Remember the Tataguni estate in Bangalore where Devika Rani with her Russian artist husband spent their last years. They had eager caretakers - a couple who just came into their lives and had managed to sell chunks of precious land on the fringes of the large estate, years later by some fraudulant means.
The care-givers are very choosy, it would appear! They like to pick only the very rich or the famous for bestowing their attention upon. First they give care for a salary payment and then the servant gains absolute control over the master!!
Rich or poor, all humans need some kind of care and attention, especially when they are aging and sick. Most often many elderls are neglected by their own kith and kin. Outsiders step in and keep the insiders out after sometime. Then it becomes too late to save the elders in their family alongwith the family wealth.
Such is the human psyche. The rich attract the greedy. The greedy never latch upon their own family elders, should these elders be poor.
If we have something then people latch on to us, otherwise we can lead a fairly peaceful life without having somebody breathe down our neck to be at our beck and call. But all this only until one is healthy and moves about on his or her own.
May God give us good health and may we have the strength to be active until our very last breath.
Mahalakshmi.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
The Vulture Is A Very Patient Bird, Indeed!!
Office politics is not a dirty word at all.
It is part and parcel of our work culture in all offices across the globe.
I have observed from very close quarters how the juniors try to impress their supervisors, managers and the top guys at workplace.
This is something universal whether with office or with politics!
I always wonder whether quality work, creativity and hard work did matter as much as the ability to manage people and situations. If a person could combine both then you have a winner in hand.
1.
Take for example the Ex-IT minister, Mr.Raja's rise to the top! According to his mentor he was like any other budding lawyer, struggling to pay even his telephone bills in the rented office, not so long ago. Yet he rose to an enviable position to grant licences for 2G, 3G and what have yous, for an entire nation like India!
His people skills played a more important role than his abilities. News is trickling in about his meteoric rise to the top. He is supposed to have taken personal care of the late Murasoli Maran, (2nd in command in the DMK, a political party in Tamil Nadu) being at the beck and call of his star patient without second thoughts. He rose in the party later due to his proximity to the top cadres of the DMK. What an irony of fate that he was chosen to replace Maran's son, Dayanidhi Maran as the IT Minister by the CM Karunanidhi, in due course of time!!
Of course what happened after he became a union minister is not the topic I wish to discuss here.
All I would like to stress is how people make themselves useful to the powerful, at times sacrificing their own comforts and ambitions for the time being. All this, until they hit big time. In each and every case its the patience alongwith perseverance which seems to pay off ultimately. Remember the vulture is a very patient bird, indeed.
I have two more case histories to mention below before I wind up for the day:
2.
Another case is that of how the Late Smt.Priyamvada Birla was charmed by the care, attention and help rendered by the Birla family's chartered accountant, the Late Shri.Lodha who also passed away recently, though as a very rich man indeed.
Lodha used to reserve his entire time and energy to this elderly, childless widow who was ailing for many years. Left to herself, all alone in a palace full of servants and with very rare visits from own family members who lived nearby, she was made very much a part and parcel of Lodha's family. The other family members never came to give her company or enquire after her welfare, but tried to fight this clever man who usurped what belonged to PB which ran into billions of rupees. She willed it to him and this was fiercely contested in the Kolkata High Court between the Birla family and Lodha on the death of PB. Wills, Probates, et al.
3.
I should mention Smt.Lakshmi Parvati, a divorcee, who married the famed, but strict widower who had a very clean image where women were concerned, Shri.N.T.Rama Rao, a popular, evergreen hero of Telugu films and founder of Telugu Desam, a powerful political Party in Andhra Pradesh.
Smt.LP came to do her thesis on NTR's films and life and went on to become his life partner and advisor during his ailing last few years.
NTR is believed to have even mentioned in one of his interviews to a magazine that she cared for him when his family members did not even visit him out of courtesy to see how he was getting along in his old age.
What these families cannot understand is how can their rich and famous family member give away their family wealth to a rank outsider who just takes care of them in their old age or ailment? The belief is that the family wealth should remain within the family even if members don't take care of the needs or attend to these elderly people from within. If care is given from within then where is the need for any outsider to come in? This simple philosphy is never followed.
What is right and who is right? No one can say anything on this. But we can see that its all about money, money and money.
