Tryst with Computer - Part 2

The journey of next 10 years continue...

In 2001, when I came to Chandigarh, I had a different set of experience. Flashy Pen drives of 512 MB / 1 GB (considered to be highest those days), which replaced the floppies. Windows 98 and Windows 2000 were extensively used. Windows 98 even now considered being most rugged operating system much like our Bajaj Chetak Scooters. It never crashed when other operating systems crumbled like humble pie. 20 / 40 GB hard discs from the usual single digit hard discs were popular. Fox pro replaced Dbase. Multimedia key boards, desk jet printers were replacing conventional key boards and dot matrix printers respectively. Projectors, scanners came in existence. The evolutions were thrilling.

Though, I have seen all of these, Internet was an unknown terrain for me. Lot of hesitations surfaced again. Who to approach? But my savior came in the form of my wife’s cousin. She was a young kid and we brought her during May 2001, to Chandigarh during her final year college vacations. When we were talking something, this internet thing popped out and I said I do not know how to create an ID and to use it further. To my surprise, she told that she will help me. The same day evening we went and she created an ID for me. 

I have been seeing and replying mails from that day onwards in cybercafé. After sometime, an ID was created for my wifei as well. When I was in Bagdogra, we used to “chat” on alternate days for 2 hours. This we did for almost 3 months… The instant messages, mails, sending photos as attachments were amazing me.

On 1 May 2003, I bought my PC (which is working fine even now) at 40 GB and 128 MB RAM. My learning continued even in home from that point onwards. However, we did not take an internet connection at that point of time. Wife joined a diploma course in computer applications and we thought it would be useful if we have our own computer for practice. The same computer has been upgraded to 100 GB hard disc and 2 GB RAM as of now. Beyond this the old system cannot take it anymore. No slots, no old parts available for the same..

After coming to Mumbai in 2007, the pinnacle was having a laptop with internet provided by office. The journey to cybercafés came to an end. Things became as easy as I am connected anywhere and everywhere. Getting an internet connection in 2010 for home PC was another feather in the cap. 

Today Mailing, blogging, chatting, posting status in facebook, twitter has become a normal thing. Adding to that, every transaction has become online. Be it telephone, electricity, internet BB, credit card payments, transfer of funds from one bank to another bank or to different people in the same bank or different bank, booking a movie ,train, air or a match ticket, watching a movie online,  all are done through computers. 

Features like having own web album, own blog have become an integral part. When I look back these 20 years, it gives me immense satisfaction as how my life is transformed and I am witness to all of it. It also tells me that if one is willing enough to put in some efforts, dividends are there to reap. 

Thus the romance with computers still continue.. The only irony is that I do not know any programming languages. May be I will pick up one later from my son as he has to study C++ (part of school curriculum). I see an opportunity striking my door… While, I feel that I am confident in something, a different thing pops out, as a new thing and thus the learning continues....

Tryst with Computer - Part 1

When I was writing about blog on communication, some more thoughts poured in. Memory flashed back 20 years… A novice who does not know anything about computers, never undergone any formal courses or possess a degree like BCA or MCA till date, came to my mind. Needless to say that novice is me…

All those events, associated terminologies, struggle, excitement, pain, joy and transformations flashed across my mind. As I was munching those wonderful moments, thought of putting those on record. Every individual must have faced more or less of these things in one’s life too. In this part, the first 10 years experience is shared....

It was in 1991 at Kanpur I had my first exposure to computers. Though excitement was there to see the machine spill and spew calculations, records and print outs, hesitation was also at peak as lack of knowledge played a dominant role. It was Bala and Gopu who allayed my fears and thus started my journey. They remain my first Gurus. 132 column, 80 column papers, EPSON dot-matrix printers, Single digit memory (in GB) hard disc computer, 64 MB RAM were a huge thing those days. 512MB floppy discs (5^1/4 in size) were a surprise for me.  Putting ON and OFF and subsequent logging in was a big task to learn. Loading paper in printer and taking a printout made me very happy as if I have achieved a very big thing, that too after wasting lot of papers for one print out!!!. How to load paper in fan fold mode, which I learnt later, is a different story.

Operating system like DOS (equal to present day windows 7 or linux), software like Word star (MS Word now), LOTUS 1-2-3 (Excel now), Dbase (equal to MS Access) were in vogue. The height of my knowledge was that I did not know the difference between an operating system and application software at that point of time. Though I worked in all these software, of course under constant guidance, someone had to help me always for one or other thing. Entering that computer room was a nightmarish experience. Working in Word star release7 (latest version in 92 – 93) was talk of the town. Word wrap feature (equal to “justify” now) was a beautiful thing I remember at that time. This learning opportunity was restricted to first 4 years as I have been shifted to a new function. Though had direct access, I could not spend much time in learning process…

In 1997, when I went to Guwahati, it was a mandatory thing to complete a 15 day crash course as part of computer literacy (though not a formal course and cannot be treated at par with courses offered by Institutions) for every newly transferred individual. But the irony of this course is that they were teaching still DOS, LOTUS, WORD STAR and DBASE, whereas Windows 95NT, Windows 97 were used in offices!!!

