It is about the legacy.

20 February 2008, around 7:30 in the evening one of my dad’s cousins calls me up and asks me “ಸುರೇಶ ಹೇಗೆ ಇದಾನೆ ?”(How is suresh doing?). That was his 13th day of hospitalisation. Many of his friends and relatives visited him in the hospital in those 13 days. I am not sure anyone knew what would happen on the 21st  nor did he himself know that the sunrise on the 21st would be the last sunrise of his life. He was so sure that he would go back home that on the 18 of february he had sent me a note to check when he could go home.

With Dad November 1985

As destiny would have it, immediately after the sunrise on the 21 February 2008, he set out for his heavenly journey. I am sure he would have had a great journey since he was always fond of travel. Not sure if he could get his favorite whiskey on the way. When he got to know that my brother is coming down, he had asked me to tell my brother to get a couple of bottles of whiskey for his brother and friends. His last wish was perhaps a bottle of whiskey not for himself ,but for his brother and friends. Even in his death bed , his spirits were quite high.

It was around 7:30 AM on the 21 morning, the same cousin called me up and asked “Body ಎಷ್ಟು ಗಂಟೆಗೆ ಬರುತ್ತೆ ?” (What time is the body coming home?). In the matter of 12 hours, Suresha had been reduced to a “Body”. Lot of people came home including a couple of my childhood friends and paid rich tributes. There was a sea of grief. There was a helpless silence. And there was “just” the body. In 12 hours , there was a sea change. The man had lost his name, his charisma and even his gender. He was just a “body”.

At the end of the day, we will all be just a body. Is it fair ? Well, we don’t have a choice. I think many times if all our struggles are worth it. We struggle so much to make others happy, struggle to make a living, struggle for name, struggle for fame. Is all of it worth it to be just called a “body” at the end of the day ?

May be my father never thought on these lines. Even if he had, he would not be bothered about it.He had hardly thought of himself all his life.  It is true that you will not take anything with you, It is true that no one will come with you. But what is also true is what you have left behind. You have left a legacy. You have left the footsteps to follow. You have shown the value and the meaning of value. You have shown the beauty of life. That is the truth.

No family gathering goes without remembering my dad. No function is complete without remembering him. That is the legacy. My son is introduced sometimes as Suresh’s grandson and not as Sunil’s son. That is the legacy. It is Krishna’s good fortune. But krishna’s grandfather is not there today to celebrate the fortune.

His message is quite clear. One must not think about being reduced to a body one day. That is inevitable. But celebrating life and living it to the fullest is the meaning of a meaningful life.

With Parents in Mumbai; October 2006

My father’s life is the story of grit,courage, compassion and generosity. A mighty spirited man who fought an open heart surgery when he was 27 (In 1970, he traveled unreserved, standing from Baroda to Mumbai to undergo the surgery). That was followed up with a By-Pass surgery in 1993. He then scaled Badrinath and kedarnath in 1999.

He had very meagre resources to bring us up. But he managed it with precision and accountability. Nothing was compromised in our upbringing. My mother used to recount few times when it was so hard for my dad to manage and yet he never turned down any of her wishes.

I am grateful for the way we were brought up. We were thought the value of money and value of time. Every value was imbibed in our upbringing. If i am living today with self respect , it is only thanks to the way i was brought up.

His greatest asset were his brothers. He had very high respect and regards for all his brothers. He has told me a number of times that whatever we are today is only because of his brothers.

With all that he faced in life, he was in absolute love with life. He never complained against anything and had no regrets in life. He was the first person to offer a helping hand, at times at the cost of his own health. He was known for his generosity. No one who came to him asking for help in cash or kind were turned down.

His Last words (18-Feb-2008); Sent from ICU

He was seen as a helping hand in family and friends circle. Even in the extended circle, he was looked up for any help. He was the first person to attend to anyone who was sick. He was the first person to offer help if he sensed anyone was in trouble. He had gone out of his way many times to attend to people in need , at times irking my mother . Many times he had helped people in cash sacrificing his own and family needs. He was never disturbed if my mother disagreed to some of his actions.  He once told me to always lift up your hand. To give is bliss. Be generous , you will never be satisfied if you want everything to yourself. Give a little, you will get it back many times over.

