Movie Review: Ta Ra Rum Pum

ab bhi ho gham, zyada ya kam,
Muskuraayenge hum, gaayenge hum,
Ta Ra Rum Pum.. Ta Ra Rum Pum.. Ta Ra Rum Pum..

How many times do we come across Bollywood movies which we can proudly take our children to watch? When we don’t have to divert their attention many times because of some objectionable scenes? When children can learn some values of life from movies? Which don’t display lavishness of rich kids and portray families which are always happy and rich? With Tara Rum Pum released, you can watch such a movie after a long time. 

Tara Rum Pum is the story of a car racer (Saif), his wife (Rani) and their two children (Princess and Champ), who get to have a bad patch in their life. But they face being poor with great bonding, support, and a positive spirit. After much struggle, Saif gets his success back. And they all learn several lessons from that.

The role of RV looks natural for Saif. Rani is as usual sound and glowing. I specially liked the acting of the child actors here. Angelina Idnani is so superb in her role of Princess that you shall keep searching for her in the next movies you watch.
 

• Tara Rum Pum is a complete family entertainment. Here are some key learning out of the movie:
• It is a story of how a talented person can fight back to glory, if he remains hopeful and keeps trying.
• It is a story which teaches us two things at the same time importance of having university degrees, and that university degrees are not the only thing that matters.
• It teaches us, how family members should continue supporting each others at the time of adversity. If you keep your head up, any bad phase will pass.
• It teaches us how important it is to keep your spirits positive at the time of lows in our lives. Never give up. Keep trying.
• It teaches us that no job is lowly. Rani had to play pianos in restaurants, but she did it with pride and composure. Saif had to drive a taxi, but he did it for family.
• It teaches us the importance of dreams.
• It teaches us the importance of belief. Rani believed in Saif, she retained her faith and in the last, Saif earned back whatever he had lost.
• It teaches us that we should spend cautiously. While they were rich, Saif used to throw away money. When in bad times, his son had to eat leftovers of others. Children too learn the importance of saving in their piggy banks.
• For children, the movie is a great fun, healthy entertainment and media to learn and grow at the same time.

If you don't believe all this, why don't you go out and check it out at your nearest theatre? And don't forget to take your family, especially the children. Believe me, after a long time, there is a movie worth watching for children.

  

Stats:

Directed by              Siddharth Anand

Produced by             Aditya Chopra,

Yash Chopra

Written by               Habib Faisal

Starring                  Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukerji, Victor Banerjee Shruti Seth, Jaaved Jaffrey

Music by                 Vishal-Shekhar

Distributed by          Yash Raj Films

Pvt. Ltd

Release date            27 April 2007 

Cast:

Rani Mukerji              Radhika Shekar Rai Banerjee (Shona)

Saif Ali Khan            Rajveer a.k.a RV

Angelina Idnani         Princess (Priya) 

Ali Haji                    Champ (Ranveer) 

Shruti Seth              Sasha

Jaaved Jaffrey          Harry

Victor Banerjee         Radhika’s Father

Songs:

The music of the film has been conducted by the duo Vishal-Shekhar and lyrics are penned by Javed Akhtar. The film contains six songs:

1. Ta Ra Rum Pum     - Shaan, Mahalaxmi Iyer, Sneha Suresh and Shravan Suresh

2. Hey Shona           - Shaan and Sunidhi Chauhan

3. Nachle Ve            - Sonu Nigam and Somya Raoh

4. Ta Ra Ra Ra Rum Tararumpum – Shreya Ghoshal

5. Ab To Forever      - KK, Shreya Ghoshal and Vishal Dadlani

6. Saiyaan               - Vishal Dadlani

Ever tried to get a Migration Certificate?

Have you ever applied for a migration certificate from the university you last attended? Migration certificate certifies that the student XYZ has passed out from the university on ABC date and year, and the university has no objections to his/her taking admissions in another mentioned university.

Recently I needed migration certificate from my last attended university, NIT Durgapur. There was fee to be submitted to the cash counter of the adjoined bank, then there was an application form to be filled up, and I needed to attach zerox copies of my degree certificate and university registration certificate. Due to obvious reasons I didn't want to go the institute physically, so I got one presently studying junior to do that on my behalf. I said that I would send the certificates and one authorization letter to him by fax. But the head of academic section, an infamous Prof. from Mechanical Engineering department, said that I needed to show him the original degree and registration certificates. I didn't want to send my original certificates by mail/courier. Also, I didn't have much time left. I talked to him, but he said that was a university rule and he couldn't do anything. I talked to my HOD, who then talked to him, but he won't go back. So, I needed to go to the university myself, with the original degree certificate, in order to get a piece of paper called migration certificate.

I am just wondering, why universities are so strict while issuing migration certificates. I got to know the process followed in Mumbai University. The application form for getting the same is available on their website; any one can download it and fill up the hard copy, attach a DD and send the request by post. There is no need to be physically present, or to verify the original documents. But Mumbai University too is very strict. The application form is of 5 pages. It says it will issue only one migration certificate and if admission is not taken, the same should be returned back.

I am not able to understand why migration certificates should be treated as such an important document. All it says is that the student XYZ has passed out in the year ABC and the university doesn't have any objection to his/her taking admission in another university.

If an institute feeds all its students data in an online database, I think the migration certificate can be generated in a moment online. Anyone who wants to apply, can submit a fee online, through internet banking or credit card, and then fill up the particulars about him/her, like name, father's name, date of birth, etc for verification. Then a certificate can be generated electronically, whose printouts can be taken by the student.

In worst case, it may happen that someone else gets a migration certificate in some other person's name, because we are not verifying the student's authenticity rigorously enough. But how will this benefit the other guy? That migration certificate will be authentic only when submitted with original degree certificate and marks sheets. So where is the risk of forgery?