A responsibility was thrust on me to work in computer again after a brief break. Should I call this destiny or something? For the first time I had no support to help or teach me. I did not know how to work in Windows 95 environment, though it was menu supported user friendly environment. On the top of it, I was asked to make a presentation comprising almost 80 slides with transitions, animations to be completed within 4 days. Presentations those days used to be in transparencies till that point of time. Copying onto higher memory 1.44 MB but small size floppy diskettes was another problem. I was struggling for copying a file in “Save as” / “Rename” option. Hesitation of Dragging a file or folder into another file / folder was evident. Handling mouse was not in my control!!! Lot of complexities.. It was a hell of an experience. 

It was at this point I went to the boss and told him all my difficulties and that I cannot handle all of this.  I did not know from where the guts and gumption came from, to tell him. Probably the gravity of the situation forced me. To my surprise, he was smiling and appreciated me for my frankness. To add to the surprise, he personally came and sat with me to teach me for nonstop 4 hours about MS WORD, Excel, Power point and Access. I owe and remain indebted forever to JK Singh for whatever I did accomplish later.

To be continued....

Communication - Electronic Media

We have seen the utility and usage of telephones / mobiles, their advancement over all these years in the previous issue…. Now finally electronic media as a concluding part..

The latest medium of communication is being done through e mails, micro blogging (Face book, Twitter, Orkut etc.,) and chatting

I was introduced to emails in 2001. Ten years has passed since then. Similarly, I took up blogging in 2008, Geni in 2008, Facebook in 2009, Twitter in 2010, SKYPE Chat in 2011, though I took up Yahoo chat during 2004 itself..

Even though I started sending mails since 2001, it was mostly from cyber cafes till 2007. One had to face a lot of troubles in seeing the mails in one hour of time and that too not regularly. The surfing charges in those days used to be Rs 30 to 40 per hour. Even the cyber cafes used to say what type of lines they use for internet connectivity. There used to be a monthly, quarterly, half yearly package. I used to take either a quarterly or half yearly package as they used to be cheaper than the hourly rates. It was always tough to keep abreast with the mails, as every day there used be a chunk of mails and would not be in a position to reply all of them.

In 2007, when I joined private sector, email access have become much simpler. I had connectivity for at least 10 hours every day. Thereafter, Internet connectivity had been obtained at home in 2010 thus 24X7 connectivity had been established. All these years the progress has been gradual and steady.

For example Twitter or Face book where one can post their status, attach their albums, and share their thoughts in a smaller way. These days, they are also done through mobiles as well, as appropriate apps (applications) are pre-installed in smart phones. Blogs are the medium, where one puts in their thoughts, experiences, useful inputs, memoirs, travelogue in a bigger way. These can be retained as a History for an individual. Web albums are extensively used these days to store personal albums.

Look at the evolution of technology from letters to Phone to electronic medium in our day to day life. We had been witness to all advancements. The advantages of sharing information across emails are instant and easy though we are separated by miles be it within the country or abroad. But I must admit here that the personal touch in emails is missing. The handwritten letters conveyed so much. Handwriting for example, meant much to us and we immediately connect ourselves emotionally to the person. One can argue that a similar personal touch can be brought in emails as well. However, as one always say, I agree that OLD is GOLD. While I say this, I am not opposed to Technology and its uses / advantages.

We all have come a long way having witnessed everything. Having a Tablet or ipad in the future is not far away. PCs are already being replaced by laptops. Now mobiles and tablets are already on their way to replace laptops also. We are in for much more…. So guys get ready for yet another take off for a smooth landing once more…

Communication - Telephone

Hope the previous issue must have rekindled your own associated memories of your life....

We have also come across Telephones, starting with trunk call booking. In this process, we used to book a call with post office by giving the city and the number to be connected. Getting connected to this trunk call was a huge process with lot of waiting time. One would never move away from Telephone, for the simple reason, that you my get connected any time. There was no definite waiting time. Slowly, that was replaced by STD, which was amazing thing again. All you had to do was to dial the number prefixed by appropriate STD code and you get connected.

During STD days, when telephone was not there in home, serving at different stations, one had to wait in queue for long, to get our turn to contact their near and dear. There were full rate, half rate and one fourth rate prevailing till 2001, I think. So the maximum crowd who wanted to communicate will invariably come after 9 PM to avail the one fourth rates. Those days the charges were astronomically high at Rs 30 per minute…

It was even more difficult, when we have served in remote places. There would be only one STD booth in a radius of 3 Km. If you got connected in the first instance, after waiting for long, you were as lucky as winner of a lottery. You were allowed to make three attempts and if you could not get connected, you would have come back at the rear of the line to give others, their chance.

I remember, having my first mobile in Aug 2004 (recently replaced with a touch phone) and this was a great bonanza. Talking to near and dear was a cakewalk. Gone are those days where we would have waited for hours in queue to speak. Even we were able to text messages, as call charges were around Rs 5 per minute. Though, the charges have greatly come down from Rs 30 to Rs 5, we were very conservative in using mobile phones. Questions like “Do you have a pre-paid or post paid connection?”, “Who is your service provider?”, “What are the tariff charges?”, were very common. In Sep 2005, I bought my second mobile (lost it in Oct 2009) with a different connection.

