Sunday, June 29, 2025

Memories of some remarkable years

 

Sunday 29th June 2025          Day 23206

High School & College days. 1974-1984 Chembur, Bombay and IIT Madras

-          In SIWS Wadala till Class VI. Shifted to Shrinagar CHS in 1974 for Class VII and beyond.

-          General Education Academy, Chembur.

-          Walking above the tracks on the overbridge at the railway station to school. 20 minutes’ walk.

-          Nataraj Theatre. Passed by many times. Not seen a single movie there!

-          Vacation trips to Trichur by train. Hold-All, packed food, Chikki at Lonavala, Bathing at Arakkonam, curd-rice and lemon-rice in a banana leaf.

-          Singing Surangani when Bina manni came to Grandpas home after her marriage to Ambi mama.

-          Made Nankatai at GEA.

-          Getting hauled before the principal for some trivial fun during cooking class.

-          Chemistry in the Chemistry Lab !!

-          Shopping for veggies etc along with dad and mom at Chembur.

-          Buying Phillips coffee powder. The aroma of fresh coffee powder.

-          Buying rice, wheat and sugar etc at ration shop.

-          Carrying wheat to the chakki for grinding into flour.

-          Reading Oliver Strange’s SUDDEN and Perry Mason novels

-          Circulating library Famous Five, Secret Seven, James Hadley Chase etc

-          Playing Cricket in the ground at Shrinagar CHS. 

-       Losing my special steel scale / ruler at GEA. Getting hassled by Dancing, Vishwas Pathak, Sudhir Puthran. Keeping them at bay.  

-          Doing well in the 10th Standard exam in 1977.

-          Getting admission to SIES College Sion. Travel by train to Koliwada Station (GTB Nagar) and then walking to SIES.

-          No more school uniforms.

-          Hustle and bustle in the local trains. Sometimes changing over at Kurla station. Harbour Line and Main Line changes.

-          Laboratory classes at SIES!!! What a “chemistry” there.

-          Aggarwal classes at Dadar and prep for IIT JEE

-          1011 A.I.R in 1979. Choice of IIT-B vs IIT-M. Good sense prevailed and selected IIT-M

-          Hostel days at Mandakini Year 1. July 1979 onwards. Room 224.

-          Learning to cycle with Ramesh

-          Learnt to swim and play water polo.

-          Weight training at the gym.

-          Early morning jogs at the stadium.

-          Eggs, Beef, Fish, Chicken in the hostel mess.

-          Bald hair-cut, sling bags and bicycles.

-          Cigarettes, Beedis, Liquor, weed.

-          Jethro Tull over pot-speakers.

-          Working out in the room Saras 260.

-          Saturday night movies at OAT.

-          Books, VCR tapes etc.

-          Photography experiments.

-          Plain uthappam and red onion chutney. Heavenly indeed.

-          Veg biryani with fried pieces of bread squares.

-          Milli pouches at Taramani.

-          Special treats at Liu’s Waldorf.

-          Train travel Madras to Bombay and back.

-          1979 – 1984. The five years that made me a bold man.

-          The best five years of my life till then. Friendships forged for a lifetime.

-          The Mukand Iron and Steel internship. Their canteen food!

-          The BARC internship and their Scanning Electron Microscope!

-          GRE, admissions, placement opportunities. The Eicher job.

-          Plans for Faridabad and Delhi.  


Hostel life 1979 – 1984. While I learnt how Steel is made, those five years made me. 


Deepest gratitude for AIR 1011, IIT-M admission, life at Mandak and Saras.

Sunday, June 22, 2025

Tomorrow is Day 23200! Some memories from the past....

Sunday 22nd June 2025          Day 23199

Tomorrow Monday 23rd June 2025, when the day dawns & if the breath still remains in me, it would be my 23200th day on the planet in this lifetime.

That would mean that more than 70% or more of my life has been lived.

And today, I pause. Take a look at the rear-view mirror of my Life and recollect whatever I can.

