a tale of performance

Heard in a performance review meeting.
Two villages, similar in all respects, had a famine. The folks of the first village did a rain dance. It rained. Watching the amazing results, the folks of the second village danced too. But it did not rain. They were puzzled. The Chief of the first village, was asked by the second one, to tell them why it did not rain, as they did a similar rain dance. The Chief solved the mystery.
The folks of the second village, danced for the rain to come, while the first, danced till the rain had come.
It is a matter of perseverance.

GOD's new year gift.

an addition to our family.
is this sleeping beauty..

thanks to the mother...

my son has become a dad,.

my daughter has become an 'aththai',

a cog in the wheel.

I am happy to be a cog in the wheel. I have a subtle satisfaction for being a part of a giant venture in paying back the community I live in. I am proud to be a member of my club.

Rotary Club of Madras Midtown organises a free medical camp on mass screening programme & early detection of cancer programme, on 15 01 2006 at sri kanyaka parameswari arts and science college for women- premises,kothawal bazaar, chennai 600 001.

Notices were distributed to the local labourers highlighting the symptoms.

If programmes is utilised well, it would amout to solid service to the society.Credit goes to the all the seniors of the Club.

the bottom line is...

It was evasive. It became obvious for diagnosis, only when the pulse rate was going down. He could not believe. The previous day only they did so much of traveling and now he was told that she might vanish from this planet in a matter of minutes. But she did not. He knew her will power. He knew she will put up a fight – and she did.

He was asked to do the toughest task – to tell her what she has to fight against and what are the chances of survival– against her apprehension for a major operation – much lesser issue to fear, comparatively. The issue is still more serious – it is a matter of life and death.

He broke the news the previous night of operation and… he broke down himself. She looked at him with disbelief. The brave lady comforted him by her affectionate glance overcoming her shock. She did not want to see him as a shattered man. She did not want him to see her scared and shocked. She wanted to live.

She looked extraordinarily beautiful that day.

Next day after the operation the doctor confirmed – it is matter of one or two days. He had hope – minutes had turned to days.

He looked at her postoperative figure. Got panicked. She braved to walk around the corridor, never bothered about the onlookers, and never bothered about her looks, her fragile health, never bothered about the bothering fact. She looked tall to him. She wanted to prove that the doctors were wrong. She wanted to challenge the dreaded disease itself.

God. She fought back with determination. She was discharged after a month. She had taken chemotherapy thereafter and braved the after-effects.

Days turned to months. All that he asked her is to fight –“phoraadu” was the daily mantra. And she did. The “problem” had its own game plan and she countered with positive attitude, grit, and medicine and good food intake.

The "problem" took the lead.

They went to the clinic and met the doctor. ‘It is a matter of 10 to 15 days” he said. “This is it”. He buckled down. He heard her angry footsteps. She left in an auto on overhearing the diagnosis, leaving him to admire her courage. “Can a person, who is furious and can take an auto to go back to her home on her own, will be no more in 10 days. Unbelievable?” he wondered.

“Cancel the booking of the new car we had dreamt to purchase”, she ordered. “Let us have the funds for treatment”. She still fought. She fought for another 100 days.

The brave lady finally departed – leaving a trail of memories to recall for the rest of his life.

Not even on one occasion they talked of death. They had only determined talks on fighting against all odds.

She was expected to depart in a matter of hours. But she lived for one year, even though the diagnosis and treatment had started only during the third stage.

His friend, who was similarly diagnosed, more or less during the same period, still survives. Had she been diagnosed at the first stage itself, she would be editing his write ups now.

The watchword is early detection. Rest is the determination of those brave people – and all cancer patients are determined & brave.

The bottom line is…Cancer..We Can Conquer.

SEA - THE ENIGMA

I look back the year 2005 with much satisfaction. The year was full of challenges. It created an opportunity for me to look beyond my family, my profession and myself.

Last year I had a chance to have the Secretary post of the Club – thanks to my entire senior members who wanted me to have the feel of socializing & community service. Had a chance to take part in Tsunami related rehabilitation work. It shook me off from my otherwise routine life.

