PEOPLE WHO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

In my professional career of more than three decades I had come across some people,who had made lasting impression on me by their behaviour,simplicity ,affable manners and above all their human approach,with out looking at what position you hold in the office.I  neither had an opportunity to work with them directly nor did I derive an extraordinary benefit from them, my affection for them purely based on my extremely small interaction them.

Recently,my second book namely,"Idsn story" was released on feb 4th,during grand  function held at Byalalu,the home for DEEP SPACE NETWORK OF ISRO.By the time this book was released ,I had already retired from service,however a small group of my beloved old colleagues, at ISTRAC worked hard to make this function a grand success.They  had sent invitations for  all important people of ISRO,and other organisations for this function.Just one day before my book was to be released I received a  phone call at my residence originated from DOS,which was received by my wife. My wife, refused to acknowledge the fact  that ,such a person will ever talk to her husband,that too after retirement.Considering to be a hoax call she disconnected the telephone.His PA again rang up and insisted that his boss wants to talk to me.This time she did not take chance and gave the  phone to me.I was completely taken by surprise,the person on the other end of the telephone was none other than Prof .U.R.Rao.FORMER chairman ISRO,and Secretary DOS.He had called me to congratulate me for the Book and wished me all the success.He regretted for his inability to attend the function due to other preoccupation.I was deeply touched by his simplicity and his noble gesture.They might have sent more than five hundred invitation out of which only one person,who is in his late seventies would take the trouble personally informing me.He had no compulsion to do this,but such great people will not forget even the small  contribution made by  people me.I had never worked directly under him,but even after thirty  years he remembers me by my name.He is the one, according to me is the most charismatic and lovable person in ISRO.I still  recall the incident when I was given he opportunity to speak during his send off party.Perhaps this was one of my most cherished event in my life.I can also newer forget  the incident when he agreed to  write foreword to my first book in Kannada .Such people will always remain in our heart for ever.

My encounter with other person,who could be termed as one the most powerful,unassuming ,chief executive of ISRO.Myself ,after completing  my book sent a budget proposal to him for publishing my book.With in two to three days it gets approved with out even getting modified.Then,I  requested  him to write the Foreword to my book,which gets approved even with out small modification.The person I am referring is Dr Madhavan Nair,former Chairman ISRO and Secretary DOS.If you approach him with any good proposal you will never come empty handed.Behind his serious face,he has a very soft heart,perhaps in the history ISRO,there may not be a second person who had so much concern for employees welfare and ISRO COMMUNITY as whole.

Next person I am referring is the one who has been serving  most powerful bosses of ISRO .Having worked under such people naturally people will tend to become arrogant and some time they become super bosses.On the contrary this person treats every one with equal respect and affable manners,irrespective of his position he/she holds in the office.
She normally remembers every paper that is sent  to her office ,and if by chance she does not know,  she will make all effort trace it and inform you without fail. I had sent a paper for the approval of Chairman ISRO about month back.After a month, since I did not get any reply I rang up to her and to know the status of my request.In the normal case nobody will remember such correspondence,since thousands of papers go through their office every day,out which  may be my paper is the least important one.However,she is blessed with extraordinary memory,and  she promised to inform me after tracing where it has gone.Exactly after two hours,she rings up and tells me that,she has unearthed paper from somebody,s file.In fact she had no compulsion to do this for person like me.The humility ,perhaps is her in born quality that probably ,makes her to take that extra effort help others.There is no wonder every Chairman of ISRO would like to have her in his team. The person I am referring is Mrs Yashoda  Personal Secretary for the top executives of ISRO for the last two decades.Everybody who   visits Chairman ISRO'S office will definitely endorse my view.

