The country of paradoxes …. where Mercs and bullock-carts co-exist on the road …. the feet of elders are still touched at home while calling your seniors by first names in the office ….. a country with a throbbing heart ….. a beautiful place that’s never short of surprises …. Here are a few that touched my heart….. this is my India …. The picture may not be representative …. But then who cares??
As we drove along happily towards Salem, my Bolero started knocking suddenly. When I tried pressing the peddle, engine began to die down. I immediately shifted gears. Once I got the vehicle in second gear, engine started showing signs of life again. I heaved a sigh of relief. Then it happened again as I tried to shift into higher gear …. I almost panicked! It was getting dark and we were just three of us – me, my wife and our four year old daughter - on a relatively quiet highway to Salem. We were on that road for the first time and had no clue how safe the road was after the dark. I wiped my forehead and started driving the vehicle in 2nd gear at a speed of 20. “Damn” – I knew the problem theoretically but it was as good as knowing only the theory of swimming in deep waters. This is the time when many “ifs” start troubling you …… if only I had put my foot down for getting the fuel filter changed rather than going by the assurance of the maintenance manager at the workshop ….. if I had started earlier in the day than spending half a day in office to start only at 4.30 ….. and so on ….. “What do we do now?” – asked my wife who thankfully can stay pretty calm in such situations …. “Nothing much, we’ll keep going like this and as soon as we reach Salem, we’ll check in the first hotel in sight and figure out about the vehicle tomorrow morning” …. Thankfully this ordeal ended in an hour and we saw the lights of Salem …… Don’t know how many people have felt happier than me and my wife at the sight of Salem …. I just drove in the first hotel that came our way ….. I think it was something called Cenney’s Gateway ….. “Let me first check whether the rooms are available” …. I told my wife as I left for the reception with the engine of the vehicle still running (just didn’t dare to shut it off). Mercifully the rooms were available …. “Is there any Mahindra service center nearby?” I asked casually and briefly told the counter-clerk about my situation ….. “Oh – there is one just right behind the hotel …. May be closing time now …. Why don’t you check there first, I’ll keep the room for you – don’t worry”. I ran to the vehicle with a big “thank you” to him …… As we drove to the service center, I saw a man in his blue uniform walking out of the service center. “Is this Mahindra Service Center?” “Yes, but we are closed now. You can come tomorrow”. “Please can you do something? I have to reach Munnar tomorrow morning, if I don’t get this fixed tonight, half my vacation will be spoied….. pleeeaseeeee!” “OK, lets check – we’ll go for the test drive – let madam and the kid be comfortable in the reception out there” “Thank you… but they will come with us” There is no way I was going to let my wife and child be alone in an unknown place in the unknown city!! As he drove the vehicle “Fuel filter problem sir” “ I know, please do something” “This is an authorized service station – I cannot fix it just like that” I pleaded again and he agreed to help. Next 45 minutes he and his assistant worked sincerely and did the necessary work of cleaning …. I sighed a relief as I drove the vehicle again …… he beamed “now no problem sir …. Go to Munnar and get it fixed when you are back in Bangalore – I guarantee” …… now came the difficult part …. How much should I pay this man ….. now that I was out of the stress, I started worrying whether I will be fleeced financially for this act of kindness! Ready to bargain for much higher amount, I decided to start with ` 200/- “Whats this sir …I don’t want any money” I thought he was being sarcastic. “No you helped me going out of your way so take it” “I told you sir - I can’t take any money – this is an authorized service station” “I’ll really feel good if you take the money” …. I never expected the bargain to go this way! As I almost thrust the money in his hand, he looked at it “Why ` 200 sir …. It was simple cleaning job” He kept one hundred rupee note back in my pocket before I realized it, gave a friendly salute and walked away ….. I was stunned as Raghavan walked away (yes … this story is 10 years old and I still remember his name clearly) ….. The money I offered could have been his day’s salary ….. I was in need and he easily could have gone for the kill ….. I saluted the man as he walked away quickly and thanked him from the bottom of my heart as it just reconfirmed my belief that “This (also) happens in India”.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Saturday, September 11, 2010
This (also) happens in India – part 3
The country of paradoxes …. where Mercs and bullock-carts co-exist on the road …. the feet of elders are still touched at home while calling your seniors by first names in the office ….. a country with a throbbing heart ….. a beautiful place that’s never short of surprises …. Here are a few that touched my heart….. this is my India …. The picture may not be representative …. But then who cares??