He was known for his punctuality, a virtue almost neglected in our generation. I cannot recollect one instance where he was late. He used to be the first person for any event and always the most helpful one. I use to make make fun of his obsession with time. Many years later, i realise the virtue and wisdom behind it. I can only recount my behaviour and feel ashamed of it.

I do not think his behaviour , his virtue or his vision of the world would have changed if he knew he would one day be called a “body”. For that matter, i think he knew it many times over. His body has gone, but his legacy has remained.

When i see my friend’s kids playing with their grandparents, or when i hear my friends saying that grandparents are taking care of their kids, i feel very bad for krishna. Krishna has not seen his paternal grandparents. He will completely miss their love and affection. He is unfortunate that way. Hope one day he knows the virtues and values his granddad stood for.

Sometimes, we children undermine our parents actions and behaviour. We do not realise what legacy and value structure their actions and words are creating. When we actually realise the legacy that is being left behind to follow, it will be too late and like in my case one can only repent and feel ashamed.

It is not about the grief..

It was cold and drizzling all morning on the third Sunday of November. I was at work . We worked all morning . After a tiring morning session at the work site , i stretched myself on the couch of a restaurant at HSR layout . I ordered the much-needed food and soda and opened facebook on my phone. The first post read ” She passed away peacefully in her bed, in her Daddy’s arms with no struggle. Her last words before the light passed out from her eyes was “Daddy”. Maya came into our life on Mother’s Day in 2012. she left us on children’s day in 2015 ” .

Preeti and Srinivas

 A fellow entrepreneur and friend Preeti Sukumaran had just lost her little daughter. The long poignant post had my eyes moist.

It was just two days since my son had gone to Delhi to spend some time with grandparents and i was already missing him. Here was my friend who had lost her daughter for good. One can imagine what would have gone through her.

I left for the site and continued with my work. However ,one questing was still lingering on why did Maya pass away?

Time and again , the question about life and death confronts me. Time and again i try to find to answers but of no avail. Who are we? Where did we come from? Why are we here? Why the struggle with life? Is life better or death better (The saaphalya story of Kailasam) ? Why are we even born?

This is not my first post about death. I have written earlier on my experiences centred around death. But this post is more about the parents and the child.

Preeti and Srinivas are a wonderful couple. Both are Alumni of the prestigious IIM and both are Eco-Entrepreneurs. They are in fact founders of a company called krya. They do awesome work for the earth not only through their company but also through their writings.

I know Preeti through Facebook and through her columns in The Hindu.She is an amazing writer and even more amazing human being.  I have read almost all her columns and her recommended books.

The posts that followed November 14 were very very touching. It was all about Maya and Maya’s “Maya”. I now know why she was named Maya. Series of poignant posts came from preeti and srinivas which i am sure moved all her friends and followers. She occasionally apologized for grieving in public, but those posts were required for her and her followers. Only a great mother can articulate her thoughts and feelings that well .

They wrote post after post, with beautiful pictures of Maya, right from the day of her passing on. They expressed their difficulty in accepting what had happened, and yet praying for strength for acceptance. They fondly recalled wonderful memories celebrating their angel, and recalled how she was loved by her grandparents, aunts and uncles. They wept aloud. They spoke to her asking her to come back. There was never any blame, not even on fate. Only forgiveness. When they didn’t have the strength to forgive, they prayed for strength. They expressed gratitude through writing and in person, to all the people, like the doctors at Sanjeevani, who were with them through their very challenging times; gratitude to the ‘infinitely kind universe’ for having given them such a beautiful experience of being with Maya; gratitude to all the people supporting them through their grief. Gratitude filled so many of their posts. As vegans, they shared their repentance as they chose to give Maya aattukkaal soup and cow’s milk everyday, asking for forgiveness from the mother cow and the goat. They replied to every single person who wrote to them. They announced with an apology, every time they could not be available.

