To all candles ...
… who burnt themselves to light my path to be a better human being. Yes, this piece is to express my gratitude to all my teachers and those people/entities who influenced me, in one way or another, to be what I am today.
If I go in chronological order, the first one is my mom. She toiled hard, especially during my learning years, despite facing all family problems. I don’t remember how, but apart from teaching subjects like History, Geography and Sanskrit, she also taught me how to bluntly speak the truth and fight for "what is right".
The next one is my favourite - Shri R N Gupta. I am honoured to be one of the very few lucky people who got the opportunity to be his student. He taught my father also, and very reluctantly he agreed to teach me English and Mathematics when I started class six. He truely represents what a good teacher ought to be – hardworking, patient, friendly and willing to go beyond the call of duty to make the student a better person. Truely, the best teacher I have come across so far.
Devendra Srivastava was my class mate in Engineering College. I was lucky to have him as one of my close friends because he is "the person" who taught me what real learning is and how to go about it. He taught me how to dig beneath the surface to understand what something “really” means. I think he is the person who ignited the quest in me to seek knowledge. Devendra, accept my heart-felt gratitude for igniting this passion in me.
Mr. Sanjeev Sinha, a young, dynamic and non-traditional lecturer, used to take our practical classes for workshop in 1st year of engineering. He would not ask us run of the mill questions, and rather would pose practical ones, for example, why are the ceilings of lathe machine shops so high? Why is the roof made of asbestos sheet and not steel or RCC? Why the mould cavity through which the metal is poured is of conical shape? These kind of thought provoking questions made me think about lot of things which we all, generally, take for granted and don’t bother about at all.
Prof Rao taught me Fluid Mechanics in third year of engineering. He would first tell us a practical example related to a concept. Then he would take us forward through that example and explain how it actually happens. His lectures used to be like a story which is happening just in front of me, and by the end of it, I would have learnt a concept in Fluid Mechanics. I wish all my teachers had his wonderful style of teaching by story-telling.
My second employer taught me the reality of this world, in general, and Indian IT industry, in specific. Though, when it happened with me, it was hell but, in the hindsight, I think it was a good thing to happen so early in my career. It taught me how ruthless business can be and the fact that mediocrity is in abundance in this industry, which gets rewarded also just because certain people respond only to flattery.
Roy Singham is CEO of ThoughtWorks Inc, my current employer. He is a socialist by heart and capitalist by mind. I have learnt a lot from him about human values, how to be truly fair and equitable and how to have contradictory perspectives on things and be at ease with it.
Last but not the least - I firmly believe that nature has been influencing my behaviour and personality, in its own secret ways. While I still don’t understand its mechanism, I think, I am just starting to figure out how to return the favour. Though, I wonder, if this is also nature's design :-?
If I go in chronological order, the first one is my mom. She toiled hard, especially during my learning years, despite facing all family problems. I don’t remember how, but apart from teaching subjects like History, Geography and Sanskrit, she also taught me how to bluntly speak the truth and fight for "what is right".
The next one is my favourite - Shri R N Gupta. I am honoured to be one of the very few lucky people who got the opportunity to be his student. He taught my father also, and very reluctantly he agreed to teach me English and Mathematics when I started class six. He truely represents what a good teacher ought to be – hardworking, patient, friendly and willing to go beyond the call of duty to make the student a better person. Truely, the best teacher I have come across so far.
Devendra Srivastava was my class mate in Engineering College. I was lucky to have him as one of my close friends because he is "the person" who taught me what real learning is and how to go about it. He taught me how to dig beneath the surface to understand what something “really” means. I think he is the person who ignited the quest in me to seek knowledge. Devendra, accept my heart-felt gratitude for igniting this passion in me.
Mr. Sanjeev Sinha, a young, dynamic and non-traditional lecturer, used to take our practical classes for workshop in 1st year of engineering. He would not ask us run of the mill questions, and rather would pose practical ones, for example, why are the ceilings of lathe machine shops so high? Why is the roof made of asbestos sheet and not steel or RCC? Why the mould cavity through which the metal is poured is of conical shape? These kind of thought provoking questions made me think about lot of things which we all, generally, take for granted and don’t bother about at all.
Prof Rao taught me Fluid Mechanics in third year of engineering. He would first tell us a practical example related to a concept. Then he would take us forward through that example and explain how it actually happens. His lectures used to be like a story which is happening just in front of me, and by the end of it, I would have learnt a concept in Fluid Mechanics. I wish all my teachers had his wonderful style of teaching by story-telling.
My second employer taught me the reality of this world, in general, and Indian IT industry, in specific. Though, when it happened with me, it was hell but, in the hindsight, I think it was a good thing to happen so early in my career. It taught me how ruthless business can be and the fact that mediocrity is in abundance in this industry, which gets rewarded also just because certain people respond only to flattery.
Roy Singham is CEO of ThoughtWorks Inc, my current employer. He is a socialist by heart and capitalist by mind. I have learnt a lot from him about human values, how to be truly fair and equitable and how to have contradictory perspectives on things and be at ease with it.
Last but not the least - I firmly believe that nature has been influencing my behaviour and personality, in its own secret ways. While I still don’t understand its mechanism, I think, I am just starting to figure out how to return the favour. Though, I wonder, if this is also nature's design :-?
posted by amAUzed at 9:06 PM
1 Comments:
It was heart touching to read ur article expressing gratitude to all the people who have made a difference in your life directly or indirectly, including nature.It resonates very much with my inner being...
In the daily hustle and bustle of life, consciously or unconsciously we tend to slip into the mode of complaining...forgetting to appreciate what is good about people / things around us and how it contributes to our over all being. Conditioned that we are to look into the negatives, we have to consciously remind our minds to look at the positives, acknowledge the same and express gratitude for it. Helps us remain humble, grounded and close to reality.
A spiritually inclined friend of mine, one day sent me a note on "21days of no complain".... It was interesting though I got so lost in the daily hustle and bustle of life that I just couldnt manage to explore / consciously practice it....
Thank u for reminding me...to be grateful for what "IS". Gratitude is a very important and a logical attitude in a quantum universe. Abraham Hicks reminds that mere rampage of appreciation will clear everything for us because universe does not need to be reminded over and over again for to what we want but we just need a state that matches the vibe of our fulfilled desire.
Reading your blog also motivates me to create my blog - something which I have been pondering since quite some time.
Talking of gratitude, how can I not thank the creator of this article for reminding me gratitude. Thank you!!!! Neelam
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