By 2007, the tariff has drastically come down to almost Rs 1.50. Having individual mobiles, has become a necessity at that point of time. Earlier, when we were sending our family alone from a remote station to hometown, you could get a confirmation of reaching safely, was only after two/three days of journey….  Now what happens, even the individual would have not crossed 100 metres from home. There will be a call informing that you have forgotten something. Take the case of travel from Mumbai to Pune, a distance of 192 Km which takes about 210 minutes. There would be at least 6 - 10 calls / SMS made during this travel. “have taken the auto/ local train”, “have reached the station”. “boarded the Express Train and sat comfortably”, “have reached Karjat”, “crossed Lonavla”, “reached Khadki and got down from the train”, “taken auto to home”, “Reached home”. Communication is being used left, right and centre.

With the call charges costing us 1 paisa per second these days, this is inevitable. The technology has advanced; tariff has come down, with STD becoming indifferent and at par with local calls….

Shall we see Emails, voice and video chat, Macro and micro blogging in the next issue……

To be continued….

Communication - Letters

11 Oct 2011, TOI headlines ….. “Roaming charges to be abolished. Government plans nationwide number portability”.

This news triggered a plethora of thoughts about communication. We all have read that in ancient days that pigeons used to carry messages or use of an ambassador to convey messages between Kings. Later, we also have heard and used Telephone, Telegram, letters, mails, mobiles in our lives to communicate among us. What surprises me is the advancement of technology over these years of written and oral communication.

A simple postcard, greeting Card, inland letter or an envelope posted in a post office going to other part of state / country was amazing me in those days. If my memory serves it right, a post card costed 15 paise, presently 50 paise, an inland letter costed us 25 paise, presently Rs 2.50 and an envelope 75 paise, presently Rs 5. Letter writing habit was deeply rooted in every family in earlier days.

This habit was inculcated in me by my father.  He used to allow me to write at least a few lines in all the letters which he wrote to all relatives. Thus I was motivated to share my thoughts as a kid with my elders and my father never used to amend anything of my portion.

I can still visualize the writings of my grandfather and grandmother. We still have some of those letters, with my father as a prized possession. I remember one particular letter, in which my grandmother had listed things, required after “Delivery” to my Aunt!! Microsoft must have learnt the “monotype corsiva” font from my Grandfather!!. His running handwriting with those beautiful strokes spoke volumes of emotions. His hand writing still remains an inspiration for me.

My father used to maintain a folder for letters every year. I used to read all letters of my relatives, whenever I went on leave. Though I came to know the things earlier, through parent’s letters, reading those relative’s letters later, during my annual vacation, gave a lot of pleasure and the feeling that you were there with everybody at the same time. I silently admired all those letters.

Going back to formative years with defence services had given me a similar kind of emotion. During lunch time, almost everybody will be rushing to mess to have a quick grab. However, all had one daily activity in common. All would go to their rooms to find one letter in their bed, which would be opened in a flash and rush to mess to go through that letter as many as possible times before you land up in front of the counter where food is served!!. There were also days when you did not receive letters, but the routine never changed, as we used to read the ‘old’ letters all over again. There used to be some ‘dry days’ as well, indicating no letters. Those are sad days. Letter writing was a hobby, passion and getting replies for the same, one got unbridled happiness.

We all have heard this song “Sandese Aathe hain” from the famous movie Border. This song even today, evokes the same emotions and brings the essence of communication as part of our life. Communication provides meaning, substance and adds lot of sweet memories to the beautiful life.

Shall we see something about Tele / electronic communication….. Yes of course little later…..

To be continued……

Memory Down the lane..24 & counting.. Conclusion

One would never to want to end such sweet memories.. But things have come to an end so that we can sit back and relax and refresh our glorious past. Sometimes we need to come to present as well. Living in present and maximize the enjoyment and pleasure in present is also equally important. Past memories drive and encourage us to live in the present.

It gives me an immense satisfaction, when I look back those wonderful moments and equally happy to have placed it on record. One may wonder why this all of a sudden… generally it happens in a Silver jubilee or Golden jubilee year.

Though, I thought of all these aspects but I followed it strictly as per Kabir Das’ famous couplet, which goes to say

“Kaal Kare So Aaj Kar, Aaj Kare So Ab

Pal Mein Pralaya Hoyegi, Bahuri Karoge Kub”

Which can be translated as follows

[Tomorrow's work do today, today's work now

if the moment is lost, the work be done how]

When I was portraying each individual, I was living with them literally, delving on those beautiful past. It was an experience in itself and cannot be described in words. It was a journey, a penance….

Though, I have written about only 15 stars, there are many unsung heroes who have associated with me in all these 24 years. “Chubby” Deepak who taught how to speak Hindi (though I know to read and write), “Charming” Shailender, my stiff competitor ( I enjoyed the challenge, though I lost it), “Big eyed” Ram Bahadur Tiwari, “Pleasant” Joymalya Sengupta, “Racer” Jose Noel, “Blue blood” Giridhar, “Smart” Banerjee, The only “Singh is King” Ballu alias Balwinder Singh Saini, “Gentleman turned Officer” Vinod Nair are still refreshingly associated in memories. I dedicate to all stars, including whose names have not come in this series

On this day, 24 years before, we started our first training session at 3 AM…..

