YOUR STORIES… OUR STORIES

Donating Smiles

Katriya Bhavik Babubhai, Engineer, Airoli

While we all try to live our lives normally, one day something happens that just changes us forever.

During college, I was part of a techno-managerial committee named “Technovanza” and participated in various CSR activities conducted by the team such as visiting ashrams, teaching orphaned children, Braille Kit donation at Blind School in Mumbai, cloth donation, helping sweepers, etc. In my 3rd year I was appointed to head the committee and our sole focus was to give back to society. This experience moulded me and changed my perspective towards helping others and the society.

Festivals are about spending time with family, but have you ever wondered what happens to those who do not have families? Since my experience of helping people during graduation, I decided to visit orphanages annually during Diwali with friends and spend some time with those who are not as fortunate we are. As such, my friends and I have been visiting Gonsalo Garcia Ashram, Vasai. With the help of public funding, we bought dictionary, books, crayons, games, footballs, badminton sets, cricket set, board games, hand wash, etc. The experience has been surreal – the sparkle in the children’s eyes, the warm hug with which they greeted us and the enthusiastic tour they gave us of their home. We talked for hours on various topics and played both indoor and outdoor games. Once they asked me “Why do you do this?” I answered, “Just to see the smile on your face!”

If you have the power to make someone smile, do it. The world needs more of it.

A Change in Perspective

S Karthikeyan, Engineer, Chennai

After college, I worked in a BPO for a while and in parallel applied to the IAF recruitment board. The selection process involved a written exam followed by a one-week physical and psychological analysis. I was sent to Mysore for this process.

Our batch consisted of 150 applicants, including someone for whom this was the ninth attempt. At the end of the first day, only 70 of us were selected while all others were asked to return. I got acquainted with a few and learned a lot. By the end of day six, 5 remained while rest 65 were sent home, including me.

Since the selection process is so unpredictable, there is no point of booking prior transport. After a five hour wait, I finally got a seat. It was then that I noticed an inebriated man, sitting just a meter away from me and a pregnant woman standing. It was an excruciatingly painful day and I could not gather the strength to offer the pregnant lady a seat. To my and everyone else’s shame, the inebriated man graciously offered her a seat.

It has become a human tendency to judge, so much so that when we an intoxicated man, we think lowly of him - we either scorn or pity them. I am usually courteous but failed miserably at this occasion whereas someone, of whom I did not think well, stood tall. This incident has changed my perspective towards people and even after 5 years I stop and think twice before making a judgment call on someone’s character.

India, NOT Nepal!!!

Susheel Dubey, Senior Engineer, Bangalore

I had a colleague named Nepal Singh Patel in the same project I was working on.

One day, owing to massive work backlog, Nepal requested me to take a printout from the printer installed in a conference room, but when I reached, I saw there were no printouts.

To check what happened, I decided to call Nepal’s extension, however, instead of dialling 1618 (Nepal Singh’s Ext. no), I dialled 1816. The Ext. no. 1816 was allotted to one Mr. Uday Nayak, a senior Account Head. Uday answered the call and confident that it was Nepal Singh’s extension I did not greet with a “Hi” or “Hello” and addressed him as ‘NEPAL’. There was silence for a moment and then came the reply, “No, No, this is not Nepal… This is India and I am Uday Nayak speaking.”

Mr. Uday Nayak assumed that someone was calling to NEPAL country but had dialled India by mistake. I quickly realized the mistake and silently disconnected the phone.

India,NOT Nepal !!!

Bonsai – A ‘LIVE Art’ that Lasts for Generations

Krunal Thakar, CAE Department, LTTS, Vadodara

The word “Bonsai” literally means “Potted Tress”. Bonsai is basically a dwarf tree potted in a shallow pot, featuring all characteristics of mature tree. The traditional art called “Penjing” dates back to 6th Century in Chinese history. The Japanese art of Bonsai originated from the Chinese practice of Penjing, which eventually became known to rest of the world in 18th Century. The art of Bonsai has its roots in India as well. It is believed that ancient ayurvedic physicians grew medicinal plants in miniature form for convenient transport, which they called “Vaman Vriksha”.

My journey with Bonsai art started when I first read a book “Bonsai for the Tropics” by Ms. Jyoti Pandya. Being from an agricultural family, I have been exposed to the knowledge of horticulture and agriculture since childhood. Over the years, I have developed several mature bonsai trees in my home garden. Banyan (Ficus Benghalensis), Pipal (Ficus Religiosa), Champa (Plumeria), Tamarind (Tamarindus Indica), Fringe Flower (Loropetalum), Pilkhan (Ficus Virens) are some of them.

