Real life inspirations: Mr. R. Rathinavelu

PROLOGUE

There is inspiration all around us. There is a story in every history; even a pebble we see around us is 4 billion years old and is packed with history! This is a series of simple stories drawn from real life people around me who have taught me about living a good life in one way or another.

R. RATHINAVELU

This is a journey of my father-in-law, Mr. R. Rathinavelu, a devout head of family and an ardent DMK functionary whose sole mission of life is to fiercely protect his family come what may.

Having born in the 1950s, his life itself is a gritty transformation, one that witnessed firsthand a post Independence formation of India, the economic restructuring of the 60s and 70s, the border wars, the jobless suffering of the middle class in the 80s, the economy opening up in the 90s, the IT boom of the 2000s and the economically charged India in 2020; he has seen it all !

EARLY AGE

Born in Chennai on 5th September 1951, his father abandoned the family while still at infancy. Later life only got more difficult on him when he lost his mother too when he was only 3 yrs old and was left with an elder and a younger sister. Thanks to the Indian joint family system, he and his sisters had shelters and were atleast not left to fend for themselves. With tough relatives, he had a very harsh upbringing, one that would shape up the tough independent man he grew up to be.

EDUCATION, LOVE LIFE & CAREER

As was the norm in the 1960's, he completed his PUC (Pre-University) and landed himself a couple of clerical jobs before settling in with a private firm for the long term. It was during one of these job stint, he was introduced to Ms Manjula by a common friend and they would soon be bonded for life. Love marriages were more than a taboo in India in the 1970's (even now in most sections of the society), yet their relentless love for each other challenged all odds and they went against their families to tie the knot in a small private ceremony on 31-Jan-1980. They were blessed with their first daughter Narmadha Raji the same year.

Just when life seemed settled and everthing was going great, he faced another setback and lost his job. With economy in shambles and unemployment rates peaking, he found it hard to land another job. He tried for few months, before deciding to get self-employed more out of desperation rather than wilful choice. He chose auto driving, not an ideal choice, but atleast something to feed the family. It was during this phase, they had their second daughter Brindha Raji in 1981. Now settled in the bustling Triplicane area of Chennai, he had to shuffle between driving his auto in the hot Madras city taking care of his 1 yr old child, a new born child and his wife recovering from pregnancy and the uncertain income. Add to it, the guilt that his wife had left a well-to-do family and married him and had to go through these tough uncertain times. But none of this deterred him or made him give up as he somehow managed to make ends meet. Remember, this was a time when thousands of jobless husbands got into bad drinking habits that ruined thousands of families in the state all over.

Now when this family was getting settled and going about this uncertain routine, they were blessed with their third daughter Jeevitha Raji who also happens to be my wife. As if 2 daughers were not enough, Mr. Rathinavelu had 3 daughters to provide for now. This was a time when even 1 daughter was considered a burden to the family, and he had 3 daughters to grow now. But he was very clear in his vision that his daughters will grow up like him, responsible, fearless and not any different had they had been born as boys. He also ensured they got all basic needs as the Hindi saying goes "Roti, Kapda aur Makaan", translates to Food, Clothes and Shelter. Infact between him and his wife, they ensured their daughters got exposed to many extra currricular activities too including Singing, Cycling, Sports, Driving etc.

THE MIDDLE-AGE

This was a phase when life was slowly getting into a routine with its own ups and downs and the kids growing up fast enough, doing well in academics and having full support of his capable wife. Kids even looked up to their dad for the tremendous effort he took up in providing for the family. This was also when the stress of early 30s began taking its toll on him in mid 40s. These turned into small fits of rage, sometimes overreacting to his kids tantrums or wife's complaints; Of course he would regret his actions the very moment, but these became a bit too frequent. It was now that Ms. Manjula started working in order to meet the growing demands of their family. For the talented woman she was, she also saw her career grow fast and steady. Call it the mid-life crisis, insecurity from an unreliable profession or patriarchal mindset, there were frequent quarrels at home between Mr. Rathinavelu and his wife and the girls did notice them all. They were inclined to supporting their mother, and this led to even more frustration; but never once did he fail to provide for the family though. This was when Mr. Rathinavelu found solace in DMK politics and started getting engaged with the party functionaries and found a way to release his mental pressure atleast while he was with the party men, and his life started back on a new found routine.

LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL

Just as the years kept rolling by, there seemed some light at the end of this phase. His girls were growing fast and smart, this was also the time of IT boom in this subcontinent and his 2 elder daughters Narmadha Raji and Brindha Raji capitalised on this boom. Though they did not go through a fancy engineering education due to lack of financing, they still managed to make the most of the available opportunities and shone in their respective careers. This eased the financial pressure on their mother and father. He finally gave up auto driving in 2004 to declare himself a retired man and an active DMK party functionary needless to say he was also the bodyguard of his able daughters. Their mother also stopped work in 2005 more out of a chronic health problem. Their youngest daughter Jeevitha Raji (and my wife) seeked an alternate profession and went on to do her masters and subsequently PhD in Environmental Science. They even bought a new apartment in the heart of the city and moved there in 2005, a very good payback for all their lifelong perseverance.