City of Nasik in state of Maharashtra is known for religious reasons and of course scores of temples are found all over the district. However, there is one particular temple that is different than the rest. There is a temple called “Temple of Dev Mamledar” – temple dedicated to a Mamledar (Revenue officer at a Taluka). His name was Yashwantrao Mahadeo Bhosekar – popularly known as Dev (meaning god) mamledar. The story does not stop at the temple – even today the chair that was used by Dev-mamledar in office is maintained as a sacred relic. The presiding revenue officer even today does not occupy the chair meant for Mamledar but operates from a chair kept next to Dev-mamledar’s chair …… so who was Dev-mamledar and what’s his story?
…… It is a true story of a revenue officer in 19th Century India. Dev-mamledar was the revenue officer of Satna around 1867 to 1873 …. In 1870 Satna faced one of its worst famines ….. it was during this famine that the mamledar decided to act rather than being a mute, helpless spectator ….. he distributed all his personal wealth including food-grains to the needy. Once done with his house, he opened the government coffers at his disposal and distributed the money to the poor and needy making sure that nobody died in Satna due to hunger …… the action obviously was not taken kindly by the British Government and an investigation was initiated ….. the folklore says that when the Government investigation officer came for the visit, he found the coffers were full and not a single penny was missing ……
I really don’t want to get into the miracle part of the story ….. not that I doubt it, but miracles is a matter of faith and I think faith should never be questioned. Irrespective of miracle , dev-mamledar still deserves the honour bestowed upon him. It takes an outstanding courage and conviction to save human life ….. Many can think about it but question is how many can act on it …. At a time when we hear the stories about government coffers being emptied for not so noble reasons and about government’s “logical (??)” inability to distribute millions of tons of food to the poor instead of wasting it, story of Dev-mamledar is an eye-opener. How many in the power today think that power is bestowed upon them by millions of needy people of this country who would not mind building their shrines, if they just discharge their duties honourably …. Interpreting rules and breaking them if required is need of the hour rather than destructing the precious commodity Mr Yashwantrao Mahadev Bhosekar saved over a century ago ….. Human Life!!!
City of Nasik in state of Maharashtra is known for religious reasons and of course scores of temples are found all over the district. However, there is one particular temple that is different than the rest. There is a temple called “Temple of Dev Mamledar” – temple dedicated to a Mamledar (Revenue officer at a Taluka). His name was Yashwantrao Mahadeo Bhosekar – popularly known as Dev (meaning god) mamledar. The story does not stop at the temple – even today the chair that was used by Dev-mamledar in office is maintained as a sacred relic. The presiding revenue officer even today does not occupy the chair meant for Mamledar but operates from a chair kept next to Dev-mamledar’s chair …… so who was Dev-mamledar and what’s his story?
…… It is a true story of a revenue officer in 19th Century India. Dev-mamledar was the revenue officer of Satna around 1867 to 1873 …. In 1870 Satna faced one of its worst famines ….. it was during this famine that the mamledar decided to act rather than being a mute, helpless spectator ….. he distributed all his personal wealth including food-grains to the needy. Once done with his house, he opened the government coffers at his disposal and distributed the money to the poor and needy making sure that nobody died in Satna due to hunger …… the action obviously was not taken kindly by the British Government and an investigation was initiated ….. the folklore says that when the Government investigation officer came for the visit, he found the coffers were full and not a single penny was missing ……
I really don’t want to get into the miracle part of the story ….. not that I doubt it, but miracles is a matter of faith and I think faith should never be questioned. Irrespective of miracle , dev-mamledar still deserves the honour bestowed upon him. It takes an outstanding courage and conviction to save human life ….. Many can think about it but question is how many can act on it …. At a time when we hear the stories about government coffers being emptied for not so noble reasons and about government’s “logical (??)” inability to distribute millions of tons of food to the poor instead of wasting it, story of Dev-mamledar is an eye-opener. How many in the power today think that power is bestowed upon them by millions of needy people of this country who would not mind building their shrines, if they just discharge their duties honourably …. Interpreting rules and breaking them if required is need of the hour rather than destructing the precious commodity Mr Yashwantrao Mahadev Bhosekar saved over a century ago ….. Human Life!!!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
This (also) happens in India – part 2
The country of paradoxes …. where Mercs and bullock-carts co-exist on the road …. the feet of elders are still touched at home while calling your seniors by first names in the office ….. a country with a throbbing heart ….. a beautiful place that’s never short of surprises …. Here are a few that touched my heart….. this is my India …. The picture may not be representative …. But then who cares??
