Never a dull moment

  Nostalgia - Is this kid anaemic ?  I was a special grandson for my maternal grandparents. Hence my health was of prime concern for them. I was the last of ten maternal cousins. So what made me and hence my health special ? Read on. At various points of time, my grandma ( maternal ) grandma had taken care of my maternal cousins in varying stretches of time. Since my mom was just a few elders elder to them, the cousins were not alone with my grandma. Grandpa was stone deaf and was a silent spectator. And parents of my maternal cousins lived  very close by and hence help was on hand. My sister and I were by far the youngest grand kids of maternal grandparents. I was left in their care at my dad's native village in Kerala till class five while my parents were at Madras with my sister. This may have made them more concerned about my health with age no more on their side- they were in late mid sixties. Transplanting themselves to new surroundings at that age  should have been challengi

  Forty five years ago - Nostalgia NCC camp Foggy morning walk image this morning made me recall an event forty five years ago - our NCC Air Wing 10 day camp held in 1974-75 second term break at Air Force station Tambaram We were twenty four cadets from our school occupying three tents Night dew used to render our beds damp and mist of us used to be up by 3 am and used to chat. The night sentry cadets used to knock on the tent pegs and asked us to keep quiet. Our school was lucky. We were not assigned night sentry assignment in the camp. We dug small moats running around our tents - to prevent snakes from entering the tents. There was hip high grass where we pitched our tents - we cut them and levelled the ground. We had carried all our stuff in the longish black camp bags which were like giant versions of mridangam cover which we laid out neatly before we went for morning march. There were prizes for well laid out tents. Our neigbour Wessley school bagged the prize. On the first eveni

  Edgar -the good soul On Christmas day, I called up some school classmates and wished them. Then an idea struck me. One of school classmates is running an old age home for destitute. I thought day of Christmas would be the right day to make my maiden token contribution to Edgar's old age home. I got the bank details and set up online bank connect by evening. Almighty and I have been strangers to each other for most part. He let this one slip and I forgot. I scrambled and completed the transaction yesterday. Edgar has no Whatsapp. I decided to call him and substitute him to Almighty to earn a token of appreciation. When I conveyed my insignificant act, I could hear Edgar choking and there was pregnant silence. I asked, "Are you crying? Isn't it period of celebration?" Edgar recovered and said, " I am happy - I have good friends" I wound up the call wishing him long and healthy life. Edgar is indeed a good soul.

  What they do not teach in IIMA I went to IIMA after three years work experience. Campus placement was not easy for those with work experience as our names did not figure in the short list of leading companies who were on “fresher” only mode. Most of the oldies got offers much after the crème de la crème were placed. My final interview was a different city and I flew for the first time. The interview with MD was informal. I was offered a cup of tea in a stylish manner ( I had to do half the process of tea making without spilling. Over the years I have managed to avoid such tea drinking as I have not developed the spit an polish demanded of a a true professional . I prefer the overboiled ready to drink tea ). Everything went well .MD asked me about the job I held before joining IIMA. Then the tide turned churning the tea I had consumed. MD popped an innocuous question - Now that you have completed MBA from IIMA, if you were to go back to same job, how differently would you do it ? “ I

  Subramanian Subramanian   < subbu1906@gmail.com > Sat, Jan 16, 12:21 PM to  Sarojini I was a reluctant school goer in primary school. Reluctance largely due to my close friends in neighbourhood were at Rama Menon primary school with holidays on Saturdays and Sundays while I was in Govt  Primary school with weekly holidays on Fridays and Sundays.  I used to accompany Janaki teacher to school in the first couple of years and we were around eight students by the time we reached school. When in third standard, Janaki teacher retired. How to send away a beloved teacher empty handed ? We all carried "gifts". After all ceremonial gestures of retirement which we watched seated on the ground, we made a bee line to pile up the "gifts" on a couple of tables arranged for this purpose. Pray, what were these "gifts" ? Mostly bathing soap ! I carried four cakes of Rexona, Some gifted "Lifebuoy" and "Chandrika". There were some tins of talcum p

  Pongal - a turning point I took up this assignment this day thirteen years ago. This snap was exactly ten months later launching services in Cuddalore. Lost most of my hair in this phase but gained far more in compensation. I felt butterflies in my stomach for several months after joining the organisation. I have never run a far flung "out of sight" organisation, leave alone setting up one from scratch. It all worked well. We formed a good team which is the essence of any good operation. The mojo I gained with this experience has sustained me since.

I was exhausted “academically” when I finished BE Hons in Guindy in 1982. I was keen to work. First job turned out to be boring though the team was young. My dad had a four break while at school and completed his schooling late. He stood first in school in SSLC. He went to Madras and secured a job in railways. He was keen I should study further. But I was not. I was clear I was not made to be an engineer. I made an attempt to secure admission to par- time MBA in a leading college but failed. Our boss was from IIT Madras and IIMC. He used to ask me now and then, ” Is this all you want to do ?” In 1984, my colleague Balan secured admission to IIMC. Balan went away to IIMC little realising that he would prove an inspiration. I told my dad I would make full hearted maiden attempt at CAT 1985. My motivation ? More than getting out of the humdrum job, I wanted to do something which would do him proud and that something should not be easy for others to achieve. Result? If somebody was to pick