PRESENT

The next 10 years between 2005 to 2015 were probably the best years of his life, seeing the fruits of his sacrifice and hardships along the way, and the family coming out of poverty. He got all his 3 daughters married.

And like before with his life, just when everything seemed to be going fine, now it was the old-age that caught up with him and his wife. His wife started showing signs of dementia which aggravated as the years passed by. He himself in a zest to keep going about daily rountine, self medicated with a course of steroid medicines which deteriorated his health beyond repair. With rheumatoid arthritis setting in, his movements were restricted with constant physical pain, yet his sole motive in life is to dutifully take care of his bed-ridden wife.

As of this moment in 2020, the eldest daughter, Narmadha Raji is with a prominent IT company; second daughter, Brindha Raji is a UK citizen and manages her IT job along with her twin kids; and the youngest daughter, Jeevitha Raji is a PhD holder and is on a sabbatical waiting for her daughter to join school before getting back to work.

EPILOGUE

There are plenty of inspirations we can draw from Mr. Rathinavelu's life. He went through a time and place where any normal lower middle class Indian father would have considered three girls as a burden and given up at some point in time; but not Mr. Rathinavelu. In fact, his biggest investment in life was not any physical possession, but his 3 girls and the education and values he imbibed in them as they grew. Now the roles are reversed and his 3 girls are his pillar of strength and support while he takes care of his ailing wife.

He might be aging, with an arched back, weak arms, and daylong fatigue, but he has a strong will and an even stronger drive to take care of the love of his life. His sacrifices, dedication, never-give-up attitude, attention to details, political knowledge and the occassional wits are inspirations we must draw from him. Apart from aging he has nothing to worry about now.

He can indeed be proud of his life !

A Conversation Ages Apart

Have you wondered what would it be like if you could talk to your own selves from different points in time? Technically speaking, it's possible only with a backwards and forward time-travel. And if you did have such an opportunity, what questions would you ask yourselves and what doubts would you clarify?  Well, here's an attempt to discuss some common topics with my own selves set ages apart. It's a conversation between Karthik@4 Vs 14 Vs 24 Vs 34 Vs 44 years, whoa, that's a lot of Karthiks or  should I say Myselves ! It's a long read and hopefully doesn't leave you bored. 

1. On Education: 

K@4: School is amazing. The teachers love me, I love all my friends and Deepa is my best friend.

K@14: Wait till you get to 10th, school is even more fun (with a sarcastic grin), wish I directly jump to college, could go to college anytime in casuals, will have loads of friends, life 'll be cool then. Can't think about anything now except the Xth board exams. By the way, Sathy miss said in our class today that "School life is the best and enjoy it to the fullest". Don't think there's anything to enjoy around here ! Hey K@24, How much will I score in my Xth and XIIth Board exams and which college will I study? Should I change my school after Xth.

K@24: Dude, even 10 yrs later, you'll appreciate what Sathy ma'am said. Make the most of your school life and you won't regret it. And you think college life is fun, come to college, you wish you go back to school. K@14: You're Xth marks will be ... hehehehe, I'm not gonna reveal it boy and XIIth will be a different ball game for you. You won't regret your college life either, but will take you a while to realize it! By the way K@34, I have questions for you: I'm the sole bread winner of my house now. Will I study higher? Will I be able to make it through my sister's education and marriage ?

K@14: You haven't answered any of my questions ?

K@24: That's it, your turn's up. Over to K@34.

K@34: Where there's a will, there's a way ! You'll figure out what to do.

K@24: Dammit, K@34 is just like me. I won't tell K@14 anything, and K@34 wont tell me anything !

K@34: But here's some insight for you. You'll have a good run, and you won't fail in your responsibilities. Now my turn. I know my education so far, but K@44, what will my education curve be from now?

K@44: hmmmm, can't say buddy ! But the words Sathy ma'am said, still echo in my ears ! Also, you won't lose sight of your reading habits. 

K@14,K@24,K@34: No point talking to K@44, he's just like us!

2. On Career:

K@4: Means ??

K@14: Assuming I do good in Xth, XIIth and college, what kind of Job will I join? I don't know anything out there; dad talks about IIT and Indian Navy. Can any of you future K's help me?

K@24: You have no idea what dad's talking about right. It'll be a weird career journey for you. Just like dad was a part of Armed Forces in the 60s, you'll make a career in a different kind of army. 

K@14: Intriguing... and may I ask what that army would be? 