What brings people together? Initially it all begins as sympathy, listening to the woes of the other person. Doing those little things for a person which others might take for granted. A bond is formed due to this whether such actions are genuine or not, the fact is that a human needs another human to interact with. Money involved is secondary to the person who has the money, but it becomes primary for the person who does little things for the moneyed person to get into the inner circle.
Am I being cynical about the whole thing? I have observed this for long enough and know the pattern instantly. At times I do wonder whether the moneyed fellow is ignorant of what's happening? No. (S)he may not be that ignorant but with time they get used to the attention, care, help and affection from any person and later get addicted to it. They throw all caution and all feelings for their own near and dear who don't seem to care anyway, who don't have time for them, otherwise why should these people turn to strangers for help, care, affection and attention?!
Life goes on.
Mahalakshmi.
It is part and parcel of our work culture in all offices across the globe.
I have observed from very close quarters how the juniors try to impress their supervisors, managers and the top guys at workplace.
This is something universal whether with office or with politics!
I always wonder whether quality work, creativity and hard work did matter as much as the ability to manage people and situations. If a person could combine both then you have a winner in hand.
1.
Take for example the Ex-IT minister, Mr.Raja's rise to the top! According to his mentor he was like any other budding lawyer, struggling to pay even his telephone bills in the rented office, not so long ago. Yet he rose to an enviable position to grant licences for 2G, 3G and what have yous, for an entire nation like India!
His people skills played a more important role than his abilities. News is trickling in about his meteoric rise to the top. He is supposed to have taken personal care of the late Murasoli Maran, (2nd in command in the DMK, a political party in Tamil Nadu) being at the beck and call of his star patient without second thoughts. He rose in the party later due to his proximity to the top cadres of the DMK. What an irony of fate that he was chosen to replace Maran's son, Dayanidhi Maran as the IT Minister by the CM Karunanidhi, in due course of time!!
Of course what happened after he became a union minister is not the topic I wish to discuss here.
All I would like to stress is how people make themselves useful to the powerful, at times sacrificing their own comforts and ambitions for the time being. All this, until they hit big time. In each and every case its the patience alongwith perseverance which seems to pay off ultimately. Remember the vulture is a very patient bird, indeed.
I have two more case histories to mention below before I wind up for the day:
2.
Another case is that of how the Late Smt.Priyamvada Birla was charmed by the care, attention and help rendered by the Birla family's chartered accountant, the Late Shri.Lodha who also passed away recently, though as a very rich man indeed.
Lodha used to reserve his entire time and energy to this elderly, childless widow who was ailing for many years. Left to herself, all alone in a palace full of servants and with very rare visits from own family members who lived nearby, she was made very much a part and parcel of Lodha's family. The other family members never came to give her company or enquire after her welfare, but tried to fight this clever man who usurped what belonged to PB which ran into billions of rupees. She willed it to him and this was fiercely contested in the Kolkata High Court between the Birla family and Lodha on the death of PB. Wills, Probates, et al.
3.
I should mention Smt.Lakshmi Parvati, a divorcee, who married the famed, but strict widower who had a very clean image where women were concerned, Shri.N.T.Rama Rao, a popular, evergreen hero of Telugu films and founder of Telugu Desam, a powerful political Party in Andhra Pradesh.
Smt.LP came to do her thesis on NTR's films and life and went on to become his life partner and advisor during his ailing last few years.
NTR is believed to have even mentioned in one of his interviews to a magazine that she cared for him when his family members did not even visit him out of courtesy to see how he was getting along in his old age.
What these families cannot understand is how can their rich and famous family member give away their family wealth to a rank outsider who just takes care of them in their old age or ailment? The belief is that the family wealth should remain within the family even if members don't take care of the needs or attend to these elderly people from within. If care is given from within then where is the need for any outsider to come in? This simple philosphy is never followed.
What is right and who is right? No one can say anything on this. But we can see that its all about money, money and money.
What brings people together? Initially it all begins as sympathy, listening to the woes of the other person. Doing those little things for a person which others might take for granted. A bond is formed due to this whether such actions are genuine or not, the fact is that a human needs another human to interact with. Money involved is secondary to the person who has the money, but it becomes primary for the person who does little things for the moneyed person to get into the inner circle.
Am I being cynical about the whole thing? I have observed this for long enough and know the pattern instantly. At times I do wonder whether the moneyed fellow is ignorant of what's happening? No. (S)he may not be that ignorant but with time they get used to the attention, care, help and affection from any person and later get addicted to it. They throw all caution and all feelings for their own near and dear who don't seem to care anyway, who don't have time for them, otherwise why should these people turn to strangers for help, care, affection and attention?!
