I put on my hat
Bade bye to my cat;
As I walked, I thought
Nature is there to chat;
Ah! There stand my lovely trees,
Surrounded by birds and bees.
With steps measured, I went near,
Looked above, things not clear;
My eyes , once powerful and bright,
Now lost much of their sight.
Nature is bountiful as it always was,
Time has slipped and scenes passed as a flash.
Past was pleasant and beautiful;
The present is elusive and painful.
I walk along and wonder what future has in store
Is there a magic wand? What I lost, can it restore?
People whom I know since their child hood,
Passed and cried “Oldie, how far you plan to go?”
May be I was the oldest in my village;
Many were not sure of my age.
I reached my garden; the stand of roses was good;
With their colours and scent they made me proud.
“Good morning, grandpa”, said a child;
“Can I hold your hand” said another voice, so mild.
They are the future, bright and wise,
From my garden I gave them each a rose .
I looked and looked, but could not tell ;
Which was prettier, their faces or the roses.
“Thank you”, they said in a single voice;
I felt the flowers reached their rightful place.
I recalled my child hood days,
Days filled with joy and happiness;
Play mates and class mates, boys and girls,
Love, affection and kindness in abundance.
The pleasant memories are fresh in mind
Like the scent of roses that hangs around.
I remembered my father and mother,
Their faces kind and smiling.
All my friends, sisters and brother
Have gone; their memories disturbing.
All my loved ones and golden days are gone,
Leaving me- an old man, to brood all alone.
I took off my hat and sat beneath a tree,
I wondered when I would be free.
Vision and other senses are failing,
From time to time I tumble while walking;
I could hear the Lord calling: “Come my son,
It is time we stopped playing”.
I got up and strode towards the brook;
It ran, it runs and it will run;
Past, present and future are the same.
I got the message, plainly and clearly
Life is the name of the game,
I will play it fully and fairly.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
OH,MY CHILD.
Oh, My Child.
I can’t see things so near,
As I look at the future- very far.
I have been counting my years
Missing your minutes and hours.
You look an adult as I see you,
That I Miss the child in you;
My expectations are sky high
I know, I resign with a deep sigh.
Your bright future, I don’t see;
I suffer from glaucoma, you see!
You are content with what you are,
I am lucky , I got a heir, so rare.
I have much feeling untold,
My advices to you remain unsold.
Many a battle I lost; yet I fought;
You will win them all, is a nice thought!
BY
S.RAJASUBRAMANIAN
I can’t see things so near,
As I look at the future- very far.
I have been counting my years
Missing your minutes and hours.
You look an adult as I see you,
That I Miss the child in you;
My expectations are sky high
I know, I resign with a deep sigh.
Your bright future, I don’t see;
I suffer from glaucoma, you see!
You are content with what you are,
I am lucky , I got a heir, so rare.
I have much feeling untold,
My advices to you remain unsold.
Many a battle I lost; yet I fought;
You will win them all, is a nice thought!
BY
S.RAJASUBRAMANIAN
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
ABRAHAM LINCOLN-WHAT HE WROTE TO HIS SON’S TEACHER.
I happened to come across the publication of Lincoln’s celebrated letter to his son’s teacher .The publication appeared on Teachers’ Day few years back. The letter is famous not because it was written by the former President of the United States, but for its contents. It shows what is expected of a growing child and what is expected of a good teacher.
Lincoln wrote:
“He will have to learn, I know, that all men are not just, all men are not true. But teach him also that for every scoundrel there is a hero, that for every selfish politician, there is a dedicated leader. Teach him for every enemy there is a friend.
Steer him away from envy, if you can teach him the secret of quiet laughter. Let him learn early that the bullies are the easiest to lick… Teach him, if you can, the wonder of books… But also give him quiet time to ponder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun and flowers on the green hillside.
In the school teach him it is far honourable to fail than cheat…Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if everyone tells him they are wrong…Teach him to be gentle with gentle people and tough with the tough.
Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd when everyone is getting on the band wagon…Teach him to listen to all men….but teach him also to filter all he hears on a screen of truth and take only the good that comes through.