K@24: And you think I'll play spoilsport for you ??? No way boy. Now K@34, Work's been mighty hectic last few years and I've seen places. I've just taken the bold decision of moving to Bangalore, not sure if it was a wise decision though. Does my career have a future ?

K@34: Dudes, Work will always be hectic. Like always, just go with the flow. Opportunities will come your way, I can't gaurantee you'll take them all but go by your instincts, they won't disappoint you, it's all a learning anyway. Now K@44, Myself along with my best friend (you know who it is), have been flirting with the idea of starting out on our own, when do you see that happening ? Will I grow up this corporate ladder or get stuck?

K@14: What??? Are you crazy?

K@24: Wow, now that's something !

K@44: Just remember daddy's hesitation about starting something with Balraj uncle which never took off. You are going through the same thing. Your decisions will have  justifications, some profound, some out of disbelief. Again, just go by your instincts. Don't wanna spoil your journey too.

3. On House:

K@4: We shifted to a new flat in Navy Nagar, Colaba few months back. It's a big flat, my neighbour Teena uncle and aunty are sweet. Balraj aunty takes me to church and parks. She even took a colour photo of me on Sunday. Bombay is my world !

K@14: Relish it while you can, Bombay is not your home though. There are major changes coming up and embrace them and you won't regret. Our MMDA house is nice, mom and dad gave me a separate big floor to study. I read early mornings in the kitchen, then near the well. After school I go up to first floor and read; Come down for dinner and that's it. It's been this routine last 6 months. Daddy just completed the terrace of our Mogappair house and  everytime we see the house plan, we get excited. How soon will we shift there? Dad says it will take atleast 2 years to complete construction.

K@24: MMDA won't be the same and I'm slowly beginning to detest the area especially after living in other places. Mogappair house, well what can I say. 

K@14: Elaborate more? 

K@24: Don't worry about it. K@34, give me an insight, where are you living now?

K@34: Hahahahaha smart ! You almost got me there. Well technically, now I don't live in Mogapair or MMDA or Tambaram or even Chennai ! So K@44, will our dream house project get fulfilled and where do you live now?

K@44: Oh if you're so smart, guess it yourself :-p! We live in a house big enough for our family. You'll like where you live !

4. On Family:

K@4: Deepika is the new entrant in our family. She's a month old, ayah (Maternal Grandma) has come from Chennai to Bombay to take care of her. 

K@14: We're in Chennai and Dad keeps travelling from Bombay every 3 months or so. It's hard for us especially when he misses out important dates, like mine or Deep's birthday or when I get good marks. Deep and me try not to trouble mom much. This time dad has spent a long time in Chennai and is busy with Mogappair house foundation. Ayah visits us once in few months.

K@24: K@14, hold on to your family as much as you can, that's all I have to say for now. Ayah will spend more time with you in future.

K@34: I know what you mean. It's amazing there's so much similarity between dad's and our lives. It's like we're re-living dad's life. What about our kids? What kid will Deep have? When it comes to family, how can I not talk about Jee.... 

K@44: Ssshhhhhhh, you almost broke a rule there, (no revealing critical future events). That's right; just remember the adage: You can re-live your childhood through your kids. So whatever you've missed, ensure your child gets them. 

5. On Girlfriend:

K@4: Yuck, I don't want any girl friend and I won't have any!

K@14: I wish I  have a girl friend in college. Will I?

K@24: Psssttt... (Laughing out Loudly). By the way, Lavanya of my college (who's a self proclaimed palm reader) read my palm in college and said I will definitely have love marriage. Will I and Have I met my soul-mate already ?

K@34: Things will happen when they're supposed to !

K@24: (Fuming now..), JUST TELL ME WHO'S THAT!!!

K@34 & K@44: (Smiles). It'll be a journey of good times and heartaches; But all's well in the end ! You'll be as close to your soulmate as mom and dad were between themselves. 

K@24: (Smiles), OK let's move on.

6. On Fitness:

K@4: Means what ?

K@14: I'm passionate about sprinting and a good runner. I do pull ups and push ups regularly. Will I be a sportsman? I lost very badly to M.Ganesh in badminton today and I love the game. Will I get good at it?

K@24: Yes, I remember that game with Ganesh. First excel at school sporting events, then take it from there. Haven't played badminton in ages, will I get back to it? Will I ever get better at fitness. I've tried my hands at gym too.

K@34: About badminton, if it's your passion, you will go behind it. I'll let you figure it out for yourself. You'll find new passion along the way though. Will I get fitter in future?

K@44: It's in you, you will get better ! Just take care of your injuries.

7. On Sports:

K@4: Means what ?

K@14: Sachin just overtook Kapil Dev as my new hero, he's a grace to watch. Other Indian cricketers are hopeless; will India ever get better at this ! And Pete Sampras, looks like he's got a good future and plays even better than Agassi. Does he indeed have a future? 