My inspiration to write this post leaving all other work for the morning came from blogger Sangeetha Sriram. Sangeetha gave me a fresh perspective of grieving. She  had written about Preeti and Srinivas. In fact, the last paragraph is taken from her blog.

Few days after Maya’s company was summoned by the almighty, devastation struck Chennai where Preeti and Srinivas live. Chennai was flooded and life was thrown out of gear .  All of us got busy posting about the devastation and that so and so are to be blamed and how Amma is taking political mileage out of it.

But that was not the case with Preeti and Srinivas. They were at ground zero coordinating relief efforts. They were with the victims sourcing relief material for them. They used social media to communicate what was needed where and made sure what ever best they could source reaches the destination. Their energy levels were phenomenal. Best part of it all is that not even once like in the case of Maya, they questioned the God’s “Maya” on chennai.  It is amazing how this couple moved on and could do so much in the wake of a calamity without complaint.

As Sangeetha points out “There is a lesson that I learnt from their experience which answered this for me. It is about Grieving.”

I realize in this fresh morning that grieving has that much more energy. I now understand how and why some amazing accomplishments were made in the wake of unbearable personal loss. Sangeetha brought fresh perspective into the power of Loss.

Sangeetha writes ” Many times, in the process of grieving, we blame ourselves, someone else, a situation, God, fate or whatever. We can fool ourselves that we have “bravely moved on” but we have only locked ourselves up energetically with our experience of loss, sinking deeper into suffering. Forgiving and expressing gratitude is a big part of grieving.

As sangeetha has so finely concluded “I learnt that truly grieving is about loving deeply, opening up, being vulnerable, forgiving, celebrating, sharing, expressing gratitude, being human, accepting, uninhibitedly crying, praying when it is hard to do all of these, so one can really heal, look forward to what lies ahead and move on. Grieving can be very beautiful in all its pain”.

It is so true that we will never move on. All losses personal or otherwise will stay on. What best we can do and should do is to use the loss as strength and stand up to face the reality and calamity. Preeeti and Srinivas are real life examples of that.

I pray the almighty to give Preeti and Srinivas the streghth and patience to do more good for the society .

Good Day to All !!!

Water-Energy-Food Nexus

This is my first post on a technical topic on my personal blog. The post is in continuation with couple of discussions i had recently with some passionate practitioners of Sustainability.

The discussion started at National institute of Technology , Surathkal last month. I had been there to deliver a talk on “Sustainable Engineering, Opportunities and Challenges”. I spoke in general about social entrepreneurship models, engineering , water issues and solutions, Solar energy and some economics . Post my talk, a few students wanted to know more about why i think water and energy have to be discussed in parallel and how do these fit in the overall context of Climate Change and sustainability.

Though i could give convincing answers to the students, i thought, i must write something succinctly to be able to myself appreciate the idea better.  Hence this post.

Disclaimer: Most of the material of this post is taken from a journal published by “Centre for United Nations”

Energy – Water Nexus

As Population increase, demands on finite water resources and energy services threaten to push the limits of what our environment can sustain. Another compelling reason to pay heed to the water-energy nexus is climate change, which may result in significant alterations to precipitation patterns, with all that implies for altered water availability and the power derived from water.

“The Energy problem is actually a water problem”. Water and energy also affect food security and hence there is Water -Energy – Food Nexus.

United Nations Water asserts in the World Water Development report 2014, ” Water , Energy and food are inextricably linked….The global community is well aware of food, energy and water challenges , but has so far addressed them in isolation,” There are many synergies and trade-offs between water and energy use and food production. Here are some examples from the report ;

1. Using water to irrigate crops can promote food production but it also reduce river flows and hydropower potential.
2. Growing bioenergy crops under irrigated agriculture can increase overall water withdrawals and jeopardize food security.
3. Converting surface irrigation into high-efficiency pressurized irrigation may save water but may result in higher energy use.

