades later when the children become adults?
“Quality time” seems to cover the nature of attention needed, but at the same time indicates cliché or an overused word. I tried to imagine myself to be a parent with two children of varying ages between 5 and 10, tending to them after a full day at office and traveling for nearly 3 hours a day. Besides this there would be domestic chores to attend. How much energy would a person have – whether the parent is a mother or father- is hard to estimate? Would they tell stories from Ramayana or Mahabharata or read Tintin comics before the children go to sleep? How much of their day at school would interest them? I realized that I would do much less than what a working parent does today.
Perhaps the issue is not working vs non working mothers. The real issue could be how much of a bonding exists between the children and parents. I have seen fathers substituting for mothers who are sometimes more busy due to the nature of their jobs.
Children need and demand attention. Some times the attention they seek disturb others who see some distortion in relationship without identifying what could be the cause. Whenever I see such distortion, I wonder what would they grow up to be as adults. Do children of working parents demand more attention and carry some level of unfulfilled emotional needs? I don’t know. But I have certainly seen some children seeking more than needed attention.
The bottom line could be that when we bring another human being into this world, as parents we have a responsibility and duty to ensure that the child grows up to be a good human being and be able to contribute to the society in a positive manner. So when our children become adults, we should be perhaps be able meet this standard, at least in our own hearts.
Anjeneyan
Image Source: ANVClicks
Influences in life.
Ananth’s blogon influences set me thinking on how the persons around us impact our thinking and behaviour. His blog was on the conscious impact of few persons around him. I felt that the impact on the sub conscious mind by our environment is worth thinking of.
Last year I attended a marriage in Chennai. My aunt (father’s younger sister) exclaimed that “you look like my brother in your present attire” or something to that effect. Instinctively, I felt flattered. Why should I feel so? My father, from the time I remember, looked his age and some more. He was severely short sighted, though tall, was stooping, had very less teeth, dark complexioned, with a furious temper and highly rigid opinion on several aspects of life. His was a hard act to follow. But still, some of his achievements and decisions make us still look up to him and any resemblance-genetic or otherwise- gives us a sense of inner glow. This however comes with some of the turns and twists life takes and compels us look into the mirror and admit reality at least to ourselves.
In Indian context, the first influence is our parents. The first English alphabets and nursery rhyme was taught to me by my mother whose formal education stopped at primary school. Forty six years back, we had come to Mumbai from a small village in Kerala. We had to adjust to a metro life in a hurry. Learning a foreign language and rhyme (twinkle twinkle little star…) was the first step. I have a sentimental belief that since this was the only subject my mother taught me, I was always good at it.
How did our parents express their love to us or to each other? How many of us remember our parents smiling with a shy love or laughing wickedly over an adult joke said privately to each other? Did they hold each other in their arms and dance the way we saw in the movies of 60s? May be so. Did they do it in our presence? Never. How did this lack of physical or public expression of love (an Indian trait) impact us? Well, most of us – at least in South India- are uncomfortable with a physical expression of love- even of the platonic variety- in public and may be even in private.
What is the situation today? Very difficult to say. My belief is that today’s youth are caught between the example set by their parents and the peer pressure. What is the right thing to do? I feel that some amount of display of positive emotions strengthens relationships and establishes some bonding.
Peer pressure or friends or lack of it is the next strongest influence in any life. How would lack of peer pressure or friends influence a person? Like many shy persons, I found it difficult to create an easy going friendship with the group in which I was studying or working (hai-bye relationship). I did exactly what I felt like doing. Some of it succeeded due to several factors- some within and some beyond my control. But the difficulty in creating an easy going “life of the party” kind of relationship remains.
Peer pressure come most obviously in the “science or commerce” kind of decisions post schooling. Most of such decisions are based not on what the boy or girl wants to do in life post education and how attractive that avenue is. Some years back I had asked my cousin (who is a medical doctor (MBBS)) why is there a craze for medical admission when the returns are not commensurate with the efforts- at least in India. He said that it was due to lack of real understanding of the profession and its pressures. Last week’s news article said that the application for medical admission has fallen significantly while demand for engineering admission has surged. One classic example is the number of engineers who joined for IT related courses even when it was apparent that many of the industry leaders are from different streams of engineering and such streams offered good long term prospects.
