A fascinating novel and a broken mindset!

I just finished reading a novel titled `Uppu Kanakku` in Tamil written by the well known writer /author Vidya Subramaniam who is also the mother in law of the Celebrity TV anchor turned lawyer Sanjay Pinto. It was a fascinating novel based on the Salt Satyagraha of the freedom fighters led in the South by C.R.Rajagopalachari, popularly known as Rajaji who took 100 volunteers to Vedaranyam on the East Coast to break the Law imposed by the British Government against Salt collection by the locals. It is a brilliant piece of writing which makes  you feel as if you are  having a ringside view of the  experiences of a  family caught in the midst of the upraising. No wonder that  it is considered one of the best novels of the author which has already won several awards.  Though this is the first novel of the author I was reading,  I am a  regular reader of her daily  postings on Face Book. Written in an informal , chatty style I like the contents for their honesty and sincerity. I eagerly look forward to reading her pieces every day.

But the big news is that I read the whole novel online, in my mobile phone.  Something which I never thought I would ever do as I have always been waxing eloquent about the joy of reading a book holding it in your hands while relaxing on an  easy chair or your bed. Necessity is the mother of invention. Since the novel was out of print and was available only online, my son helped me download  the novel on kindle.  Besides since I am having trouble reading  the hard copies of books with small fonts, I found the experience of reading online very comfortable.  I have already read the latest book `SPRING` by the veteran adman  Ambi Parameshwaran online. I am currently reading the pdf version of the biography of Kalaignar Karunanidhi by the well known bilingual writer, Vaasanthi.  I am finding the whole experience of reading online thoroughly enjoyable. Makes me feel relieved that I don`t have to worry about the small fonts of printed books. One of my mindsets against reading books/magazines on line  is broken.

Thanks to the pandemic and the forced stay at home  many senior citizens have begun to enjoy reading online and also participating in zoom meetings. I am one of them.

A City Boy to a Rural Specialist

                                                                    Part -1

( Excerpted from my book on rural marketing titled `Don`t Flirt with rural marketing)

I am a city boy who  spent the first 29 years of my life in an urban environment. I was brought up in Bombay, as it was called then. I was still in school, when I first visited Rayalacheruvu a village  in Andhra Pradesh,. My maternal uncle was the Assistant Station Master there. It is a small station near Guntakal on the Chennai-Mumbai line. The visit gave me a taste of life in rural India. A taste that would lead to my getting involved in   rural marketing later in life. A good case study of a city boy becoming a rural specialist!

The modest quarters that my uncle’s family lived in was close to the railway station. Whenever a train stopped, the station became a beehive of activity—with travellers, vendors and beggars running around. For me and my sister, visiting the station two or three times a day became the desired pastime. After each train left, the lone tea stall holder would offer us a cup of hot tea with some biscuits—a privilege, courtesy our uncle, we looked forward to.

Not far from the station, there was a big well. My uncle and his colleagues used to swim there regularly. My uncle used to force me to take a dip holding me tight in his hands. A mere seven years old, I was scared of the water and used to scream, mad with fear. But I knew that my uncle meant well. He used to take us all on bullock carts to the nearby village haat (the weekly market). While my aunt busied herself with purchasing the many items needed for a household, we youngsters used to have fun playing games and gawking at the wares that were arrayed for sale. In the course of my career as a rural marketing specialist, I have visited many weekly haats in different parts of the country; yet that first visit is still green in my memory.

One thing I remember vividly about the visits to my uncle’s village, are the trips to the touring talkies. We went almost every Friday, to watch a new movie being screened. The ‘theatre’ was a temporary structure. The front part of the ‘theatre’ was for those people who sat down on the floor, some actually preferred. to lie down, and was called the ‘tharai’ ticket (floor ticket). The more genteel ‘balcony’ was at the back, and was separated from the front portion by means of a cloth partition. The higher rated ‘balcony’ was furnished with chairs. As an Assistant Station Master, my uncle was considered an important enough man in the village to get free tickets to sit in the balcony (!).Another thing that I clearly remember about my visits is that practically every day villagers would come to give us some of their farm produce, be it fruit or vegetable. Life in the village was not easy then, as there was neither electricity nor any other conveniences which city folks are used to. . All the same it was a different kind of holiday experience both my sister and I enjoyed as kids.