What fascinates me about Bonsai is that it is a “live art”. It takes years of hard work, lot of patience, knowledge of horticulture and most importantly your personal connect with tree that you are developing as Bonsai. You develop a special bond with your Bonsai trees, and I believe that trees and plants can also understand human feelings. Every day I spend at least 30 minutes with my Bonsai tress watering, fertilizing, cutting, pruning or sometimes just observing them. It gives immense mental peace when you cultivate something and see it take form and shape in front of you such as Bonsai trees, it’s like meditation.

From Impression to Inspiration Daniel Reuben J, Project Lead, USA

Growing up, I was inspired by the camera called Click 3, that my dad used back in the days when film rolls were used. He was a passionate photographer and when the camera was digitalized, he did not get a chance to own one due to other commitments in life. His passion for photography had made an early impression on my mind and hence when he retired from his professional service 8 years ago I gifted him a Canon 550D DSLR and he was really happy with it and wherever he travelled, he carried the DSLR with him and enjoyed clicking pictures with it - be it weddings, birthday parties, or Baptisms in church.

A few years later, I moved to US and was simply amazed with the landscapes and how blessed this land was. I started longing for a camera and followed the footsteps of my dad. That’s when I got myself a Canon 80D DSLR

I started exploring the country-side in the US and took pictures of landscape and family and friends and everything that I could capture with the lens. It was a learning experience and I have striven to get better at my craft. I found out various ways to achieve what I desired to get in the frame and more often than not, succeeded doing it. I was not only inspired by the landscapes, but also the smaller things in routine settings such as gardens and lawns and started exploring them. I started working with my macro lens in my phone camera (Macro Photography). Below, you can see the pictures of the dandelions. Flash Photography raised my curiosity and again I strove to learn it to perfection and the results are there for you to see - the same dandelion from a different setup with my camera and two flashes.

Building an Electric Cycle

Rinodh Alagarswamy, Engineer, Chennai

Can you think of travelling 600 km per month at a cost of 80 rupees without sweat, petrol, and hassles of traffic? Of course yes, with an electric cycle, you can! On top of it, you can stay healthy as well by cycling. Our lives have become so hectic that there is hardly any time available to take care of ourselves mentally and physically. Every day, when we start for the office, first thing that comes to our mind is traffic. With an electric cycle, you can avoid traffic and yet reach office without much effort by engaging the electric mode and while returning from the office, you can disengage the electric mode and keep yourself healthy by cycling. Trust me, I am doing this for past 4 years, and it has made my life easier and happier in-terms of health and has also provided me great monetary benefit. You won’t believe but cycle is my preferred mode of transportation for distances ranging up to 200 km/day.

I have made two modifications to my cycle: Motor assist mode: There is a sensor attached to the pedal which measures the crank (pedal) rotation. So that power required to drive the weight of vehicle is be shared by the motor along with your pedal power. So, it is like riding a treadmill and in the process avoiding leg cramps.

Motor disengage mode: It is painful to ride a motor attached cycle. By nature, it will act as a generator, so we need to give more power than a normal cycle. A cycle should be cycle right! So I was able to give it a clutch and gear mechanism inside the motor - so that the system disengages while pedaling and makes the ride easier (unless an accelerator is added as is in electric bikes).

Hey Ishwar…

Nirav T. Thakkar, Discipline Lead, Bangalore In 2011, on Diwali I saw a lady and wrote a poem...

Logo ki tarah aaj me apne aangan ko, Sitaron si jagmagati roshni se saja nahi pai.. Naye saal ke is pyare se din pe, Tera bhog lagane me koi mithai nahi laa pai..

Tere bhandar me sabne aaj sab kuch diya, Par mein tujhe aaj apna kuch naa de pai.. Aajtak tere naam se sabse bahot kuch manga, Par tujhse aaj me apne liye kuch naa mang pai.. Hey Ishwar, In sabke bavjud kyu mujhe esa lagta hai…. Jese sari zindgi me bus tere sath hi jee pai…!!!!

Teri hi wajah se aaj me apne aangan me, Ek hi sahi, Par imandari ke paiso se diya to jala pai… Bhog nahi lagaya to kya huaa…!!! Par khud bhukha rahe ke, Bache mitti ke tel se tere is diye ko lambi umar to de pai… Tere bhandar me Bhet na de pai to kya huva, Par har roj tere darbar me, Hoto pe tera naam liye me hajir to rahe pai… Aaj tera hi naam leke tujhse khudke liye kuch na mang pai to kya huva..!!! Par sabko tere hi naam se, tere hi pas se, Khudke liye kuch mangne ka me mauka to de pai….