hello 2011

A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERY ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!

worth a read

This is a mail from one of my classmates, the content that i have come across so many times when i was doing my graduation and also as a part of training when i was in Maytas. But today when i started reading this again, i feel it afresh, emotional and very inspiring. I thought it should be on my blog and here it is..


THE GIRL WRITING AS HERSELF....

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 Rs30 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 realized 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 realization 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 realize 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. 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 Narayana 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 .

my friend Green Ganesha

Ganesha Chaturthi is the birthday of Lord Ganesha who is widely worshiped as the god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune. I love the way it is celebrated together by all the people. Particularly in Hyderabad, I love to see the religious tolerance among the people during these hugely celebrated festivals of Ganesha, Holi and Bonaalu. This is my fourth Ganesh festival in Hyderabad. I still remember the huge Ganesha at khairatabad I saw with my friend Surya, 3 years back in 2007. I fondly recollect kittu(one of my cousins) dancing on the stage for Ganesh Fest held at their colony, me and my cousins encouraging him. That was really a great fun. Even last year, Ganesh festival celebrated at NICMAR was awesome. I didn't participate in it actively, but I enjoyed the way they celebrated. Here I have to mention the efforts of Indian freedom fighter and social reformer Lokmanya Tilak who transformed the annual festival into a large, well-organized public event to bridge the gap between different sects of people in our society.Tilak recognized the wide appeal of the deity Ganesh as "the god for everybody" and popularized Ganesh Chaturthi as a national festival in order to build united India, and generate nationalistic fervor among people against the British colonial rule.

Under Tilak's encouragement, the festival facilitated community participation and involvement in the form of intellectual discourses, poetry recitals, performances of plays, musical concerts, and folk dances. It served as a meeting ground for people of all castes and communities in times when, in order to exercise control over the population, the British discouraged social and political gatherings. Anyways, this is the history and today, the most serious impact of the Ganesh festival on the natural environment is the immersion of icons made of Plaster of Paris into lakes, rivers and the sea. Traditionally, the Ganesh icon was sculpted out of earth taken from nearby one’s home. After worshiping the divinity in this earth icon, it was returned back to the Earth by immersing it in a nearby water body. This cycle represented the cycle of creation and dissolution in Nature.

However, as the production of Ganesh icons on a commercial basis grew, the earthen or natural clay was replaced by Plaster of Paris. This plaster takes much longer to dissolve and in the process of dissolution releases toxic elements into the water body. The chemical paints used to adorn these plaster icons themselves contain heavy metals like mercury and cadmium.On the final day of the Ganesh festival thousands of plaster icons are immersed into water bodies by devotees. These increase the level of acidity in the water and the content of heavy metals. The day after the immersion, shoals of dead fish can be seen floating on the surface of the water body as a result of this sudden increase.

Thanks to go green activists!!! People are understanding the importance of
Eco friendliness and even adopting these green concepts in religious affairs. The clay idols of Ganesha, the natural colours for holi, etc,.One more thing , the pooja vidhaan of Ganesha chaturthi also suggests the clay idol as the best for worship. I read somewhere that GHMC has announced some prize for the best Eco friendly Ganesha in the city. This is a great way for promoting Green Ganesha. Not only the huge Idols in the colonies, the smaller ones worshiped at our home should be Eco friendly. We are praying Ganesha for health and wealth and we should contribute from our side. Am I right!!!

Vande Mataram

Vande Mataram, the National Song of India, glorifies Indian patriotism in a beautiful manner.Penned originally in Sanskrit by Shri Bankimchandra Chattyopaddhay, the song was written in 1876 and quickly became an inspiration for the Indian freedom fighters. With 15th August nearing once more, it's time again to go through the timeless verses of Vande Mataram and celebrate the occasion. Share the spirit of freedom with everyone you know. Happy Independence Day!


Read the inspiring lines of the path breaking composition out of which India received the philosophy of new Nationalism.

 
Vande Mataram!
Sujalam suphalam, malayaja shitalam,
Shasyashyamalam, Mataram!
Shubhrajyotsna pulakitayaminim,
Phullakusumita drumadala shobhinim,
Suhasinim, sumadhura bhashinim,
Sukhadam, varadam, Mataram!

Saptakotikantha kalakala ninada karale
Dvisaptakoti bhujair dhrita-khara karavale
Abala kena ma eta bale
Bahubala dharinim, namami tarinim,
Ripudalavarinim Mataram!

Tumi vidya, tumi dharma,
Tumi hridi, tumi marma,
Tvam hi pranah sharire!

Bahute tumi ma shakti,
Hridaye tumi ma bhakti,
Tomarayipratima gari mandire mandire!

Tvam hi Durga dashapraharana dharini,
Kamala, Kamaladalaviharini,
Vani, vidyadayini namami tvam,

Namami Kamalam, amalam, atulam,
Sujalam, suphalam, Mataram,
Vande Mataram!

Shyamalam, saralam, susmitam, bhushitam,
Dharanim, bharanim, Mataram!


- Shri Bankimchandra Chattyopadhay

happy friendship day.....

The best of friends,Worth more than gold,Give all the love,A heart can hold.

mera bharath mahaan!!!!

With 15th August nearing once more,i felt i should share this with u.we all know that Indians invented the digit zero and the numbering system;Chess;Algebra, Trigonometry, and Calculus;the decimal system;the game of Snakes and Ladders;the value of “pi”but do u know what Albert Einstein said about Indians???
"We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made"that is India!!!!
one more thing, very interesting,India never invaded any country in her 10,000 years of history. this is the land of peace that showed how to win over the evil with the weapon of love.i heartfully say mera bharath mahaan!!what do u say??

miss u NICMAR

it is today when i have gone out for a walk in our Campus, i understood how much iam missing the college.i never had that great fun at NICMAR as others, but yes, there are lot of wonderful moments associated with this college. i miss all my classmates.true! iam a silent admirer of all u guys!!!!

i dedicate these lines (from College Days by Esha Sharma) to all the NICMARIANS

Remembering my class mates, after few days,
My eyes were filled with tears,
Everyone now is busy a lot,
No one escaped destiny's plot

Project reviews to campus interviews,
Nicknames to last bench games,
Cultural rehearsals to love proposals,
Short term crushes to class room blushes.

Everything is fresh in our mind,
Wish life could just rewind,
Let's laugh, play & rejoice,
Once again become college guys.

Chatting & laughing. We all were in elation,
Till the painful moments of separation,
When it was time to part,
We returned with a heavy heart.

Today life is full of commitments,
And too many worries,
But those cherished moments,
Will live forever in our memories! ! !

చిరు ఝల్లులు

ఎన్నో రుతువులున్నా అందరు కోరుకునేది మాత్రం వర్ష రుతువునే.చిన్నప్పుదు చేసిన కాగితం పడవలు,వాన లో తడుస్తూ ఆడుకున్న ఆటలు,వేడి వేడి గా పకోడీలు ...ఇలా చెప్పుకుంటూ పొతే వర్షం తో ప్రతి ఒక్కరికీ ఏదో ఒక బంధం ఉంటుంది.ఈ వర్షాన్ని చూస్తుంటె ఇవన్ని గుర్తొస్తున్నాయి.మరి మీకో??

ఝల్లంత కవ్వింత కావలి లె....... అని పాడలనిపిస్తూంది కదా!!!!!