                                

                                      City boy to a Rural Specialist- Part 2

 

The next brush I had with rural India was in 1972 when I was associated with a Communication Education Programme on Nutrition in rural UP & AP for CARE, an NGO headquartered in US working in the area of Health & Nutrition. As part of its ongoing efforts, to choose a right communication strategy, CARE decided to conduct a study on Nutrition Education in rural India.and based on the findings  develop a communication strategy to be tested in two States before rolling it out nationally.

Advertising Consultants India Ltd., ACIL, as associate company of Clarion Advertising, where I was working , was appointed as the agency to handle the account. Tara Sinha,  CEO of the agency was  heading the task force. I was part of this team and it was my first experience of rural India as an ad professional. Based on market research findings we recommended two alternative communication strategies—one ‘positive’ to be tested in the villages of Uttar Pradesh and another ‘negative’ to be tested in the villages of Andhra Pradesh. While the positive campaign tried to highlight the benefits of good nutrition, the negative campaign  exploited the  ill effects of bad nutrition. I remember that the theatre film for the negative approached for AP was produced by Krishnaswamy Associates of Chennai and the film for UP in Hindi was produced by M.S.Sathyu of Garm Hawa fame. In the  absence of TV every other possible  media, both conventional and unconventional, were  used to discover their relative impacts. At CARE, a benchmark study and a post study were conducted by Ronald  Parlato, who was in charge of the project.The post study revealed that the negative approach, using fear, worked better than the positive approach. It also revealed the importance of the language press in reaching the opinion leaders in the villages.

 

A report prepared by Ron on the study, was printed and circulated to the relevant government departments and also to the media. Thanks to the publicity this generated, ACIL was approached by Madras Fertilizers Ltd. (MFL), a fertilizer company headquartered in Chennai to pitch for the change of name campaign (from MFL to Vijay Fertilizers). Tara Sinha assigned the project to Subash Chakravarthy, who undertook an exhaustive desk research and came up with an excellent background note on the fertilizer industry based on which we worked out a strategy. Tara Sinha and I presented it to client at their  office in Chennai. I remember both of us taking a Dakota flight from Delhi to Chennai via Nagpur. It was an aircraft that was used to carry mail in the nights, with only limited passenger capacity. We took that flight to save on cost, in spite of it being very uncomfortable! The client was thrilled with the insights we brought to the table and decided to award the account to us. There was great jubilation back in the agency as we had managed to wrest the account from JWT, the No. 1 agency in the country. I did not realize at that time (in 1973) that this was going to be the beginning of my long association with rural markets!

 

                          A City boy to Rural Specialist – Part 3

 

 In 1974, I moved over to head the Chennai office of Grant Kenyon & Eckhardt, a multinational agency. This was the No.2 Agency in the country in late fifties and early sixties.

I had the experience of  handling FMCG accounts like Forhans toothpaste, Colgate, Coke, Nestle etc. in the first decade of my career. When I shifted to Chennai, I found that there were hardly any FMCG brands to handle. When I heard that Shaw Wallace Agri Division was inviting agencies for a pitch, I immediately decided to try my luck.

Using the knowledge I had gained about the fertilizer market, while handling the Madras Fertilizers (MFL) account in ACIL, I pitched for the agri-business of Shaw Wallace. Clarion was the incumbent agency and R.K. Swamy, who had started his own setup a couple of years earlier, was also in the fray. `My big boss Tuku Ganguli came from Bombay on the day of the presentation to hold my hands! Impressed by the deep understanding of the fertilizer market evident in the presentation, Grant was awarded the fertilizer account (a part of the agri-division). It was not a big account, but for me it was an important breakthrough in the Madras market. Word spread around that despite  stiff competition, Grant Madras headed by a young man had managed to get the Shaw Wallace account,

 

. I had to put together a small team to handle the Shaw Wallace account .In the next two years, we did some good work for Shaw Wallace, which helped us bag the pesticides division’s account as well. To help develop effective communication packages, I started travelling extensively in the interiors of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, where Shaw Wallace’s products were popular. I accompanied their sales force, meeting farmers and dealers. As part of the exercise, I spent time at dealer outlets, observing the purchasing habits of the farmers visiting the shops. I would go into the field shooting pictures of crops at different stages. I did not hesitate to share the frugal meals offered by some  farmers, sitting cross legged on the floor inside their modest homes.

There were days during my travel when I did not get any decent food to eat and had to be content with bananas and tea!