There is a big board I see on the way to office every day. It says “To the world you might be one person; to one person you might be the entire world. So drive carefully.” I feel this poignantly states our relationship with those we love very much- spouse, children, parents, siblings etc. Whenever we wear a new dress, after examining the image on the mirror, we go to our spouse and ask hesitantly ‘do I look handsome?’ A small smile of appreciation, a tart comment makes our day. I say to myself- I certainly look handsome in this shirt. I sometimes think that even Manmohan Singh or Sonia Gandhi must be asking their family members about their appearance before stepping into public gaze. This is only a small example how our spouse and/or family members appreciation matters to each person. Family support is a great strength of Indian way of life and gives an anchor for our life.
Do parents listen to their children? Yes, they do; especially when children start growing up and express their opinions. The external environment has changed and is changing so rapidly that only highly self opinionated parents will disregard the views emanating from their children. If we have to keep communication lines open with them, we have to listen, but not necessarily agree with them and provide an adult feedback. Does this influence us? Yes it does. How does it influence us? Not easy to say. But their love and appreciation of our achievements and forgiveness of our failings matters a lot to us- at least to me.
Lastly religion, religious beliefs, practices, rituals and the whole baggage that comes with it. These are so intensely personal that they are hard to pin down or express in a logical or coherent manner. It matters to us hugely. Even lack of belief in all these things matters hugely. Here again the dominating influence is our parents. We observe them and then decide consciously or unconsciously as to what we should do.
I have not touched up on the influence of our life in service as that deserves another blog.
So who influenced you? Why don’t you look at your parent and start wondering how they have influenced you?
Stay foolish… Stay in!
The Corporate Apple
“As you dream about your passion and work towards you goal,
You make yourself calm and play through your role
You find your name and follow the set game
Be a pawn and monotonously do the same
Stay putt as you search to get things par
Work hard and say pressure & time no bar
Realizing slowly the messed up cobs
Goes away the smile, you see around those sobs
Raced ahead off all, you look behind those in lag
They are still behind, but are holding the Chequered flag”
As the new FY begins, with so many things set in motion, the corporate gets set for the New Year’s game.
You see all around faces that have forgotten to give honest smile for the fear that it might be mistaken for a mockery. Those affected by the Depression / downturn of economy (Corporate / otherwise) have their genuine worries and those who are not affected, want to get a slice of the “Scary Pie”. Sad it sounds!
Strange, we now do not want to let go even of the sad and bad side of economy and want to be an honest part of it. Why?
It helps.
‘It helps to excuse for your downsizing which was already on the cards. It helps to clean up with those who should be a positive addition but in corporate games are not needed to be a part of the system. It helps to share nothing except your actual growth figures with your huge chunk of honest employees who would have poured in their heart and soul to contribute in any which way to their company and at the end, show them down (saying its downturn all around).’
Integrity has been a gift to mock with today, as nothing seems to be in place except constant chaos. It’s sad to see those corporate biggies using excuses to pull down employee’s morale and trust and blame it on the market scenario with ease.
The impact that such uncanny and negative traits seem to be setting across; their cascading effects will be seen in the coming years.
Till then, all those in distress & chaos, those trying to grab that Sweet and forbidden Apple, for now, just hold on to your roots, stay Putt, stay calm and keep your shoes of integrity on…. ‘coz it will always take you par to your final goal……
So may be for now stay foolish but Stay in!
OSCAR – Jai Ho!
Jai Ho, Jai Ho!
Come Home to the Oscars…. Or should I say… Oscars came home….
Finally, Danny Boyle and A R Rahman bring the most coveted Oscars back into the streets of Mumbai.
This is the third win for an Indian at the Oscars. The first being, Bhanu Athaiya who won for costume design in Richard Attenborough’s “Gandhi” made in 1983 and the second being, the legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray who was awarded a lifetime achievement Oscar in 1992.