As we sat down for dinner, I saw my wife little bit in a pensive mood. Being a cheerful person that she is, I was curious. When asked about the reason, the situation she told me was one of the most fascinating that I heard around me for some time……
The maid servant who works at our place has a story of her own. She works to support the family of husband + 3 kids (One son and two daughters). She is very keen that the kids take up studies very seriously. The story so far is nothing special ….. the real stuff is in the details of the story …. Elder son is average in studies so he works daytime to support his mother’s income and studies at night college …. The daughter – middle one of the siblings is very passionate about the studies and studied against all difficulties (family of 5 staying in one room). Based on her 12th standard performance she secured an admission in one of the Pune-based Engineering college for Computer Engineering! This is where the problem started staring at them – how to manage the expenses? How to pay the fees? …. especially when deadline for payment was just two days away. In this context she narrated the whole problem to my wife. I now understood why my wife was lost in her thoughts. “We should pay the fees for her first year to begin with” she said on an impulse. I couldn’t agree more “Whats the amount” When she told me the amount, the irony of the situation hit me – the amount was not more than if you treat a group of 8-10 friends for a few drinks and food in a good restaurant! Thankfully she had got an admission in reserved quota so there was a concession in fees. “Give her the cheque tomorrow in the name of the college but how are they going to manage the other expenses?”I asked. “Lets see, first lets at least help them to secure admission”. My wife told me that the joy on the lady’s face was an instant returns of the investment! …… Two days later the lady came beaming – The amount required for hostel and other yearly expenses was arranged partly through some bank loan by intervention of some kind-hearted banker (generally banks give more money to people who have it in the first place!). The rest of it was organized partly through some personal financial help and partly through some financial aid from a local MLA……..
The incident was overwhelming for me as number of stories emerge …..
1. More often than not I have seen the reserved quota system in education is misused by many who actually may not need it….. so it was nice to see a LIVE case of the benefit reaching the worthy.
2. We started the help in our humble way and we were not alone! Without worrying about overall feasibility if some help comes forward, there is a hope for the person to seek help …. Whenever you help someone, you are not unique – there are many others like you …. The amount raised for meeting annual expenses was quite impressive
3. Whatever criticism our education system draws, it still helps worthy students with burning desire to acquire education …. Time and again this has been proved by innumerable cases of studying in hardship
4. LAST BUT NOT THE LEAST – We have a serious issue of bias against the female child starting right from female infanticide – here was a case of a family with lower income group and uneducated parents working hard to get their daughter educated more than a son based on meritocracy! Just like candle in the stormy night, these stories always light my heart! There is HOPE ……
JAI HO!
As we sat down for dinner, I saw my wife little bit in a pensive mood. Being a cheerful person that she is, I was curious. When asked about the reason, the situation she told me was one of the most fascinating that I heard around me for some time……
The maid servant who works at our place has a story of her own. She works to support the family of husband + 3 kids (One son and two daughters). She is very keen that the kids take up studies very seriously. The story so far is nothing special ….. the real stuff is in the details of the story …. Elder son is average in studies so he works daytime to support his mother’s income and studies at night college …. The daughter – middle one of the siblings is very passionate about the studies and studied against all difficulties (family of 5 staying in one room). Based on her 12th standard performance she secured an admission in one of the Pune-based Engineering college for Computer Engineering! This is where the problem started staring at them – how to manage the expenses? How to pay the fees? …. especially when deadline for payment was just two days away. In this context she narrated the whole problem to my wife. I now understood why my wife was lost in her thoughts. “We should pay the fees for her first year to begin with” she said on an impulse. I couldn’t agree more “Whats the amount” When she told me the amount, the irony of the situation hit me – the amount was not more than if you treat a group of 8-10 friends for a few drinks and food in a good restaurant! Thankfully she had got an admission in reserved quota so there was a concession in fees. “Give her the cheque tomorrow in the name of the college but how are they going to manage the other expenses?”I asked. “Lets see, first lets at least help them to secure admission”. My wife told me that the joy on the lady’s face was an instant returns of the investment! …… Two days later the lady came beaming – The amount required for hostel and other yearly expenses was arranged partly through some bank loan by intervention of some kind-hearted banker (generally banks give more money to people who have it in the first place!). The rest of it was organized partly through some personal financial help and partly through some financial aid from a local MLA……..
The incident was overwhelming for me as number of stories emerge …..
1. More often than not I have seen the reserved quota system in education is misused by many who actually may not need it….. so it was nice to see a LIVE case of the benefit reaching the worthy.
2. We started the help in our humble way and we were not alone! Without worrying about overall feasibility if some help comes forward, there is a hope for the person to seek help …. Whenever you help someone, you are not unique – there are many others like you …. The amount raised for meeting annual expenses was quite impressive
3. Whatever criticism our education system draws, it still helps worthy students with burning desire to acquire education …. Time and again this has been proved by innumerable cases of studying in hardship
4. LAST BUT NOT THE LEAST – We have a serious issue of bias against the female child starting right from female infanticide – here was a case of a family with lower income group and uneducated parents working hard to get their daughter educated more than a son based on meritocracy! Just like candle in the stormy night, these stories always light my heart! There is HOPE ……
JAI HO!