 

I remember a particular visit accompanying the AV van in the hill districts of Kodaikanal. After an arduous and rough journey through the mountain roads on a jeep, along with the Shaw Wallace team, we reached a village where we were to conduct a show in the evening. As we had reached by early noon, we spent some time talking to a farmer harvesting mountain garlic; a specialty in the area. This farmer was also the sole dealer of Shaw Wallace, serving a few villages nearby. The evening came and the projection team took out the 16 mm projector and was ready to show a popular Tamil film interspersed with  the promotional films of the company.

 

As the show time approached, there was a lot of excitement and a large crowd had gathered. As the show progressed, I realized that the audience constituted of 80% children and the remaining were men and women who were not the target audience of the products we were trying to promote. Some of the farmers who were expected to come had not turned up. They had gone to sleep after imbibing the ‘millie’ (country liquor known as ‘Nautak’ in the North), after a hard day’s work in the field.

The same picture was painted in the other villages where we had our shows. But the reports from the van crew talked about the success of the shows based on the number of people who attended the get-together. I was appalled and it got me thinking. The ideas that I recommended to clients based on these visits not only helped me earn more respect from them but also enhanced my reputation as a rural communication specialist. This led to my agency bagging the prestigious MRF Farm Tyres account.  Another important turning point in my professional career.

 

`                                          A City boy to Rural Specialist -Part 4

 

During my travels in the hinterland of South India, I also had the opportunity to visit a number of Haats or Sandhais/Chandies (weekly markets) visited by people from twenty to thirty villages nearby. Chandies were  held on the same day, time and venue every week. It was a great opportunity for marketers interested in rural marketing to promote their products. Though a few companies like HUL, ITC, Brooke Bond, and Aspro were already utilizing the Haats for their promotional activities, the idea I came up with for Shaw Wallace was a magic show  with a difference to be performed by a trained magician in Haats..

!

The difference for Shaw Wallace, was in blending the product story with the magic trick. We had to study all the tricks performed by the magician and identify items which could  be used in our shows.I also explained to our client, that conducting several shows in a day at the Haats, not only helped us reach a focused target audience of farmers, but also helped us reduce the cost per contact; because we were reaching more people from more villages for the same cost. While the results were encouraging, the efforts also taught us some useful lessons. Based on the experience, I wrote an article that was published by ‘Industrial Times’ the only business magazine of the time edited by Subash Rele. The review of my piece in the  popular weekly column of the legendary adman Mr.K. Kurien of Radeus Advertising in the Economic Times under the pen name ‘Zachary‘ got me some recognition in the marketing world as someone who was trying to do things differently in terms of rural initiatives.

 

 Later, when my agency bagged the Farm Tyre Division of MRF to handle their bullock cart and tractor tyre accounts, I applied the lessons I had learnt earlier in developing strategies for MRF. To promote bullock cart tyres, I recommended a slide and tape presentation at the weekly Haats in the UP market. It was a ‘first of its kind’ promotion. As the Haats were held during day times,  we had to provide a black cloth canopy on the back of the van to provide enough shade so that visuals projected from the van on the screen using back projector technique was reasonably visible to a group of fifty to sixty people. Further I recommended a journey cycle plan for the AV van which was considered unique at that time.

 

 As against the van  programmes prevailing then  where  Vans travelled from one end of the State to the other end without any breaks for the crew  leading to many setbacks in  the schedule, , I developed a plan under which the whole programme was centred round a district headquarters town, or a feeder market town. As soon as the van reached the town, the crew checked into a hotel and reported to the leading dealer of the town, who was roped in to supervise the programme. The journey cycle was such that the Haats to be visited were within 50 to 60 km radius of the town. Every morning, the van would proceed to a pre-determined site, conduct the show and return to the hotel in the evening; so that the van crew could rest and recoup. Besides, since their location was known during those ten days, communication with the families was possible. And if there was any change in programme, because of any unexpected development, the lead dealer was kept informed. If and when the company executives came for surprise checks, they could first check with the dealer, and then proceed straight to the village concerned. The whole process helped in vastly improving the performance of the van crew, besides drastically reducing the wastage of time and resources. Though this kind of journey cycle plans has become very popular these days, thirty years ago, we were the pioneers. Besides, these days, mobile  technology has made a huge  difference in dealing with rural markets.