‘Slumdog Millionaire’ swept EIGHT OSCARS at the 81 st Academy Awards including Best Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Sound Mixing, Film Editing, Original Score, Original Song, Direction and Motion Picture.
Rahman mesmerized the audience with ‘O Saya’ and ‘Jai Ho…’ the nominated songs from ‘Slumdog…’, as the nominees for Best Original Song were being announced. He came, he performed and he swept everyone away….
As the British director Danny Boyle walked in with his cast of Slumdog Millionaire family down the red carpet, all the nine cast members, who played the three main characters in the rags-to-riches magical fable, seemed to further race the hearts of millions of Indians watching all over. There were superstars Anil Kapoor and Irfan Khan also beaming with pride and joy.
Most importantly there were the two young cast members, who still live in Mumbai’s slums, making it very special for each and everyone at home in Mumbai.
The movie fetched Danny Boyle the Best Director award, Simon Beaufoy best Adapted Screenplay and Anthony Dod Mantle the best Cinematography award. The film was also awarded for Best Editing.
Rahman in his acceptance speech after bagging the Original Score Oscar, made LA sound like Mumbai with the legendary dialogue, ‘Mere pass Ma hai’ which means even if I have got nothing I have my mother here. I want to thank her for coming all the way to support me,”
The Gulzar and Rahman composed Lyrics “Jai Ho” won the Best Song.
Resul Pookutty, received the award for Best Sound Mixing with co-recordists Ian Tapp and Richard Pryke.
Also to further glorify this magical night, ‘Smile Pinki’, the tale of a Uttar Pradesh girl and her fight against the social stigma of a cleft-lip, won the Oscar award for Best Documentary (Short). This film was Directed by the Emmy-award winning Megan Mylan.
Let the glory continue……………..
Oscar Winners List: OSCAR Winners
Image Courtesy:
Oscar Logo Image: OSCARS
Slumdog: OSCARS
Smile Pinki: BBC
Mumbai Attack: Why {‘Me’mbai} … will never be my question!
Mumbai -TREE Grace -Strength!
Why {‘Me’mbai} … will never be my question!
The first breath of air that I ever took till the current letters that I am keying in…. Every minuscule moment screams of the word MUMBAI.
I grew up proudly in this beauty of a land which we term, as the city of dreams. The energy and drive that Mumbai can bring for anyone is, in human terms, unreal and eccentric. Growing up here, all I ever worried about was nothing other than ‘just the fear of growing too slow’.
For I knew, that my quick paced city was safe and would keep me safe.
Life was driven by the ambition of achievement and passion, nothing more.
Life was socially or otherwise, always strictly business for every Mumbaikar.
Mumbai never had Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs or any other community. Mumbai in its most awful state of affairs always seemed to come to a consensus on the basis of an understanding but has stood strong and has returned hitting harder.
We are a cash rich city by means of real estate, human resource and the dream builders of the world. At the end of the day, everyone knows… There is only one Hope on the face of this planet… that can withstand any trial, wherein so many cultures and dreams have been built from and with nothingness, Our Mumbai.
But this week, Mumbai met with an attempt which has made things very personal.
In the name of community and insane inhumanness innocent lives were driven into havoc. We were attacked by those who had nothing in their minds, but a canvas of painting the city red. Of giving a message to all: Stay away from this city …..
As of date, we have earned over decades the bloody audacity to shout at the top of our voice that we are going to welcome the world more than ever and by God, will the world too take this city with more respect than ever before.
We will and have already bounced back to grow, party and capitalize harder than anyone could ever dream of.
No one is scared…… bloody not even close…. Now the city is going to have more guests, more visitors and tourists than ever before. All will have the hot and crispy groundnuts outside the Taj Mahal Hotel once again and hang out. Drive around the Marine Drive and catch a movie at Metro this week.
Why, because, WHY MUMBAI, will never be my question. You wanted to hit the best… Thanks for reminding the billions all over, that the city of dreams is actually a city that never sleeps. It is actually built with people that love this land and she gets her energy from the blood running through each of our veins. The city has never slept and will never sleep. We will grow beyond what anyone can fathom and will welcome billions more to this land to grow along with us everyday.