Felicitations of Shri SL BYRAPPA---a food for thought

A few days back, I attended a felicitation function arranged by  ಅ .ನ ಕೃ[ Anakru] foundation to felicitate the famous Kannada Author Shri S.L.Byrappa.Former Chief Justice of  Supreme court of India Shri M.N.Venkatachalaih was the chief guest and  Prof .Venkatasubbaih presided over the function.Shatavadhani Shri Ganesh spoke on the works of SLB.
What touched me most during this function was, the speech delivered by MNV ,which of course was in English,may be because ,he was more comfortable speaking in English.During his speech he gave an example of one particular leader of Famous Dravidian party.Shri Chakravarti  Rajagopalachari [CR]was a well known leader  veteran freedom fighter of congress party who later on switched over his own party called Swatantra party.This Dravidian leader had so much hatred towards CR,that in  all  his  speeches   he used  mainly  target CR with highly vitriolic language.His animosity towards CR was well known in political circles.This Dravidian leader was later , admitted to CMC Vellore for a  treatment of some serious illness.During his stay at CMC ,CR passed away in Channai.Even though,Dravidian leader was seriously ill he wanted  to attend funeral function of CR, much against the advise of doctors .But to every one's  surprise, he refused to budge and against all their advise he went to attend the last rites of CR.
In  CR's  house he  wept like child after seeing the dead body of CR.Every one was surprised by his behaviour.After a year this leader became  seriously ill and Doctors left all hopes of his survival.He enquired the doctors when is the death anniversary of CR.They informed him  the very next day is CR's death anniversary.Then it  seems he told them ," Then tomorrow must be a very auspicious day".Believe it not,he died on the very next day i.e on the  death anniversary day of CR.Is  it not a great surprise, the man who hated CR for his political and personal belief,and who never believed in religion ,caste or even god wanted to die on the same day, CR left for heavenly abode! It looks to me that he did not hate CR,but he was only fighting for the same space occupied by CR.

To me,,by telling this story MNV was sending message for the people on the Dias ,basically for two literary giants shri SLB and shri URA who  are in the opposite camps and their dislikes to each other is well known in literary circles.URA takes every opportunity to criticise SLB for his beliefs and writing's.URA is more sophisticated urbane,polished and diplomatic.He has capability change his philosophy depending on the circumstances and hone his thoughts  to please intellectual community.Where as SLB is rustic in his approach and is a realist and does not bother what other people  think about him.There is hardly any Kannadiga who has not at least read one novel of SLB.People wait for his next book and therefore ,as on  today he is one of the  most well known  writer in Kannada literature.His books sell like hot cakes and see several editions.This has created lobby in Kannada literary field to undermine his books and deliberately see that  no literary honours worth mentioning is given to him.
Do  these people  really have a  hatred to each other? I do not think so.They are jealous of SLB as a writer and respect he commands in the heart of normal Kannadiga.He has effectively filled the vacuum created by Anakru.One need not accept him as an affable person, but nobody can ignore his literary  works.After all, there are many writers,whose personal life and beliefs may not be acceptable to larger community,but their contributions to literature is enormous.The outstanding example is MR Naipaul[Noble Laurette] whose had tumultuous  personal life   .Therefore,when people are fighting for the same space it looks as if they hate each other,but on the contrary, they have admiration for each other,but jealousy will not allow them to accept it I People are jealous of SLB because, irrespective whether they like it not people read his books and admire him.In fact they are giving more popularity to his books  by writing against him.While SLB lives by his books ,others live by awards and honours.In the end what matters most is left to the imagination of the readers.

In our country we see the habit of hounding highly talented and famous people.It is not only confined to literary field but also in  all other  fields like sports,scientific,politics and film etc.We have seen SM Gavaskar making uncharitable  remarks on PT USHA another legendary figure.We always debate when Tendulkar will retire from cricket, instead of appreciating his contribution to cricket.In science situation is far worse.In post independence era we can not  even think of one persons who can match the abilities of SIR CVR,BOSE,SIR MV.All talented people migrated to foreign countries  after independence ,what is left out is managing our scientific institutions.All they have done is to open innumerable number of laboratories producing no tangible results.
There may be  some small sparks here and there but,the over all achievement is far from dismal.Under these government owned laboratories nothing much expected other than some mediocre results.

It is not that whole generations after independence is bad.We have devised a system which is intolerant towards talented people.Look at the  way politicians treated NRN on flag controversy .We had BINDRA,TENDULKAR ,PT USHA,V.ANAND,PERIERA  not because of our  system but because of their own  initiative and talent.If we look  at the history of  persons who are heading various government organisations , nine out of ten   reached  there not by talent or merit but, by various other considerations.

If we want  to produce results of international quality we need  to respect talent and merit.We should not look at the person but should look at his work.We should rise above narrow considerations of region,caste,religion and language in recognising talent and merit.

ಲಂಚಾವತಾರ .