 

 A City boy to Rural Specialist -Part 5

 

The year 1986 saw me turning into an entrepreneur after 22 years of service in two multinational agencies.. It was the year when Grant decided to merge with Contract Advertising, an associate company in the JWT Group. As I had opposed the merger, I quit my job and  started Anugrah Marketing & Advertising as a fully accredited  advertising agency  handling  both rural and general campaigns for a variety of clients. All our rural campaigns in the initial years were for  agri- input clients like Shaw Wallace, EID Parry, MRF (Farm Tyre Division), T Stanes, Mahindra Pumpsets etc.

 

Only in 1997, Anugrah, for the first time  got an opportunity to handle a major rural initiative for the Consumer Electronics Division of Philips in Tamil Nadu. The agency which was until then was dealing with only farmers , had to come up with a campaign targeting the entire rural community – young, old, rich, poor, educated, uneducated, farmers and others. It was a fascinating experience. The `Enga Veettu Super Star – Philips` campaign  that the agency developed helped Philips register a substantial incremental sales when the whole consumer durable  industry was seeing a down turn.  It became a successful case study widely covered by business magazines of the time. The campaign helped Anugrah to get national recognition. It also brought the legendary Sam Balsara of the Madison World fame to our door steps.

 

Impressed with our credentials and experience in rural marketing, Sam Balsara mooted the idea of a joint venture with Anugrah  to be positioned as the rural division of Madison Communication and to  be called Anugrah Madison. This happened in 1998.The association with Madison certainly did open the doors of many blue chip clients to us but  did not result in addition of big business . The real breakthrough came  only when we began to handle  major integrated campaigns in rural India for  Shriram Transport Finance and ACC Cements.  Over the years  Anugrah Madison handled rural assignments for a long roster of blue chip clients gaining enormous insights into the functioning of rural markets.

 

At the end of the third year of the joint venture,  I realized the need for doing something to fight competition from agencies like Ogilvy Outreach and Linterland (both having pan India presence and also support from Hindustan Lever). I mooted the idea of starting a ‘Rural Network’ consisting of single branch agencies known for their involvement in rural marketing. Out of the seven agencies I contacted, Kashyap of Mart, Patankar of Sampark and Pradeep Lokhande of Rural Relations attended the first meeting in Delhi.

The Rural Network, was an informal association of four leading rural marketing specialists, with subject and regional specializations. The group had come together, to form a business alliance to take on the competition from multinational agencies. Though we did not land a single big assignment, all of us benefited from some business leads we got through reference from other members of the network. More than the business, the four of us became good friends ( we continue to be), regularly exchanging notes and gaining new knowledge on the subject. In this, the contribution of Kashyap of Mart, who was the first to respond to the idea of the ‘Rural Network’ was  phenomenal. His vast knowledge base of the subject, and also his ability to articulate his thoughts lucidly became an important asset to the network.

 

Once again, based on my initiative we converted the Rural Network into Rural Marketing Agencies Association of India (now known as Rural Marketing Association of India - RMAI)— an industry body to promote the cause of rural marketing in India and also help dispel several myths about Rural marketing. RMAI was formally launched in April 2005 at a press meet in Mumbai with 11 founder members that included big names like Ogilvy Outreach, Linterland, RC&M, Impact Communications et al.

 

I was elected the First President of RMAI at the ripe age of sixty three. My dream of presiding over an all India body had become a reality. I continued in the role for four years and thoroughly enjoyed being a spokesperson for the rural marketing industry. At a personal level, I had completed my dream journey, that began at Rayalacheruvu in Andhra and took me through all the pristine hinterlands of the country. In the process, I had  evolved from a city boy to a rural marketing specialist.  I was happy when RMAI recognized my contribution to the subject when I was conferred  the Life Time Achievement Award in 2009. It was at a two in one function of RMAI in Chennai where my autobiography `Courage my Companion` was also released. I continued my association with Rural marketing for a few more years until the publication of my book titled Don`t Flirt with Rural Marketing` in 2013. The book published by  Productivity & Quality Publishing Pvt. Ltd. Chennai became my swan song for a career I pursued  for over forty years.

 

These days I am enjoying my new Avatar as a writer/author, far removed from the  world of marketing and advertising! (Concluded)

Drivers & their idiosyncrasies

I had the privilege of getting a chauffer driven car as a perquisite when I became the Deputy C E O of Advertising Consultants India Ltd. in Delhi where I worked between 1971-74. I was 30 then. The  driver`s name  was `Bahadur`.  A good driver who also  knew all the etiquette that  every driver had to follow.