We are dreams… We are hope… We are strength…… The commandos, the NSG and every brave staff at the hotels, the amazing heart of every civilian, The Trident, Nariman House, Taj, Colaba, CST and all over … gave us more hope than ever before. A heartflet sincere Thanks to each of the heroes. We will always bounce back and hit harder than one can ever EVER in their bloody sense of the term even think of.
I will never ask why M{e}mbai.. I know… ‘coz people always go after what’s the best….. It’s sad… for the rest… ‘coz they will never get even an ounce of it…. It’s not for cowards, it’s not for Losers…. It’s for the mighty strong who face Life… not from behind a bush…but Face to face!
M{e}mbai!
Look at us – We are ready to rock the world again!
—
Image Source: http://ananthvclickswordpress.com
Mumbai Terrorist Attack: This is Mumbai… Do not ever try this again!
Mumbai
As the flames of the city seemed to settle down with the dust, the pace of the city was just as Mumbai would be, quick, chaotic, restless and as always undying.
What about it’s spirit?
I would not want to quote the routine but yes, the city is once again ready to bow down and salute the real life heroes – Our Officers & commandos.
Our Mumbai did not see any one “Leader” around, probably for reasons of safety and security as the true brave hearts were giving us everything they had that too for those, who only read about them in the daily papers.
As the real law holders fought for us, we the timid people, could watch them shed their blood from our home television sets. But at least the food did not go down our throats for those two days. At least, so much of shame was within, for those who spilled out all that they had for us…..
We mourned, we wept, we screamed inside our hearts in agony as the city was witnessing a fiery night out of nowhere.
As the cowards drew the first blood, it just got too expensive, as by the grace of God, Our Nation was blessed with the brave sons of this soil who kept the crown standing at the same place.
As we rejoice for those who were rescued, as we SALUTE those who saved our souls and as we mourn for the deceased, the flame within cannot fade.
You know why?
You can beat us, you can make us bleed….. but you can’t break us….
This is the Mahatmas land…..
I salute today from my cosy home sitting in my comfortable chair those who have made me feel safer today…. the real heroes who always were the demi-gods.
I bow down to every Life lost and pray for their souls to find peace.
“I only hope one day for this free land…
to be actually free…
from the filthy games
and selfish deeds….
as I found my city’s crown today….
shattered to many a piece….”
This is Mumbai, Do not ever try this again…..
IPL 2008, Team management, the Royal Treat
Team Management Win’s it all!
Being a true Mumbaite, there are only two things that I greedily crave for. One is Vada Pav and the other is the pulse racing game of Cricket.
About 7 weeks ago, I became a great fan of Mr. Lalit Modi who gifted all of us a fantastic product (though said to be ripped off from the Football leagues – Who cares?), the IPL – Indian Premiere League.
A product wherein you get the best from every nation.
It’s like having a Macintosh design (Beautifully packed) on a IBM machine (Brand sells) with windows OS (Love it or hate it… but you can’t ignore it – Everyone owns it)
The IPL brought in adrenaline rushing pulsating anticipation and anxiety to the young and senior players of Cricket as much as it did for the “dumb / struck” audience watching one of the best marketing practices sold right at their face.
And the best part is… the majority bought it and why wouldn’t we? It was a fantastic product with amazingly surprising ingredients, fresh recipe with a dash of rules being cooked in a cauldron of magical glamour.
It had it all and today at the DY Patil stadium at Navi Mumbai where the Underdogs finally did it and Rajasthan Royals bathed in pure glory.
They did it on the grandest stage of them all and with panache and flair. Raw overdue talent like Yusuf Pathan and Tanvir, fabulous findings like Asnodkar and pure all round skill like Shane Watson with the legend like backing and faith of Shane Warne, the match ended gloriously.
As the Chennai Super Kings skipper and his team gave a fabulous fight till the last ball was bowled, the Rajasthan Royals devoured the final ball for the ultimate prize of Glory and of course around 4.8 Crores Rupees.
But everyone loved it and the way the Royals had played it throughout, even the Chennai skipper wouldn’t have ‘minded it’ this time.