Teach him if you can, how to laugh when he is sad…Teach him there is no shame in tears. Teach him to scoff at cynics and to beware of too much sweetness…Teach him to sell his brawn and brain to the highest bidders but never to put a price tag on his heart and soul. Teach him to close his ears to a howling mob and to stand and fight if he thinks he’s right. Treat him gently but do not cuddle him, because only the test of fire makes fine steel.
Let him have the courage to be impatient.. Let him have the patience to be brave. Teach him always to have sublime faith in himself, because then he will have sublime faith in mankind.”
I happened to come across the publication of Lincoln’s celebrated letter to his son’s teacher .The publication appeared on Teachers’ Day few years back. The letter is famous not because it was written by the former President of the United States, but for its contents. It shows what is expected of a growing child and what is expected of a good teacher.
Lincoln wrote:
“He will have to learn, I know, that all men are not just, all men are not true. But teach him also that for every scoundrel there is a hero, that for every selfish politician, there is a dedicated leader. Teach him for every enemy there is a friend.
Steer him away from envy, if you can teach him the secret of quiet laughter. Let him learn early that the bullies are the easiest to lick… Teach him, if you can, the wonder of books… But also give him quiet time to ponder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun and flowers on the green hillside.
In the school teach him it is far honourable to fail than cheat…Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if everyone tells him they are wrong…Teach him to be gentle with gentle people and tough with the tough.
Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd when everyone is getting on the band wagon…Teach him to listen to all men….but teach him also to filter all he hears on a screen of truth and take only the good that comes through.
Teach him if you can, how to laugh when he is sad…Teach him there is no shame in tears. Teach him to scoff at cynics and to beware of too much sweetness…Teach him to sell his brawn and brain to the highest bidders but never to put a price tag on his heart and soul. Teach him to close his ears to a howling mob and to stand and fight if he thinks he’s right. Treat him gently but do not cuddle him, because only the test of fire makes fine steel.
Let him have the courage to be impatient.. Let him have the patience to be brave. Teach him always to have sublime faith in himself, because then he will have sublime faith in mankind.”
Thursday, May 31, 2007
CUSTOMER (S)CARE!
When ever I get a poor service or treatment from people I always forgive and forget. After all there are different kinds of people -good, bad and ugly. We must be happy that the latter kinds are less in number and we come across them less frequently. Otherwise the world will be a worse place to live
The bitter experiences I had with a mobile phone service provider exceeded the threshold limit of my tolerance and hence this post
My son wanted to change his post paid connection to prepaid. When I approached their local office at cuddalore I ws advised that since the post paid connection was availed at Chennai the request to convert it to prepaid must be made to the office at Chennai.
The request was given to the Tambaram office At their asking I gave Id proof and address proof though these things were already available with the company in respect of the postpaid connection.
They asked me to purchase a sim card for the prepaid and remove the earlier sim with post paid connection. I was assured that new connection would be given in2 or 3 days and not to use the post paid connection any more Even after a week nothing happened and I called on the cuddalore office and they told that the post paid bill was due to be paid and only after payment the prepaid would be activated. I promptly paid the same though the deposit amount lying with the company was more than the bill amount. Nothing happened for another one week and I could not use the cell as the sim was not activated When I contacted Tambaram office I was told that Id proof and address proof were to be submitted. When I told them that I had already submitted the same to them at the time of making my request about a month back they asked to whom they were given It was ridiculous to ask a customer the name of their employee to whom the proofs were given. When I stressed that they were given along with the request letter and I was given the prepaid sim only after getting the proofs they assured that the sim would be activated in 3 days. Nothing happened When I contacted their Annanagar Chennai office(the Tambaram office was a sub office of the Annanagar franchise. They told that the next bill for the post paid connection was also due and to be paid. That bill also I paid without making a single call or receiving a call during the entire month The did’nt think it was not their mistake of not disconnecting the post paid connection as per my request about 40 days back.
Then after 2 days the prepaid sim was activated and I heaved a sigh of relief that the worst was over. But after one week I received sms from the company that I was to submit the Id proof and address proof within 7 days failing which prepaid connection would be suspended. Cursing the company and my ill luck I submitted the proofs again to the franchise office at cuddalore. Know what? The prepaid connection was suspended and I could not make any call even to the customer care cell of the company. But I used to receive reminders for submission of the Id proof and address proof. When I called on the cuddalore office in person they casually told that since the prepaid connection was obtained from Chennai the proofs were to be given to some office in Chennai. Company is having global presence, but the proofs are asked to be submitted only in the particular city or circle. Then what about the proofs I submitted the 1st time at Chennai and the ones I submitted for the 2nd time at cuddalore? The casual reply was “engaavathu miss aaki irukkum” (it would have been misplaced) I had to go to Chennai again for the purpose of submitting proofs for the third time.
