If you are happy and you know it, clap your hands :):)

Bonjour Readers! :*

I know it’s been pretty much long since you had something from me to make your mind wander upon :P
Well, it’s never too late, here I am J

The title of my blog will kinda take you in flashbacks.
It was a song(I don’t think it was exactly a poem) we used to sing bachpan mei…(I used to hop singing it every time I clapped :P )
I am happy today … hash.. It feels lovely, not coz something good just happened; I just realized I don’t need certain benchmarked reasons to be happy…I can create my own reasons to be happy….
Yesterday was pretty dull, well last many weeks were so.
Eventually I thought it’s better to speak out my mind to someone, and the next thing I did was just buzz one of my friend  and while I was telling him my ram kahani :P (dukh bhari :P), he just asked me, “What makes you happy ??”

Though the chat didn’t go on the same lines but after I was done I was actually left with this question, “What makes me happy?”

Let me tell you, it’s heck of a tough question to think upon especially when you are saturated and down low…

I went for a bath thinking over it …I have a habit of listening songs while I bath . (Typical me :P)
Yesterday though they were loud in the background I was lost in my question thinking, Damn, what makes me happy!!
And suddenly this song came up, ‘You are my sunshine’ (remixed version of it)

And I started dancing over it .. that made me realize, Dance is the foremost thing which makes me happy J
I love dancing…I don’t imitate the exact steps.. no no.. :P.. I dance my own way… And I don’t give a damn to who’s around, Dancing is something which can make me absolutely unconscious of the people around.. I don’t need even a company for that, I just need a good peppy tune and am on the dance floor… maybe coz am least conscious my relatives often say it’s a pleasure to see me dancing :P (self pamper ;)) ..That’s one reason at times I love item songs.. they have good beats to dance upon… and its one thing I prefer starting my day with .. I have a habit that during my breakfast in the morning, there will be music channels running on my screen and once am done with the eating stuff and Mumma asks me to help her with her chores I prefer doing them dancing around my home (My Mumma loves dancing ditto like me.. maybe I have got it in me from her :P)

While the song just ended and the next one came up which was, ‘You are beautiful’ by James Blunt I made another realization..
Singing makes me happy J (bathroom singer:P)

I was singing it loud coz I loved it …
Singing is somewhere deep in me, Mom often says I should give it a try in Indian Idol.. Though I need some formal training but am pretty good at it …
I do shy away from singing in public, don’t know why, but I will work on it as yes, it makes me happy :PJ

Sochke yeh b pata chala, Studying makes me happy…
Especially something in Finance…
when am completely lost in my books with no deviation affecting me around I am at a bliss …
And more often even if I study for an hour or so and it was worth it I can dance around .. inni khush ho jati hu :P

Moreover researching is something that works for me... I have analyzed in the last three to four presentations I did that when I research something as in go deep into some concept and that adds whole lot of value to my knowledge I am at absolute happywali state of mind…
I know it sounds weird as to how come studying makes me happy but yes it does to me J

Then there are other minute things which make me happy like looking at the mirror (that’s girlish.. :P but works)
Going out on a trip with certain groups of relatives makes me super happy … (special mention: my travel partner Varsha Rohra.. jaan tere bina trips pe maza hi nai ata :P)

I am happy when am in the air … yeah .. adventures involving me in the air make me overwhelmed .. there was a time I had Acrophobia .. but over the last two three years I have been trying all sorts of adventures involving me in the air … it takes me on a high :P.. I get super excited.. haan once am on the edge I do over react in fear and then there is a typical znmd scene where I ask the instructor to push me :P… I have done this quite a few times :D

And after thinking over all the above the next thing which came to my mind was to share all of this with my readers … bingo.. I am happy when I blog J
It actually helps me.. I love writing, though these days I find time a bit taxing but still writing helps me relieved of stress and brings back a wide smile ….

I am happy when I have a good chat with my close friends … as time passes by, we get less of a time for people around us… still if I manage to have a good chat.. it helps…

Tough once but easy now.. I got so many reasons which I can help myself to be happy …
Creating happiness for yourself is easy… handy too :P

Instead of trying to change people around or expecting from them you yourself can have all your deserved khushi…
and there will be a stage where thinking about these happy-making activities itself will make you khush :P

I am at that stage now …
I am happy and I know it and I really want to show it :P

I would love to know what are the things that make you happy J

We will clap our hands then for sure :P;)

It'S sTill aNYday a BeTTer PlaCe to LiVe !

Have A Passion !!!

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 Rs

30 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 realised 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

realisation 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

realise 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. I 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

(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.)

 

what a start !!!

I open my eyes and the first person I see is ....

guess who???

geeta !!!

dont get surprised its not the Bhaagwad Geeta wali Geeta..

Geeta is our maid..

actually shes our cleanliness supervisor to be more precise..

and since last two months she was at her Gaanv...(village u c)

and mind u me and Muma would miss her everyday ..

all bcoz last months were so hectic at home that Geeta was the 'Most wanted' one..

we were just awaiting her since last week..

the moment she saw I woke up, she said, " deedee kaise ho?"

I was like ab toh finally I can be relieved..

nowadays maids are so much an imp part of our life...

Geeta love u that u r bck :-P

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.4