I am worried because after passing out form a graduate school, most of the people are working. Now when they want to pursue higher studies, they need a migration certificate from the last Uni. For that they need to go all the way to their alma maters, just to show the original degree certificates for verification.. That makes them to take 2-5 days leave, depending on the distance. Add to that the travel costs. Several universities have some different sets of rules, all in order to make life more difficult for us. Is not this another example of palling bureaucracy? 

Missing Dogs from the Streets

Recently there were extensive public debates about whether the BMC should kill the stray dogs or not. There are around 6 lakhs stray dogs in Mumbai, growing at around 2 lakhs every year. There are cases of around 50,000 dog bites every year. BMC spends around Rs 4.25 crore every year to procure Anti Rabies vaccines (ARV). There are several solutions suggested, but the time tasted one is sterilization of female dogs. I don't want to bring this debate to the street. I want to tell a short story. 

My story goes back to the time when I was working in a cement plant near Raipur. Number of stray dogs in the colony had become very large, and some one brought attention of management towards the growing threat to safety. Point was noted in the minutes of weekly coordination meeting. The solution as suggested by the security head was short and simple - kill them by poisoning. Our works manager was a very kind man. He was not ready for this solution. He asked why not dogs could be caught and left away from the place. The security head was asked for arranging this. 

Now, every week, the security head brought a new problem, objecting the scheme of catching the dogs. The sequence was this: 

Week #1: How can we catch the dogs they will bite us. (Solution: inject them to make them unconscious)

Week #2: There are no such injections available in plant dispensary. (Solution: get them from outside)

Week #3: We don't have trained people to catch the dogs. (Solution: Search outside)

Week #4: The dogs will come back after coming in senses. (Solution: Leave them 50 Km away) 

The security head was like testing the patience of the works manager. Every week, he brought some new problem. Works manager would suggest the way out and would ask him to do the job very fast. 

Then I went out for a week. When I returned back, I found this: The security head, informed that there was no supply of the drug used to make the dogs unconscious, and persons and vehicle to catch the dogs were difficult to find. The works manager was fed up and gave in. They poisoned many dogs for several days. After the dogs were finished, equal number of stray dogs from near by villages took exactly the same position where the original ones used to live!

Essay on Cow

Some times our slight neglect results in sealing the fate of a living being.

During my childhood days in school, we were frequently asked to write essays on "cow". We always began with the sentence "cow is a domestic animal". We were asked to write sometimes 10 sentences and some times 15. How to do that? We used to increase the sentence count like this: A cow has four legs. A cow has two ears. A cow has one tail. A cow has two horns. A cow has one mouth too. Did you laugh? But I didn't stop there. We prepare sweets from cow's milk. We prepare curd from cow's milk. We prepare butter from cow's milk. We prepare ice-creams from cow's milk too. I would go on like this until the required number of sentence count was over. 

This was my original one. Now some years back, I witnessed one of my cousin brothers write an essay on cow. He had lately caught fancy with the phrase by the grace of God, and loved to use it everywhere. He writes: By the grace of God, cow is a domestic animal. Cows give us milk by the grace of God. We prepare sweets from her milk by the grace of God. His teacher just crossed his essay in red ink, by the grace of God. 

Now this was on lighter side. Now I narrate something more serious. 

The day goes back to 2005 when I was posted in a plant near Raipur. It was a fine Sunday morning and I was going towards society's shops for a hair cut. I found that it had rained heavily last night and branches of trees were lying here and there; indicating a storm also. While passing in front of the guest house, I noticed something in the drain by the side of the road. The drains were open and very deep, mainly carrying waste water. To my surprise, there was one young cow lying there, her legs up and head down, stuck in the narrow walls of the drain. Was she alive? I saw her neck was twisted, but her nostrils were out of water. Water flowing through her faced disturbance because of her body, and formed a small waterfall as it passed. Her four legs were out in the air, while most of remaining body was immersed in water. She was tightly fixed in the drain, and didn't move. There were some flies moving around her body. I could sense she was dead; but who knows? I wanted to help her, at least to ascertain if she were alive or dead. But I didn't like touching it. 

I reached the shopping centre. To my relief, I met one officer who was in the administration department. I narrated him the scene and he said that he would call someone to take her out. Half an hour later, while I returned back, she was exactly in the same position. I met one other personnel from administration; he said he would do something. It being a Sunday, there was no one in the colony maintenance office. I called the security personnel at the plant gate; they said it being Sunday, fewer staffs were present, but they would try to help. 

Around 12:30, I went for lunch in the guesthouse. Her body was unmoved. After lunch, I told the guesthouse waiters about her and asked for help. One waiter, Baratu, went with me to see her and said that there is little chance that she would be alive. Then he called the security gate and informed them that a calf had fallen into drain and was alive. I appreciated his practical approach. As he told them that the calf was alive, there was a good chance that they would come.

I was feeling helpless. What if the calf was alive and dying? No body had come to her rescue since morning. 

Next morning, her body was still there. I felt really bad. I knew then for sure that even if she was alive on Sunday, by this time she would have certainly died.

On Tuesday, I called the colony maintenance office and enquired about the cow. I was informed that they took her out, dead, on Monday afternoon. 

I felt very guilty. I was almost sure that she was dead when I found her first. But what if she was alive then? We took her out only after one and half day. There was no chance she could survive so long lying in that position. Through out that period, I only tried to help her through others. Why didn't I pull her out myself? It would have cost me maximum dirty hands and dirty cloths, but I could have saved a life. I still carry the guilt of that day. 

#Movie Review: 300: History or Controversy

The movie 300 has been much debated and accused against since its release on March 8, 2007. It has been alleged that it shows the Persian culture in wrong light and promotes the western supremacy. This article was inspired by ongoing controversy and debates on the issue and is a result of some internet searches with an attempt to reach a conclusion. It includes some citations along with my personal opinion.

About 300

300 (film) is a 2007 film adaptation of the graphic novel 300 by Frank Miller and is a fictional account of the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC. The film is directed by Zack Snyder with Frank Miller attached as an executive producer and consultant.