Meet you guys after some time, on a different note, but at the same place…. Till then keep “jogging” your memories. I end my series on this note and with even a greater resolution that we keep our flag flying high…

The End

Memory down the lane...24 & counting...Star 15

Seshadri V

He is a very sincere, honest, upright, principled, logical, thoughtful, caring and charming personality. We became friends to each other in no time. Only in magnetism the rule of like poles repel and unlike poles attract would apply. In our case, it is like “Like poles attract”. So much so that he entrusted me with handling his expenses from the first month along with B Kannan. He was one the “three musketeers” as we were known then among our circle. Why he or Kannan trusted me at that point of time is what I am wondering even now, when I look back those days.

Those days were beautiful days, where he used to take care of us by going and fetching things for eating whatever may be the crowd.. When we all did the (in)famous crawling on a Sunday for no fault of ours, and shed our muddy banians drenched with sweat on the way like Salman does these days, here was a guy who stood up and asked bravely about his fault.. He was my partner in those days for maintaining the entertainment room. There was no time for people to spend in the indoors, yet we both had a wonderful time.

Though he was posted in Tezpur when I was in Guwahati, I had two wonderful opportunities to visit him. All I have to do is to inform that I am coming. My (his) bed will be ready with all the facilities on offer. He would go and sleep wherever he found one. He has also come to Guwahati once. I must mention his keen interest in Photography. This I understand he has picked it up when he was in Kanpur with One Mr. Anbarasan. Though his stay at Kanpur was a short lived one before conversion, his interest has pushed him to learn the tricks of the trade faster. As the days progressed photography as his hobby also grew with him.

When he came to Guwahati, we took him to Balaji Temple. He took a snap of us, framed it in a bigger size and later sent it as a gift to us. Even today, it is there in our drawing room reminding us the greener pastures. Sesha also came to Mohali with Mala to spend a day on their return from Himachal after attending a marriage. This was a Tamil New Year day. We spent real quality time with them showing Rock Garden, Rose garden and Sukhna lake.

The family acquaintances with his mother, brother were also nice. Incidentally his brother Krishnan is a product of PSG Tech and was doing his BE when I was doing my Diploma. I met him again on 14 Jun 2009 and 22 May 2010 and revived those memories to a larger extent.

To be CONCLUDED IN NEXT....

Memory down the lane...24 & counting...Star 14

Gururajan

What can you say about this person? He is a stand - up comedian affectionately known as “Kaal Paatu” and “Ganmani” (for the famous song of “oorai therijukitten ulagam purinjukitten Kanmani”) and this sobriquet he earned on Day one. Can you imagine a person who becomes famous among 500 on day one? He is one such person. 

Though after initial days he was in a different branch, we never felt that we missed him. He used to come all the way from Shastri lines just to be with us from evening till night. This again was not for a day or two and spanned across entire training period. Such is the affinity that he has displayed towards his friends.

My memory goes back to Shillong, where I had an opportunity to stay with him for 4 days. I have gone specifically on leave to be with him and he showed me the paradise. A very jovial guy and you will never feel one moment boring when he is around..

A computer whiz kid these days, which many of us may not be aware and came to know of this talent, when we visited Pathankot on a holiday with family from Chandigarh. He is a father of two lovely and adorable daughters also visited us in Chandigarh on holidays with his family and as you can presume that we had a gala time. Vishnu became very close to Guru just to learn the computer games and some related programs. See his address goes like this Karunkaradu roadu, Vaaikal medu, Erodu… Nice, rhyming and unforgettable one…..


To be continued....

Memory down the lane...24 & counting...Star 13

Thirumalai Selvam

He is a very studious, smart, bright chap. He was also the first one to finish his AMIE in our group, second being Kannan B and finally yours truly.  His grasp for the subject was amazing right from Jesudas (he was our tutor for AMIE during conversion) days. It was no surprise that when he came to conversion he has completed his Sec A.

Even in Service he was no less, earning himself a direct LAC. He is a true all rounder to the core. Though he was put up in Ashoka he participated in all the fanfare with us. His dimples are very famous, even today… I have been lucky to have him with me at Kanpur post conversion. More luckily we were in the same project at work as well. Right from going to section for work or to mess for lunch or dinner or out to Lal Bungalow or watching a movie or match it was always together with him and B Kannan.

Many of us do not know that he is fan of Nadhiya and Vijaykant!!! We (B Kannan & me) used to tease him whenever we happened to watch a Nadhiya movie. When I get an opportunity to watch any Nadhiya movie Selvam comes to my mind first.  He is an artist as well who did some beautiful sketches. When he was in Kanpur, he was God father to many of his billet mates.

