Monday, October 30, 2006
Perseverance wins over perils …3 recent personal stories
Friday, the 13th just passed by. Unlucky for some, lucky for others. This special day has not been bad for me….thus far….
This narrative is about releases from small, some petty injustices (but one can extrapolate)….Here are 3 stories – one of a lost iPOD and the saga to find it, another about a refund of accident damages and third one regarding return of cash taken for a promised job.
Few weeks ago (Oct 12th to be precise), we finally got back a lost iPOD. It ended the saga that went on for about 2 weeks. We had taken a bunch of kids, Maya’s friends, out to dinner one night (in celebration of Maya’s 13th birthday), to a restaurant on Church Street, parallel to MG Road. Since we wanted to fit everyone in one car and avoid the hassles of parking and driving ourselves on Bangalore roads in the heart of the city on a weekend, we rented a van. We got the Toyota Qualis from the usual place where we’ve had many good experiences renting.
It was a nice evening, expensive but fun for the kids. Few of the kids brought their iPODs along (yes, it’s quite common place to see a section of kids with this sleek device in our neck of the woods – big win for Apple!) to play games and listen to songs while 91.9 FM “Radio Indigo” was not playing on the car radio!! I totally agree that kids should interact more and peer less into these devices, but that’s not how it is, these days, unfortunately! [I’m reminded of that eons old quote ….. “Our earth is degenerate in these latter days; bribery and corruption are common; children no longer obey their parents; and the end of the world is evidently approaching” – Assyrian clay tablet 2800 BC -- yes that’s from Before Christ!]
Well, we came back home after dinner. The kids stayed back for a “sleep over”. In the morning, we got a call. It was from the driver of the car we rode the previous evening, asking us if we were missing a camera or something. My first reaction was that we left our digital camera in the van. I thought, we “did it again”. I had lost one digital camera in an auto last year around this time. Fortunately, we looked around and our camera was very much home.
A relief, but it turned out that the driver had found an iPod in the van. It belonged to one of Maya’s friends. Immediately we called the driver and asked him to come drop it off that morning. We would reward him, we thought. But, he was in a nearly town, Kolar, he said and was not going to come to Bangalore that day. We talked and he agreed to drop it off the next day, early in the morning……. But, that never happened!
Once they figured out that it was an iPod worth about Rs 20K, they stopped responding to our phone calls and were un-reachable via cell-phone (the very number we had called earlier). The driver called with good intentions. Then what happened? Temptation had won over? He seemed to have connected up with his agency and they must have convinced him and ordered him perhaps, to hand over the iPod to the car rental place owner. And he did that obediently I suppose. There were E-mails and phone calls back and forth between us and the parents of Maya’s friend who lost the iPOD. One week passed and then the second. We persisted and continued to call through the agency we had hired the car from. It turns out that he in turn rented from this other un-trustworthy place. Finally, we got the location (not full address but an approx area) where this other agency was. Our friend went to pick up their lost property, one fine morning. The place was “shady” they said and we wondered why our agency was even doing business with these folks. They wanted Rs. 2K to hand over our own equipment to us! The friend gave Rs. 500 and bolted out of there, iPOD in hand. The “good” driver continues to work for these un-ethical folks – he needs a job too….Our persistence paid off and after all the hassles we recovered the lost property. It should not be so difficult, but it just is, in this day and age.
It’s worth pondering, why give expensive stuff to kids, how to teach them to be careful with their belongings ….that’s lesson #1 learnt. And then, how to avoid dealing with these bad people and not giving any opportunity for temptation, how to reform our peoples, to be trustworthy and true…..
…..
Few weeks back my husband’s br-in-law was involved in a car accident. He and another br-in-law and sister were on their way from Bangalore to Pondicherry. Just an hour or so into the journey, their car was hit on the highway, close to Hosur not too far from Bangalore. An old ambassador car from the opposite side collided head on into a small Maruti car. The driver of the Maruti, a young IT professional from a reputed company, veered his way, struck our relatives’ car, damaged it a lot, before both cars could stop. Our larger car protected the much smaller Maruti. The driver of our car was very experienced and stayed composed through the entire collision, we were told. The couple in that car would have had serious injuries but for our Toyota Qualis. One would think they would be grateful to us, but the exact opposite is what it turned out to be. The accident caused much trials and a Rs. 7K in damages to our car. The old ambassador car that caused the problem in the first place was totaled and that driver begged to be let off as he did not have anything to give. He asked them to take the car (now a lump of metal I suppose) if they so desired. He had nothing else, no money to give or pay for damages. And they let him go!