K@24: Still following cricket and Sachin is officially my cricket God now. And that knock..! There's still hope for Indian cricket. How long before Sachin retires?; wish I don't get to see that day. And Sampras, what a player and what a run he's had. This guy Federer has a good game too, pretty much like the next Sampras. Does he have any future? Thanks to Ranjay, been following Schumacher, he's the Sachin Tendulkar of F1 race !

K@34: We're blessed man. We got to follow the best player of Indian Cricket and the best tennis players ever. Tennis just gets better and probably witnessed the best competitive era ever. As far as sports is concerned, even the best can't stay atop forever.

K@44: Yes K@34 is right. Sports is still interesting, but nothing like the good old times. Those were the times...

8. On Movies & Entertainment:

K@4: Dharmendra is my hero, he never dies and dishum dishum kills the bad guys.

K@14: Grown out of Dharmendra and Amitabh. Kamalhassam - Big Fan; Not sure what these local guys see in Rajnikanth. AR Rahman - Big fan with Gentleman, Thiruda Thiruda and Kadhalan. He's cool and hope he doesn't run out of steam. I hate Illayaraja and his "Tabla" filled songs. Manage to sneak into 1 hour of MTV in the evenings when parents not at home (winks). MJ is cool. Love the new Pepsi and Coca Cola ads.

K@24: Kamal - Still Big Fan. AR Rahman still the best and my favorite. Deep and Me are hooked to FRIENDS, it's hilarious. Call me Karts - NEO after Matrix! Hard Rock music rules.

K@34: Kamal - Big Fan; Rajini - Big Fan, AR Rahman - Still big fan; Illayaraja- Indeed a legend. Pop music is more than just plain rock. Added new programmes and seasons to my TV watch list. Cricket - New dimension in entertainment.

K@44: Kamal, Rajini, AR Rahman - Still big fan. Illayaraja - Still a legend. No time for regular seasons like before. 

9. On India and News:

K@4: I love the Ads before news. No TV at home (Sad face). Proud to be Indian. Indira Gandhi passed away a day before Deep was born, police everywhere.

K@14: Proud to be Indian. PV Narasimha Rao is a boring PM. Indians won Miss Universe and Miss World this year. Aishwarya Rai has been in ads before, she's the prettiest blue eyed lady ever. Been hearing new brands on TV, Ford, Hyundai etc. India is going global.

K@24: Proud to be Indian. Phew... India still has a long way to go. MMS as PM is a new face of Educated Politicians to lead India. New IT companies are coming up everywhere and salaries seem impressive. More brands are coming. Just saw few BMWs in Bangalore this week. 

K@34: Proud to be Indian. India has come a long way but still a long way to go. The new PM NaMo is promising. Almost all big world brands have an India presence.

K@44: India has come a long way but still a long way to go. Proud to be Indian...

10. And Finally On Friends:

K@4: My best friend in School: Deepa. And my friends outside school, Gopi and Priya, (Selvaraj uncles kids). We met for Diwali at the Navy grounds too.

K@14: I remember Gopi and Priya, infact I even stayed at their place during summer vacation. But Deepa, dont remember her. I think she was the inspiration for Deepika's name? And K@24, What about my best friends, will I have these friends all through my life.

K@4: Yes, Deepa was the inspiration for Deepika's name.

K@24: Name your friends and I'll tell you. And who's your best friend among them?

K@14: Nagendra, Vijayababu, Ashwin, Ranjay, Shankar, Arulanandam (Amarnath). Hmmmm (thinking hard), no best friend among them, but Nagendra has been closest for 2 years. I'm busy studying all the time you see.

K@24: Yeah I know, but remember The best is yet to come! You'll have an interesting set of best friends and definitely friends for life. Hold on to your friends, 'cos they'll hold on to you during critical times. And don't forget what Sathy ma'am said; I think you get the hint. K@34, What about my new-age friends, how strong is our friendship? 

K@34: It's a journey dude, the best is yet to come; there are mixed emotions involved too. Technology will change things to an extent. K@44, Will I make new friends for life; apart from the ones I already have?

K@44: Your words dude, Life's still a journey ! Don't expect me to reveal it all.

(The Karthiks here try their best not to reveal future events in order to preserve the uncertainties life brings. After all these events are what make the journey called life interesting.....)

One Two Three Four

1 Year, 2 Weddings, 3 Families, 4 Individuals

It's amazing how much lives can transform in a year.  It was a year that went by, leaving behind a trail of memories and experiences, something that we'll cherish for the rest of our lives. Here's a recount of the revelations the year 2012 brought about.

ONE: 

After the traditional bride groom selection formalities, it had finally come down to this, the first event of the year - Deepika - Shiva's engagement ceremony held at Vijay Park, Chennai on 05-Feb-2012. These were interesting times with plenty of discussions among family members. Organizing this ceremony also warmed us up for the busy times ahead. On the D day, all events took place as expected with overwhelming guests. The engagement event in itself was a grand success and everything fell into place at the right time, thanks to the support of both the families, friends, hours of meticulous preparation and the supportive crowd which overflowed the party hall. 