It was a frustrating experience to contact their customer care. Without listening fully what we have to say-the prepaid section would advise that I had to talk to postpaid and postpaid section would advise me to talk to prepaid. In the process another month went and another monthly bill for postpaid connection was due. I was asked to pay that before the prepaid was to be restored. On my pointing out that they could adjust the bill to the deposit amount they did it only after my submitting proofs again for the third time at their Chennai office .It is a bitter experience and I did not want to use the connection for regular use and I wanted to change to lifetime free incoming calls scheme. They insisted that I had to first charge the sim again for any other scheme for a month or so and then only I could opt for lifetime free incoming calls. That also I did and paid for the lifetime free incoming scheme.
The company allows not only free incoming calls (which are very rare for that cell) but they forward their promotional sms for Recharging almost daily
You may ask why I bore all the poor service and did not terminate the connection. It was a sentiment to retain the original phone number, part of which represents my son’s staff number in his company.
As all sentiments this was also costly and led to sorrow.
Want to know the service (?!) provider? I can’t tel; it may be on air.
The bitter experiences I had with a mobile phone service provider exceeded the threshold limit of my tolerance and hence this post
My son wanted to change his post paid connection to prepaid. When I approached their local office at cuddalore I ws advised that since the post paid connection was availed at Chennai the request to convert it to prepaid must be made to the office at Chennai.
The request was given to the Tambaram office At their asking I gave Id proof and address proof though these things were already available with the company in respect of the postpaid connection.
They asked me to purchase a sim card for the prepaid and remove the earlier sim with post paid connection. I was assured that new connection would be given in2 or 3 days and not to use the post paid connection any more Even after a week nothing happened and I called on the cuddalore office and they told that the post paid bill was due to be paid and only after payment the prepaid would be activated. I promptly paid the same though the deposit amount lying with the company was more than the bill amount. Nothing happened for another one week and I could not use the cell as the sim was not activated When I contacted Tambaram office I was told that Id proof and address proof were to be submitted. When I told them that I had already submitted the same to them at the time of making my request about a month back they asked to whom they were given It was ridiculous to ask a customer the name of their employee to whom the proofs were given. When I stressed that they were given along with the request letter and I was given the prepaid sim only after getting the proofs they assured that the sim would be activated in 3 days. Nothing happened When I contacted their Annanagar Chennai office(the Tambaram office was a sub office of the Annanagar franchise. They told that the next bill for the post paid connection was also due and to be paid. That bill also I paid without making a single call or receiving a call during the entire month The did’nt think it was not their mistake of not disconnecting the post paid connection as per my request about 40 days back.
Then after 2 days the prepaid sim was activated and I heaved a sigh of relief that the worst was over. But after one week I received sms from the company that I was to submit the Id proof and address proof within 7 days failing which prepaid connection would be suspended. Cursing the company and my ill luck I submitted the proofs again to the franchise office at cuddalore. Know what? The prepaid connection was suspended and I could not make any call even to the customer care cell of the company. But I used to receive reminders for submission of the Id proof and address proof. When I called on the cuddalore office in person they casually told that since the prepaid connection was obtained from Chennai the proofs were to be given to some office in Chennai. Company is having global presence, but the proofs are asked to be submitted only in the particular city or circle. Then what about the proofs I submitted the 1st time at Chennai and the ones I submitted for the 2nd time at cuddalore? The casual reply was “engaavathu miss aaki irukkum” (it would have been misplaced) I had to go to Chennai again for the purpose of submitting proofs for the third time.