Is 300 Historically Correct?

The Film’s Director Zack Snyder stated in an MTV interview that “The events are 90 percent accurate. It’s just in the visualization that it’s crazy…. I’ve shown this movie to world-class historians who have said it’s amazing. They can’t believe it’s as accurate as it is.” He continues that the film is “an opera, not a documentary. That’s what I say when people say it’s historically inaccurate”.

I have searched the internet and found that most of the events covered in the movie are historically accurate.

Battle of Thermopylae

In the Battle of Thermopylae of 480 BC, an alliance of Greek city-states (shown as Spartans in the movie) fought the invading Persian Empire at the pass of Thermopylae in central Greece. Vastly outnumbered, the Greeks held back the Persians for three days in one of history’s most famous last stands. A small force led by King Leonidas of Sparta blocked the only road through which the massive army of Xerxes I could pass. After three days of battle, a local resident named Ephialtes betrayed the Greeks by revealing a mountain path that led behind the Greek lines. Dismissing the rest of the army, King Leonidas stayed behind with 300 Spartans and 700 Thespian volunteers. The Persians succeeded in taking the pass but sustained heavy losses, extremely disproportionate to those of the Greeks. The fierce resistance of the Spartan-led army offered Athens the invaluable time to prepare for a decisive naval battle that would come to determine the outcome of the war. The subsequent Greek victory at the Battle of Salamis left much of the Persian Empire’s navy destroyed and Xerxes I was forced to retreat back to Asia, leaving his army in Greece under Mardonius, who was to meet the Greeks in battle one last time. The Spartans assembled at full strength and led a pan-Greek army that defeated the Persians decisively at the Battle of Plataea, ending the Greco-Persian War and with it the expansion of the Persian Empire into Europe.

The performance of the defenders at the battle of Thermopylae is often used as an example of the advantages of training, equipment, and good use of terrain to maximize an army’s potential, and has become a symbol of courage against overwhelming odds. The sacrifice of the Spartans has captured the minds of many throughout the ages and has given birth to many cultural references as a result.

The geopolitical origins of the battle actually predate Xerxes I, as it was his father, Darius the Great, who initially sent heralds to all Greek cities offering blandishments if they would submit to Persian authority. Many of the 700 Greek states submitted, including the Argives, the sworn enemies of Sparta.

Herodotus – father of history

Herodotus was a Dorian Greek historian who lived in the 5th century BC (484 BC ca.425 BC) and is regarded as the “father of history”. He is almost exclusively known for writing The Histories, a collection of ‘inquiries’ into the origins of the Persian invasions of Greece which occurred in 490 and 480/79 BC especially since he includes a narrative account of that period, which would otherwise be poorly documented. On going through what Herodotus has written, I have come to understand the turns of events as shown in the movie 300.

1. Persians attached the Spartans: The Persians at that time were not as peaceful race as we all think. Xerxes I, king of Persia, had been preparing for years to continue the Greco-Persian Wars started by his father Darius. In 481 BC, after four years of preparation, the Persian army and navy arrived in Asia Minor. Herodotus who wrote the first history of this war, gave the size of Xerxes’s army as total 2,641,610. This is the account for the land armies present at Thermopylae. Regarding the total number of forces Xerxes I assembled to invade Greece (land army, fleet crew, etc.), this number is nearly doubled in order to account for support troops and thus Herodotus reports that the total Persian force numbered 5,283,220 men, a figure which is regarded as erroneous by modern estimations.

2. Why to sacrifice the 300 Spartans: The legend of Thermopylae as told by Herodotus is that Sparta consulted the Oracle at Delphibefore setting out to meet the Persian army. Oracle’s warning was that either Sparta would be conquered and left in ruins or one of her two hereditary kings, descendant of Hercules, must sacrifice his life to defend her. That is why Leonidas took charge of his personal fighting unit, the 300 Spartans, and headed to Thermopylae. Doesn’t this fact tell us about how much the Spartans loved their home land? All the 300 Spartans knew that they would die, but they fought till death with bravery that they were not sure world would come to know one day. Not a single Spartan fled or betrayed. If only our Hindu soldiers were as united along with their bravery, then India would not be ruled over by Muslim invaders for 1000 years and then by then British for another 100 years.

3. Not inhuman fighters: Herodotus writes that Leonidas was idolized by his men. He was convinced that he was going to certain death and his forces were not adequate for a victory, and so selected only men who had fathered sons who were old enough to take over the family responsibilities. Doesn’t this show that the Spartans were not as barbaric as we think them to be?

4. The last scene: The last scene shows the Persian king Xerxes-I order the hill surrounded and the Persians rain down arrows until the last Greek was dead. Modern archaeologists have found evidence of the final arrow shower. So the film even uses a historical fact to build its climax. There is no fiction.

5. Was Persian king as barbaric as shown: Historian Herodotus writes that when the body of Leonidas was recovered by the Persians, Xerxes I, in a rage at the loss of so many of his soldiers, ordered that the head be cut off and the body crucified. This was very uncommon for the Persians; they had the habit of treating enemies that fought bravely against them with great honor. However, Xerxes I was known for his rage, as when he had the Hellespont whipped because it would not obey him.

Conclusion:

Representation of Spartans: Spartans have been represented in the movie as freedom loving, military oriented race, who love to die for their soil. They are as brave as any men could ever be. And even the women, as represented by the queen played an important role of preparing for the final battle.

Representation of Persians:  Persians have been represented as bloodthirsty invaders. They keep slaves and are inhuman in many ways. It is true that 300 has shown the Persians king Xerxes I in a wrong light. It has shown him as androgynous, which has no historical proof.

The historical facts and figures give the movie a particular vantage. Though based on historical grounds, it has represented the Persians of that time in a manner which hurts many a people and could have been played down.

Brand Building: Behind every successful Brand

Inspired by an article written by Mrs. Sudha Murthy; the original piece attached with at the end.  