It was a great blow to all those who did not believe and kept saying with utmost faith that the underdogs will remain underdogs as they finally watched the most economical team biting the biggest chunk of them all, the biggest prize of them all the worlds most expensive Trophy – The IPL trophy.
More important than the combination of all sorts of skill levels was the beauty to see Muralidharan happy on Jayasurya’s wicket, Sachin rejoicing at Dhoni’s dismissal, Sourav hugging Shoaib and the Aussie Watson as glad with hitting Symond’s ball like never seen before, was that it brought in a lot of team spirit and a never give up attitude amongst all who played and to many who even just watched.
It was a great lesson from Shane Warne’s team that, it is not as important to have the best in the team as it is to give your best to the team.
I would like to end it with just a simple kudos for the legendary performance by the retired Skipper Shane Warne for his team management and to the whole Rajasthan Royals for the consistent performance by adding so much zest and energy to the spirit of the game.
Three cheers to the fact and power behind ‘Team Management’ and a Huge Hurray to Mr.Modi, Mr. Warne and the Rajasthan Royals.
IPL rocked!!!
Be well
Ananth V
Image Source: http://wikimedia.org
Offical Website: http://www.iplt20.com/index.html
Warli Art India: UK Art Council: A journey, for Art’s sake!
March 11th, 2008
Destination: Bapugoan, Dahanu Village, Maharashtra, India
Purpose: Being part of the Documentation shoot about the Warli art and one of its immense talent: Mr.Ramesh Hengadi.
About the Artist: Mr.Ramesh, will soon be reaching out to the world showcasing his skills and bringing India closer in the art front on the international map. He is from Dahanu, India and is a master craftsmen and artist.
His benign behavior and simplicity will take you off your feet when you see his artworks. He has done his MA and has been into Warli art since a very early age.
The Journey:
I left from home at 5:30 am heading towards Churchgate station where I was to meet Mr. Barney Hare Duke and Mr. Jeremy Theophilus and leave for Dahanu.
I touched the meeting place exactly at 6:50 am and the vehicle arrived with the curious and skilled duo Mr.Barney and Mr. Jeremy. They both are partners of “A FINE LINE” and are project managers at HAT.
This program was being also funded majorly by the Art council UK.
As I learnt more about their work and about their travel around the world, I found something very interesting. They both actually loved art to the core….And instantaneously I knew that the journey would not be long and would be very informative and a great learning experience.
As Mr. Jeremy explained to me about their study on varied cultures, different art forms, distinctly varied media, about the totally unique cultures that each country offered them and the new discoveries about customs, traditions, people that they acquired, made the journey very much interesting for me. Mr. Barney told me about their research plans, documentary shoot about the artists and the art form at Dahanu village.
I then also came to know that I was going to meet the artist Mr.Ramesh in about half an hour, as he had travelled more than half the way so as to direct us to his home.
As my cellular phone rang and Mr.Ramesh enquired about where we had reached, we finalized on one point of meet and then…. I met the talented to the core artist.
As he got into the vehicle and the questions about his village and art work kept barging, his soft spoken ways and smile eased the pace of questions from our side. We were closer to reaching the destination and as we looked around, we saw my country, India with its beautiful crude beauty. The sceneries around were breathtaking and very picturesque.
In a total of 2 ½ hours, we touched his home and were greeted by his mother with ‘Aarti & red Tilak’.
The whole place looked very neat, clean and was stunningly beautiful. The people there were living a very simple life with limited resources and means, but were living happily.
Why wouldn’t they be, one of their artist was being recognized for his work and was being interviewed and documented on, before he left for UK to showcase his talent.
We went inside his home, met his big and hospitable family and within half an hour or so we were out, for exploring his village, their culture, traditions, their way of life etc. We saw his school, as his brothers, friends and other villagers took us around the whole village. We saw how they grinded wheat, rice etc, and the way the kids were taught to greet the elders and anyone who was new to their homeland.
They explained to us of their faith in the god, “Vagobha” meaning ‘The Tiger’ whom they worshiped in idol and symbolic form. They took us to that temple that was built and has been maintained since generations.
