Monday, August 22, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
NR Narayanamurthy (NRN- A Tribute : K Achuthan
To those of us who have interfaced actively with the corporate world, we know what Murty has done. Infosys is only but one organisation that he built. He influenced many to build companies modeled after Infosys. I am a great fan of this person.
I have met Narayan Murty only once. He came up to shake hands with me. This was in the Sankar's Book Stall in the old Bangalore airport and I was browsing through a copy of the recently launched book, "Giving" written by Bill Clinton. Murty shook hands with me to congratulate me for buying the book, which I had not bought but did after that handshake. I had the presence of mind to have him autograph my copy.
" Four friends from Mysore shared everything in life, including their ambitions and so when one was left behind on Platform No 2 in the Mysore Railway Station, waving to the others who were leaving for Chennai to join IIT, he had a steely determination. The frail boy went on to employ many IIT'ians. His father could not afford to send him to IIT. He is your Narayan Murty", wrote Sudha Murty after her husband in her beautifully written book, "Wise and Otherwise".
NRN Murty retires today. Apart from the book autographed by him, I have another valuable treassure. It is a photo of NRN bending down to touch the feet of Kalam. When I feel down, I look up at this picture.
Dear NRN Murty, if I had the platform to invite your attention, I would have made this message flowery. Since I dont and yet have a captive audience to myself, I say in simple words that you have inspired me.
I have met Narayan Murty only once. He came up to shake hands with me. This was in the Sankar's Book Stall in the old Bangalore airport and I was browsing through a copy of the recently launched book, "Giving" written by Bill Clinton. Murty shook hands with me to congratulate me for buying the book, which I had not bought but did after that handshake. I had the presence of mind to have him autograph my copy.
" Four friends from Mysore shared everything in life, including their ambitions and so when one was left behind on Platform No 2 in the Mysore Railway Station, waving to the others who were leaving for Chennai to join IIT, he had a steely determination. The frail boy went on to employ many IIT'ians. His father could not afford to send him to IIT. He is your Narayan Murty", wrote Sudha Murty after her husband in her beautifully written book, "Wise and Otherwise".
NRN Murty retires today. Apart from the book autographed by him, I have another valuable treassure. It is a photo of NRN bending down to touch the feet of Kalam. When I feel down, I look up at this picture.
Dear NRN Murty, if I had the platform to invite your attention, I would have made this message flowery. Since I dont and yet have a captive audience to myself, I say in simple words that you have inspired me.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Tribute to Teachers : An Address by Madhav Das at the School Reunion
Welcome, fellow alumni. By sheer love for the school and the wonderful years that we had here, we've turned back the calendar to the seventies, eighties and nineties. And sixties for a very few..
This morning, I have been chewing on every bit of event and milestone of those years. But, gradually, a trickle of memories became a river, immersing me in a flood of recollections --all pleasant. Time has mercifully erased any unpleasant ones.
Mata Pita Guru Deivam is an old saying which means Mother, Father and Teachers are equal to God. While parents gave life to our body , teachers gave life to our soul. For us on the benches, the teachers, were all intelligent. All beautiful. All heroes. All wonderful.
The year, 1974, was a great deal more than just our finishing year ― the year we went our separate ways and began our lives as young adults. Today, we’re all together again to remember those wonderful times we spent at KVK ― when we were together almost every day ― studied together ― went through play and pastime together ― when we formed many of the values we now hold dear, and many of the most intimate, precious and lasting friendships of our lives. We love this school ― and the teachers that the school and students have been privileged to benefit from….. believe many of you are here today because you share these feelings.
All in all, those were great days to grow up. We had no internet, neither did we have Wikipedia. Either the books had it, or the teachers. As we learnt and our knowledge grew, so did our bonds with teachers. We were not confined to books alone but free to play, and frolic, and engage with each other.
So we grew up- the teachers imbibed in us the purpose of achieving. We were anxious to learn and to read though, actually, some of us never appreciated "Far From the Madding Crowd". We knew the algebraic equations, the mysteries of heat and light, Shakespeare's comedies and tragedies and Kabir’s Dohas. For all the questions on why we were learning all of this when it did not make much sense then, it is life’s challenges and demands ,later, which placed our school learning and experiences in perspective. We thank you, teachers, for persisting with us.
Think of the teachers we had in those days! They taught us to be and think as winners. Vijayalakshmi Teacher told us about The Wealth of Nations, she would have been a sure winner in these days of economic uncertainty. Mohandas Master knew that we could only find our station in life if we could learn to speak and write correct and understandable English. Krishnamoorthy Sir opened our eyes to the colorful and reaction-filled world of chemicals, Soudamini Miss laid the foundations for our love for the flora and fauna. Each of them, Vasudevan Master in Sanskrit, Satyanarayana Sir in Maths and Padmanabhan Sir in History threw open the big wide world in their own remarkable way. And Sugathan Sir kept the whole high school playing and running, and seeing that we were amongst the best in the state and in the Sangathan.. We respected and somewhat feared our teachers but over-all knew them as friends.