I cannot forget to appreciate his beautiful handwriting with stylish strokes. He was so talented and since he finshed his AMIE faster than anyone else, he came out of service exactly after 8 years in Sep 1995. He earned two opportunities one in SAIL and other in DRDO at the same time and decided to go in SAIL. He is also one person who got married after leaving the service, which itself is a unique feature in his life. Though, I was very happy for him, but was also sad at the thought of losing his company.

We have been in touch through emails all those days whenever it was possible. After all these years, having him again amidst us on 14 Jun 2009 was fructifying. The icing on the cake happened on 22 May 2011 when he attended with his family. Last but not the least, we (Kumar & me) received an email from Mrs Selvam very recently in his absence and on his behalf. That showed the affection on all of us and I feel Selvam is the chief contributor who must have told all those beautiful memories to her, which would have prompted her to reply….

To be continued....

Memory down the lane...24 & counting...Star 12

Sriram

He is affectionately “Lambu” or “Perisu” to all of us. He is very meticulous, perfect, dignified personality. He is voluntary participant in all the activities that we all undertook. A very good leg spin bowler in our days. He is a very learned person during our days and he was one of the few graduates to have entered in service. Being from Coimbatore, we have always travelled together the way I have explained in Kannan’s portrait. His way of smashing the volleyball is one scene that I would go anywhere to watch him. Be it cricket or volleyball he did his best and has entertained all of us.

I remember that famous bunk out with him along with Kannan, Nithya, Anbu and Kumar (?) to have jumped the fence and went to Tirupati. Though we knew it was wrong in principle, yet we managed to stage that episode successfully. Walking all the way from Lower Tirupati by steps to have early morning darshan.. It seems it has happened today only.

He was only one guy from our group to have benefitted by the new promotion scheme and reaped its benefits. I was happy that we could see one among us go one step higher in service. Another interesting thing about Sriram is his dress sense. He would always go out immaculately dressed and for his tall built it suited him like a glove in hand.

To be Continued...

Memory down the lane.... 24 & counting...Star 11

Seshadri YK

He is “Kamal Hasan” of our group. One must watch him when we call him like that. His big eyes will gleam and a smart smile on his lips. He is a style icon in a way. Whatever he did was style. Being another local hero of our days, having him in our midst was always difficult, obviously because of local commitments.

Being in “Flight1” he had this privilege of running (should I say dashed down) to mess first and grab his grub quickly and go for rest before others could even attempt having food!!! Unfortunately, since he was not even located in our premises, we could not have much of him. We could imagine only his past things.

Then there was a rare occasion when he came to Chandigarh on official duty. I was supposed to go on leave but had been forced to cancel the leave on national emergency. Sesha(YK) came and met “magudi” Thomas on the way. When they talked for few minutes, Thomas had informed him that I am there. Immediately Sesha requested him to take him to my house at Mohali. I also reached home only then for lunch and I was not even aware of this. While I was having lunch (all alone as Vaishali and Vishnu went to Chennai), he turned up at my entrance. I was surprised and happy to see him. He had lunch with me, specifically the curd rice he liked it and commented “Dhadhiyonnam besha irukku”. Really he was hungry and I offered him to take him out for lunch, which he refused and said that whatever is available in home is sufficient. Such simplicity and openness was amazing to me…

To be Continued...

Memory down the lane.....24 & counting....Star 10

Nithyanandam

He is the fastest man on earth.. (Can I say this??). Whatever, he does he would do it quickly, be it taking a bath or eating a meal or finishing some work, ahead of all of us always. I would say when we get up for getting ready for training session; he would be already ready after his breakfast. A man of words and perfection personified.  He is almost aggressive, but for a good cause always. When he gives commitment,  he will not listen to himself later (Am I sounding like Salman Khan or Vijay??). He was our real hero much before all these filmy guys.

Though he was not there with me for a major portion of life, but God has given me the opportunity to spend some 2, 3 years of life together with him and in that more than a year in the same house with him. He was everything for me. I need to highlight here and show my gratitude to him. There is no other way, I will be able to do justice for what he had done to me.

My stay in own quarters has come to an end and I have already stayed in 2 houses for brief periods. Nithya was not willing to take over a quarter considering the last 18 months of service and his family has been positioned at Chennai, though he has registered for. When I was facing the difficulties of frequent shifting, I approached him once and asked him knowing fully that he was not willing. But what a surprise, he just taken over the quarter for me to stay and in that sense, he offered me a shelter. I was not allowed to enter the house to share the initial works and he flatly refused that I should not step in the house citing that my health would deteriorate if I am present during white washing of house. He did it everything on his own, including the additional wiring that the house required and asked us to move in almost after a week. It was like a furnished house made ready exclusively for us. Such was the care and attention that he took in doing everything.

Nithya’s wife with Avinash came from Chennai during vacation and she has fed us with so many delicacies. What a nice and tasty way she prepares food. During final days, when we finished all formalities like visiting Delhi for final clearance and job fair etc, time has come for packing things. I am a novice in doing such things and in every posting one or other had helped me in doing such things.

This time it is quite different. Nithya was scheduling my packing as to how to pack, when to pack etc. He did packing single handedly for me with very minimal support from me. One should have seen the packing to see how he has taken maximum care to ensure things go in proper condition. The things have been dispatched to Pune to my parents and since I was searching for the job, we decided not to open the packing.