TWO:

The second event of the year was my engagement ceremony with Jeevitha held at Vasanta Bhavan party hall, Vadapalani, Chennai on 25-Apr-2012. Being the hero of the event, my role was curtailed to just being locked in the room waiting to be called onstage. Little did I know, the priests would actually forget that I existed and later called me on stage after all the formalities with elders got over. Thanks to my dear friends, Karthikeyan, Raj, Hemangi and Saran who gave me some company in the dreaded groom room. It was a comedy of errors and in the end the adage "All's well that ends well" was a perfect fit to the occasion. Special thanks to Jeevitha's parents and her sister Brindha who organized the event in the best possible way.

THREE:

The third and the MEGA event of the year was Deepika's wedding with Shiva Kumar on 20-Aug-2012. It was mega in every way and probably even qualified for the "The Great Indian Wedding".... alright that's stretching it a bit too much, but that's how I saw it. We even selected the date, such that 19-August coincides with my parents anniversary! Being responsible for the event, I knew I had my work cut out. It was a herculean task just thinking about the various aspects to be handled. It didn't help either that with under 2 months to go, my company sent me to US on an urgent 15 day project trip. I took this time to recharge myself and gear up for the busy days ahead. The enormity of the wedding planning sunk in after I returned to India. Just to list out some cogs in the wheel,  Wedding Hall, Decorators, Wedding Invites, Caterers, Photographers, Music bands and music, Gifts, Dresses for bride, groom, other family members, Accommodation, Flowers & Garlands, Temple, Priests, Make-up artist and the list goes on.. It's a fine balance between splurging and making the occasion grand. To top it all, there were last minute challenges, such as the connecting road to the marriage hall was dug up a week before the wedding and heavy rains made it impossible to even reach the hall. Special thanks to the wedding hall owner, he made sure it was all set on the day of wedding and Rain God not to shower on the day of the occasion. At the final moment of the reception and wedding, all pieces fell into place and the wedding occasion on the whole exceeded all our expectations and was a gala event. Both our families enjoyed every moment of the occasion.

FOUR:
The final big event of the year was my wedding with Jeevitha! Fresh from having seen through Deepika-Shiva's wedding, I was fairly confident on the kind of planning required, the nuances, pain points and above all had all important contacts in my finger tips. The only thing that made me jittery was that on the D-day, I would be Onstage and not be handling any of these responsibilities. Meanwhile again I needed some means to recharge myself before the run up to the wedding preparations, I took some time out and participated in my first Sprint triathlon and subsequently my first half marathon. It helped me stay in shape and refreshed me mentally for the busy days ahead.
As with the previous occasions, gave tremendous attention to details, (Just to quote an example, we went to Menaka Cards 6 times to make sure all was well, before collecting our final Wedding Invites !). Also, we reused most of our contacts wherever possible, including Caterers, Photographers, Make-up artists etc. This saved us time as these guys already knew our preferences. We were anticipating one major hick-up - Heavy Rains, this being a monsoon season. Thankfully, the Rain God was kind to us again and refrained from pouring. Deep and Shiva both were sick with fever on the day of reception, but still managed to pull it off. Infact Shiva revealed a big surprise - A Website dedicated to Jeevitha and me (http://karthikwedsjeevitha.com/). We managed to keep an eye on the presentation, all through the reception ceremony. The wedding reception itself was fun filled, with friends and relatives living it up all through the evening late into the night. The marriage ceremony was perfect in all its tradition just like we wanted it to be. 

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my Aunt (Mrs. Saraswathi, my mom's sister), who was my sole source of inspiration and guidance and who helped see through all the 4 occasions. Special thanks to all the family members (Shiva's family members, Jeevitha's family members, cousins Udaya and Arun), and my friends (who stepped up at crucial times) and some strangers as well. Above all, none of this would have been possible without my parents blessings who were our unseen force behind every event.

As the year goes by, and looking back at the events, it has been 1 hell of a year with 2 big weddings uniting 3 families and culmination of 4 souls. 

  Wishing us all a happy life ahead !

Epilogue:

One year: 

- 2012

Two Weddings: 

Deepika Weds Shiva Kumar (20-Aug-2012)

Jeevitha Raji weds Karthik (26-Nov-2012)

Three Families:

- Arumugam and Family

- Mrs. Anbarasi and Family

- Mr. Rathinavelu and Family

Four Protagonists:

- Deepika. A (Technical Writer)

- C. Shiva Kumar (Entrepreneur)

- Karthik. A (Software Professional)

- R. Jeevitha Raji (Research Scholar)

The Last Day !