ಲಂಚದ ಮಾತ ಕೇಳ್ದ್ರೆ ಮಂದಿ

ಕೂರ್ತಾರೆ  ಗಾಂಧೀಜಿ ಮೂರು ಕೋತಿ ರೀತಿ

ಲಂಚ ಕೇಳದ ಕೊಡದ ಮಂದಿ

ಕಡಿಮೆ ಅನ್ನೋದು ಲಂಚದ ಖ್ಯಾತಿ .

ಲಂಚ ತಗೊಳ್ಳೋದು ಬಹಳ ತೆಪ್ಪು

ಅಂತಾರೆ ಮಂದಿ ಬಹಳ ಗಟ್ಟಿಯಾಗಿ

ಲಂಚ ತಗೊಳ್ದೋನು ಬಹಳ ಬೆಪ್ಪು

ಅಂತಾರೆ ಅವ್ರು ಬಹಳ ಗುಟ್ಟಾಗಿ.

ದೇವನೊಬ್ಬ ನಾಮ ಹಲವು ಎಂಬಂತೆ

ಲಂಚಕ್ಕೂ ಐತಂತೆ  ಬಹಳ ಹೆಸರುಗಳಂತೆ

 ಕಾರಕೂನ ತಗೊಂಡ್ರೆ ಅದು  ಲಂಚವಂತೆ

ಆಫೀಸರ್ ಕೇಳಿದ್ರೆ ಅದು  ಮಾಮೂಲಂತೆ

ದೊಡ್ದೋರಿಗೆ ಕೊಡೋದು ಗುಂಡುಪಾರ್ಟಿ

ಪುಡಾರಿ ಕೇಳೋದು   ಪಾರ್ಟಿಫಂಡು.

ಸಿನೆಮಾ ತಾರೆ ಬಿಕಿನಿ   ತೊಟ್ಟಕೊಂಡು ತೋರಿಸ್ದ್ರೆ ಮೈನ

ಮಾರ್ಕೆಟ್ನಲ್ಲಿ ಏರುತ್ತೆ ಆಕಿ ಸ್ತಾನ ಮಾನ .

ಬಡವಿ   ಹರುಕುವುಟ್ಕೊಂಡು  ತೋರಿಸ್ದ್ರೆ ಮೈನ

ಸಿಗುತ್ತಾ ಅವಳಿಗೆ ಸಿನಿಮಾನಟಿ ಸ್ತಾನ ?

ಈ ಮಾತ್ನಲ್ಲಿ ಅಡಗೈತೆ  ಲಂಚದ ಗುಟ್ಟು.

ಪುಡಿಗಾಸಿಗೆ ಕೈವೊಡ್ಡಿ ಆಗಬೇಡ ನೀ ಎಡವಟ್ಟು.

 ಪ್ರೇಯಸಿಯ ರಮಿಸಲು ನೀ  ನೀಡುವ ಪಾರ್ಟಿಯ ಲಂಚ

ಹೆಂಡತಿಯ ಮುನಿಸನು ತಣಿಸಲು ನೀಡುವ ಸೀರೆಯ  ಲಂಚ

ಮಕ್ಕಳು ಹಟವನು ತಡೆಯಲು ಕೊಡುವ ಚಾಕಲೇಟು ಲಂಚ

ಲಂಚ ಎಲ್ಲಿಲ್ಲ ನೀ ಹೇಳು ಕೊಂಚ ;ಇದು ಲಂಚದ ಪರ್ಪಂಚ .

ದೇವರ ಹನ್ನೊಂದನೇ ಅವತಾರವೇ ಲಂಚಾವತಾರ
ಇದನ್ನ ತಿಳಿಯದಿದ್ದವ   ಆಗ್ತಾನೆ ಹಳ್ಳಿ ಗಮಾರ
ಲಂಚದ  ವಿಶ್ವರೂಪವ ತಿಳಿಯಲು ,ಬೆಪ್ಪೆ ನಿನಗಿಲ್ಲ ಶಕ್ತಿ

      ತಿಮ್ಮಪ್ಪನಿಗೆ ಕಾಣಿಕೆ ಹಾಕಿ ಬೇಡಿಕೋ ಅದ ತಿಳಿಯುವ ಯುಕ್ತಿ .