Finally the packing was opened at Mumbai after almost 4 months from the date of packing and I was surprised to see that everything was intact. The truck people who came at Chandigarh for taking the consignment and the people at Pune who delivered it and again the TCI packers & movers who came to reload it at Pune and deliver it to Mumbai have been surprised at the professional packing!!. They could not believe it…. The times that we spent with him at Chandigarh will remain evergreen. The association with him at the very beginning and at the end of career was a sheer coincidence….

To be continued....

Memory down the lane....24 & counting....Star 9

Manikandan

He was an original local hero of our group in training days. Apart from the very initial period, he used to go and mingle with local friends in every available opportunity. He was one guy along with others like Anbu, Kumar who arranged money to go on our first posting for all the East gang. He is famous for his local chennai language and when he spoke that kind of language, I was amused to listen to him.

Because of his local commitments he was not taking interest in exams. But what I heard of him later in other units that without his technical advice, a servicing would not progress a inch further. Such was his domination, knowledge and technical expertise. Even before he could reach Chandigarh on his posting, his fame reached before.. 

There was lot of demand and pressure for him to secure in their respective areas. He came to Chandigarh at the twilight of our career and he had a plan for extension. Most of the days he was very busy in his works and very rarely we met. However, I could meet him on 14 Jun 2009. Thereafter, meeting him remained elusive.

To be continued...

Memory down the lane.... 24 & counting.... Star 8

Kannan S

He is another person who earned a sobriquet in few days of training. He was nick named as “Discharge” Kannan to avoid confusion among four Kannans. He was very soft initially, and always talked about how to go out of service during those training days. Though we were all like that, did not like the atmosphere, the food and the treatment meted out to us, he was relatively the much affected person.

Once the six months period was over, one could see the slow transformation in him. He joined Guru and both used to come and join us for play, party or for going out together. The moment he was posted to Dinjan (Even today, I do not know if this exists in map), he was again frustrated to find that no one was accompanying him. The east bound guys starting from NJP and Bongaigaon, started alighting from the train.

At Guwahati the remaining entire gang alighted from Train. Guru left for Shillong, Mani to Guwahati (local), Kumar to Kumbhigram. Anbu, me and S Kannan were for waiting for our trains. It was his train first. When me and Anbu went along with him to bid him farewell, he was emotional on two counts that he is leaving us behind and the other that he is going to a strange place. See how the time flies.

Exactly after one and half year when we met again in Jun 1990, I could not believe my eyes. What a phenomenal transformation. On Sep 23, 1990, we had a party and this guy danced like Michael Jackson and showed the world that he is not the same person.. he danced, swayed and sung all the way and obviously he was the master of our ceremony that day. I was very happy for him. He is another supreme athlete of our group, who excelled in every event along with Johny and Sreeprasad. 

He also visited us in Kanpur for three days. Even today, he is transforming himself as India trotter if not globe trotter and a very good organiser. He is the same person for you, 24 years back who felt bad about going to Dinjan and today he is scaling the country across its length and breadth….

To be continued....

Memory down the lane.... 24 & counting... Star 7

Johnson

He is another great sportsman of our batch who was unique who played hockey with certain deftness. He is a supreme athlete as well, who ran so many races to glory and jumped high tasting so many successes.  I had a privilege of watching him ‘live’ at Kanpur and I can say that it was a treat to watch him alongside Robert Selvaraj…

“Johny” is a jolly guy who never bothers about future and lives in the present and it is rare feature. He has visited us at Kanpur in Bengali Colony along with S Kannan and Sreeprasad. Being a sportsperson he was always competitive and had true sportsman spirit. He has a big heart too, to take up the failures in his strides.

He has practically solutions for every problems. A quick impulsive thinker and come up with some bright ideas. It was Johny who arranged a Tata Safari to go to Delhi for final clearance, when we were thinking and standing on the road at Tribune Chowk. His bargaining skills and amenable way of talking to anyone is so convincing.

He used to say this many times that life should be lived to the brim and never worry for anything. How true it is…When he is around, there is no dearth of fun.  The enthusiasm associated with him is infectious. He too like Inba joined me at Chandigarh.  We used to catch up in our work spots and did lot of things together. When I was with him the training days were back again. He was one person who had car at his disposal even during service..

To be continued...

Memory down the lane....24 & counting....Star 6

Jayakumar

He is another most respected person by everyone and only myself call him always in singular like “Vaa” or “Po”. He was there with me always throughout training. He was in my same flight, and the only tamil friend. Personally speaking, we had that unspoken bond which cannot possibly be described. He was there always for me and so do I.

We have spent every exam, every class and training together, even shared sleeping in class together!!!! (When he sleeps I will not and vice versa). The days spent with him at Gandhi and Shivaji – 6 are more memorable. A highly intellectual by nature and this aspect can only come if one moves with him very closely (because he is an introvert) and has definite opinions in every issue. We can always discuss with him on any topic and he used to respond in a logical way. He is a suave, soft spoken person and a no-nonsense guy who reads a lot of things. 