What follows is a whole lot of unpleasantaries - detail of the hassles we had to go through before we got back the money from the person who damagaed our relatives’ car. At the accident spot, this IT fellow was very co-operative. He provided his phone number and home address and signed the document stating he would pay damages to our car. He was hurt and his arm was bleeding. Our relatives were very considerate and helpful to him. He mentioned that his wife was pregnant too (a lie it turned out, to gain sympathy?). Our car actually protected them, else they could have been in critical condition. They got an estimate of Rs. 7000 from a nearby car repair place for our car and this guy agreed to pay that service agency the amount. Insurance claims are few and far between – matters are settled by individuals on mutual agreement basis. So, this agreement was not un-common.
The driver of our Qualis said that he knew of a better car repair shop so they took the car there instead of this unknown place on the highway. Our br-in-law called the IT fellow promptly and informed him that they were taking the car to another shop and that he should send payment to us rather than the highway repairman. He agreed to courier the check (of some Rs. 5-7K).
Days passed and the check never came. When we called back, he said he has already paid the repairman on the highway. We asked him to go collect the money back and give it to us. He was rude and mean and asked us to go get it back ourselves. He gave us a run-around, the home address he gave us was wrong.
He had even taken the car repairman for a ride. He got his car repaired from them and did not pay him either but ran away with the car (posing to test drive). We had to bull-doze our way to get Rs. 5K back from our IT fellow. It was hard but persistence helped. The cell phone # was correct and he kept talking.
The car repairman got his correct home address from the Airtel, the phone company. Our br-in-law and the car repairman went to his house, demanded and got the cash. The car-repairman resorted to “Dada giri” (being rough and tough – using harshness and violence to some extent – in words). “Gandhi giri” (being nice, soft spoken and non-violent) was not seeming to work at all. The car-repairman pulled the car apart and demanded his dues in order to re-assemble the vehicle. Thus he got his Rs. 70K back. Sometimes, the only resort is to take the law into your own hands.
Aside: A recent Tamil movie I saw, “Anniyan”, is based on this theme.
Looks (and apparent “status/class” in society) are certainly deceptive. Turned out the roadside car repairman was honest, fair and truthful. The IT employee rude, mean, malicious and a crook.
…….
A few months ago, Renganathan’s nephew paid Rs. 14K to someone who promised to get him an IT job. This nephew has a Bachelors degree in Engineering with specialization in IT. But he was finding it extremely hard to get a first job in Chennai. It was almost a year since he graduated and he was getting anxious. He got in touch with these folks through someone known remotely. Somehow, the method in which this “HR firm” or perhaps I should called it “informal group” were running the operation seemed “shady”. They took the money in cash, and “posed” as if it were to seriously look for a job for him through their “connections”. At one point they even sent him a letter of appointment via E-mail – from IBM I think it was. But, really no job in site. I’m sure there are many such “agencies” trying to make a fast bug, ripping off innocent gullible people. After much shouting and many hassles, we were able to get back the money from these folks who may or may not be getting the jobs/placements for anyone after all. It might all be a sham, who knows? The thought about reporting these people crossed our minds, but we just let it pass, happy with the refund of the Rs. 14K. The nephew is now settled in a job at a SW company in Bangalore (got through some sincere referral for no charge!) and seems to enjoy his work.
……
There have been other losses, large and small. We were taken for a ride by a real-estate agent who said he would find us a home of our liking in a less than a month. He took Rs. 8,000 in cash from us in advance (don’t know how we readily parted with that kind of cash, went to an ATM, drew the money and handed to him before he showed us even one house – how gullible we were!!). We were extremely dissatisfied with his service, he took us for a ride and we just lost that bulk of money!
Another loss was even bigger!! We lost Rs. 50K – yes that was 50 thousand rupees (!!) to the giant Brigade group (ironically, we now live in a rented flat built by these people). We had booked a flat to own and cancelled the booking just days later (approach roads are pathetic and dismal; construction is severely lacking). This was almost a year ago. They charged us Rs. 50K in penalty in this hot real estate market! It was so ridiculous but we could do zilch. So, rip offs are bigger when you deal with bigger people!! (Remember the Enron scandal and the huge number of un-suspecting sincere workers losing their lives retirement savings?)
…..
Yet another rip-off was a $700 loss for furniture ordered in Mysore which never reached our friends in Portland. We visited the shop, argued a lot with many people in the supply chain but of no avail.
…..