Do you know what some people do when they see so many companies spending millions in the ‘brand building’ advertisements? They just laugh. They laugh because there are companies, though few, which are able to create such an incredible image for themselves that they don’t need any advertisement. Their name is their advertisement.

The mon(K)ey minded

Both at the beginning and at the end, nothing we do is just for money. If profit-making is the sole interest of some company, I doubt it is in the wrong business. Then everyone should run F-1 races and every company should own a soccer club. There is something beyond money. Business is indeed business, but there is no compelling reason to bury your soul under the carpet (or corporate!). The worst thing about the race is that it is not a ‘nice’ race, but a ‘mice’ Race, and if you start comparing yourselves with the other rats who are ‘also running’, you end up becoming one of them. The message is that making an altogether different image for your company really counts. And to be 100% sure, that image should be of a helping ally, not of a raging bully; of a garden, not of a mountain; of a sea, not of a busy bee; of a home, not of a sulking dome; simply put, of someone who contributes to the society, not contradicts from the society.  

Can’t say ‘tata’ to TATA and the infinity approaches Infosys

Some companies like Tata Group companies and Infosys Technologies have created a niche for themselves in this regard. The impressions of Tatas have entered our bloods, as we have been ‘born and brought-up’ looking up to them. Some other Indian companies also put emphasis on ‘ethics’ and ‘human touch’ and this brand image pays them in multiple ways. But the hard world of business respects only the profit generating firms and one shall make a mockery of self, if one talks about ‘creating value’ and ‘affecting lives’ while the company bleeds financially. I believe the marriage of ‘a humanitarian face’ and ‘generation of economic value’ is a block buster combination in any market on the globe.

Proud to be ‘We the people’

The attached article will leave your heart swelling. See, how proud we all Indians become whenever another Indian does good. I wish more Indian companies can actually do as much to attain the ranks of Tata and Infosys.

I(a)mpossible?

The article is also a moral booster for the ladies. No one can stop them, if they choose not to stop. We fall, we get up; we again fall, we try to get up. Though the world is not as fair as ‘fair and lovely’, in the marathon of life, endurance, perseverance and attitude are the things that count. Whatsoever is the extent of globalization, successful and down-to-earth ‘Indian’ ladies like Mrs. Sudha Murthy will continue to touch the Indian heart and inspire the Indian minds. There are some messages which are beyond the bands of noises and beyond the valleys of silences to be calmed down. I suggest you should take a printout of the attached document and make all your daughters, sisters or friends go through and grasp it well.

- Rahul

***

A Humble Story

It was probably the April of 1974. Bangalore was getting warm and gulmohars were blooming at the IISc campus. I was the only girl in my postgraduate department and was staying at the ladies’ hostel. Other girls were pursuing research in different departments of Science.

I was looking forward to going abroad to complete a doctorate in computer science. I had been offered scholarships from Universities in the US. I had not thought of taking up a job in India.

One day, while on the way to my hostel from our lecture-hall complex, I saw an advertisement on the notice board. It was a standard job-requirement notice from the famous automobile company Telco (now Tata Motors). It stated that the company required young, bright engineers, hardworking and with an excellent academic background, etc.

At the bottom was a small line: “Lady candidates need not apply.”

I read it and was very upset. For the first time in my life I was up against gender discrimination.

Though I was not keen on taking up the job, I saw it as a challenge. I had done extremely well in  academics, better than most of my male peers. Little did I know then that in real life academic excellence is not enough to be successful.

After reading the notice I went fuming to my room. I decided to inform the topmost person in Telco’s management about the injustice the company was perpetrating. I got a postcard and started to write,

but there was a problem: I did not know who headed Telco.

I thought it must be one of the Tatas. I knew JRD Tata was the head of the Tata Group; I had seen his pictures in newspapers (actually, Sumant Moolgaokar was the company’s chairman then). I took the card, addressed it to JRD and started writing. To this day I remember clearly what I wrote.

“The great Tatas have always been pioneers. They are the people who started the basic infrastructure industries in India, such as iron and steel, chemicals, textiles and locomotives. They have cared for higher education in India since 1900 and they were responsible for the establishment of the Indian Institute of Science. Fortunately, I study there. But I am surprised how a company such as Telco is discriminating on the basis of gender.”

I posted the letter and forgot about it. Less than 10 days later, I received a telegram stating that I had to appear for an interview at Telco’s Pune facility at the company’s expense. I was taken aback by the telegram. My hostel mate told me I should use the opportunity to go to Pune free of cost and buy them the famous Pune saris for cheap! I collected Rs 30 each from everyone who wanted a sari. When I look back, I

Feel like laughing at the reasons for my going, but back then they seemed good enough to make the trip.

It was my first visit to Pune and I immediately fell in love with the city. To this day it remains dear to me. I feel as much at home in Pune as I do in Hubli, my hometown. The place changed my life in so many ways. As directed, I went to Telco’s Pimpri office for the interview.

There were six people on the panel and I realised then that this was serious business.

“This is the girl who wrote to JRD,” I heard somebody whisper as soon as I entered the room. By then I knew for sure that I would not get the job. The realisation abolished all fear from my mind, so I was rather cool while the interview was being conducted.

Even before the interview started, I reckoned the panel was biased, so I told them, rather impolitely, “I hope this is only a technical interview.”

They were taken aback by my rudeness, and even today I am ashamed about my attitude. The panel asked me technical questions and I answered all of them.

Then an elderly gentleman with an affectionate voice told me, “Do you know why we said lady candidates need not apply? The reason is that we have never employed any ladies on the shop floor. This is not a co-ed college; this is a factory. When it comes to academics, you are a first ranker throughout. We appreciate that, but people like you should work in research laboratories.”

I was a young girl from small-town Hubli. My world had been a limited place. I did not know the ways of large corporate houses and their difficulties, so I answered, “But you must start somewhere, otherwise no woman will ever be able to work in your factories.”

