Aug 02
How does one quantify success? Does one say a person is successful when he is making money hand over fist? If that be so then lot of people who are making a good packet are successful. For such people I ask what's the point of money if one has made it by questionable methods? Would he have the respect of the world? I'm so sure not... And what about quality time with family? Not only will he not have peace of mind but also his mindset would be one of suspicion and unhealthy atmosphere will be all round. His thoughts would be poisonous. The consequences would be borne by all the people around him. People by association would reap negative benefits. People would suffer... The person I am sure will have bad health or other psychosomatic infirmities due to his irregular and unholy hours. So how will we do in future - will we be good people or efficient and ambitious people or ruthless and money minded ?
Two years down the line some will do well. Some through sheer hardwork will be successful. Some would take conscious decision to follow the beaten path.And maybe the bug of ambition will ingrain itself into the psyche of some. And then there was Sivaram.... At the end of the course he was one of the most sought after persons. With his background of engineering honed to perfection with the variety of jobs in the army combined with experience of 30 years or so made him the prime candidate for recruitment by the headhunters of Hyderabad . His maturity and no nonsense attitude were added qualifications. But.... But,,, There is always that but which keeps butting in. But the only problem was that he had a passion - and that was of cycling. Even at that age , on saturdays and sundays during the course he used to go for weekend cycling for about 300kms and attend monday's class showing little or no ill effect of this grueling sport. He was also the first to retire in the october month during the course, making him immediately available for picking up a position after the course.
In the last week of the course , a reputed company which received our brochure ( it finally got completed by the second week of Aug 2015) invited him for the interview. At this point of time he was still ambivalent about the job in the civil stream. In any case he went for the interview and the feedback was favourable. We were jealous of the fact that it was a cake walk for him - while many among us were not sanguine about our chances. While travelling back home together he was quite humble about the whole thing. " it is nothing really," he said; " they asked a few questions which were right up my alley and a few which were stupid", he said with a grimace. " I had no compunction in telling them off - I was quite sure that it would not sit well with them - to my surprise the MD called me later and said " we are impressed with your forthrightness and candour; in this company there are too many YES MEN; we require someone who is knowledgeable and can speak with confidence. I am sure we can work out something". Sivaram said " then we worked out the modalities of pay -" " How much are they offering ?" - I interjected. " None of your business " said Sivaram. " Give us a ballpark figure " pleaded someone else, Sivaram said that it was in six figures and we had to be satisfied with that...
He resumed his narrative " It was on timings of the job that we got stuck. They are booking me for the complete week - and sometimes I may have to work on weekends also.....
Anyways to cut short a long story , on the day of appointment Sivaram did not report for the job. If it meant that he would not be able to devote time to his passion,irrespective of the monetary gain being offered , the job was not worth picking up. Instead he opted for the four year extension in the army where he had plenty of time for cycling . The jump of pay in the 7th pay commission coupled with the fact that his only son relocated to Chicago where I believe he is raking in moolah has helped a lot.
Two years down the road he was offered a job as the Director in the cycling association of India ,where he I am given to understand that he is training young boys and girls for the 2022 Olympics...A success story on all counts...
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| Sivaram |
Two years down the line some will do well. Some through sheer hardwork will be successful. Some would take conscious decision to follow the beaten path.And maybe the bug of ambition will ingrain itself into the psyche of some. And then there was Sivaram.... At the end of the course he was one of the most sought after persons. With his background of engineering honed to perfection with the variety of jobs in the army combined with experience of 30 years or so made him the prime candidate for recruitment by the headhunters of Hyderabad . His maturity and no nonsense attitude were added qualifications. But.... But,,, There is always that but which keeps butting in. But the only problem was that he had a passion - and that was of cycling. Even at that age , on saturdays and sundays during the course he used to go for weekend cycling for about 300kms and attend monday's class showing little or no ill effect of this grueling sport. He was also the first to retire in the october month during the course, making him immediately available for picking up a position after the course.
In the last week of the course , a reputed company which received our brochure ( it finally got completed by the second week of Aug 2015) invited him for the interview. At this point of time he was still ambivalent about the job in the civil stream. In any case he went for the interview and the feedback was favourable. We were jealous of the fact that it was a cake walk for him - while many among us were not sanguine about our chances. While travelling back home together he was quite humble about the whole thing. " it is nothing really," he said; " they asked a few questions which were right up my alley and a few which were stupid", he said with a grimace. " I had no compunction in telling them off - I was quite sure that it would not sit well with them - to my surprise the MD called me later and said " we are impressed with your forthrightness and candour; in this company there are too many YES MEN; we require someone who is knowledgeable and can speak with confidence. I am sure we can work out something". Sivaram said " then we worked out the modalities of pay -" " How much are they offering ?" - I interjected. " None of your business " said Sivaram. " Give us a ballpark figure " pleaded someone else, Sivaram said that it was in six figures and we had to be satisfied with that...
He resumed his narrative " It was on timings of the job that we got stuck. They are booking me for the complete week - and sometimes I may have to work on weekends also.....
Anyways to cut short a long story , on the day of appointment Sivaram did not report for the job. If it meant that he would not be able to devote time to his passion,irrespective of the monetary gain being offered , the job was not worth picking up. Instead he opted for the four year extension in the army where he had plenty of time for cycling . The jump of pay in the 7th pay commission coupled with the fact that his only son relocated to Chicago where I believe he is raking in moolah has helped a lot.
Two years down the road he was offered a job as the Director in the cycling association of India ,where he I am given to understand that he is training young boys and girls for the 2022 Olympics...A success story on all counts...
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