After I settled down in Chennai in 1974. I have had more than a dozen drivers driving my cars over the years.  Naturally with different capabilities and idiosyncrasies. I would like to share my experiences with a few of them.

There was Veera Raghhavan, claiming to be an Iyengar like me.  He had the habit of getting into a trance whenever the car neared or passed a Hanuman temple. His body would shake and he would become incoherent. It would be frightening to see him in that state while he was driving.  Because of which he would judiciously avoid going on the streets where he knew there was a Hanuman temple.

Seetharaman was a driver who believed in indulging in his favourite spirit every evening after office hours. When he came for duty in the morning, with red eyes, he would be stinking. Invariably , in the morning within a few minutes of driving the car, he would stop the car near the kerb, get down, go to a corner and could be seen vomiting. It was a sad and sickening sight. Needless to say that he didn`t last very long as a driver with me.

Then there was Prakash, an `absence minded professor`. A good driver, soft spoken but very forgetful and confused most of the time. Once I had gone to a Department Store. After shopping I returned  to the car and found the back door already opened for me to get in. Suddenly I remembered something I forgot to buy. I banged the door shut and went back to the store. When I came back I found the car and the driver missing.  Obviously Prakash had driven away the car thinking that I was already seated when he heard the back door being shut. He never looked back to see if I am there. Only after reaching  the office he realized his mistake.  He didn`t stay as my  driver for very long as he decided to become an Owner/Auto driver.  He probably thought a vehicle without doors is safer to drive!

The best of the lot was Srirangam. He was not only sincere in his job, but was extremely loyal. He would go beyond the call of duty to help any member of the family. A friendly soul, he was liked by every  one in my family.. However he had  one weakness. He would keep honking the horn constantly, even on empty roads. Very irritating to the passengers in the car. A very god fearing man, every morning he would religiously clean the car, pick flowers from the home garden and decorate the different idols of gods  placed on the dashboard of the car, which looked like a mini pooja room. He worked with me for nearly 15 years, until my retirement.  Even today he is in regular touch with me and visits our home on occasions. You must be lucky to get such good drivers!

 

Googling your way to knowledge

 The other day a North Indian friend called to ask me the name of a  variety of a spinach which is very good for curing mouth ulcers, which I had recommended to him earlier. I promptly told him it is `Manathakali Keerai` in Tamil. When he wanted the English or Hindi name. I told him I would  get back. Like all writers I make extensive use of  Google to research on any topic. However I was not sure if Google can help me  with the translation of a Tamil name. I decided to give it a try. I googled `Manathakali Keerai` in English and pressed the enter button. Lo &  behold , the next minute not only did it give me the name of the spinach in English ( Black night shade) and `Makoi` in Hindi but also gave enough information to write a thesis on the subject.

Until I discovered Google I would refer to the bulky Oxford Dictionary, the Thesaurus or even  a book of popular phrases whenever I needed help for my writing assignments. Google has helped me to clear my table of these books and make it less cluttered. Whoever conceived the idea must be a genius. Imagine being able to access any information, on any subject in any language at the press of a button, even on your mobile. The world at your finger tips. It is awesome!

I also use google to identify a carnatic singer of my choice for the day and click the enter button and  I am presented with a choice of his/her concerts to listen to. I do this every afternoon. I have the complete schedule of Music Academy for the season, which I use to select my singer for the day. As a person who is no connoisseur of Carnatic music but listen to it only for the joy it gives me, I am very happy  with this possibility.

While I have learnt  to use Google to fill my knowledge gap on any issue, one thing I don`t do is to consult Dr.Google for any of my health issues. I know of many of my curious  friends who  would  enter their  symptoms and seek Dr.Google`s help  to identify their  ailment. Dr.Google being an expert on everything under the Sun, has  no qualms about  advising  my friend about various possibilities from Cancer to the worst form of other diseases.  In  panick the friend  would rush to a five star hospital  for treatment  where a specialist would  prescribe all kinds of tests (even unrelated to his area so that he can meet his targets) just to rule out all possibilities. At the end, he would either say that the friend has  no problem  or recommend a preventive surgery to avoid future complications arising out of the symptoms turning out to be a major problem later. Either way my friend would have wasted his time and money and will then go back to complaining about the exploitation by corporate hospitals.

