THE STORY OF DURGA DUTTA TRIPATHI

Cozily cuddled among lush green surrounding was a building, a building that nested many departments; Department of Journalism, Department of German Language, Department of Russian Language and Department of French Language. Moving clockwise next to it was the Department of History, adjacent to it was a slope with a way leading to Science Faculty, then the way leading to Department of Microbiology. Following it was the Chanchi Mehta Auditorium, close to it was the General Education Building, next to it were two hostel buildings and then the Library, besides it was the Cyber cafe for collegians. In the center of all these buildings lay the cricket ground.

Before and after the class we the French student would pass time chit chatting under the shady trees overlooking the entrance. Once my eyes fell on a young and eye-catching person, he was stylish, his accent native and language expressive, I asked my friend “Who he was?”. My friend replied “Durga Dutta Tripathi, section head of our department”

It was in the second year that I came in touch with him. It was an introductory meeting we exchanged views, thoughts, hobbies, likes and dislikes. It was just a matter of few weeks, we came closer. I told him that I have started expressing my thoughts in the form of couplets and I would be glad if you help me improve it. He happily agreed, whenever I approached him with a new work, he was there ready to receive it, correct it and comment on it, his company was encouraging and motivating. I would be there at the department’s office in his company, whenever I was free. He was a clean person, and would insist a person to work on the right thing and in the right way. He would talk about his school day, the way he commuted from his village to the school; he would also talk about his grandfather who was well versed with Sanskrit Language and a disciplinarian. The attribute of being disciplined was endowed to him by his grandfather.

We had become friends. When friendship matters more, all other things matter less.

        

The Diploma results were declared. I was sitting in the office with Durga Dutta Tripathi and Madhu Suraiya. They had jointly accepted me as a faculty to teach the students of Adult Education and Continuing Studies. When we three arrived at the classroom, Durga Dutta Tripathi advised me two thing.

1.   Never lie to your students.

2. When asked, if you don’t know a thing, accept it, work on it and explain it the next day.

With these sermons in mind, I started teaching. I would see that nobody was left out. I used to make it an interactive session. I gave them a feeling that you too can do it. My intention was to build bridges so that the traffic of teaching commutes over it smoothly. I remained successful. On the last day while parting few girls and boys tried to touch my feet. Never had I thought collegians to behave so in a college. That was an eye-opener for me. It left me with a question? “Do we teacher try to understand our students?”.

The honor and respect so gained was all because of his guidance. I didn't follow the hearsay, instead guided by his wisdom I tried to be honest.  I found “The world is not the way people say but it is the way we explore it. 

Next I will be there with the story of Sudhakar Devangodi.  

EMERGENCE

Flying above the clouds one can’t feel the vibrant world below. Looking at the lush green forest one can’t see the creatures dwelling in it. Sitting on the shores one can’t visualize the beauty of the aquatic world. Many things in life and nature keep on happening incessantly and go unnoticed.

Below the clouds winds blow, oceans reverberate, traffic commute, chimneys spew, hearts beat, life emerges and death engulfs. All of them happen in their own specific way.

Does the aquatic world have any concern with the terrestrial world? Does the aquatic world and terrestrial world together have any concern with the celestial world? Does the whale moving in the freezing water have any idea of the elephant roaming in the jungle? Do the both need to bother for each other? Their worlds are distances apart. May be, no creature may have concern with a world other than his own but one creature does have a concern with all three worlds and that creature is “MAN”

All creatures are driven by four basic factors of life. Food, Fear, Sleep and Sex.

Food provides energy, sleep helps refresh, fear provides safety and sex helps procreate. All creatures observe and act but man is different. He observes, interprets and acts. He builds models, he writes hypothesis and re-observes. Countless observations of the living and non-living, numerous theories of phenomenon, events and behavior of nature has given him control over many things but his quest for knowledge remains unabated. One can see him doing a space-walk, fathoming the darkest depth of the Pacific, reaching the frost biting peak of the Everest and exploring the primitive habitats’ of the Amazons.