Finally, after a long interview, I was told I had been successful. So this was what the future had in store for me. Never had I thought I would take up a job in Pune. I met a shy young man from Karnataka there, we became good friends and we got married.

It was only after joining Telco that I realized who JRD was: the uncrowned king of Indian industry. Now I was scared, but I did not get to meet him till I was transferred to Bombay. One day I had to show some reports to Mr Moolgaokar, our chairman, who we all knew as SM. I was in his office on the first floor of Bombay House (the Tata headquarters) when, suddenly JRD walked in. That was the first time I saw “appro JRD”. Appro means “our” in Gujarati. This was the affectionate term by which people at Bombay House called him.

I was feeling very nervous, remembering my postcard episode. SM introduced me nicely, “Jeh (that’s what his close associates called him), this young woman is an engineer and that too a postgraduate.

She is the first woman to work on the Telco shop floor.” JRD looked at me. I was praying he would not ask me any questions about my interview (or the postcard that preceded it). Thankfully, he didn’t. Instead, he remarked. “It is nice that girls are getting into engineering in our country. By the way, what is your name?”

“When I joined Telco I was Sudha Kulkarni, Sir,” I replied. “Now I am Sudha Murthy.” He smiled and kindly smile and started a discussion with SM. As for me, I almost ran out of the room.

After that I used to see JRD on and off. He was the Tata Group chairman and I was merely an engineer. There was nothing that we had in common. I was in awe of him.

One day I was waiting for Murthy, my husband, to pick me up after office hours. To my surprise I saw JRD standing next to me. I did not know how to react. Yet again I started worrying about that postcard. Looking back, I realise JRD had forgotten about it. It must have been a small incident for him, but not so for me.

“Young lady, why are you here?” he asked. “Office time is over.”

I said, “Sir, I’m waiting for my husband to come and pick me up.”

JRD said, “It is getting dark and there’s no one in the corridor. I’ll wait with you till your husband comes.”

I was quite used to waiting for Murthy, but having JRD waiting alongside made me extremely  uncomfortable.

I was nervous. Out of the corner of my eye I looked at him. He wore a simple white pant and shirt. He was old, yet his face was glowing. There wasn’t any air of superiority about him. I was thinking, “Look at this person. He is a chairman, a well-respected man in our country and he is waiting for the sake of an ordinary employee.”

Then I saw Murthy and I rushed out. JRD called and said, “Young lady, tell your husband never to make his wife wait again.”

In 1982 I had to resign from my job at Telco. I was reluctant to go, but I really did not have a choice. I was coming down the steps of Bombay House after wrapping up my final settlement when I saw JRD coming up. He was absorbed in thought. I wanted to say goodbye to him, so I stopped. He saw me and paused.

Gently, he said, “So what are you doing, Mrs Kulkarni?” (That was the way he always addressed me.) “Sir, I am leaving Telco.”

“Where are you going?” he asked. “Pune, Sir. My husband is starting a company called Infosys and I’m shifting to Pune.”

“Oh! And what will you do when you are successful.”

“Sir, I don’t know whether we will be successful.” “Never start with diffidence,” he advised me. “Always start with confidence. When you are successful you must give back to society. Society gives us so much; we must reciprocate. I wish you all the best.”

Then JRD continued walking up the stairs. I stood there for what seemed like a millennium. That was the last time I saw him alive. Many years later I met Ratan Tata in the same Bombay House, occupying the chair JRD once did. I told him of my many sweet memories of working with Telco. Later, he wrote to me, “It was nice hearing about Jeh from you. The sad part is that he’s not alive to see you today.”

I consider JRD a great man because, despite being an extremely busy person, he valued one postcard  written by a young girl seeking justice. He must have received thousands of letters everyday. He could have thrown mine away, but he didn’t do that. He respected the intentions of that unknown girl, who had neither influence nor money, and gave her an opportunity in his company. He did not merely give her a job; he  changed her life and mindset forever.

Close to 50 per cent of the students in today’s engineering colleges are girls. And there are women on the shop floor in many industry segments. I see these changes and I think of JRD. If at all time stops and asks me what I want from life, I would say I wish JRD were alive today to see how the company we started has grown. He would have enjoyed it wholeheartedly.

My love and respect for the House of Tata remains undiminished by the passage of time. I always looked up to JRD. I saw him as a role model for his simplicity, his generosity, his kindness and the care he took of

his employees. Those blue eyes always reminded me of the sky; they had the same vastness and  magnificence.

*(Sudha Murthy is a widely published writer and chairperson of the Infosys Foundation involved in a number of social development initiatives. Infosys chairman Narayan Murthy is her husband.) *

Article sourced from: Lasting Legacies (Tata Review- Special Commemorative Issue 2004), brought out by the house of Tatas to commemorate the 100th birth anniversary of JRD Tata on July 29, 2004.

Book Review: Many Lives, Many Masters

Last week I finished reading a book named "Many Lives, Many Masters". The story goes like this: 

Psychiatrist Dr Brian Weiss had been working with Catherine, a young patient, for eighteen months. Catherine was suffering from recurring nightmares and chronic anxiety attacks. When his traditional methods of therapy failed, Dr Weiss turned to hypnosis and was astonished and skeptical when Catherine began recalling past-life traumas which seemed to hold the key to her problems. Dr Weiss’s skepticism was eroded when Catherine began to channel messages from ‘the space between lives’, which contained remarkable revelations about his own life. Acting as a channel for information from highly evolved spirit entities called the Masters, Catherine revealed many secrets of life and death. This fascinating case dramatically altered the lives of Catherine and Dr Weiss, and provides important information on the mysteries of the mind, the continuation of life after death and the influence of our past-life experiences on our present behavior.