No sir, not for me Dr.Google. Any day I prefer my family doctor ( fortunately I have one) who knows enough about my body that as  I  am describing  my symptoms, he would be ready with his prescription. He would recommend Tests only if he feels it is important. Even as I come out of his clinic after paying his modest fees I feel better. In our family we call him a Rasiana (lucky) doctor!

 

Relationships

`Kutram Parkil Chutram Illai` (If you start finding faults, there will be no relationships)- these famous words of my mother have been deeply ingrained in me. Over the years if I have earned the good will and love of not only my near and dear ones but also thousands of people I have across in my life, it is because I value relationships a lot. Whenever faced with a situation where I have to choose between continuing a relationship or cut it off because the person concerned has deeply hurt me by his words or actions- I have chosen to opt for continuing a relationship following the famous adage- `Forgive and forget` . 

Another lesson my mother taught me was not to take revenge on people who have harmed me in some way. She used to tell me “ It is not for you to teach the guy a lesson . Leave it to the almighty to do that. When that happens and when your detractor is suffering , don`t mock at him but extend a helping hand” It is not easy to follow the advice but I have found following it has done a world of good to me in my dealing with difficult people.This can happen only if you are able to control your ego. Many spoiled relationships of people can be traced back to ego problems. 

I remember an instance when I was the President of an all India body. In one of the committee meetings a member unfairly accused me of humiliating him by not featuring his name prominently in a report on some activity. His tone and language were insulting to me. Instead of arguing with the guy and justifying my action, I apologized for hurting him inadvertently and promised to take corrective action. I did not harbor any grudge against the guy for insulting me but decided to be extra nice to him in future. This attitude of mine mellowed the guy so much that he later apologized to me for his impulsive action. We continue to be best of friends even today. 

I know of another instance where a friend `B` was having a major problem with one of his siblings who would insult and humiliate B for silly reasons. He was basically jealous of his brother`s success in life while he was not. B`s wife was constantly egging him to cut the relationship. But B ignored all the insults because he valued relationship. Once when the sibling had a serious accident, he went out of his way to help the guy come out of the crisis. This act of kindness by B , transformed the sibling so much that today he is in best of terms with B. You cannot claim good relationship with people suddenly to gain some short term advantage. It has to be genuinely cultivated and nurtured with good deeds and actions over a period of time. `Sharing and caring` is the best way to build relationships. Good relationships can not only help you in your hours of crisis but also help you in leading a more peaceful and contented life.

Sweet Memories and Dream Thoughts

Since the publication of my autobiography in 2009 which was inspired by a talk by Mr.S.Muthiah on `Biography as History` ,I have been carrying his message to every senior citizen I come across to write their memoirs for posterity. I am glad to say over a dozen have already responded with published books or in the process of writing their memoirs. The latest to respond is my friend Rtn K. Viswakumar, also a Dignitarian. I was delighted when he asked me to write a Forward for his book titled `Sweet Memories and Dream Thoughts. He has fruitfully used the compulsory confinement at home thanks to Covid 19 and the Lockdown. Given below is an extract from my Foreword to the book: Viswakumar`s professional career is as varied as it is colourful. After graduating with a degree in Engineering, he started his career with the Railways, a Public sector undertaking where he spent the first 24 years of his illustrious career. It was followed by a stint with Simpsons group, a company in the Private sector. He later shifted to Academics & Consultancy. I am happy to note that he has left his indelible mark in every institution he has been associated with. The book is divided into two parts. In the first part he has shared some of his interesting life experiences in the form of anecdotes. In the second part he records his thoughts on a variety of topics relevant to day to day lives of people based on his own and many based on his observations of life & people. His experiences in the Railways where he quickly rose to higher positions and the strategies he adopted to face challenging situations make for interesting reading. Particularly the anecdote dealing with the way he tackled an unruly Loco driver is a lesson in the use of empathy in dealing with staff. I was also impressed with the way he faced a major crisis involving some students when he was working with the SRM Institutions where he was in charge of administration after initially doing teaching assignments. Similarly the lessons he learnt in Japan where he went to attend an Electric Traction training in Japanese National Railways in 1984 are note worthy. Viswakumar was very impressed with the total dedication and commitment of the Japanese to their jobs. There are also interesting anecdotes related to his association with Rotary, where his acting talent came to limelight. I was quite amused to read about the incident where he had to don the role of a lady in a play- – a look alike of Kamal Hasan in the Tamil film Avvai Shanmuki. . The second part contains his random thoughts not only based on real life experiences but also thoughts which appeared in his `Dreams`, as he claims. They cover God, Religion, Astrology, Politics, Society, Investments, Health, Nature and Life in general The book ends with an interesting couplet in Tamil written by his sister Mrs. Uma Sundaram who has been conducting music classes mainly to the elderly for the past 30+years in which she also teaches her own compositions. I am sure that the book will appeal to all age groups. The youngsters particularly can benefit from the author`s insights on a variety of subjects related to various aspects of life. This well designed book by Compuprint is Published by `Creative Workshop` - a specialist in Digital Printing based in Chennai.. Those interested in getting a copy of the book can contact the author on 9840021575.