Recognizing these synergies and balancing these trade-offs is central to jointly ensuring water,energy and food security.

The world Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) notes on its portal ,”There is an intrinsic link between the challenge we face to ensure water security and other global issues, most notably climate change and the need to sustainably manage the world’s rapidly growing demand for energy and food.

Humanity needs to feed more people with less water , in a context of Climate Change and growing energy demand, while maintaining healthy ecosystems. ”

The FAO outlines the global challenge posed by the nexus

1. The situation is expected to be exacerbated in the near future as 60% more food will need to be produced in order to feed the world population in 2050.
2. Global energy consumption is projected to grow by up to 50% by 2035
3. Total global water withdrawals for irrigation are projected to increase by 20 to 25% by 2050 (May be much more)(emphasis added).

Gods in Shackles

Its been quite some time since i wrote anything on my blog. I was engrossed in daily chores and daily bread that i hardly made any time for reading or writing or any other creative work. Thanks to today ,an enriching day spent with some amazing people, I thought I must write my thoughts and experience of the day .

The title of this post is borrowed from the next feature film by Sangeetha Iyer, a documentary film maker

Aratupuza Pooram

I have been to kerala a few times and have seen the Thrissur and Aratupuza poorams. In fact, i tell every other travel enthusiast to see the pooram at least once in a lifetime. Poorams are amazing for the drums, for the fireworks and most importantly for the Elephants. I was amazed by the sheer number of elephants I saw during the pooram festivals. I have always told people not to miss the elephant walks on the Kerala roads during poorams.

However, never i spared a thought for the plight of these gentle giants. Never did i thnk of the trauma they go through in participating in these festivals . 

CUPA or “Compassion unlimited plus action” works for rescuing and rehabilitating animals. I am associated with this organization in helping them conserve water in their campuses and also helping them a little with Solar power. 

Few days back, one of the founders of CUPA , Suparna Bakshi Ganguly called me to ask if I could help them set up a rainwater harvesting unit and draw a water management plan for one of their new campuses situated in the town of Malur about 50 kms from Bangalore. I was amazed when she said it is an Elephant shelter with one elephant now and one more to join soon. CUPA had in fact rescued an Elephant and were rehabilitating it .

So today, myself, Suparna and Sangeetha Iyer drove to Malur to see the place and the elephant. Cruising along the Kolar highway , we discussed forests, wildlife and politics. I was looking forward to see the elephant.

After a little drive in the slush, we arrived at the 2 acre solar fenced campus where “Anisha” was housed. She was equally excited to see us with jaggery , Bananas and papaya.

Anisha was born 46 years back probably somewhere in Assam. She was the victim of elephant trading and somehow landed in Thrissur 20 years back and was serving in the Tuticorin temple from the last 

18 years.

Three years back , when she could not obey her master’s commands of “Sit and Stand”, she was diagnosed with arthritis in the front legs. Her master tried to squeeze the best out of her in the temple but when he was unable to manage her. Her expenses were very high and her revenues were almost nil. So he decided to somehow trade her across the border to Kerala. Suparna was little hesitant to reveal the identity of the owner nor did she tell me the owner’s true intentions . From what i understood, the owner was looking for someone who could manage Anisha for the rest of her life.

Luckily for “Anisha”, when her owner was struggling with the forest officials to move her across the borders, he bumped into Supraja, a sea turtle enthusiast . Supraja was so moved by the plight of the elephant that she offered to take it along with her. Supraja contacted CUPA.

It was a tough decision for CUPA. Maintaining an elephant is no easy task. They had to raise enough funds, they had to find land for her. The bigger task was to convince the Indian Bureaucracy to let them take her across two borders.  True to their reputation, the Indian bureaucracy were very helpful and gave CUPA the permission in “JUST” one year.

In the meantime, CUPA had to find a land for “Anisha”. As the saying goes, the universe conspires for good intentions (but somehow universe has forgotten the Indian bureaucracy), a farmer in Malur who was introduced to Suparna through some contacts, readily agreed to spare his 2.5 acres of land for no return. It is a fertile land with one small lake close by. I also met the noble farmer krishnappa today.