And as I say this, I know each of you are reliving your great experiences with your respective teachers. God bless them all.
Think of the things we learned in everyday life: how to work for the things we needed and wanted, how to help each other when the going was tough, where to look for information, how to plan for the future, how to stand on our own two feet when we were put on the spot.
Think of the confidence we had in each other. The students were the brightest. The sports teams were always the winners. The athletes were the fastest. The studious toppers were the most accomplished. We had pride in the school- easily the best school in Calicut then.
We have never been short in good teachers and perseverant students. We have been sustained by purpose, by pride, by success of the alumni, and by academic and sporting excellence amongst peer schools. Even after so many years, we still look at this as our own.
For some of us, this is our first trip back to school. For many batches, there has been resounding set of networks that have been built on Facebook and the like. Good luck to all of them in this remarkable journey of reconnecting and reliving those memorable years at school.
Read Out A Poem by Kevin William Huff
Teachers
Paint their minds
and guide their thoughts
Share their achievements
and advise their faults
Inspire a Love
of knowledge and truth
As you light the path
Which leads our youth
For our future brightens
with each lesson you teach
Each smile you lengthen
Each goal you help reach
For the dawn of each poet
each philosopher and king
Begins with a Teacher
And the wisdom they bring
This morning, I have been chewing on every bit of event and milestone of those years. But, gradually, a trickle of memories became a river, immersing me in a flood of recollections --all pleasant. Time has mercifully erased any unpleasant ones.
Mata Pita Guru Deivam is an old saying which means Mother, Father and Teachers are equal to God. While parents gave life to our body , teachers gave life to our soul. For us on the benches, the teachers, were all intelligent. All beautiful. All heroes. All wonderful.
The year, 1974, was a great deal more than just our finishing year ― the year we went our separate ways and began our lives as young adults. Today, we’re all together again to remember those wonderful times we spent at KVK ― when we were together almost every day ― studied together ― went through play and pastime together ― when we formed many of the values we now hold dear, and many of the most intimate, precious and lasting friendships of our lives. We love this school ― and the teachers that the school and students have been privileged to benefit from….. believe many of you are here today because you share these feelings.
All in all, those were great days to grow up. We had no internet, neither did we have Wikipedia. Either the books had it, or the teachers. As we learnt and our knowledge grew, so did our bonds with teachers. We were not confined to books alone but free to play, and frolic, and engage with each other.
So we grew up- the teachers imbibed in us the purpose of achieving. We were anxious to learn and to read though, actually, some of us never appreciated "Far From the Madding Crowd". We knew the algebraic equations, the mysteries of heat and light, Shakespeare's comedies and tragedies and Kabir’s Dohas. For all the questions on why we were learning all of this when it did not make much sense then, it is life’s challenges and demands ,later, which placed our school learning and experiences in perspective. We thank you, teachers, for persisting with us.
Think of the teachers we had in those days! They taught us to be and think as winners. Vijayalakshmi Teacher told us about The Wealth of Nations, she would have been a sure winner in these days of economic uncertainty. Mohandas Master knew that we could only find our station in life if we could learn to speak and write correct and understandable English. Krishnamoorthy Sir opened our eyes to the colorful and reaction-filled world of chemicals, Soudamini Miss laid the foundations for our love for the flora and fauna. Each of them, Vasudevan Master in Sanskrit, Satyanarayana Sir in Maths and Padmanabhan Sir in History threw open the big wide world in their own remarkable way. And Sugathan Sir kept the whole high school playing and running, and seeing that we were amongst the best in the state and in the Sangathan.. We respected and somewhat feared our teachers but over-all knew them as friends.
And as I say this, I know each of you are reliving your great experiences with your respective teachers. God bless them all.
Think of the things we learned in everyday life: how to work for the things we needed and wanted, how to help each other when the going was tough, where to look for information, how to plan for the future, how to stand on our own two feet when we were put on the spot.
Think of the confidence we had in each other. The students were the brightest. The sports teams were always the winners. The athletes were the fastest. The studious toppers were the most accomplished. We had pride in the school- easily the best school in Calicut then.
We have never been short in good teachers and perseverant students. We have been sustained by purpose, by pride, by success of the alumni, and by academic and sporting excellence amongst peer schools. Even after so many years, we still look at this as our own.
For some of us, this is our first trip back to school. For many batches, there has been resounding set of networks that have been built on Facebook and the like. Good luck to all of them in this remarkable journey of reconnecting and reliving those memorable years at school.
Read Out A Poem by Kevin William Huff
Teachers
Paint their minds
and guide their thoughts
Share their achievements
and advise their faults
Inspire a Love
of knowledge and truth
As you light the path
Which leads our youth
For our future brightens
with each lesson you teach
Each smile you lengthen
Each goal you help reach
For the dawn of each poet
each philosopher and king
Begins with a Teacher
And the wisdom they bring
Monday, August 15, 2011
KVK Reunion : 14 Aug 2011- A Report
I have rarely attended a function conducted so flawlessly- the exec committee of KVK Alumni indeed pulled it off and had over a 500 ex students rocking all day. remember our batch had Gladys (mainly), Aumray and Madhav Das (partly) contributing in some ways.