My association with him was short lived to the extent of Training centre till Jun 1991 and we never met each other after that till 2009. Almost after 18 years, when we met again at Chennai, we didn’t have words to share. How can you share all those 18 years in 8 hours?? However, we were very happy to be in each other’s company on that momentous day – 14 Jun 2009….. and thereafter the next year on 22 May 2010. Unfortunately, I could not meet him on 22 May 2011…  Men proposed, God Disposed….

To be Continued....

Memory down the lane....24 & counting.... Star 5

Arumugaswamy

A smallest person, who hails from my grandfather’s place, has earned the highest stature and respect from one and all. He is soft spoken with a great knowledge on plethora of things. He was never posted with me anywhere and whatever interaction that I had, was restricted to initial training days. He has been with us during studies of AMIE Sec A and had grasp of subject. But for his health during those days, he could have come out with flying colors.

We have discussed many things during training days and he has this uncanny sense of humour which always goes unnoticed. “Samy” as he is affectionately known has helped us immensely in the final days when he was posted in Delhi. We all had an opportunity to be with his family as well and had a great time. In fact this particular event everyone would have experienced, I believe, except for Thirumalai Selvam, B Kannan and V seshadri.

He is a banker by profession, who has helped me in getting my arrears by promptly providing the inputs, which in my opinion is a great help personally and cannot be explained in words. That was the time when my arrears were getting delayed though all got it much before and I was to repay some loans which I took it for upfront payment of my home.


To be continued....

Memory Down the lane....24 & counting... Star 4

Kumar

He is an ebullient, energetic, enthusiastic and an emotional person. He is unique in a way to our group that he was recruited from Delhi. I was under the impression for a few days that other than Tambaram batch, there will be no Tamilians in any batch.

When I met for the first time, he gave me Mysore pak, a favourite sweet of mine. When he came to know this, every day he called me to his room to have one at night. Though it used to be a prohibited hour of visit and supposedly a strict study hour (most people will be half asleep inside mosquito net before night roll call), out of extreme desire, I go to his room for having one, considering the risk is worth enough. His share of sweets was also given to me and he took pleasure in sharing those wonderful sweets with me.

Even this year in May 2011 when we visited his home he greeted me with Mysore pak thus completing a full circle. He is a very good writer, writes poems and stories at his will in a very short span of time. The creativity which lies beneath him is unparallel. Give him any topic, pat comes the poem or story. Really God send gift for him. He also used to write letters often in those days and make me feel that he is around me somewhere.

He was never posted with me anywhere and it was unfortunate in many ways, where I could not even meet him in the entire span of career. Only when I went to Delhi during final clearance, met him very briefly for about 10 minutes… That too he was busy leaving and was supposed to catch the train in a few hours and I enter the premises. Even then those 10 minutes was like heaven and we could share so much of news that was possible and promised to be in touch.

During Training days, he used to be captain of Volleyball team of our group for one side and opposite would be Anbu. The stiff competition that we all enjoyed every day and a talk about the match how it went lasted for the remaining portion of the day. Every exam used to be a fun time. He used to sleep and say everybody that he will get up later to study and ask one of us to wake him up during conversion. That “later” would not come at all. Yet he used to do well in exams. He is a very good organizer and a very responsible person in our group and works out the details to the minute.

Our hand written magazine “Hello” was edited by him along with Anbu and Sesha V. He is a fan of Pattukottai Prabhakar and Sujatha, and would finish their novels ahead of anything. He is affectionately called as “Thambhi” who is always meticulous in his approach.


To be continued....

Memory down the lane....24 & counting....Star 3

Anbuselvan

He is a simple and yet a powerful personality.  His sense of humour is unparallel laced with jokes. A teacher by heart and wants to change the world, spiced with anecdotes. He is a great teacher of Mathematics and had the privilege of being a student to him. He had burnt midnight oil for the sake of me and ensured that I cleared my Mathematics paper (AMIE). It was neither a one day affair nor a one off occasion, but a day in day out, of disciplined teaching for more than 3 months. I am indebted and will not be able to re-pay it forever.

A Man never shows his sorrow and has an amazing ability to cope with issues and pose a smiling face. His presence will be readily felt once he enters the scene. An absolute team man, who led his team along with him always and showed glimpses of his leadership. I was given an opportunity to assist as what you may call as a cashier or an accountant and I did this to the best of my ability and thoroughly enjoyed this stint. Of course this stint with him certainly had its own favours and fringe benefits!!!. For example, I can be with him always and go to any room during “study hours” and meet my friends. I was also given a portfolio of not so important entertainment in-charge of library and indoor games along with V Sesha and did not attend PT!!

He is affectionately known as “Silvan” or “Ambu” to many north Indian guys and we also called him like that. His skill in inter-personal relationship is another amazing thing and he always ensures that he is in touch with all. His letters were always an experience. In fact on one occasion he spoke and said that it would be nice to meet at Delhi in the pretext of job fair, which was a nice idea. Though we were not seriously looking up for job, we made it worthwhile to visit Delhi and met. When we were about to separate that evening, words were not spoken. Only eyes spoke and there were lot of questions…. Will we be ever to meet again? Will we be in touch again??. Though we both had no answers, we bade an emotional send off to each other. But rest is history that we met again that too every year. He is a master in the art of story narration and one can go miles to hear those witty stories. (Though of late, he is yet to keep abreast with technology..).