CUPA is very happy to have Anisha with them. The local villagers are cooperating very well and Krishnappa is very happy that “Anisha” is in his land. CUPA , however, is having their task cut out. To start with, it is difficult for them to get an Elephant vet. They did not have a Mahout for quite some time. Somehow they have managed to get one from Kerala now. However, he is not having any help and the difference in climate is not keeping him well.

Nevertheless, Suparna and team are keeping a bold face. For CUPA and Suparna, it is not just about Anisha but it is the pain behind the shackles that is moving them. CUPA and Sangeetha have moved the Supreme court for the cause of these majestic elephants. Their relentless fight has forced the supreme court to issue interim orders for better treatment and living condition of the elephants in Madurai and Kancheepuram. They are putting up a bold fight despite life threats from the elephant trade mafia. In fact Kancheepuram has decided to hand over a few elephants to CUPA. CUPA is planning to resettle them somewhere near Chennai in a 13-acre land.

Coming back to Anisha, she is now relaxed from the shackles. However, because of arthritis, she is

Anisha and Saiju

finding very difficult to move about. She has abysses at many parts of the body. The caretaker and mahout Saiju is nursing her to the best of his ability. He is making her walk, giving her pedicure, bathing her and massaging the joints regularly. His story is a subject of another post altogether.

This is also the story of both the worlds. On the one hand, there was a guy who was trying to abandon the elephant since it was not of any help to him and on the other there is Krishnappa and Suparna who are making personal sacrifices for the same elephant whom they had not even seen till the last one year or so.

For Anisha, life come a full circle. Born probably in Assam and taking a detour of South India has finally landed up in the ever welcoming generous land of Karnataka.

May god give Suparna and team the strength to continue their fight for the cause of these beautiful creatures.

Professional…….

Subroto Bagchi, the current chairman of Mindtree consulting describes a professional as one who can work un-supervised, One who can certify his/her work completion and one who is competent in his/her work and executes it with integrity. I consider myself very fortunate to have Mr Bagchi as my customer and have been very lucky to have interacted with him many times.

I am not sure if i can call myself a professional. I have received myriad feedback on my work , many positive but few negatives as well. I have always tried to do my work to the best of my ability. But I still feel I am not doing complete justice to the word “professional” .

I have met many people from many different walks of life. Many professionals in the true sense of the term and many mediocre as well.

Early this week, we decided to drive to the beautiful Malnad hills to experience the Monsoon. Rain gods showered more blessings than we had asked for. Incessant heavy rains accompanied us throughout the drive from Mysore to Somwarpet to Madikeri and Kukke Subramanya. Life was thrown out of gear in entire Madikeri district. Hundreds of electric poles were damaged, Many trees uprooted . Schools and colleges were closed . Many roads were cut off for traffic.

Inside Mercera Fort

We were forced to stay in Madikeri on Wednesday (24 June ) en route Kukke Subramanya from Somwarpet. It was a very pleasant stay in one of the well known hotels in Madikeri. The next day morning, I went out for a walk to Mercera fort at 7:30 AM. As soon as I got out of my hotel, it started raining heavily. I managed to walk enjoying the rains.

The Mercera fort now belongs to the Archeology Department. Till very recently, the office of the Deputy commissioner of Madikeri district was inside the fort Mercera. Almost all offices have been shifted out.

I took shelter under the portico of the public library next to a tea stall. As i sipped two cups of hot ginger tree enjoying the early morning rains, I met two interesting professionals. One of them denied being photographed and quoted .

Raagini (Name Changed) : Raagini works as librarian at the Mahatma Gandhi public Library inside fort Mercera. The Library opens at 9:00 AM and Raagini was at her office by 8:20 AM. It was raining so heavily that even walking was difficult on the streets of Madikeri.  Raagini came with her husband in a motor cycle half an hour ahead of time. Enroute she had picked up a bundle of kannada newspaper from the paper boy since the latter had stuck up in the rain.