Our batch may have been one of the best represented- KC Narendran, myself, Aumray, Vidya, Ullas, N Pradeep, Rajshekar, Vidyanand, Raghunandanan, Dr Nandakumar, Akhila, Gladys, and you could add others who were ex-batch- Ratnapal, Nandakumar Kidav
The event began with an assembly led by ex school captain Shaji Thomas. The batches lined up in the quadrangle. Prayers were followed by the News of the Day- thankfully, they did not inspect our uniforms......while the most batches went around the campus soaking in the atmosphere and classrooms, for us in the 1974 (and some other seniors) batch, it did not help- the school building with which we associated our memories was not this present one. The one on Panchama School Road was infinelly more attractive. I was telling Vidya how sports would have been more glorious if only we had access to playfields as the school has today.
We broke off for lunch- (Nandakumar(Dr), Nandan (formerly of our batch), Aum, Vidya etc squeezed in a visit to the bar at Maharani- tipple or two......
We got together again at 3.30 PM in Calicut Towers. Old teachers were there- from pur time, Charles sir, Vijayalakshmi teacher and Sivasankaran sir. Others were invited but could not attend due to ill health or domestic commitments. A series of items followed (speeches by Shaji and Gladys included)- I gave the Toast and Tribute to Teachers. Charles sir responded on behalf of teachers. Some other items included a Quiz (Ullas, Vidya and myself won a few Five Stars.........) and you will be glad to know one question related to our batch- who was the fastest boy in Kerala from KVK in the seventies?
Dinner then followed- I pulled out since I had to leave. I am sure Aum and others attended.
Please see attached photo of the assembly session in Mathrubhumi. Notice Ajit, Nandan Kidav, Gladys, Akhila, Ullas Verghese, AK Pradeep (1975), Ratnapal, myself,Aumray, Vidyanand, Rajshekar...others not visible.
We remembered each of you who did not attend- let us try and make it in 2014-15 when there is going to be a mega event for the Golden Jubilee Year.
There is a project for conversion of the existing Yoga Hall to a Seminar Hall- the school requested for help from the Alumni- the budget is Rs 8.25 lakhs- a lot of people contributed at the reunion (1979, as a batch, committed a sum of Rs 1 Lakh). Need your views on mobilizing for this good cause...
For details go to Facebook Kendriya Vidyalaya Kozhikode, which has a ton of photos................
Our batch may have been one of the best represented- KC Narendran, myself, Aumray, Vidya, Ullas, N Pradeep, Rajshekar, Vidyanand, Raghunandanan, Dr Nandakumar, Akhila, Gladys, and you could add others who were ex-batch- Ratnapal, Nandakumar Kidav
The event began with an assembly led by ex school captain Shaji Thomas. The batches lined up in the quadrangle. Prayers were followed by the News of the Day- thankfully, they did not inspect our uniforms......while the most batches went around the campus soaking in the atmosphere and classrooms, for us in the 1974 (and some other seniors) batch, it did not help- the school building with which we associated our memories was not this present one. The one on Panchama School Road was infinelly more attractive. I was telling Vidya how sports would have been more glorious if only we had access to playfields as the school has today.
We broke off for lunch- (Nandakumar(Dr), Nandan (formerly of our batch), Aum, Vidya etc squeezed in a visit to the bar at Maharani- tipple or two......
We got together again at 3.30 PM in Calicut Towers. Old teachers were there- from pur time, Charles sir, Vijayalakshmi teacher and Sivasankaran sir. Others were invited but could not attend due to ill health or domestic commitments. A series of items followed (speeches by Shaji and Gladys included)- I gave the Toast and Tribute to Teachers. Charles sir responded on behalf of teachers. Some other items included a Quiz (Ullas, Vidya and myself won a few Five Stars.........) and you will be glad to know one question related to our batch- who was the fastest boy in Kerala from KVK in the seventies?
Dinner then followed- I pulled out since I had to leave. I am sure Aum and others attended.
Please see attached photo of the assembly session in Mathrubhumi. Notice Ajit, Nandan Kidav, Gladys, Akhila, Ullas Verghese, AK Pradeep (1975), Ratnapal, myself,Aumray, Vidyanand, Rajshekar...others not visible.
We remembered each of you who did not attend- let us try and make it in 2014-15 when there is going to be a mega event for the Golden Jubilee Year.
There is a project for conversion of the existing Yoga Hall to a Seminar Hall- the school requested for help from the Alumni- the budget is Rs 8.25 lakhs- a lot of people contributed at the reunion (1979, as a batch, committed a sum of Rs 1 Lakh). Need your views on mobilizing for this good cause...
For details go to Facebook Kendriya Vidyalaya Kozhikode, which has a ton of photos................
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