Life goes on.
Mahalakshmi.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
My Mother And Her Dear Friend Champa
My mother had a friend called Champa. They were classmates in the Keyes Girls' High School and studied together till the 1940s when they were in their teens.
Champa was a Tamil Iyengar girl(a category among Brahmins, like Iyers). She was the only daughter of very rich parents, who could afford to buy Tamil magazines like the Ananda Vikatan, Kumudam, Kalki, Tamil novels. etc., every week for their daugther.
My mother used to visit Champa's house often during the day as they used to stay very close by. They would study together, chat together, do things together. When her mother called out to Champa discreetly, to have her share of tiffin or snacks, this girl would loudly ask her mother to get it to her and she would share it with my mother.
Whenever, those Tamil weeklies and fortnightlies would arrive, Champa's mother would hide them away from my mother's sight. She obviously din't like my mother reading their magazine copies freely. Champa would have no such feelings. She would go, search out those new magazines and give it to my mother, to take them home to read, against her mother's wishes.
My mother would simply love Champa for all this and more. Champa was a kindly soul. As soon as they passed their Matriculation exams (incidentally, my mother was the state topper in Tamil and a bright student), Champa was married off to an Iyengar boy. Soon my mother too got married. Being in the same city, they met on and off and bonded closely.
Champa had one son and a daughter. My mother had 4 daughters. Champa soon developed health problems and died of cancer, soon after while still in her mid 30s. My mother was inconsolable and too shocked. She would cry often thinking of her friend, Champa.
Even years after Champa's death, my mother remembers her till this day.
Why did my mother like Champa so much?
Champa was caring and she shared her books with my mother freely without rancour. Perhaps she knew her clock was ticking away too fast. She spread her warmth around despite her mother not liking it.
Deliberately hidden Tamil magazines were searched frantically only to be given away to my mother so that she could read them and return them back quickly. My mother must have formed the habit of reading books very quickly due to this.
Perhaps these gestures left a deep impression on my mother's mind because even now, she likes to borrow books from the library and read, even though we can afford all those magazines and many more, but she would never agree.
Champa's memories live in my mother's heart long after she is gone.
Long live such pure friendships.
Cheers.
Mahalakshmi.
Champa was a Tamil Iyengar girl(a category among Brahmins, like Iyers). She was the only daughter of very rich parents, who could afford to buy Tamil magazines like the Ananda Vikatan, Kumudam, Kalki, Tamil novels. etc., every week for their daugther.
My mother used to visit Champa's house often during the day as they used to stay very close by. They would study together, chat together, do things together. When her mother called out to Champa discreetly, to have her share of tiffin or snacks, this girl would loudly ask her mother to get it to her and she would share it with my mother.
Whenever, those Tamil weeklies and fortnightlies would arrive, Champa's mother would hide them away from my mother's sight. She obviously din't like my mother reading their magazine copies freely. Champa would have no such feelings. She would go, search out those new magazines and give it to my mother, to take them home to read, against her mother's wishes.
My mother would simply love Champa for all this and more. Champa was a kindly soul. As soon as they passed their Matriculation exams (incidentally, my mother was the state topper in Tamil and a bright student), Champa was married off to an Iyengar boy. Soon my mother too got married. Being in the same city, they met on and off and bonded closely.
Champa had one son and a daughter. My mother had 4 daughters. Champa soon developed health problems and died of cancer, soon after while still in her mid 30s. My mother was inconsolable and too shocked. She would cry often thinking of her friend, Champa.
Even years after Champa's death, my mother remembers her till this day.
Why did my mother like Champa so much?
Champa was caring and she shared her books with my mother freely without rancour. Perhaps she knew her clock was ticking away too fast. She spread her warmth around despite her mother not liking it.
Deliberately hidden Tamil magazines were searched frantically only to be given away to my mother so that she could read them and return them back quickly. My mother must have formed the habit of reading books very quickly due to this.
Perhaps these gestures left a deep impression on my mother's mind because even now, she likes to borrow books from the library and read, even though we can afford all those magazines and many more, but she would never agree.
Champa's memories live in my mother's heart long after she is gone.
Long live such pure friendships.
Cheers.
Mahalakshmi.
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