Raagini said, since the DC office had been shifted, not many people visit the Library for reading newspaper.  The Public would not come anyway because of torrential rain. Picking up News paper on the way, braving the torrential Malnad rains, turning up 30 minutes ahead of time to the government library where very few people show up calls for true dedication and commitment to work. Very glad that such committed individuals are still there in the Government.

Shanthamma

Shanthamma :  Shanthamma works for the Madikeri Municipality. Cleaning up about half of Madikeri’s main town falls under Shanthamma and team.

Shnathamma reports to work at her contractor’s office at 5:50 AM everyday irrespective of weather conditions. Her work goes on up to 1:30 PM non stop. Shanthamma and her team tour more than half of Madikeri’s central business area to collect the municipal waste.

Shanthamma and her team arrived when I was enjoying my tea around 8:30 AM. It was raining very heavily. Her team of three members got out of the truck. All were just having a plastic sheet wrapped around them and a plastic sheet to cover their head. Notwithstanding the rain, they went about their job of collecting waste from the main office building, the garden, the library and the canteen. Shanthamma stood next to me in the shelter outside the small tea shop. She answered my questions. She refused my offer of tea. I was thinking that she is waiting for the rain to stop. But that was not the case. She was waiting for me to finish my tea so that she could take the cup with her. I was amazed by her dedication to work. As son as I finished my tea, even before I could pay the tea vendor, she took my tea-cup and shanthamma and team were on their way to their next destination in the heavy rain.

Death is Faithful

जिंदगी तो बेव़फा हैं एक दिन ठुकरायेगी

मौत मेहबूबा हैं अपने साथ लेकर जायेगी

मर के जीने की अदा जो दुनियां को सिखलायेगा 

वो मुकद्दर् का सिकंदर, जान-ए-मन कहलायेगा

These are immortal words by the great Indian lyricist Anjaan.  The crude translation is

Life is unfaithful, one day it will leave you

Death is a lover, it will take you with it 

The one who will teach the world

How to live after dying

will be called the king of destiny, my dear"

This is not my first post on death. Unfortunately, i

have seen death from very close quarters in the last few years. I have earlier written about death and my contradictions with life and death. 

This post is about a bird , a female Asian koel which took its last breath in our house in full presence of my family and couple of friends. It was sad to see her die. But it was inevitable and her time was up. 

It was 10:30 AM on a sunday and as usual we were late for a function and were hurrying up. As i drove my car past the neighbourhood, my wife  spotted a strange hurt bird on the road. I did not bother much about it. 

We returned in the afternoon and couple of my friends were at home. As we were chatting on the road, we spotted the bird again. It was a female Asian Koel. She was in a very bad condition. We tried to give her some water . But she refused. 

We did not know what do about it. We did not want to see her die. We did not want to leave her on the road. So my friend picked it up and got it to our house. I called my cousin who is an ornithologist. We sent her the pictures . I asked my friends on facebook on what i could do about it. 

Unfortunately, we learnt that the bird was in her last stages and had given up food and water. 

However, my fried tried to give her some water but she violently refused. The fact is, Asian koel birds in their last stages give up water and food and wait for their inevitable call. They know when their life mission is over and will wait for their lover (death) without food and water. 

She took her last breath as we stood in our little garden silently observing her. We had made friends with her and let her go in 4 hours. It was a strange feeling. 

As the lyricist Anjaan said, Our Koel left food and water for her lover (Mehabooba) . It is so strange that the hurt bird was on the road all day and we ignored her. The guilt of ignoring her will always haunt me.

When we came back in the afternoon she was waiting for our nursing. She finally took her last breath in our house. Probably this is what is called destiny. 

Our friend thought us two priceless lessons. We must not have ignored her when we first saw her dying on the road. It is so sad that we were more interested in attending a ceremony leaving an old and hurt life on the road. 

The exit from the world should be graceful. By design or default, our little friend thought us the importance of leaving a graceful footprint before leaving the world. RIP my Friend.