Spent some days at 3 fisherman’s hamlet and frequently visited those places –during daytime, after dawn extending to midnight. I used to drive all alone at EC Road at odd hours, barge in the village, watch the activity, observe their way of life. After all these years of my existence, I look at the sea differently now.

The beach line there, was different from Marina. It was mysterious, natural to the core, intimidating, mesmerizing and it made me to look at it with respect. I used to stand at the isolated sandy area between the beach and the road, visualizing the 26th December of 2004, based on the tales told by the fishermen and on obvious evidence it had left behind.

I visualized the family members in their home hearing a rumbling sound. I visualized ground water gushing from floor of the house while they were cooking and doing household chores. I visualized people coming out of the home puzzled, to gaze at the sea. I visualized the entire people running in panic towards the ECR, outsmarting the Tsunami waves by fraction of seconds. I visualized the panic faces through out the ECR.

The temporary sheds, with thatched roofs through out the ECR stretch, brought me the realization that we can be orphans in our own place, if nature decides as such. It made me to look at the nature with respect.

Had interaction with the local people, took a truck load of food grains, sarees, biscuits donated by the members from MP (or is UP),brought by two doctor members and distributed.Overseen the music party, the day before the fisherman went to the sea for the first time after Tsunami. Been a part of organizing group for the medical camp. It was a soul satisfying experience.

The other day I lied down in the newly constructed thatched shed during a sunny and humid day, only to find it was so cool inside making me realize the sort of comforts the nature offers, which we have forgotten long back and falsely imagining that the real comfort comes from electrical and electronic gadgets.

I used to sit near the seashore, while others attended the meeting, handed over the fiber boats, discussed their requirements etc. I used to sit on a catamaran, watch the sea, its beauty, its waves, the hundreds of crabs all around me, while other fishermen would be mending their fishnets, minding their own business. I watched the family members offering prayers to Sea, padayal placed to the sea, when their men folk ventured into the sea. The worried look of the female members of the family made me feel uneasy. “oru naal povar, oru naal varuvar, ovvurunalum thuyaram”- Kanadasan’s lyrics in the movie “Padakotti” catches the lifestyle of fishermen crisply and accurately.

A fisherman narrated their “matter of fact” way of life simultaneously doing his work. Men with good physic working as long as their health permits to cope up with the hardship of sailing, retiring at 40 or 50 years of age, would be taken cared of by the next generations. They feel it the duty to take of the elders. The practice continues for many generations.The virtues still continue there, whereas it is slowly vanishing in the urban area. There is not much savings to look at the future with confidence. Generations after generations, their life continues as such. I could see youngsters able to talk in English, meaning now they are getting good education.

From the limited talks I had with them I could make out where rocks would be below the sea surface level, where prawns would be available, where catchments would be near to the shore and attitudes of different hamlets.

Once went along with them in the fiber boat, thrilled by the vast expanse of wavy sea, black in color. Felt like a kid. I won’t get so much of joy even if I buy a new car or a new home or gain a material benefit. Made me to quiz myself, “what is a real joy?” One reason to think on those lines was I could see the pure joy of kid in the face of none other than one of the high profile personality of our society – Hindu Ram, when he ventured in the boat along with the club president (our president was the only man who sailed in full suit that day). I am sure in those moments he would have forgotten himself of his stature in the society.

Some how we have lost touch with nature and have it once in a while when on vacation. Nature is part of us. Probably that is why the nature, once in while reminds us of its existence and our existence depends on it.

The sea fascinates me. I want to sail frequently. I want to explore. I want to be part of it. Or it is too late to think about it? (I once even thought of joining the deep-sea diving course at Mumbai.) When I see the sea nowadays I look at it with fasication, fear and respect.

The able-bodied fishermen and woman with strong physic gives an impression that they lead a healthy life better than us? (Doctors said most of them suffer from malnutrition)

Do they?

All said and done it appears - with a house to live in, a car to move on, an office to work, definite source of income, we are the blessed ones than those people at the coastlines.

Are we?