Once I got conned into giving Rs. 500 to a family that posed as if they were stranded in a big city after losing their entire luggage. Well dressed and clean, they asked for money to head back to their village – about Rs. 500 it would cost for tickets to get to their village in Maharashtra from Bangalore, they said. And I bought their story and handed them the cash. We would not hand out so much money to a beggar on the street but these are con artists who hypnotize you perhaps? And those of us who are waiting to reach out and wanting an opportunity to serve, get bought into these types of unrealistic stories.
….
Losses galore - tangible losses in financial terms – some small and some significant…are behind us now. New ones may surface but we are wiser. It’s been frustrating. These experiences and a bulk load of others have led to plenty of gains – in lives’ lessons. We’ve learnt to continue to fight. We need to keep on keeping on. Everything leads to success, ultimately. “Success is a journey, not a determination”
Coming back to Friday the 13th that just passed by. It was my birthday that day! I have seen many moons :). I count my blessings and am grateful for all I have - family, friends and all life has offered thus far. It has been a great journey ….There are ups and downs and trials small and large. Sometimes (Often? Always?) we have to fight back. “Persist and thou shall win”, and I am prepared…are you?
-Sri
This narrative is about releases from small, some petty injustices (but one can extrapolate)….Here are 3 stories – one of a lost iPOD and the saga to find it, another about a refund of accident damages and third one regarding return of cash taken for a promised job.
Few weeks ago (Oct 12th to be precise), we finally got back a lost iPOD. It ended the saga that went on for about 2 weeks. We had taken a bunch of kids, Maya’s friends, out to dinner one night (in celebration of Maya’s 13th birthday), to a restaurant on Church Street, parallel to MG Road. Since we wanted to fit everyone in one car and avoid the hassles of parking and driving ourselves on Bangalore roads in the heart of the city on a weekend, we rented a van. We got the Toyota Qualis from the usual place where we’ve had many good experiences renting.
It was a nice evening, expensive but fun for the kids. Few of the kids brought their iPODs along (yes, it’s quite common place to see a section of kids with this sleek device in our neck of the woods – big win for Apple!) to play games and listen to songs while 91.9 FM “Radio Indigo” was not playing on the car radio!! I totally agree that kids should interact more and peer less into these devices, but that’s not how it is, these days, unfortunately! [I’m reminded of that eons old quote ….. “Our earth is degenerate in these latter days; bribery and corruption are common; children no longer obey their parents; and the end of the world is evidently approaching” – Assyrian clay tablet 2800 BC -- yes that’s from Before Christ!]
Well, we came back home after dinner. The kids stayed back for a “sleep over”. In the morning, we got a call. It was from the driver of the car we rode the previous evening, asking us if we were missing a camera or something. My first reaction was that we left our digital camera in the van. I thought, we “did it again”. I had lost one digital camera in an auto last year around this time. Fortunately, we looked around and our camera was very much home.
A relief, but it turned out that the driver had found an iPod in the van. It belonged to one of Maya’s friends. Immediately we called the driver and asked him to come drop it off that morning. We would reward him, we thought. But, he was in a nearly town, Kolar, he said and was not going to come to Bangalore that day. We talked and he agreed to drop it off the next day, early in the morning……. But, that never happened!
Once they figured out that it was an iPod worth about Rs 20K, they stopped responding to our phone calls and were un-reachable via cell-phone (the very number we had called earlier). The driver called with good intentions. Then what happened? Temptation had won over? He seemed to have connected up with his agency and they must have convinced him and ordered him perhaps, to hand over the iPod to the car rental place owner. And he did that obediently I suppose. There were E-mails and phone calls back and forth between us and the parents of Maya’s friend who lost the iPOD. One week passed and then the second. We persisted and continued to call through the agency we had hired the car from. It turns out that he in turn rented from this other un-trustworthy place. Finally, we got the location (not full address but an approx area) where this other agency was. Our friend went to pick up their lost property, one fine morning. The place was “shady” they said and we wondered why our agency was even doing business with these folks. They wanted Rs. 2K to hand over our own equipment to us! The friend gave Rs. 500 and bolted out of there, iPOD in hand. The “good” driver continues to work for these un-ethical folks – he needs a job too….Our persistence paid off and after all the hassles we recovered the lost property. It should not be so difficult, but it just is, in this day and age.
It’s worth pondering, why give expensive stuff to kids, how to teach them to be careful with their belongings ….that’s lesson #1 learnt. And then, how to avoid dealing with these bad people and not giving any opportunity for temptation, how to reform our peoples, to be trustworthy and true…..
…..