Learning is inseparable in a man life. It may be formal or informal. While at school my Sanskrit teacher would make us recite Subhasitanis. They are verses of wisdom passed on from generation to generation. One such verse was

परोपकाराय फलंति वृक्षः परोपकाराय वहन्ती नद्यः

परोपकाराय दुहँती गाव्ह, परोपकरार्थमिदं शरीरम्           

To serve, the trees bear fruits; to serve, flows the river.                               To serve, the cows give milk; to serve, I should serve.

As a child while reciting this verse little did I feel the significance but now when I have grown up I understand the spirit behind these words. The central theme of this verse is serving, serving in whatever way one can. It can even be “Knowledge Sharing”

One can thing of Emergence as a volcanic crater that erupts lava filled with heat, light and fertility or else one can even think of it as a crack in the glacial ice sheet giving way to the elixir of life, nourishing soil, sapling, herds and human dwellings all along its path. 

I hope this blog “Emergence” serves its purpose of Knowledge Sharing

THE STORY OF DTM JAGADEESAN KUMAR

Movies are an integral part of an individual’s life. Movie is a media of expressing thought, talent and creativity. This may be true for people who form the caste in a movie but what about the other side of it? Movie goers, I mean people who watch movies. One is either a watcher or being watched, especially when you are a fresher or an amateur. This happens everywhere. Schools, colleges, offices, homes, playgrounds etc.

Year 2009 marked my debut in Toastmasters. I was totally engaged into it, leisure hours were for Toastmasters only. Announcement of any event would raise my curiosity.  I would think about new faces I would be meeting at the event. Come year 2010 and there was the announcement of Division conference. In other parts of the Toastmastering Fraternity the Division conference happens to be a simple one day event whereas here in Jubail it is otherwise. It is a glamorous affair lasting for two days. The world champion of public speaking would be present, eye catching venue, sumptuous food, education workshop and array of trophies glitteringly decorated. Luckily I was a team members of the stage management team headed by Toastmaster Surendra Chari. The recipient of the trophies may feel proud of their achievement but managing such big a number ranging over eight to nine category was an equally challenging job. I learned a lot, handling them. Why is it said? “A journey of thousand miles begins with a single step” Is it to initiate walking? Is to motivate a person to start working? May be, because, with action accumulates experience and experience is all that matters.

Laminar flow of river in the plains goes unnoticed but the turbulent flow in the rocky terrain catches attention. Likewise a breaking news  makes one realizes the gravity of time passed. The chairman for the division conference 2011 was announced. He was DTM Jagadeesan Kumar. I had seen him on stage and at a few gatherings but was never very close to him. Few days later I received a mail from him asking me if I can shoulder the responsibility of Chairman of Awards and Certificate Committee?

Having accepted the assignment, after attending two to three preparatory meeting I started sensing the level of commitment required. Collecting the information (category and numbers) about the awardees from the chairman of twelve committees, selecting the trophies and plaques, preparing a budget getting its approval from the Finance Committee chairman as well as the Division Conference chairman, placing the order, making the payment, receiving the consignment, engraving them flawlessly, shifting to the  venue, arranging them appealingly and producing them when the awardee’s name is announced. A high level of teamwork would only cater to such conditions. My team had to stretch beyond its boundaries of comfort. “All is well that ends well”, the team was happy for all expectations were met.

Few days later after the conference, I gave DTM Jagadeesan Kumar a call, asking him what made him offer me the assignment?

He replied “I was watchful about your activities and assignments”. His watchfulness has helped me raise my bar, discover my potential and feel confident about myself. I consider myself lucky enough to be watched and spotted by him.

That year he had sponsored the "Petrokemya Toastmasters Club", fortunately it belonged to my area. I happened to be the Assistant Area-17 Governor (Education and Training). I never missed a meeting. Visiting his club brought us more closer and redefined our relations. Next year when I ran for the Area Governor election I was elected uncontested. We did not have any exchange of words, but behind the silent scene was his strong presence and over powering personality. Working with him has been a memorable experience and has helped me inculcate the trait of being watchful and offering the right role to the rightful person. Next time I will be there with the concluding part of the sequel.

