WHERE DREAMS ARE WOVEN AND DREAMS ARE BARTERED

Through the years in my profession, I have had the opportunity to go for several campus recruitments. I found the encounter with the young students a different experience. Some of them were inspiring and in fact cathartic.I found it embarrassing though, when I along with the other members in the recruitment panel, became the cynosure of all eyes once we stepped out of the vehicle that took us into the college campuses. Sometimes I felt that they were indeed looking at us with such awe, that I really felt a halo existing over my head. Little do these students know about the extent of job insecurity and stress that individuals are into, while working with the software industry.

 
We enjoyed the recruitment while at Madurai as we had the privilege to stay at a very prominent hotel there. The days I spent there were hot and we had sporadic rainfall at night. The ambience that the hotel offered was fantastic. I also had the opportunity to go to colleges at Kovilpatti, Tuticorin and in and around Chennai. Seeing the students in all these places, I had reminiscences of the days when I along with my friends, sat in corners of the college where I graduated from, waiting for the call from the campus interviewer. I remember some of us going through the books even at the last moment before we were called in. I saw the same body language and approach in many students too that day. But I was lucky to have realized sometime in the middle of my degree stint, that we don't have to slog and prepare that way. When we passionately pursue our subjects, it will take us to dizzy heights automatically.

There were students from different backgrounds. Some of them were from very poor families and I could see how difficult it was for them to express in English. But I noticed that some of them had much more zest to do projects of very high technical calibre than the students who were from better financial backgrounds. I measured them only based on this spirit that they portrayed and I allowed them to speak freely even if they had to mix a lot of Tamil into their broken and incorrect English. I still believe that  enthusiasm on any day is a very powerful fuel in a human being to make them dream and to pursue their dreams.

I did tell some of the candidates during the course of the interview, that they could talk about themselves and their interests outside studies, as part of their introduction. This was to make them comfortable and to allow them to settle down. Some talked about their hobbies with great interest. I also asked a few to talk about any unforgettable incidents that they could share. One boy whom I found to be technically very sound, shared an incident which made him very emotional. In fact I found myself to be in an embarrassed state too as he recalled it. He told that had not been a great student for a while until the sixth standard. His parents had been strict and were putting pressure for him to get good marks. On one occasion fearing the wrath of his parents, he went ahead and forged the report card. The school teacher spotted this and informed his mother. His mother chided him an entire night and told him that she was ashamed to introduce him to anyone as her son. It wounded him very much and he left his home and did not return for weeks. Later, he came back home and then he was determined to turn around. And in the very next exam he took the report card to his mother and showed her the results. She was startled to see the marks. He had scored hundred percent in three subjects and the rest were about ninety five percent. His mother checked with the school teacher as she could not believe. That was the start of the turnaround and he remained as a very consistent student thereafter. He told me that he had a big dream of pursuing further studies in artificial intelligence after a few years.

I found another student who came in explain metallurgy and material sciences so well. He had also read through so much about the recent trends in space age materials that he exuded great confidence. His communication skills were excellent and he had a good exposure to software too. I knew that he could always be a part of my company. But I tried to discourage him from joining the software industry job rat race. Initially he tried telling me that he had seen the presentation made by my employer where it had shown several engineering projects. He told me that he could still be a part of those projects and sustain his enthusiasm for material sciences and metallurgy. But since I was not convinced, I continued to discourage him from taking up a software job. Finally at one point he opened up and told me that he had to get two of his sisters married and that he had no other way of earning a huge pay packet including the onsite opportunities that he had heard of. He also told me that his father had lost his job and there was no other earning member in their home. I felt really sad for him.

Sometimes in life it’s true and practical, that we have to beware of what we dream, as some dreams can really suck the life out of us. After all we have to remain alive to dream.

EXTRACTS FROM A SPEECH PREPARED FOR MY DAUGHTER -TOPIC - NATURE AND MYSELF

Happy to share extracts from the speech that I  prepared for my daugther for her elocution competition at the Church Sunday School. She bagged the second place for this. This was her first rendezvous with public speaking.


Mother Nature is in fact a mother for all of us too. Like the animals, birds, trees and other beings, am also part of nature.Everyday there are numerous children being born into this earth, into the lap of Mother Nature.Each one of these births, come out of nature's longing for itself, a longing to see another good human being, who would preserve and protect it.