We obviously found dust and mud all around us, but yet, the air was amazingly fresh and there was absolutely no pollution. So, in other words, I was having difficulty breathing the fresh air…. Hmmm…. Only pure oxygen to breathe. Being from the polluted side of the world, I had no idea how to take that in… but I managed and survived.
The village was amazingly clean which reminded me of the media coverage and other hoardings begging our city dwellers to keep the city clean. There were dustbins in the village and the garbage was properly disposed.
It reminded me of the ‘ruffles lays’ packet that was thrown out in the middle of the road by one of the Honda city owners kid while we were leaving in the vehicle for Dahanu today morning. So much for a civilized city, Huh!
As I came out of the horrible flashback, back to the clean and fresh village of Dahanu, Ramesh’s brothers and friends showed us few other houses and the art works and the style in which the house had been designed and coloured, amazed all of us. It was clean, neat, colourfull and had motifs and other different wall paintings on the in and outside of the house walls. They had kept God idols etc hanging from the ceiling, painted the invite to the wedding in the houses where marriages had taken place, the lamps and wedding turbans that were hanging on the nails on the wooden pillars of their houses. Even with so much humidity and heat, the inside of the houses were cool because of the cow dung plastered on their walls.
The massive support that the whole village showered on its talented son, Mr.Ramesh H was something that one could feel so much positively in the air with such strong and happy vibes that were hovering across the whole village.
We then feasted our eyes to the amazing Tarpa dance while the Head Tarpa player (who was easily in his seventies) played the amazing looking musical instrument and the other dancers, performers and singers showed us their skills and brought us closer to the village, people and their art forms. They danced, hopped, twisted and turned greeting us and sang songs of THE GAURI (the God and Goddess) and the harvesting of crops which were very important aspects of the village life.
Later on as we looked at the Warli art, it was very clear that the Tarpa dance, the Tarpa, the harvesting process of crops and the gods, idols, temples, their faith, religion and worship played a massively important role in their upbringing and were vividly seen in their Warli art.
We travelled across to majority of the places and areas learning about Warli art and were gifted to watch the young artists and the master of Warli art at work. As the master craftsmen Mr.Ramesh and the 10 year old Ashish with his friends and elder brothers Rajesh, Ramesh took small pieces of cloth dipped in their soil / mud and cow dung, which had dried up now to look like a great canvas place for their art to be etched or created, they slowly began the magic.
As we watched their undivided attention and focus on their art being converted to shapes, forms, figures we could see that they were actually creating the different dances and performances that we had just seen their today, few hours ago. It looked amazingly alive and breathtakingly beautiful. The flow and the rhythm of the art work were exquisite.
Throughout as Mr.Barney and Mr.Jeremy were shooting the whole thing and taking notes, I had a real blast as I could not only learn about the art of warli, but also meet such sweet, skilled and amazingly talented people and learn so much about my own culture of the village life in India.
By the end of the day after taking rounds of the places where the master artist usually works, where he gets his inspiration from, later on we also caught a glimpse at the various artworks created by his wife on cloth, t-shirts, Ramesh’s unique combination of using the gourd vegetable to be used as pots, moulds and create amazingly exquisite showpieces of Warli art on it, we headed back to the vehicle. Mr. Jeremy treated us to a nice lunch and we then headed back home.
The journey back home was very much different than the way it began.
There was so much curiosity and so many queries when we had started at the crack of dawn, but as we headed back home, I was filled with so much awe of the humbleness, simplicity of their lives and pure art that I could feel rushing inside my head. I rested in the comfortable and BIG Chevrolet and went back home with a day, that was fun, had a huge learning experience, meeting brilliant artists, great people, the partners of A FINE LINE who had shown so much respect and love for the art and Indian culture…..
(For pictures of this whole journey, click on the link below: http://ananthvclicks.wordpress.com)
The day had ended with the setting sun and I was grateful to a very good friend of mine, Mrs. Neela Shinde for introducing me to the brilliant researchers from UK, was Thankful to both, Jeremy and Barney for such a wonderful journey and humbled by the loving and talented villagers at Dahanu.