Few weeks back my husband’s br-in-law was involved in a car accident. He and another br-in-law and sister were on their way from Bangalore to Pondicherry. Just an hour or so into the journey, their car was hit on the highway, close to Hosur not too far from Bangalore. An old ambassador car from the opposite side collided head on into a small Maruti car. The driver of the Maruti, a young IT professional from a reputed company, veered his way, struck our relatives’ car, damaged it a lot, before both cars could stop. Our larger car protected the much smaller Maruti. The driver of our car was very experienced and stayed composed through the entire collision, we were told. The couple in that car would have had serious injuries but for our Toyota Qualis. One would think they would be grateful to us, but the exact opposite is what it turned out to be. The accident caused much trials and a Rs. 7K in damages to our car. The old ambassador car that caused the problem in the first place was totaled and that driver begged to be let off as he did not have anything to give. He asked them to take the car (now a lump of metal I suppose) if they so desired. He had nothing else, no money to give or pay for damages. And they let him go!
What follows is a whole lot of unpleasantaries - detail of the hassles we had to go through before we got back the money from the person who damagaed our relatives’ car. At the accident spot, this IT fellow was very co-operative. He provided his phone number and home address and signed the document stating he would pay damages to our car. He was hurt and his arm was bleeding. Our relatives were very considerate and helpful to him. He mentioned that his wife was pregnant too (a lie it turned out, to gain sympathy?). Our car actually protected them, else they could have been in critical condition. They got an estimate of Rs. 7000 from a nearby car repair place for our car and this guy agreed to pay that service agency the amount. Insurance claims are few and far between – matters are settled by individuals on mutual agreement basis. So, this agreement was not un-common.
The driver of our Qualis said that he knew of a better car repair shop so they took the car there instead of this unknown place on the highway. Our br-in-law called the IT fellow promptly and informed him that they were taking the car to another shop and that he should send payment to us rather than the highway repairman. He agreed to courier the check (of some Rs. 5-7K).
Days passed and the check never came. When we called back, he said he has already paid the repairman on the highway. We asked him to go collect the money back and give it to us. He was rude and mean and asked us to go get it back ourselves. He gave us a run-around, the home address he gave us was wrong.
He had even taken the car repairman for a ride. He got his car repaired from them and did not pay him either but ran away with the car (posing to test drive). We had to bull-doze our way to get Rs. 5K back from our IT fellow. It was hard but persistence helped. The cell phone # was correct and he kept talking.
The car repairman got his correct home address from the Airtel, the phone company. Our br-in-law and the car repairman went to his house, demanded and got the cash. The car-repairman resorted to “Dada giri” (being rough and tough – using harshness and violence to some extent – in words). “Gandhi giri” (being nice, soft spoken and non-violent) was not seeming to work at all. The car-repairman pulled the car apart and demanded his dues in order to re-assemble the vehicle. Thus he got his Rs. 70K back. Sometimes, the only resort is to take the law into your own hands.
Aside: A recent Tamil movie I saw, “Anniyan”, is based on this theme.
Looks (and apparent “status/class” in society) are certainly deceptive. Turned out the roadside car repairman was honest, fair and truthful. The IT employee rude, mean, malicious and a crook.
…….
A few months ago, Renganathan’s nephew paid Rs. 14K to someone who promised to get him an IT job. This nephew has a Bachelors degree in Engineering with specialization in IT. But he was finding it extremely hard to get a first job in Chennai. It was almost a year since he graduated and he was getting anxious. He got in touch with these folks through someone known remotely. Somehow, the method in which this “HR firm” or perhaps I should called it “informal group” were running the operation seemed “shady”. They took the money in cash, and “posed” as if it were to seriously look for a job for him through their “connections”. At one point they even sent him a letter of appointment via E-mail – from IBM I think it was. But, really no job in site. I’m sure there are many such “agencies” trying to make a fast bug, ripping off innocent gullible people. After much shouting and many hassles, we were able to get back the money from these folks who may or may not be getting the jobs/placements for anyone after all. It might all be a sham, who knows? The thought about reporting these people crossed our minds, but we just let it pass, happy with the refund of the Rs. 14K. The nephew is now settled in a job at a SW company in Bangalore (got through some sincere referral for no charge!) and seems to enjoy his work.
……
There have been other losses, large and small. We were taken for a ride by a real-estate agent who said he would find us a home of our liking in a less than a month. He took Rs. 8,000 in cash from us in advance (don’t know how we readily parted with that kind of cash, went to an ATM, drew the money and handed to him before he showed us even one house – how gullible we were!!). We were extremely dissatisfied with his service, he took us for a ride and we just lost that bulk of money!