Is Forgetfulness a Disease?

`Forgive and forget’ goes the old saying. But people affected by your forgetfulness are not willing to forgive you. Forgetfulness is a disease which every human being experiences in his/her lifetime. The disease is generally expected to attack people in their old age. But these days, even small kids complain of forgetfulness–not just relating to what they have studied for exams but even simple instructions that their parents give them. The most common loss of memory relates to birthdays and wedding anniversaries. How many times have you waited for a call from your son, daughter or spouse, wishing you a happy birthday or anniversary, only to find that the call never comes, nor does the gift!. These days Whats App has solved this problem. One person in a group sends a birthday greeting and every one else follows the leader like sheeps. There are people who believe in taking the bull by the horns and telling the person concerned about the importance of the date and demanding a gift! My late wife used an interesting route to solve the problem. She would buy the gift that she thought she deserved for her birthday/wedding anniversary, and tactfully present the bill to me on D-Day–knowing pretty well that I would not reject it. Clever, don’t you agree? Here are some kinds of forgetfulness that cause you embarrassment on a day-to-day basis: You ring up a number but forget what number it was that you dialled. And hesitantly ask the person who picks up the phone ‘Sorry, what number is this?’ Often the response is a furious: ‘You dialled the number, you should know’. And the call is promptly disconnected. The most frequent embarrassment I face is when I ring up somebody and say ‘Sorry Ganesh, I forgot what I called you for. Will call again when I remember!’ And there are instances of forgetfulness which are ridiculous:- Like searching for your spectacles all over the house when it is safely pushed up on your forehead! Or religiously preparing a checklist of things that you want to buy but forgetting to take it with you when you go shopping. The most common form of forgetfulness is when you keep something safely in a place and forget where you kept it when you need it urgently. Oh! The list is endless! Sometimes your forgetfulness can create havoc or lead to a major or minor crisis in your life! I want to share with you an incident from my life 35 years ago–when I was panic stricken because of a temporary memory loss! I had gone to Gorakhpur in Eastern UP to make a surprise check on an audio visual campaign for a tyre company which was to start the following day in a nearby village. Since I had checked into the hotel early and my evening was free, I decided to go for the evening show of a movie ‘Ardh Sathya’ featuring actor Ompuri,. I took a cycle rickshaw, carrying with me just enough cash to pay for the outing. The movie started and as I was beginning to get engrossed in it, I suddenly realized that I could not remember either the name or the address of the hotel where I was staying. All my efforts to dredge up the details from my brain were in vain. I started imagining the worst case scenario-lost on the streets of Gorakhpur, running from street to street to locate the hotel late into the night, sleeping on the pavement. With the poor telecom facilities prevailing then (no mobiles for instant connectivity), the idea of checking with my colleague back in Chennai at that hour, did not seem practical. I did not know a soul in the town and even the address of the local dealer was safe in my brief case back in the hotel. It was one of the worst 60 minutes I spent in my life before the intermission came. As I moved out of the auditorium to get a cup of tea in the makeshift restaurant inside the cinema hall, I suddenly saw the familiar face of the supervisor of the AV van whose team had also come to watch the movie. Without wasting any time on formalities I asked the guy whether he remembered the name of the hotel where I had checked in. He gave me a funny look and told me that the team was supposed to report to me next morning at Hotel Bambino on such and such street, where I was supposed to be staying. I thanked him profusely and sheepishly told him about my temporary amnesia, and we all had a hearty laugh. Needless to say, I watched the rest of the movie with total peace of mind.