She's had a good journey so far. This is referring to my sister Deepika's career journey so far. It actually goes back to right from her after school days. Fresh out of school, no sense of direction, and her brother that's me, seemed to have other priorities. I managed to use some influential contacts and get her admitted to B.Sc in Bio Chemistry (a relatively sophisticated sounding course for the time) at a reputed college in Chennai. From then, she was all by herself.

The 3 years flew by, she enjoyed her college life and it was time to think of what lay ahead. Having completed B.Sc (Bio-Chemistry), she had 4 choices:

CHOICE-1: Continue with Masters in Bio-Chem > look out for jobs

CHOICE-2: Continue with Masters in Bio-Chem > Do a PhD > get into Bio-chemical research /  teaching

CHOICE-3: Look out for a job

CHOICE-4: Leave it all  >  enjoy life and learn cooking.

Fate ironically always throws up a surprising CHOICE-5, which was what happened in her case too.

Thanks to her super-cool friends at college, she came across another sophisticated sounding course - Masters in Environmental Science at the second best College in the state (considering IIT's the best). This to me sounded like "Masters in [something really cool] at a [really cool college], more of a brand building stuff. To complicate matters more, she topped the entrance, now I had no choice but to approve her choice of study. Asked about career prospects, none of us had a clue. We just had to go with the flow.

Deepika went through another 2 years of grueling fun-filled college life and graduated as a Master's in Environment Science. So what's next? She was clear, enough of studying, and time to reap some ROImsf (Return on Investments made so far). Now began the Job Hunting phase. 

 Thanks to the economic expansion past 2005, all kinds of jobs were opening up in this part of the world and she was getting frequent calls from Job agencies. She took up one in T-Nagar, as a Medical Transcriptionist (another cool sounding term) but the job wasn't anything great, except that she was a proud contributor to the world of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). 

She worked for a year or so, work probably got mundane and no bright future as well. She eventually quit and began her job hunting phase again. 

This time it was T-Nagar calling again, and she got another cool sounding job - "Junior Editor at one of the world's leading publishing firms". Those seasoned in the Indian IT field including me, would be ignorant to such cool sounding job opportunities. All we ever heard was, Trainee, Programmer Analyst, xx Lead, xxxx Lead, xx Manager, xxxx Manager, xxxxxxxxx Manager ...

The pay wasn't bad either and work environment was an awful lot better than the previous one and most importantly, Deepika was enjoying her work. To top it up, she was nominated to frequent conferences at 5 star hotels, occasional travel, regular pay hikes, and bonuses as well. Till date she's travelled to Udaipur, Mumbai, Delhi, Sri-Lanka and Malaysia.

   

It's been 3 years at this job, and she's moving out of what was a relatively interesting career phase of her life. She's moving out on a good note, to catchup on some personal time before her wedding two months down the line.

Looking back, it's what we make of that unplanned CHOICE-5, that make our life, interesting, mundane or sorrowful. In Deepika's case, the choice was a culmination of some sophisticated titles that made it an interesting journey till today, the Last Day!

Wishing her the best in her future journeys as well.

Bro - Karthik

The Story of my Ford

December 2010.

Ask any Production/Mechanical engineer to name some great contributors to the Manufacturing industry in the 20th century. Henry Ford would certainly top the list, not only for building the Ford legacy but also for introducing the Assembly Line technique for Mass Production of his cars. 

1994: 
My association with Ford (read it as the brand "Ford") evolved in 1994, when I noticed a key-chain of my school buddy Ranjay. This key-chain was oval shaped housing the signature Ford logo and I was simply awed by the Ford logo. I asked Ranjay what it meant, and he said it was one of the largest car manufacturers in the world and that his dad worked in Ford Muscat. 

It was about the same time that Ford had setup a huge manufacturing base in Chengalpattu about 40 kms south of Chennai. It became an important landmark for me every time I travel to my dad's village towards Gingee. From the road I could see hundreds of cars glistening brightly in the Ford campus. Ford was then manufacturing its Sedan - Ford Escort. It was a neat car for the time and every time a Ford escort passes by, my head would turn and I would stand in awe. Well this was India a few years post liberalization and terms like Hyundai, Ford, Coke and Pepsi were just registering in our minds. In my case, Ford registered deep inside too.

8 years later (in 2002):
I was a graduate trainee at a small sized software company and was in conversation with my company Vice President - Ms.Vandana. She asked me what my financial target was for the future. I thought for a few seconds and quoted whatever first struck me. It was "to own a Ford when I turn 30" She said fair enough, because it implicitly meant a lot of other things including Financial Stability, a genuine need for car etc, etc. I still had 8 years to go.