Another loss was even bigger!! We lost Rs. 50K – yes that was 50 thousand rupees (!!) to the giant Brigade group (ironically, we now live in a rented flat built by these people). We had booked a flat to own and cancelled the booking just days later (approach roads are pathetic and dismal; construction is severely lacking). This was almost a year ago. They charged us Rs. 50K in penalty in this hot real estate market! It was so ridiculous but we could do zilch. So, rip offs are bigger when you deal with bigger people!! (Remember the Enron scandal and the huge number of un-suspecting sincere workers losing their lives retirement savings?)
…..
Yet another rip-off was a $700 loss for furniture ordered in Mysore which never reached our friends in Portland. We visited the shop, argued a lot with many people in the supply chain but of no avail.
…..
Once I got conned into giving Rs. 500 to a family that posed as if they were stranded in a big city after losing their entire luggage. Well dressed and clean, they asked for money to head back to their village – about Rs. 500 it would cost for tickets to get to their village in Maharashtra from Bangalore, they said. And I bought their story and handed them the cash. We would not hand out so much money to a beggar on the street but these are con artists who hypnotize you perhaps? And those of us who are waiting to reach out and wanting an opportunity to serve, get bought into these types of unrealistic stories.
….
Losses galore - tangible losses in financial terms – some small and some significant…are behind us now. New ones may surface but we are wiser. It’s been frustrating. These experiences and a bulk load of others have led to plenty of gains – in lives’ lessons. We’ve learnt to continue to fight. We need to keep on keeping on. Everything leads to success, ultimately. “Success is a journey, not a determination”
Coming back to Friday the 13th that just passed by. It was my birthday that day! I have seen many moons :). I count my blessings and am grateful for all I have - family, friends and all life has offered thus far. It has been a great journey ….There are ups and downs and trials small and large. Sometimes (Often? Always?) we have to fight back. “Persist and thou shall win”, and I am prepared…are you?
-Sri
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Stories of Caring & Compassion…Perseverance and Determination…
In this narrative, I have shared three very heart warming stories - One of a Telugu film star and how he continued to maintain a strong relationship with his wife despite a severe handicap she developed; Another, about an engineer who continued to make huge strides and contributions, even after he became severly handicapped; And a third story about a friend’s own personal involvement in social service work this summer. I think you will be moved and motivated, inspired too, by these stories just as I was.
I was also very heartended to read how auto drivers in Bhopal have mobilized to help victims of road mishaps. More details follow…
Also, in this narrative, I wanted to share info. about an org. dedicated to social services. And, I think you will like nice news digest on the web. It’s called gandhiserve.org.
The 3 stories are from my friend Mr. N. Subramanyam (he’s my childhood friend’s husband), an Asst. prof at REC Warrangal. I have shared his narrative, verbatim. This first story has a strong parallel to “Superman” Christopher Reeve and how his wife served him after his handicap - she kept on keeping on and died soon after her husband died, as if there was nothing more to live for anymore…
http://www.chrisreevehomepage.com/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6223386/
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/healthnews.php?newsid=39045
Mr Subramanyam wrote...
“Every Sunday I watch a program "PELLI PUSTAKAM" in one of the TV channels. This program is about introducing a celebrity along with his/her spouse. The interview centers round the institution of marriage and how they have come along in their married life. In the recent episode of this program they introduced one Telugu actor by name CHINNA. His wife who was normal at the time of marriage, developed a rare nervous disorder after the birth of her second daughter. Due to this problem the hands and legs do not receive proper signals from the brain. The result is that she has to put a lot of effort to move. Currently she experiences a lot of pain in walking from one place to another. It is in this state that she finds a very understanding and considerate husband. YOU MAY ASK ME - WHAT IS SO GREAT? Afterall it is duty. The point is, coming from the glow field of the celluloid world where people hank after external beauty, here is one guy whom I thought looked more for internal beauty. Except cooking which she does very well and enjoys, this actor has completely taken over all the responsibilities of a traditional mother in the household and is managing his professional and family life to perfection. I felt this was an example of whiff of fresh air in the present day world of materialism.
With warm regards
N.Subrahmanyam”
Here’s a story about the handicapped engineer…a life with a bit of parallel to the world famous Stephen Hawkin (born 300 years after Galileo as stated on the web site about him:
http://www.hawking.org.uk/home/hindex.html), who gave us the best seller 'A Brief History of Time'
It’s my pleasure to share this beautiful story…
“Dear Ms. Srilakshmi
I would like to share a brief story about a person known to me. The person's name is RAJAN PAUL. He was a student of B.Tech Mechical Engineering at RECW in 1960-65. After graduation he joined Tata motors where he was instrumental in the design of the shaft system which is still being used in all commercial vehicles of TATA. He moved for better pastures to the Gulf. Here he met with an accident in a swimming pool during a diving session. The accident made him a paraplegic, so, except his brain and eyes he could not use his hands and legs and other parts of his body and his entire life and dreams lie shattered.