Dr. Weiss says whatever is written in this book is not fiction. After going through the past life experiences of Catherine and her explanations of the secrets of life in hypnotized state, we learn the following:

We are souls and change our bodies. Our souls don't die and nothing harmful happens to it. Each one of us has to learn some lessons. Depending on many things, the speed with which we learn may vary from soul to soul. We need to come to earth, because we experience "pain" which is very necessary for us to learn all lessons fully. In each birth, we learn some lessons, and then come again to learn the remaining. When we learn all the lessons, we don't need to be born again. After death, our souls float out of our bodies, and can see the things happening around. Then our soul gets attracted to a warm and luminous divine light, and advances towards it. We get to know before the beginning of a particular birth, what out lives are going to be like, and what we have to achieve. But when we reach the earth, we forget all. All our past life experiences are with us, but we don't have the capability to recall all this. No one has the right to kill any other human being, as this interrupts the natural process and the departed soul has to face some difficulties getting back on path of learning. Based on the stage of learning that the souls are, some souls reach the stage of 'masters', where they guide other souls towards their learning path. The ultimate goal of human life is to 'become God like' or 'to merge with God himself', as then no difference remains between our soul and the God.

As you have gone through these learning, you must have noticed that this is very similar to what is written in Gita or what is generally perceived by the Hindus. 

What looks amazing is that neither the doctor nor the patient was exposed to Hinduism from before. Then how could there was such a similarity in thinking and concept? And we all know that during hypnotism, patients do tell some things which they never imagine while in their senses.

So, are these dozen points really true? Then what for there is war, anxiety and corporate rat races in this world? Why people still kill each other and hurt others' feelings? If our goal in this life is to learn some lessons, why do we continue reading theoretical subjects and keep blessing Bill Gates for MS Office? How much time in our lives do we actually spend thinking about our ultimate goals?

Dr. Weiss claims to have the video and audio tape records of Catherine’s conversations. So there is no doubt on his integrity in details. Then all of us have to awake as Swami Vivekananda said – Arise, Awake! And stop not until the goal is reached.

About the book: Title:                                Many Lives, Many Masters
Author:                                                       Dr. Brian Weiss
Publisher:                                                   Piatkus Books Ltd
Pages:                                                         244
Published:                                                   1994
ISBN:                                                          0 7499 1378 9
Popularity:                                                  > 15 Lakh copies sold

#India: Chasing Utopian Dreams

Inspired by a news report in Hindustan Times, Mumbai.

Recently Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) started "Clean Mumbai" campaign. As part of the campaign, anyone caught littering in public places was fined with Rs 200. If the person didn't want to pay, one had to clean up in person. A report is published in HT, and I am startled at the statistics. If you take care to notice, the numbers tell their own story.

In a single day, 130 people were caught in the act, out of which 56 people paid penalty of total Rs 11,500.

Cleanliness in public places

Numerous articles have been written how NRIs start littering once they reach their own home land. Hanging out dirty linen is not a phrase, but literally true in India. I remember when one of my uncles who lives in Texas wrote in his travelogue, how awful he felt when a passenger spitted on the railway platform in Bihar. We all accept that we Indians may one day create world class companies but developing the world class habits and attitude towards cleanliness and hygiene in public spaces remains more tough a task. But are public alone to be blamed? 

Hobson’s choice

Where will we spit in absence of spit-tons? a Mumbaiker asks. At present, Mumbai has 8000 dustbins against a requirement of 36000 bins. For the population of 25 million (2.5 crore), if the extended Mumbai has 8 thousand dustbins, it means there is one dust bin for 3125 persons. Public still have a Hobson's choice to use dustbins where there are not any.

So hard pressed to pay a penalty?

Two hundred bucks may be a paltry sum for many. But 74 out of 130 people (57% of junta) chose to clean up the area, instead of paying the fine. Look at the photograph here. The gentleman chose to clean his spit on the road with his own handkerchief. We can imagine that he would have moved on, keeping his dirty handkerchief again in his pocket; either because he couldn't afford to lose it, or because in absence of a litter bin, there was a clear danger of being fined again. 

How was the man feeling when he did that? There are only two possibilities: either he couldn't afford to pay the fine, or he chose not to. Both these possibilities are question mark on us, as a society. The person looks literate, and with his shoes, bag and watch, he seems to be in some regular employment. It doesn't seem true, though I wish it would, that he couldn't afford to pay the fine. 

A failed generation? 

The fact that a young man is ready to face humiliation in presence of public and cameras is a question mark on our collective pride. Long ago, Swami Vivekanand raised the spirits of Indians when he said "You are the sons of kings". All freedom fighters tried to instill the national pride in Indians. And we always say, we are proud to be Indians. But after seeing this picture, I am not sure I am so confident about that. 

Of late, India is becoming the land of false pride. The criminal politicians, corrupt bureaucrats, profit minded businessmen, corrupt policemen, differential treatment based on caste and religion; it has been a great fall. We are happy that the railways are making profits, and also happy that railways have not changed - they still accept bribe and call it "tip". We read about the news where a Maharaja complained that he was not treated well in his own Meherangarh Fort in Ajmer, which he rented out for Arun-Liz wedding. The disturbing number of girl fetus killings in prosperous part of Punjab, the killings of young inter-caste couples among educated families, the tantrums of Harvard returned politicians, all prove it beyond slightest doubt that the great Indian pride is a foregone thing, well mummified in the History books. 

It can happen only in India

There is still a chance. Today is not too late. The message that comes out is that people, who have been enjoying the public property to litter carelessly, will not be able to do so for long. And to expect that the world is fair enough to install the dustbins first and then enforce the law of hygiene remains a utopian dream. It is high time Samaritans change themselves, instead of complaining and expecting the municipal corporation or government to change. And a piece of advice if you are caught up please pay the fine and don't see bravery in getting photographed while doing as stupid a thing as the person in the picture is doing. 

- Rahul

--------------------------------

shivani narula
April 25, 2007 at 6:42 pm · Edit
i feel the basic concept of clenliness lacks in the upbringing…..may be the genes..am a total cleanliness freak…in and outside the house too..this was a good one..