It was a frustrating experience to contact their customer care. Without listening fully what we have to say-the prepaid section would advise that I had to talk to postpaid and postpaid section would advise me to talk to prepaid. In the process another month went and another monthly bill for postpaid connection was due. I was asked to pay that before the prepaid was to be restored. On my pointing out that they could adjust the bill to the deposit amount they did it only after my submitting proofs again for the third time at their Chennai office .It is a bitter experience and I did not want to use the connection for regular use and I wanted to change to lifetime free incoming calls scheme. They insisted that I had to first charge the sim again for any other scheme for a month or so and then only I could opt for lifetime free incoming calls. That also I did and paid for the lifetime free incoming scheme.
The company allows not only free incoming calls (which are very rare for that cell) but they forward their promotional sms for Recharging almost daily
You may ask why I bore all the poor service and did not terminate the connection. It was a sentiment to retain the original phone number, part of which represents my son’s staff number in his company.
As all sentiments this was also costly and led to sorrow.
Want to know the service (?!) provider? I can’t tel; it may be on air.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Friday, May 4, 2007
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Ragavan ,my friend.
I have many friends, some from from my child hood days. There are others whom I met at various points of my life. Few from school days and few from college days and few worked with me in the college and the bank. But this post is about a friend who is not like others.
I met Ragavan in 1963 as a class mate in my first year at Agricultural College, Annamalai University.Our names brought us together in the class, laboratory and field work . In the attendance register names were in alphabetical order- after Ragavan it was Rajasubramanian. He had his room mates and i had mine in the college hostel in the first year and we concentrated more on studies.In the 2nd year he was my room mate. We had lot of occasions to know each other's view point and soon we found that we were in the same wavelength. We had so much in common as we found with passing days. With every day we found that our line of thoughts and values were the same and the differences if any were trivial. He was a vegetarian and i was non-vegetarian.Both were non smokers.
During the 3 years -2nd,3rd and4th year of the college we spent lot of time together exchanging thoughts, discussing personal problems and sharing joys . Many days we used to sit in the lawn and talk till late in the night.
After graduation we had to separate. But th bondage was strong that we wrote letters to each other, expressive and emotional. Because of his affable nature he became a family friend soon after my marriage.He had a vision of the future and analyse things deeply and from varios angles. He would say,'u dont know, this is like this.'I would understand. So also he would discuss certain issues intimate to his heart with me as he knew that I was reliable and responsible.
We had meetings whenver and whaever possible and spend the time on talking and talking for hours.People used to wonder what is there to talk for so long in the beach or in the terrace or in the park. Can a time limit be set for thinking? It was sharing of thoughts and we had so much ,each of us. Our families have a bondage running to decades.
All good things come to an end.
A good friend is a God's gift.HE has chosen to take the gift back.
I am sorry that Ragavan is not here to read this blog and pass his unique comments. He passed away on 26th April 2006. His absence has made me a loner and blogging is an emotional outlet.
I met Ragavan in 1963 as a class mate in my first year at Agricultural College, Annamalai University.Our names brought us together in the class, laboratory and field work . In the attendance register names were in alphabetical order- after Ragavan it was Rajasubramanian. He had his room mates and i had mine in the college hostel in the first year and we concentrated more on studies.In the 2nd year he was my room mate. We had lot of occasions to know each other's view point and soon we found that we were in the same wavelength. We had so much in common as we found with passing days. With every day we found that our line of thoughts and values were the same and the differences if any were trivial. He was a vegetarian and i was non-vegetarian.Both were non smokers.
During the 3 years -2nd,3rd and4th year of the college we spent lot of time together exchanging thoughts, discussing personal problems and sharing joys . Many days we used to sit in the lawn and talk till late in the night.
After graduation we had to separate. But th bondage was strong that we wrote letters to each other, expressive and emotional. Because of his affable nature he became a family friend soon after my marriage.He had a vision of the future and analyse things deeply and from varios angles. He would say,'u dont know, this is like this.'I would understand. So also he would discuss certain issues intimate to his heart with me as he knew that I was reliable and responsible.
We had meetings whenver and whaever possible and spend the time on talking and talking for hours.People used to wonder what is there to talk for so long in the beach or in the terrace or in the park. Can a time limit be set for thinking? It was sharing of thoughts and we had so much ,each of us. Our families have a bondage running to decades.
All good things come to an end.
A good friend is a God's gift.HE has chosen to take the gift back.
I am sorry that Ragavan is not here to read this blog and pass his unique comments. He passed away on 26th April 2006. His absence has made me a loner and blogging is an emotional outlet.
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