4 years later, (2006):
I found myself in Bangalore. One of my colleagues Ganesh was shifting his base to the Silicon Valley (Santa Clara to be precise) and wanted to give away his Ford Ikon at a relatively cheaper price. He was keen on giving it to me, because in one of our earlier conversation I did mention that I wanted my first car to be a Ford. I was tempted to buy this car, but as a young chap, with no permanent base in Bangalore and travelling between Chennai and Bangalore every weekend in train/bus, a car with a Karnataka registration made very little sense, so skipped the thought of it. 

2007:
A year later, I saw myself in Chennai in a posh room being Interviewed by the Testing Vertical head. I had cleared couple of earlier rounds. This round of interview was just to know something about my life outside of work. It was more like a rapid fire round, the interviewer reading out a bunch of questions from his list and I trying to answer each one within seconds (although it wasn't demanded of me). One of his questions read, "Name one personality whom you admire". My reply went this way, "Henry Ford, for his contribution to revolutionalizing the Manufacturing Industry". I still don't know why this popped out of my mind then.

1 year later (2008):
This time I genuinely needed a car for office commute. My work hours were extended and incessant Chennai rains weren't helping either. But this time logic overtook all emotions and I ended up buying a second hand Alto (manufactured by Maruti Suzuki). I didn't even consider other options and life went on. One of these days, I caught up with Ganesh and he asked me if I indeed bought a car. I told him about my second hand Alto, and he jokingly asked me about my Ford dream. I was instant in my reply quoting "My first NEW Car Will be a Ford", inserting the NEW into my earlier quote. We ended the chat with a smile.

2 years later, (December 2010): 
It was now time to upgrade my car. I had parking constraints, so restricted my search to hatchback variants. Thankfully (or not thankfully) this time around there were a gamut of options but luckily I had an extended budget too. As of this day, I had the following options to evaluate from -  Maruti Suzuki Swift/Ritz, Fiat Punto, Volkswagen Polo, Chevy Spark/Beat/UVA, Hyundai Santro/i10/i20, Ford Figo and even Nissan Micra (which was yet to be launched). Being the more practical guy this time, I was keen on going for a Maruti-Suzuki Ritz, particularly for its looks and good reviews too. My sister Deepika though loathed the very looks of it. Hesitantly I entered the Ford showroom to learn more about their new hatchback variant - Ford Figo. As the salesman demonstrated every feature of this car, I was all the more sure that this would be my next car. After some payment formalities and a 5 day waiting period, I drove my Figo or rather my Ford home.

I have turned 30 now and as told to Vandana, bought a new car. Just as I told Ganesh, my first brand new car is indeed a Ford. And the best part is, I get to see the Ford logo everyday which once awed me as a kid. What was a casual classroom discussion 16 years ago, happens to be what I'm driving today. 

Call it destiny or as Paulo Coelho quoted in Fifth Mountain - "when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it" ; I managed to get my Ford at the right time and in the process connecting all dots !

A Stranded Biker, Karma and An Irony Called Life

Wednesday, 23 March 2011

A Stranded Biker:

This was like any other weekday evening where I had to ride the 12 km back home from office. Having started around 7 pm, I had to wade through heavy evening traffic and drive through a 5 km stretch of National Highway before I reach the area where I live. This was around one of the days my pulsar (Motorbike) needed a service, so I was running it on a limited ration of petrol. I knew the current stock would last about 15 kms so rode around like everything was cool. It was exactly when I diverted from the main road to the highway that my bike gave me a jerk indicating I might be running low on fuel; well I was still sure it would last the distance till the gas station. 

It was exactly 1 km later that my bike gave up and wouldn't accept to continue. The nearest exit from the highway was 1.6 km ahead and I had no idea how far the gas station was from there. Started doing the only thing I could under these circumstances, push my bike for the 1.6 km journey towards the highway exit. Now it was befitting to call me "A Stranded Biker".

Karma:

Well, I'm a person who would offer anyone a bit of help if it was within my bounds. I would'nt hesitate even if it was a stranger and even if I have to go out of my way to do it. Like today on 2 occasions, I offered a couple of strangers a lift and drop to their destination. It does feel good to help a random stranger, try it sometimes. I do have a problem in seeking help though, but none of that mattered now while I was on the highway pushing my bike towards the exit and the next gas station. A thought did cross my mind if someone would stop by to offer me help of any kind, but who would be stupid enough to stop cruising at 80km/hr on this highway just to help a stranger. So this thought didn't stick around for long. It was after sometime that I finally exited the National Highway and was now asking directions to the nearest gas station. One gentleman suggested it was around a km further down this road. I stopped by to inform my sister about the delay in reaching home and was about to resume pushing the bike when another young man came by; he must have been in his mid-20s casually dressed. This is how our conversation went:

Mr. A: Any Problem sir ??

Me: Yep, I ran out of gas.

Mr. A: Do you need my help, I could lend you a few ml of petrol

Me: Why not, but I ain't carrying any container to transfer the petrol.

Mr. A: Don't worry about it, I have a bottle. 