SJ
March 27, 2007 at 11:59 am · Edit
Well done, rahul.
Well researched and though out articles.
Though I differ with respect to contents of this article with respect to cleaning
of the spit by well dressed person.
He might have repented, and vowed to do some thing lowly, rather paying
back in cash.
It is already carried out in western countries, where people (Even highly
valued) do lowly jobs like street cleaning, shoe cleaning etc. as social
service, for the wrong committed by them.
Even in south india, one can see the people from very rich back ground,
begging, to earn money for going to Tirupati. Their thinking lies, he or
she can bow down to the lowest of the job for reaching the almighty.

Keep on writing, I in particular feel happy, with true rahul.

Rajendra
March 26, 2007 at 1:19 pm · Edit
Rahul Very good job you are doing by educating mass in your way.I liked
your analysis under para A Failed Generation in Chasing Utopian Dreams. Good thought for introinspection.

#Thoughts: Learning work ethics from a Kachra wallah

We don’t stop learning. We can learn anytime, anywhere, from anyone. That is what is expected from us in our lives. 

We all have heard a lot about the Dabba wallas of Mumbai. The Dabba wallahs deliver Tiffin boxes at the right places with six sigma accuracy. Some days back I came across one person, who made me learn a thing or two on work ethics. 

By Kachra wallah I mean the guy who every morning collects garbage/wastes from door to door in our residential apartments and discharge it to the municipal garbage collection vehicle.

My first encounter with him was interesting. I was taking my morning bath and here someone starts ringing call bell. I needed some time to come out, but hey! He now starts knocking at the door; thinking may be the call bell is not working. After a lot of knocks and some speedy efforts from me, I open the door and find the hero of this story standing there. 

He had put up T-shirt and knickerbockers (trousers ending above knees). Is he a cool dude? Let us go in detail…. 

He was a thin man in his forties, but looking much older. His rickety legs were visible from the knickerbockers. But he had an expressive face. I become annoyed to find that the guy was a kachra wallah.  Before I could speak, he starts off in a loud voice, “Kachra do naa. Kitni baar darwaajaa khatkhataya” (“Give me the garbage. How many times I have knocked at your door!”). 

What? I lose my cool and tell him that if I don’t turn up, he can’t force me to give it to him. I smiled at my own statement. But he is not convinced and asks me to hurry up. 

From that day onwards, he comes to my door and knocks until I appear; either I give him his beloved kachra or I tell him that I didn’t generate any! Now onwards, I will call him GMan – Garbage Man (this is different from Gmale/Gmail :). 

After some days, he observes that he is not able to collect garbage from my flat, as by the time he comes to the ground floor, collecting garbage from all the upper floors, I am out of the house (for office). To my amazement, now he started collecting garbage from lower to upper floors! He continued in this absurd manner (he has to carry the load upwards) for one month. Then one day, someone from the society scolded him for doing that the unconventional way. He asked our guy to collect downwards only. Our GMan found merit in that and now I see him only 4 times a week. 

One day, I saw him carrying his garbage basket out from our housing society. Then suddenly he stopped. There were some plastic wrappers lying at some distance. He collects them and put them into his basket. Then he carries on. This I not expected, because cleaning the lawn is the responsibility of someone else! This makes me think a little more about him…..

When I think, I can easily count several traits that make his case a perfect example of good work ethics:   

• He is punctual at his work, and never absent.
• He is passionate for his job. He is ready to argue and will get the job done at any cost. GMan stays at my door, unless I appear.
• To satisfy his customers, he is flexible, even if that cause him some pain. GMan carries the garbage up the ladder, so that he doesn’t miss one flat on the ground.
• He listens to others and is ready to change if he finds merit in that. GMan changed his path again upwards, because that was the efficient method.
• He goes beyond his defined job responsibility. GMan is ready to pick up the garbage from the ground, which is actually assigned to some other person.
• He doesn’t want to be praised. He is content with the timely completion of his work. No one praises GMan for his good work.
• Am I going too far, in extracting something called “good work ethics” out of our GMan? What is a work ethic? “The work ethic is a cultural norm that advocates being personally accountable and responsible for the work that one does and is based on a belief that work has intrinsic value.” Read this definition, and I am proud to come across this GMan – a perfect example or good work ethic. 

I still don’t know his real name. But now I do some Googling. Do you know what they call our Kachra Wallahs in the US? In the US, he is also called Waste collector, Garbage man, Garbage collector, Trash collector, or Sanitation engineer. The last name will provide our GMan some inspiration.

- Rahul

----------------------------------------------------------

Laxmi
June 15, 2009 at 5:53 pm ·
very interesting blog …………………..hmmm my GWOMAN IS NOT DAT ETHICAL……….but i hv learnt from ur Gman……………sanitation engineer really good one!

Thohe Pou
July 23, 2007 at 2:54 pm ·
“All those who do not have work ethics are those who have brain to work but no etiquette to work with others” -thohe

angel a
June 1, 2007 at 11:16 pm ·
Eye opening post Rahul….I truly loved it.. Hope we all learn some work ethic from your Gman.. Not forgetting the fact that he gets so less for all the efforts he puts in, while we so called civilized ppl take home fat salaries yet, use office technology for personal work.. Warm regards, Angel

shivani narula
April 9, 2007 at 10:16 am ·
this was a very good example of work ethics reminds me of gandhiji……thanks for sharing

KR
March 24, 2007 at 7:49 pm ·
I got to read best of the the bests- this one. the article had all colours of amusement, pity, guilt and of course inspiration. sometimes i think, you were vivekananda in your previous birth, with the difference that he could speak amazingly without any labour and you can write.

Yashvant
March 24, 2007 at 7:41 pm ·
Dear Rahul,

This is a very good and thought provoking article. Congratulations. I think you should contact some leading newspapers to publish it.. I feel you are going in the eight direction.. try to write some more articles. I am sure you will become a famous writer one day.. my whole hearted best wishes..