Monday, September 6, 2010
This (also) happens in India – part 1
The country of paradoxes …. where Mercs and bullock-carts co-exist on the road …. the feet of elders are still touched at home while calling your seniors by first names in the office ….. a country with a throbbing heart ….. a beautiful place that’s never short of surprises …. Here are a few that touched my heart….. this is my India …. The picture may not be representative …. But then who cares??
August 2009 …… 25the August 2009 to be precise, I read an interesting article that was published in the local newspaper. This was a real life story of one Mr V. V. Venkataraman who taught Tamil language at school for 41 years and retired in 1985. Throughout his life he stayed in a rented accommodation and as the years passed by even that was unaffordable on a schoolteachers’ pension….. It came to a situation where he had even leave that house ….. one of his students who had retired as a municipal commissioner heard this and was really upset …. He connected with around 500 students whom Mr Venkataraman had taught … together they bought a 1200 sq. ft of land and built a two-storied house to be handed over to him on 5th September 2009 – the day India celebrates as Teachers’ day in memory of Dr Radhakrishnan …
The story can be viewed from two viewpoints …. It’s a disturbing state of affairs for the builders of our nation – the teachers as they spend lifetime molding generations …. But there is also a story of the enormous goodwill that the profession evokes in today’s age of break-neck speed …..
Closer home I have seen my in-laws getting the respect from the most unexpected quarters and in the most unexpected places as they come across some student or other wherever they go …. More than happiness, there is a visible pride written on their faces about the success of their student (A pride due to someone else’s success – a feeling I guess that might remain alien to me!)
Generations today may not exactly behave in the same manner with their teachers as generations did a few decades before, but even today the good honest teachers invariably draw the same respect ….
While something has been done on the pay front (I believe) and a lot needs to be done on the capability building front for teachers, there is one obvious matchmaking that may change the world … The problem is that apart from some isolated incidents, even today there is no concrete platform where students can reach out to their retired teachers who may need help …. Remember I am talking about an era where there was no internet “to keep in touch” and possibly talking about the teachers who even today may not have an access. I am sure this will be a powerhouse of an initiative which will give platform to the students to offer “gurudakshina” (A concept where student pays for the knowledge offered by a teacher and the payment is always considered as token in proportion to the knowledge received!) – many will come forward to reach out and honour their teachers rather than making the teachers waiting for the “favours” from the government!
August 2009 …… 25the August 2009 to be precise, I read an interesting article that was published in the local newspaper. This was a real life story of one Mr V. V. Venkataraman who taught Tamil language at school for 41 years and retired in 1985. Throughout his life he stayed in a rented accommodation and as the years passed by even that was unaffordable on a schoolteachers’ pension….. It came to a situation where he had even leave that house ….. one of his students who had retired as a municipal commissioner heard this and was really upset …. He connected with around 500 students whom Mr Venkataraman had taught … together they bought a 1200 sq. ft of land and built a two-storied house to be handed over to him on 5th September 2009 – the day India celebrates as Teachers’ day in memory of Dr Radhakrishnan …
The story can be viewed from two viewpoints …. It’s a disturbing state of affairs for the builders of our nation – the teachers as they spend lifetime molding generations …. But there is also a story of the enormous goodwill that the profession evokes in today’s age of break-neck speed …..
Closer home I have seen my in-laws getting the respect from the most unexpected quarters and in the most unexpected places as they come across some student or other wherever they go …. More than happiness, there is a visible pride written on their faces about the success of their student (A pride due to someone else’s success – a feeling I guess that might remain alien to me!)
Generations today may not exactly behave in the same manner with their teachers as generations did a few decades before, but even today the good honest teachers invariably draw the same respect ….
While something has been done on the pay front (I believe) and a lot needs to be done on the capability building front for teachers, there is one obvious matchmaking that may change the world … The problem is that apart from some isolated incidents, even today there is no concrete platform where students can reach out to their retired teachers who may need help …. Remember I am talking about an era where there was no internet “to keep in touch” and possibly talking about the teachers who even today may not have an access. I am sure this will be a powerhouse of an initiative which will give platform to the students to offer “gurudakshina” (A concept where student pays for the knowledge offered by a teacher and the payment is always considered as token in proportion to the knowledge received!) – many will come forward to reach out and honour their teachers rather than making the teachers waiting for the “favours” from the government!
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