God bless art and artists for spreading so much life, culture, love, passion hope and dreams all around us.
Be well
Ananthanarayanan V
http://techdivine.cgsociety.org
http://www.art.in/artists/ananthanarayanan-v.htm
Dhirubhai Ambani: Dare, Dream & Destiny!
Dare, Dream & Destiny!
Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani: “Dhirubhai”
The saga of dreams and destiny wherein the possibility and ability to challenge every obstacle was literally larger than life, such is the chronicle of the legend who lives perpetually in our minds and hearts, Dhirubhai.
This article is a mark of respect from just one of his billion fans from all over the globe on his 75th Birth Anniversary on 28th December 2007!
Dhirubhai, as he was affectionately referred to by his scores of followers and fans from around the world, began his life with scanty means, humble start but with dreams beyond people’s capability to anticipate. He began as a small time delivery boy, rose up as the brightest shining star and became the face of our India.
Dhirubhai became the embodiment of triumph, guts, passion and the guide of one and all who dared to dream, each one who sought life out of the ordinary and was ready to go and pursue it no matter what.
He was someone who not only had implausible industry acumen, but also had remarkable prudence and foresight to seek, conquer roads and paths where no man had ventured or dared to go before. He was a man who could turn a fading dream into a bright and merry dawn with his charisma and his passion to grow like no one ever did.
Dhirubhai defined new scales and set new standards for the common man to grow beyond his own competence. He made everyone become conscious that all you need to grow in a way that would stun the world is just CONVICTION… as in Faith and belief that you would achieve it… and that once you start believing in yourself no matter what, you would reach the pinnacle of success and growth like no other.
His life, his road and his dreams are now shared by billions of individuals and communities all over the globe and his name is a permanent shining star in the midst of the vast and bright blue sky.
Dhirubhai like many other great national leaders, reformers, scientists, geniuses, made our INDIA stand distinct in the global map and taught each of us that it is not good…. But great to dare to dream!
He will always live in our hearts, mind and soul and keep reminding us – IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING!!!
MANY MANY HAPPY RETURNS OF THE DAY DHIRUBHAI!
Ananthanarayanan V
image source:http://googling.in
Life: NEVER GIVE UP!
I was seven years old. It was barely seven am as I rubbed my eyes and was still lying on the comfortable bed. As my eyelids leisurely followed the cadence of the twinkling stars and I came back to full yet not so vivid vision of the place around, I looked for immediate comfort. I looked for my folks around.
Now this little kid that was me was getting a little anxious to not see his parents around him as he realized all of a sudden that the place he was waking up was also totally new and unknown to him.
I kept calling for my parents and no one answered.
My eyes opened up wholly and I got up in a jiff. As I looked around, my cry for my mom and dad only got louder as the room that I was looking at was at least about 3000 sq. foot big and there was not a soul around. My feet clamped the flooring and I took to faster steps and scurried around the first door that I found open.
I ran three floors downstairs still calling for my parents and now my voice was getting a little more raucous and whiny than before.
Bang!
I startled and shouted for help as I heard a huge clanking clatter to my left side where there was a huge door that was half open. I stood there motionless, scared and worried. I waited till I heard that noise again and then again.
Strangely though, I was a lot calm now and I slowly moved towards that open door and all I could see were massively humongous machines.The smell in that place was filled with fragrance of flowers. I step by step moved in between the clanking sounds and now a lot more confident as I saw a household face near one such machine.
It was my uncle, Mr. K V Ganesan. He owned that whole factory and as he looked at me and my eyes which had tears rolling down my cheeks from before, he immediately lifted me up and said, “Good morning dear. Let’s go and have something to freshen up your morning.”
Soon enough I was sitting on my dad’s lap and my uncle was narrating of probably what could have caused those tears to roll of my eyes. I was now too secure with my folks to admit it was right, so I just smiled and kept quite.
Ganesan uncle was quick to get that thought in my head as he immediately said, “You are a big boy. You were just curious may be and not afraid right?” and I immediately nodded.