Here comes the real story.
A normal person in such a physical state would have given up everything and resigned to his fate. But this man, encouraged and helped by his family and friends continued his professional career as a machine designer and has helped the growth of a group of companies called SEVANA in Cochin who manufacture kitchen aids, packaging machines, healthcare products and several others and his contribution towards design of quality products enabled this group to win an award from Small Scale Industries dept. He used to visit his office regularly and gave instructions orally to his team about the product designs and helped manufacture quality products.
I understand through my friends in Kerala that he passed away recently. I feel we (persons with all limbs intact) have a lot to learn and practice from such people who had a NEVER SAY DIE attitude towards life and who never looked for sympathy from others but empathy and a chance to prove themselves. MAY HIS SOUL REST IN PEACE.
With regards
N.Subrahmanyam”
Here’s a touching story about dedication, care and concern…
It’s about an Eye camp that Mr. Subramaniam’s family organized.
He writes...
“Recently our family, to be specific my elder brother by name Mr Prasad Nallamothu who resides in San Jose, USA sponsored a free eye camp for old and disabled people in our native village, a small village by name CHAVAVARIPALEM. The eye camp was coordinated by TANA, USA and conducted under the aegis of Sankar Eye Hospital, Guntur (an organization of Sankara trust, Kanchi) (SEHG). So all our family members assembled in our village on 23 July and helped in coordinating this camp. I provided the background and preparatory logistic support, one of my sister’s who is a Principal of a degree college in Vijayawada brought her students to perform the role of volunteers. The team from SEHG came in two buses by 8 AM and commenced the camp by 9 AM and between 9 AM and 1 PM they examined in all about 400 patients and identified 50 urgent cases (based on age and criticality of cataract complication) and these people were taken immediately after lunch to Guntur for cataract surgery. In addition to these 50 people about 150 more patients of the 400 who attended the camp were identified to be requiring cataract surgery. These patients would be transported to and back to our village in block periods of about one week intervals to SEHG where cataract surgeries are performed ABSOLUTELY FREE. The sponsorship amount paid by my brother was $600 and it was to cover camp expenses and sponsor the surgery for 50 patients. For the rest of the patients, SEHG either approaches the donor, in this case my brother and asks whether he would sponsor some more surgeries OR else meet the expenses from their own resources. All our family members contributed towards some more surgeries and ALL in ALL it was a satisfying experience to be part of a good cause. In my opinion more than the effort/support of donors the effort of SEHG in eradicating a major cause of blindness in our country is really laudable and to be appreciated.
With best wishes
N.Subrahmanyam”
….
After the above heart warming stories….
….It was heartening to read about auto (those popular 3 wheelers) drivers in Bhopal. They have gathered together, organized and mobilized to ensure that anyone injured on the road gets immediate medical attention. They drive them to the nearest hospital as soon as they spot the victim, saving precious lives.
[ASIDE: One day when I hopped onto an auto, after a few minutes ride, I turned back and to my surprise, I saw a child sleeping in the back. It’s a small ledge there actually. He must be 2-3 years old! I was shocked. My initial reaction was one of fear/scare. What if this baby/child was kidnapped? But then again, who would be doing such a thing in broad daylight? I let that negative thought pass and asked the driver about the sleeping child. It so happened that the little child was the son of the driver. When he went home for lunch, the boy wanted to go with dad on his job and just after he started the ride, he fell asleep I suppose. And dad put him on that rickety ledge behind – the boot (dickie)! He was sound asleep on bumpy Bangalore roads that afternoon :) Very strange I thought.]
….
My husband told me about this strange incident which happenend a couple of months ago.
His friends from Vaatsalya witnessed or were in a car accident, I don’t remember which.
(http://www.vaatsalya.com/
& the Vaatsalya team:
http://vaatsalya.com/blogs/?p=49)
Anyway, a bus was involved and it was a fatal accident. They managed to call for and get help. The police came, and drove away the injured to the hospital. The bus also took off I think with many of the survivors. My husband’s friends got off the bus (they were riding in it) to help out, Someone who had passed away in that collision was also taken out from the bus and placed on the roadside. The bus took off, the police van/car was gone, and these friends (couple of them I think) were left with a dead body of someone unknown to them in the pitch dark night on the highway! It took some time for the police or someone else to come back to get them and the body!! Would this happen in the US roads/highways, I wondered? What about liability, insurance and all the worries. Strange are the ways here and very sad indeed about the deceased.