LIFE IS WHAT WE...

He, who starts, has to stop.

He, who comes, has to go.

He, who takes birth, has to die.

Once a friend called me and asked, whether I was willing to share my accommodation? I regretted for the reason, being alone provides me the freedom and space to live life the way I want. Being alone has provided me the ambiance to think and write; to think about life, its experiences, its purpose, its nature, its benevolence and its demands.

Life at time pushes and pulls, demands and dictates. With me and you sailing like a tiny boat in the ocean with no other option left but to ride the crest and trough that appears and occurs in the ocean.

Life seems to be a journey from nothing to something, a journey from appearing to disappearing, a journey from integration to disintegration, a journey from fusion to fission.

In this process we struggle to maneuver our way through the odds and evens, ups and downs and reach our destinations, our goals, sometimes alone and sometimes with people around us, with people close to us, with people who relate to us, with people who care for us. Having reached the desired destination, we again embark on a new journey.

Staying at one point and one place kills, look at the stagnant water of a lake or a pond, it stinks isn’t it? We can never say a pond to be alive whereas on the other end the river is said to be alive, always moving, giving life to many on its banks and far away. “That which moves, lives and gives life and that which rests dies.” Moving of the lungs oxygenates blood, moving of the heart nourishes every cell in our body and we call ourselves alive.

The sum total of numerous internal small journeys of the lungs from expansion to contraction and again back to expansion, the small journeys of the heart from systolic to diastolic and again back to systolic is what we call as life, likewise externally life is a sum total of the numerous small journey of lending a help hand, lending an attentive ear, caring for somebody, wishing for somebody, still at instances we do feel

LIFE IS WHAT WE START ALONE

LIFE IS WHAT WE LIVE ALONE
 LIFE IS WHAT WE QUIT ALONE

MY VILLAGE THEN AND NOW

May 01, 2013 at Dhavat, my native; I and my son Vinayak are walking towards the southern outskirts of the village. Studies have kept both my children busy and away. Sometimes we happen to meet after one year and particularly at this place it is the first time.  

My son Vinayak takes fair amount of interest in places and their history and in particular this place would be more interesting for him as it belongs to his village and his native.

We are standing in front of a landscape, mostly unmanned and deserted. The sun is out of vision but the presence of few silver-lined clouds make the sky scenic. There are few birds noiselessly returning back to their nest.

Down on the ground, time slowly fleeting and darkness stealthily ingressing making visibility weak; we are standing on an elevated backyard of a temple and below us approximately ten meters away is leveled cement concrete ground with a series of taps fitted along a long pipeline. Layers of dust have piled on the ground, rust has significantly corroded the pipe and shrubs have emerged on the concrete work. The stone-made steps to reach this place have eroded.

If we travel back in time around forty four years, I was around fourteen years old and I am the eye witness of the activity that used to happen here, one could see line of women arriving at and quitting this place from early morning till late morning. There is a place for buying vegetables, there is a place for grinding grains and this was the place for washing clothes. Ladies of the whole village would throng this place carrying bucket and cauldron full of clothes to be washed. Rhythmic sound of the bashing of the clothes, running tapes and the sound of the affluent twisting and turning in to the lake below would fill the air.

This activity had many aspects one was of social gathering where, while washing clothes ladies would discuss many things, it would be a summary of the event that happened yesterday, engagement of a boy and a girl, birth or death in a family, attending a marriage, health concern of someone in a family and so on and so forth. It also had the environmental aspect. The affluent would also keep the lake alive together with the trees around it. And green trees are resting places for birds.

I had left this village at an early age of three and since then I have been visiting on need basis and according to availability of time. I am not sure when this activity stopped but now it is a thing of past. Like this activity many activities have become history only to be told by the passing generation to the upcoming generation in the form of stories.