ಲಂಚ ಪಡಿಯೋ ಜಾಗಕ್ಕೆ ಪಡೆಯಲು ನೀ ಬಡ್ತಿ

ತಿರುಪತಿ ತಿಮ್ಮಪ್ಪನೀಗೆ  ಕಾಣಿಕೆ ನೀ ಹಾಕ್ತಿ

ತಿಮ್ಮಪ್ಪಗೆ  ಕಾಣಿಕೆ ಹಾಕೋದ್ ನೀ ಮರ್ತಿ

ಲಂಚವಿಲ್ಲದ ಜಾಗದಿಂದ ನೀ ಪಡಿಯೋಲ್ಲ ಮುಕ್ತಿ.

ಕಟ್ಟಿಕೊಂಡ ಮಡದಿಯೇ ಸಂಬಳವಯ್ಯ

ನಿನ್ನ ಮನದನ್ನೆ  ಪ್ರೇಯಸಿಯೇ ಲಂಚವಯ್ಯ

ಪ್ರೇಯಸಿಯ ನೋಡಿ ಮಡದಿ  ಮುನಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಳು ಇಲ್ಲಿ

ಸಂಬಳ ಗಿಂಬಳಗಳೆರಡೂ  ಮಡದಿಯ ಕೈ ಸೇರಿದಲ್ಲಿ.

ಚಿರ ಯೌವನೆ

ವಯಸ್ಸು ದಾಟಿದೆ ಮೂವತ್ತು

ಕೆಟ್ಟು ಕುಳಿತಿದೆ ಸಮಯದ ಮುಳ್ಳು .

ಕಿಲಾಡಿ ಕನ್ನಡಿ ಅವಳ ನೋಡಿ

ಹೇಳಲು ಕಲುತಿದೆ ಹಸೀ  ಸುಳ್ಳು.

ಕೇಶ ರಾಶಿ  ನಶಿಸಿದೆ ಈಗ

ಶೇಷ ಭಾಗ  ಅಪ್ಪಿದೆ ಮುಪ್ಪು

ಆದರೂ ಡೈ' ಪ್ರಭಾವ  ,
ಉಳಿಸಿಕೊಂಡಿದೆ ಇನ್ನೂ ಬಣ್ಣ ಕಪ್ಪು.

ಆಗಾಗ ಮಿಟುಕುತ ಗಂಡನ ಕೇಳುವಳಾಕೆ

'ನಾ ಈಗ ಹೇಗೆ ಕಾಣಿಸ್ತೀನಿ ಹೇಳಿ ?'

ಹಲವು ಕಾಲಗಳಿಂದ ಅಬ್ಯಾಸವಾಗಿದೆ

ಅವನಿಗೆ ಸುಳ್ಳು ಹೇಳಿ ಹೇಳಿ .

ಆದಿನ  ಪತಿರಾಯ ಮನೆಗೆ ಬಂದಾಗ

ನೋಡಿದ ಹೆಂಡತಿ ಕಣ್ಣಲ್ಲಿ ನೀರು

ಗಾಭರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಕೇಳಿದ ಅವನು

ನೀ ಯಾಕೆ ಅಳ್ತಿದ್ದೀ 'ಮೈಡಿಯರು'.

ಕಣ್ಣೀರ ಸುರಿಸುತ ಹೇಳಿದಳವಳು

 ನನಗೆ ನಲವತ್ತಾದರೂ   ಕಾಣಿಸ್ತೀನಂತೆ
ಚಿಕ್ಕ ಹುಡಿಗಿಯಂತೆ .

ಅಯ್ಯೋ!ನಿಮ್ಮೆಜಮಾನ್ರುನ್ನ
ನೋಡಿದ್ರೆ ಅನ್ಸುತ್ತೆ 
ಪಾಪ !ನಾಳೆಗೆ ರಿಟೈರಾಗೊರಂತೆ  .

ಅಂತಾಳ್ರೀ ನೆರಮನಿಯಾಕಿ
  ಅವಳ್ಗೆಷ್ಟು ಸೊಕ್ಕು

ವಿಷಯ ತಿಳಿದು ಆದ
ಪತಿರಾಯ  ಬಹಳ ಪೆಚ್ಚು .

ಅವನು ಮೆಲ್ಲಗೆ ಆಡಿಸಿದ
ಕೈಯ ತನ್ನ ತಲೆಮೇಲೆ

ಆಗನ್ನಿಸಿತವನಿಗೆ ಅದು
ಹೊರಗೂ ಆಗಿದೆ  ಕಾಲಿ!