….
I saw this in a recent Outlook magazine (Sept 4th 2006). There was an article about Xavier Institute of Social Services (started in 1955). The article described its 50 years of excellence. The institute was started with a mission to be a top management school, to work towards empowerment of deprived and to be a lead agency for NGO capacity building. They have academic and non-academic programs and entrepreneurship development programs, training people for self employment. More about Xavier Institute is at: http://ranchiexpress.com/education/xiss.htm
.....
My colleague sent his link to me. They publish a weekly news digest. Their archives are worth visiting and spending some of your “Soul Satifying” moments at. See: http://www.gandhiserve.org/news/news.html
….
We all resonate with different aspects of “doing good”. I think (and hope) some of you will relate to one or more of the good things above and perhaps go off and do more of what makes you happy, comforted and satisfies your soul. As a result, you will leave us with better communities.
-Sri
I was also very heartended to read how auto drivers in Bhopal have mobilized to help victims of road mishaps. More details follow…
Also, in this narrative, I wanted to share info. about an org. dedicated to social services. And, I think you will like nice news digest on the web. It’s called gandhiserve.org.
The 3 stories are from my friend Mr. N. Subramanyam (he’s my childhood friend’s husband), an Asst. prof at REC Warrangal. I have shared his narrative, verbatim. This first story has a strong parallel to “Superman” Christopher Reeve and how his wife served him after his handicap - she kept on keeping on and died soon after her husband died, as if there was nothing more to live for anymore…
http://www.chrisreevehomepage.com/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6223386/
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/healthnews.php?newsid=39045
Mr Subramanyam wrote...
“Every Sunday I watch a program "PELLI PUSTAKAM" in one of the TV channels. This program is about introducing a celebrity along with his/her spouse. The interview centers round the institution of marriage and how they have come along in their married life. In the recent episode of this program they introduced one Telugu actor by name CHINNA. His wife who was normal at the time of marriage, developed a rare nervous disorder after the birth of her second daughter. Due to this problem the hands and legs do not receive proper signals from the brain. The result is that she has to put a lot of effort to move. Currently she experiences a lot of pain in walking from one place to another. It is in this state that she finds a very understanding and considerate husband. YOU MAY ASK ME - WHAT IS SO GREAT? Afterall it is duty. The point is, coming from the glow field of the celluloid world where people hank after external beauty, here is one guy whom I thought looked more for internal beauty. Except cooking which she does very well and enjoys, this actor has completely taken over all the responsibilities of a traditional mother in the household and is managing his professional and family life to perfection. I felt this was an example of whiff of fresh air in the present day world of materialism.
With warm regards
N.Subrahmanyam”
Here’s a story about the handicapped engineer…a life with a bit of parallel to the world famous Stephen Hawkin (born 300 years after Galileo as stated on the web site about him:
http://www.hawking.org.uk/home/hindex.html), who gave us the best seller 'A Brief History of Time'
It’s my pleasure to share this beautiful story…
“Dear Ms. Srilakshmi
I would like to share a brief story about a person known to me. The person's name is RAJAN PAUL. He was a student of B.Tech Mechical Engineering at RECW in 1960-65. After graduation he joined Tata motors where he was instrumental in the design of the shaft system which is still being used in all commercial vehicles of TATA. He moved for better pastures to the Gulf. Here he met with an accident in a swimming pool during a diving session. The accident made him a paraplegic, so, except his brain and eyes he could not use his hands and legs and other parts of his body and his entire life and dreams lie shattered.
Here comes the real story.
A normal person in such a physical state would have given up everything and resigned to his fate. But this man, encouraged and helped by his family and friends continued his professional career as a machine designer and has helped the growth of a group of companies called SEVANA in Cochin who manufacture kitchen aids, packaging machines, healthcare products and several others and his contribution towards design of quality products enabled this group to win an award from Small Scale Industries dept. He used to visit his office regularly and gave instructions orally to his team about the product designs and helped manufacture quality products.
I understand through my friends in Kerala that he passed away recently. I feel we (persons with all limbs intact) have a lot to learn and practice from such people who had a NEVER SAY DIE attitude towards life and who never looked for sympathy from others but empathy and a chance to prove themselves. MAY HIS SOUL REST IN PEACE.