When we look around and observe, we see some human promote scientific and technological development. In the process they invade nature and its pristine privacy.But then there are some humans who ensure that nature is always preserved.

Mother Nature teaches us many lessons. One of them is about the strength in meekness.We depend on nature for many things. We build our houses on it, live on it and dump all our waste on it too. Everyday, most of the human feet stamp this earth, while they walk. Nature bears all this so patiently, while still supplying all our needs. In this meekness of nature lies its real strength to give us more and more inspite of all that we take out of it. The Bible says in Mathew (Ch5.V5), " Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth".

The next lesson is on humility. Look at the beautiful paddy fields. The flowering weeds that produce nothing, grow tall and stand out in these fields, displaying their beauty in all pride. In a few days, they are but dead and gone. The paddy grows and when the grains sprout, it stoops down. It is the one that produces worth, but it is also the one that bows down in humility. The Bible says in Luke (Ch18,V14), "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted".

The third lesson is on the difficult path that leads to good. Look at the birds and their little fledglings. Days after the baby is born, the mother pushes it slowly out of the nest, prompting it to fly. The mother knowing the risk, prods the little one, so that it learns to fly quickly. The Almighty also, in a similar way, puts us on a difficult path, many times, for our own good. He always knows what's best for us, although we never realize.

PUDHINA PARATHA

I found this paratha to be really good for my palate and definitely a great change for me, after being with chappatis for many years :)) I am sure you will like it too. So please give it a try. It goes well with chicken curry, chicken fry or peas masala.

Given below are the steps which I took to go about....rather we took as I was into a supporting role while my wife made her first attempt :))
Next weekend I will be taking an independent jump into this.

Prepare dough from three cups of whole wheat flour.

Heat a small amout of oil (2 teaspoons) in a pan in low flame. Drop a small pinch of black gram into it and allow it to turn pale brown. Slice five small onions, three pods of garlic and one dry red chilly slit or green chilly into pieces and drop them into the pan. Sauté well, until the onion turns pale brown. Drop a small bunch of curry leaves and one small half teaspoon scoop of tamarind. Sauté well again.

Wash and separate a bunch of pudhina (mint) leaves from the main stem and drop it into the pan. Sauté well till the leaves go dull and shrink and gel with the other contents. Add a pinch of salt and sauté again. Taste for salt and continue adding pinches till the right salt level is achieved. This is the best method to avoid excess salt getting in. Switch off the flame and shift the contents into the little jar of a mixer. Beat the contents at good speed for about 5 minutes to get a nice puree.

Empty the contents into the bowl containing the prepared dough and mix well so that the pudhina paste goes in and blends well with the whole wheat dough.

The rest of the procedure is the same. Go ahead and prepare the parathas and enjoy the great taste.

THE MADRAS ORHODOX CHOIR -PARTS HARMONY

It is a wonderful feeling to realize slowly, the transformation that the Orthodox Church is going through in music and it is very satisfying to be a part of that metamorphosis.

It is great to see the the first of the many outputs come through after a lot of hard work. The bass group had to go through a real grind with Fr.John Samuel everytime he demanded perfection. I believe it was the same situation for the other voice groups too.

THE LOYOLA COLLEGE CHURCH

A dash of tree green and a mix of bluish white clouds give the church steeple a great appearance. I wish that ladder was never there.

 

 

NATURE STILL ATTRACTIVE AFTER DEATH

The snap above is what I took near a place in Anna Nagar, Chennai. The part of the dead tree still looks great, but not the clumsy formation on its left side. When humans create individual things for themselves they forget the overall perspective. It is mostly a selfish move and selfish moves never tend to see how the overall perspective gets affected. That is why the great appearance of this dead tree is not getting complimented by the intervention that is there on the left side, that man has made.

That is where Nature is so superior. Whatever it brings in has its own beauty. Even after its death it continues to fit into a part of the overall beautiful appearance of the natural earth. How it is able to do this is a mystery.

If you compare the two pictures you can see some difference. I actually dabbled with the first snap and spread some more of nature's creation over the buildings, transformer,etc on the left and so it looks so nice and soothing to the eyes.

 

 

 

RELAXED IN HER OWN KINGDOM