CM Verma
March 24, 2007 at 7:41 pm ·
Rahul has a deep touch with sourrounding & esp towards india and this one is a new chapter adding to that..

very nice..

i always enjoy reading that..
keep continue..

BG
March 24, 2007 at 7:40 pm ·
A good attempt.

Is it his love of the job / responsibility / ethics / moral values or the uncertainty surrounding his job ? There is always an element of need which inspires individual behaviour. Good work ethics originate from inner strength and understanding.

Dabbawallas is a classic example of the “System design” – people working there are bound by the system and carry out a samll activity contributing only to that extent, they may not be responsible for the entire system efficiency.

Adarsh
March 24, 2007 at 7:40 pm ·
It is a gr8 piece to read . But certainly it has some inspirational values in it .

I think we shd try to pick up these values in our life also.

PP
March 24, 2007 at 7:40 pm ·
Very Good article. Why don't you send this to one of our leading newspapers.

I appreciate your creativity.

D. Shekhar
March 24, 2007 at 7:38 pm ·
Hi Rahul,

“Work Ethics” seems a heavy term.But it is just about the way one takes one”s duty.The “one” can be anyone from Gman to CEO of some mamoth organization.

There is always a scope to learn from each and every individual.I would really appreciate that you zeroed in on Gmans who are generally ignored and their work are not perceived respectfully.

In the last paragraph, you have used “Sanitation engineer” for Gman.The new name will give them a bit of pride.But if we could do something concrete and material to salute their Work Ethics,to well – feed and educate their children then they will always beem with pride and love for their work, with their heads high.Rickety legs can not bear the weight of this pride for long.Why not to cure this malnutrition.

I would like if you come up with some encouragement plan for them in your next article.

Raghu
March 24, 2007 at 7:37 pm ·
Dear Rahul,

Before commenting on the piece you wrote, I really appreciate you, for sharing your thoughts from day-to day experiences.
You are on right path, trying to figure out learning from whatever experiences you are facing. No doubt your thought process is open with no discrimination at all on the basis,.. whom you take it from. Logic coupled with wisdom is what you are using at its best.

Now coming to feedback zone to your mail. My leanings as under.

1. I think everyone is unique, not for the matter what job(your Gman) or one”s doing.
2. You can learn from anything/anyone, if it benefits you or generates novel ideas in self/ impacts society positively.
3. Discrimination on one”s status in society, blocks you out. This really don”t help learning.
4. Work ethics(Good….also Bad) can be a chain reaction, can make or brake yourself/organisation/community/locality.

In the process of writing feedback, I feel mentally I am conditioning my brains towards useful thoughts.

Ghosh
March 24, 2007 at 7:36 pm ·
Nice One. I do believe that you have the capacity to see things in objective way, learn from the incidents and not only that share with others.

Hope you may compile all these and publish in form of a book some day.

B. Sharma
March 24, 2007 at 7:35 pm ·
Let me appreciate your views as you could have seen the most neglected activity but the most important. I agree with your views that these type of persons must be loved and respected for their inspiration. But instead of Sanitation Engineer would it not be better to call him “Karmyogi”.

M. T. Rao
March 24, 2007 at 7:35 pm ·
Good to learn things from any good source.

Ankur
March 24, 2007 at 7:34 pm ·
I found it quite interesting

D. Khosla
March 24, 2007 at 7:22 pm ·
Good observation once again…

Can”t think of any comments…rt now…will surely post the same to you, if at all I strike it…

Rashmi
March 24, 2007 at 7:21 pm ·
hey,

Dont have any review to give but sure u are a good observer and know how to extricate the gud out of anything!!!

Chandan
March 24, 2007 at 7:21 pm ·
This articles of yours reinstates that how keen observer you are.
taking something good out of futile things like G-Man is truly remarkable.
this idea is also fresh and original – no plagiarism.
This is very much our own style – the rahul style.
I would love to read few more articles like this.

Srinivas
March 24, 2007 at 7:21 pm ·
This Gman example is one the very good example of work ethics. One should have that passionate about his work. IF some body is not motivated towards his job than he will not put his 100% and simultaneously he may not be able to motivate others.

R. Sinha
March 24, 2007 at 7:20 pm ·
Hey rahul, this is really a good piece of writing. You write well.

Moreover lots of inspiration from your writings. Keep it up dear.

Arpita
March 24, 2007 at 7:18 pm ·
Very nice article yaar!! really !! The same thing I face everyday in my flat also but I never thought so much about it.. and I have also started thinking about them… they are really punctual and they get their work done at any cost.

Nice observation Rahul !! Keep it up…

Sai
March 24, 2007 at 7:16 pm ·
good morale booster rahul….continue writing….

R. Mohanti
March 24, 2007 at 7:16 pm ·
I want this to share with my close friends. Will you permit me pl.

H. Jaiswal

March 24, 2007 at 7:16 pm ·
Hi

Do you write this by your own ? I mean to say do you realy feel things in

such manner . Nice peice of writing . GOOD if it is your original thoughts .

Jitendra
March 24, 2007 at 7:14 pm ·
preety good insight…..and i enjoyed reading it. Acha hai kuch kuch likhte raho…..that will further improve your skills and persona. really nice one. thanks

Sarita
March 24, 2007 at 7:12 pm ·
I always appreciate your observation and passion to learn from small small things. Hey its great and not all can do that

Name
February 25, 2007 at 6:38 pm ·
An inspirational piece of writing Rahul My hats of to person who had inspired you to write this piece – the Kachara Wala

ravikiran
February 24, 2007 at 6:13 pm ·
Lot of people do great work for society but we dont recognize the contribution they make, this is a classic example. Look at it this was what if Garbage collector, plumber…. refuse to come to work, they is going to be lot of dirt and water coming out ;)

So if v cant give them rise evry year we can atleast make sure their contribution doesnt go unnoticed…

Niharika Bose
January 12, 2007 at 5:22 pm ·
comments not found

siddharth arora
December 28, 2006 at 4:34 pm ·
comments not found