That’s when he told me, “My dear boy, in your life never be afraid to accept your fears. As telling a lie and hiding it would only make it stay with you for a much longer time.” That was said to me almost two decades back and it still rings in my head like I heard it yesterday.
Whenever I had the chance to meet uncle Ganesan, I never missed the opportunity as when I grew up, I came to know that the man who was standing with the labourers that early dawn with the soap and machines working was the man who had built a huge business and won acclaims and accolades from all over the globe.
Ganesan uncle had even won awards / certificates from the then President of India for his contribution in the field of his expertise, for his work towards quality Soap products “Chitra Soap Works” and his loads and loads of contribution to the betterment of labour force in their town and city of Chennai which was then Madras.
He was an industrialist. He was a visionary and a true leader. He was the President of the Small scale soap manufacturers association of South India. He was someone who used to genuinely go down the line and help the less privileged section of society and was unbiased in helping anyone and everyone.
He was someone who always believed, preached and practised that the court of conscience is more supreme than the Supreme Court.
Ganesan uncle was someone who used to tell things as they were. He was a simple, straightforward, no-nonsense man. He always valued others time and was as brilliantly knowledgeable about the Holy book of Gita, the Vedas and the Upanishads, as he was about his flourishing company.
He could predict about people’s lives and he did not do it with anyone and everyone. He used to just talk and all of a sudden say something about someone and keep quiet. And he has always been right.
I do not know how he used to do that but I always still wish that I could have met him few more times and learn more about practicality and life and more importantly, the road to do things your way, your business and your hard work and as he lovingly used to put it, your profits.
He started his life from working in a hotel with a very modest beginning and reached to positions where almost everyone he met was influenced by him to the very core. He had an amazing charisma and optimistic vigor that he carried with him. It was probably this vibe which took him to the pinnacle of accomplishment and showered respect and laurels on him from scores of big shots from around the world.
The story of his never quit attitude sounds mesmerizing as he had told that to me once.
He told me that one day, when he had finished his work in the small time hotel where he was working, he saw that some customer had left a book on the seat. It was about midnight till when he had finished his that days errands and he was about to hit the sack, when something pulled him again towards that book. That book was about making something, something that was supposed to get things clean.
Hmmmmm……. Clean. He said to himself. Clean is good. Let me know more about this, he thought. Various optimistic possibilities flashed across his mind instantaneously. He started reading it page by page and before he looked around, it was already morning and his shift was about to start. He was fascinated by what he had read, but work was very much important to fetch him that day’s food. So he let the book in his small cloth bag that he had and got back to work.
The thought kept ringing in his head again and again.
That night after work he jotted down the things that were said to be required and asked those around, of things he did not understand what they meant. He tried to get as many of those as possible with him and replaced few others with what the people around had told.
He followed what was mentioned in the book and instead of using machines he manually grounded and got a thick paste with him in just few hours. It had no proper smell as he recalls, “I must have missed out on the fragrance part to be added as I did not have anything for that aspect back then.” But whatever he had got, he tried to put them in a box and tried them on the dishes and Woolah! They were clean in a jiff and looked a lot shinier.
He loved the concept and he began his dream and created Chitra Soap works and in the next three decades went global. His products were well known for their quality and cost and as years rolled by, he put scores of people on the job and built his dream neat and clean.But more so, with his intense sense of humor and immense technical knowledge and his pure business instinct, he touched a million lives on the way to the pedestal.
I don’t know why, but I remembered him very much today as I thought about something with respect to accepting my fear about something rather than hide and make it grow. At the end of it when the approach clicked to my advantage and I felt so proud that I had taken a brilliant decision at the end of the day, it just hit me hard as a bar of soap, and I came to my senses touching the fragrance of the whole story.
I was able to recollect something that had happened so long back and I started jotting down all that I recollected him telling me about life, faith, hard work and money.
So that may be, just maybe, someday, I grow up to be at least a third as brilliant, innovative and knowledgeable like him, just May be…. Someday……. As he told me always………. Never give up on your dream, whatever it might be……. Just never give up.
He is someone I always remember in my prayers and someone whom I hope is safe and happy up there in the company of the powerful almighty.
Be well
—-
Ananthanarayanan V
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