He leaked a few ml petrol from his bike into a small bottle, and offered to drop it into my pulsar's tank. Looked like he carried the bottle just for this purpose, needless to say I was surprised. He assured me that this amount of petrol would last another couple of kms just about enough to reach the gas station. I didn't know how to thank this gentleman, so decided to pay for the petrol. He politely declined and requested me not to price-tag his favour. I felt a little embarassed and just verbally thanked him and shook hands. He introduced himself as Anand and told me to return his favour by helping strangers in future and parted by quoting; "It's a good feeling to help strangers and you'll like it, I make it a point to help 1 stranger per day". Today I was his stranger :-).

I have helped countless strangers in the past, even if they were all trivial things and today my Karma paid off. A stranger volunteers to help me and bring me out of my misery; this is an event that reaffirmed my belief in kindness unlimited and I will continue to do it even more so. In a way adding on to my "Karma".

An Irony Called Life:

So my bike took off, thanks to the little ounce of petrol Mr. Anand offered, and I was on my way to the nearest gas station. After a few minutes ride, I did spot a gas station at a distance and had a smile on my face that I'd finally be making it. Here I was riding my bike into the gas station and asked the gas station guy to fill in some petrol. He smiled, politely declined and said "This gas station serves only diesel !". Now I had a wry smile on my face that quoted, this is "An Irony Called Life".

The week that was crazy

It's crazy enough to be doing an MBA while having a full time job, but what's crazier is breaking down your course activities and having to juggle it between your Job and Family life while meeting a deadline that MBA imposes.

This was one such week that went crazier by the day. Apparently I had to cover over 180 pages of writing my MBA II semester assignments by hand. Thankfully someone else had done the painful task of collating the answers to the assignments. All I had to do was hand-write each of these 180 pages within my self-imposed target of Friday, Dec 17th  to submit it to the college. Noone could have predicted what lay ahead.

Sunday, Dec 12, 2010: Started writing my assignment. Completed 4 pages. Pushed rest of the assignment to the remaining days of the week.

Monday, Dec 13, 2010: Continued writing from 7:00 pm and slept around mid-night. Completed around 25 pages and yet to find my writing speed. Not to mention how horrid my handwriting was.

Tuesday, Dec 14, 2010: Began writing at 8:00 pm, dined and wrote till 01:30 am. Completed 70 pages in total.

Wednesday, Dec 15, 2010: Had my friends brother-in-laws wedding reception to attend in the evening. Began writing at 9:00 pm and wrote till 1:00 am. Completed around 130 pages. Still had over 50 pages to be completed in a single night. Fatigue set in and took a 15 min nap at 11:00 pm.

Thursday, Dec 16, 2010: Began writing my assignment at 8:30 pm, and wrote straight till 2:30 am. Looked like a dead duck by now. Physical condition: Fingers close to fracture and refused to straighten up not to mention the bad backache and the darkcircles too. Handwriting was a little short of a shorthand scribble.

Friday, Dec 17, 2010 4:00 pm: Managed to successfully submit my assignment at the College. Was proud I could make it within my self-imposed deadline.

10:00 pm: Finally I hit the bed early after a hectic crazy week and was planning on an 8 hr sleep. Now came the bomb when Raj a close friend called up. He had a family emergency and requested me to take his parents to Bangalore and bring them back to Chennai all within a day and that's tomorrow. With so less sleep the whole week, I wasnt physically ready for this 700+ km one day drive, but it was something I couldn't refuse for a close friend. Made a few calls to arrange a car and confirmed the plan with Raj. Time of Sleeping: 12:20 am.

Saturday, Dec 18, 2010: 04:10 am: Woke up to my phone's alarm. Was a sleepy head after a 4 hour sleep. Got ready and left home at 4:30, and executed all my plans on time. Reached Bangalore at 12:00 noon successfully. Physical condition: Tired, dead tired.

3:30 pm: Started my travel back to Chennai. Was a race against time because I wanted to cover the most distance under daylight. Loaded myself on energy bars and a large Red-bull that gave me an alert mind all the way till Chennai.

10:30 pm: Reached home after dropping Raj and his parents at their Chennai destination covering a total distance of 748 kms and driving for 15 of the last 18 hours. Hit the bed at 11:30 pm. Now I AM a dead duck !

Sunday, Dec 19, 2010: 8:00 am: Woke up to a perfectly good Chennai winter morning feeling good that the crazy week finally ended. Later that morning rode to college for a class and planned to return home for lunch. Here's my fate, a couple of kms before home my bike skids and I fall off my bike. I scratch my hands and a big bleeding bruise on my left leg.

So how crazier can a week get. Five straight nights of less than 6 hrs sleep, fingers close to fracture point, Driving 748 kms on the sixth day and now a bruised leg on the seventh day, I didn't ask for this... !!!