A keen learner, who was a novice in cricket once upon a time, started doing scoring the games for all of us and thus started learning the game. Today the interest and knowledge he possesses is phenomenal. Living in a town famous for its falls, though he has invited us to come, the time and opportunity has not come yet.


To be continued.....

Memory down the lane... 24 & counting... Star 2

Inbavanan

A great personality and cool like cucumber, hails from cool place. He is an affable person by nature. He is a jolly go guy, who takes everything in positive spirits and surges ahead.  He is a good competitor and unique sportsman in our group in the sense that he played basketball and was very good at it.  He represented highest form of the game right from initial training days, which was unheard of.

“Inba” as he is affectionately called by us had been allocated a different branch and he was in a different training mode. He happened to be posted to Chandigarh, where I had a very good opportunity to spend about 4, 5 years. I vividly remember, when I was at Mohali, he came for the first time with his family to our home informing that he is posted to Chandigarh… We have spent many family get together one on one every Sunday in the sense that we reciprocate our visits on alternate weeks. Later we had quarters just a stone’ throwaway. Thangavel used to be Vishnu’s playmate and on many occasions I bowled to them.

We have gone to many places together in and around Chandigarh and even many purchases have been together!!!. Not only at home, but in offices also we used to visit each other every day as my favorite canteen was at his place. His wife had fed me on many occasions and had never allowed me to cook when Vaishali was on vacation.

Above all, since we were in same place and eventually last posting before discharge all our final disposition of activities including pre-release course also took place together and this pre-release course period was the most enjoyable moment.

Another event, I would like to remember here is that we travelled together to Delhi for final clearance in a Tata Safari whole night and rested at his friend’s place. For all his talents, he got selected in a campus interview in a different trip to Delhi, (Probably the first to get selected!!!), where I accompanied him primarily to meet our friends.

To be continued.....

Memory down the lane...24 & counting.... Star 1

Kannan B

He is a smart, good looking, ever smiling, soft guy. I became friend even before training. I remember on 20 Sep 1987, when we all assembled for filling in forms during a break we happened to chat and it turned out to be that he was from 1986 batch (me - 1985 batch) from the same PSG Tech. Forget about service and these 24 years, we became very close the same day…. and it continues…

The training days, were very fond memories. We were not separated for a moment. We travelled together back to Coimbatore after 6 months of training, returned together for technical training and made it sure that we returned together during conversion as well. In fact we (B Kannan, Sriram & me) were the last set of people to arrive by Kovai Express. During first posting though we were separated we did ensure that we completed Sec A (AMIE) during conversion.

Luckily, we were posted together post conversion… We were put up in same room and stayed together and it was he who ensured this. How many mornings and evenings we might have studied together. There was a healthy competition among us and definitely no jealous attitude. One was always supportive to the other. He attended my marriage as well.

One particular incident which I would like to recall here is before Kannan’s marriage, which is etched permanently in my memory. Though I might have narrated to a few people, I would like to put it on record now. This will be there as long as I live.. We (Vaishali, me & Kannan) were travelling together from Kanpur to Coimbatore by Cochin – Gorakhpur Express. I was not keeping well though I was prepared to travel. I was suffering from Asthmatic attack during travel. Though I had taken tablets twice or thrice (I do not remember), the breathlessness associated with it did not subside. Seeing my condition, Vaishali was perplexed and she lent all moral support that she could, as she was also new to me (Yes.. this incident was within 3, 4 months of marriage). My Friend, My real hero swung into action as soon as the train reached Vijayawada.. Though the train did have a stop of 10, 15 minutes, he ran almost 10 platforms, went outside to a medical shop to fetch an inhaler. Imagine the rush during the time. (it was probably night and peak hour time).

The train was about to start and we were obviously worried that he has not reached. More than my suffering, I started worrying for him. The train was just chugging off slowly from the station and he hops into the train and gave my SOS (Save our Soul). After having two puffs of medicine, I became totally normal. GOD, Kannan was my savior who saved me literally from the crutches of pain and agony. He even did not think of the consequence if he would have missed the train. He proved the idiom to its worth that “A Friend in need is Friend indeed”.

Even our marriages were not widely dispersed. He married within 6 months of my marriage in Jan 1995, which we attended. He has ensured a couple room in a hotel for us in Pollachi. We invited Kannan and Hema in a traditional way at Kanpur. I had my maximum dinner almost every day at his place when Vaishali had gone to Kumbakonam for delivery. Hema and Kannan was my moral support during this longest separation… How am I going to repay them??

Even today, when I write this, those sweet memories are overwhelming. The moment he was posted out from Kanpur, I felt sky shattered on my head. I could not take this, though I know for sure that it was unavoidable. The tracks of life have changed and it was something like a derailment. We were in touch, but it was few and far in the later stages, obviously due to the distance, time, commitments. But then, we rejoined through technology post retirement and the bonding is up and running again all over…..

To be continued....