With regards
N.Subrahmanyam”
Here’s a touching story about dedication, care and concern…
It’s about an Eye camp that Mr. Subramaniam’s family organized.
He writes...
“Recently our family, to be specific my elder brother by name Mr Prasad Nallamothu who resides in San Jose, USA sponsored a free eye camp for old and disabled people in our native village, a small village by name CHAVAVARIPALEM. The eye camp was coordinated by TANA, USA and conducted under the aegis of Sankar Eye Hospital, Guntur (an organization of Sankara trust, Kanchi) (SEHG). So all our family members assembled in our village on 23 July and helped in coordinating this camp. I provided the background and preparatory logistic support, one of my sister’s who is a Principal of a degree college in Vijayawada brought her students to perform the role of volunteers. The team from SEHG came in two buses by 8 AM and commenced the camp by 9 AM and between 9 AM and 1 PM they examined in all about 400 patients and identified 50 urgent cases (based on age and criticality of cataract complication) and these people were taken immediately after lunch to Guntur for cataract surgery. In addition to these 50 people about 150 more patients of the 400 who attended the camp were identified to be requiring cataract surgery. These patients would be transported to and back to our village in block periods of about one week intervals to SEHG where cataract surgeries are performed ABSOLUTELY FREE. The sponsorship amount paid by my brother was $600 and it was to cover camp expenses and sponsor the surgery for 50 patients. For the rest of the patients, SEHG either approaches the donor, in this case my brother and asks whether he would sponsor some more surgeries OR else meet the expenses from their own resources. All our family members contributed towards some more surgeries and ALL in ALL it was a satisfying experience to be part of a good cause. In my opinion more than the effort/support of donors the effort of SEHG in eradicating a major cause of blindness in our country is really laudable and to be appreciated.
With best wishes
N.Subrahmanyam”
….
After the above heart warming stories….
….It was heartening to read about auto (those popular 3 wheelers) drivers in Bhopal. They have gathered together, organized and mobilized to ensure that anyone injured on the road gets immediate medical attention. They drive them to the nearest hospital as soon as they spot the victim, saving precious lives.
[ASIDE: One day when I hopped onto an auto, after a few minutes ride, I turned back and to my surprise, I saw a child sleeping in the back. It’s a small ledge there actually. He must be 2-3 years old! I was shocked. My initial reaction was one of fear/scare. What if this baby/child was kidnapped? But then again, who would be doing such a thing in broad daylight? I let that negative thought pass and asked the driver about the sleeping child. It so happened that the little child was the son of the driver. When he went home for lunch, the boy wanted to go with dad on his job and just after he started the ride, he fell asleep I suppose. And dad put him on that rickety ledge behind – the boot (dickie)! He was sound asleep on bumpy Bangalore roads that afternoon :) Very strange I thought.]
….
My husband told me about this strange incident which happenend a couple of months ago.
His friends from Vaatsalya witnessed or were in a car accident, I don’t remember which.
(http://www.vaatsalya.com/
& the Vaatsalya team:
http://vaatsalya.com/blogs/?p=49)
Anyway, a bus was involved and it was a fatal accident. They managed to call for and get help. The police came, and drove away the injured to the hospital. The bus also took off I think with many of the survivors. My husband’s friends got off the bus (they were riding in it) to help out, Someone who had passed away in that collision was also taken out from the bus and placed on the roadside. The bus took off, the police van/car was gone, and these friends (couple of them I think) were left with a dead body of someone unknown to them in the pitch dark night on the highway! It took some time for the police or someone else to come back to get them and the body!! Would this happen in the US roads/highways, I wondered? What about liability, insurance and all the worries. Strange are the ways here and very sad indeed about the deceased.
….
I saw this in a recent Outlook magazine (Sept 4th 2006). There was an article about Xavier Institute of Social Services (started in 1955). The article described its 50 years of excellence. The institute was started with a mission to be a top management school, to work towards empowerment of deprived and to be a lead agency for NGO capacity building. They have academic and non-academic programs and entrepreneurship development programs, training people for self employment. More about Xavier Institute is at: http://ranchiexpress.com/education/xiss.htm
.....
My colleague sent his link to me. They publish a weekly news digest. Their archives are worth visiting and spending some of your “Soul Satifying” moments at. See: http://www.gandhiserve.org/news/news.html
….
We all resonate with different aspects of “doing good”. I think (and hope) some of you will relate to one or more of the good things above and perhaps go off and do more of what makes you happy, comforted and satisfies your soul. As a result, you will leave us with better communities.
-Sri