Early days and childhood. 1961 – 1974   Wadala, Bombay

-          Life at # 4 Shankar Dham, Wadala, Mumbai, Maharashtra.
-          The large mango tree that grew adjacent to our ground floor house.
-          The Paarijaat tree (Pavazhamalli – a.k.a. night flowering jasmine) that showered its flowers every              night onto the ground and its fragrance wafting in through the windows.
-          Eager to get to school S.I.W.S every morning
-          Being wary of the Leprosy hospital on the way and taking the side of the road far away from it                   while going to school and on the way back. While I was uncomfortable whenever I saw a leper, I also wondered why that person had to endure this.
-          Char hospital was always something that I was in awe of, for some strange reason.
-          The sports days at school and specially the lemon-and-spoon race and the 100-meter sprint.
-          Buying Brittania bread at the corner Irani shop. And the rare ice cream in a plastic ball.
-          Eating bread slices by dipping them in warm milk and sugar.
-          Eating Ovaltine as a nutritional supplement.
-          Dad getting us potato wafers on his return from Killick Nixon office. And us identifying the biggest one and keeping that aside for the last.
-          Phantom, Flash Gordon and Mandrake comics from Indrajaal. And Chandamama too.
-          The occasional bhel puri that dad would bring from near VT station on his way back.
-          My poonal (Upanayanam) at home and the deer-skin tied to the poonal.
-          My mom’s histrionics and how it left a strong memory in my mind about money.
-          The music teacher coming home to teach my elder sister. And I too learnt for a couple of years.
-          Singing in Carnatic music competitions. And winning some silver cups as prizes too!
-          Visiting Shanmukhananda hall for Carnatic music programs.
-          Dad’s work with Swathi Thirunaal Kalakshetram and Yesudas and Chembai visits.
-          Tarzan movies at Aurora theatre.
-          Walking to Five Gardens and having sheng (moongfali roasted)
-          The stink of the dirty socks that my uncle left in the balcony after return from work.
-         The severe admonishing that my elder sister got one evening from dad and mom. And I was clueless on what was right and what was wrong.
-          The amazing smell of non veg biryani that was cooked just outside the window by the caterers for an event in the third-floor house.
-          A fire that broke out in that third floor house because of a stray Diwali rocket!
-          The open kuppa thotti in the corner of the compound.
-      Cricket, lagori, hide-and-seek games in the compound. The pambaram that always amazed me. Carrom, board games and cards in the corridor during the afternoons.
-          Washing the toilet and bathroom and making it spick and span.
-          The monthly oil baths and the besan used at the end.
-          The occasional PurgoLax tablets and the ensuing runs to the toilet.
-         The trips to Ambernath by train early in the morning on weekend, to buy rice from farmers. A scarce commodity those days.
-          The premonition that our Principal at SIWS had which led to the school being closed early that day. And there was a roof collapse later in the afternoon!
-          Enjoying studies and doing well at school.  
-          Wartimes. Sticking brown paper on windows. Sirens going on. Anti-aircraft flares. Lights out.
-          Welcoming a younger sister in 1970.
-          UNICEF truckloads of powdered milk and vitamin Biscuits through Killicks Nixon
-          Polishing and painting a wooden shelf and slotted angles racks from Killicks
-          Painting the steel grill in the balcony
-          Grinding roasted coffee beans in the green cast iron hand grinder mounted on the edge of a table.

 

Next week I shall focus on the period 1974-1984. A very interesting phase of my life.

Sunday, June 15, 2025

Better Than Before! The Only Way to Live.

Sunday 15th June 2025         Day 23192

Have you ever stopped to consider how many days you truly have in a lifetime? About 30,000 sunrises if you’re lucky. No more.  

Now, think about this: You are a bundle of infinite potential. Within you lies the possibility of growth, creativity, love, wisdom, and impact beyond what you can currently imagine.

Two truths define our existence: We have roughly 30,000 sunrises, yet within us burns limitless possibility. This tension—between fleeting time and eternal potential—is where greatness is forged.  

So, the real question is—Are you living life to the maximum? If not, wouldn’t that be a less-than-optimum way to journey through life?

"Life isn’t about reaching a destination—it’s about growing through the journey."

The purpose of life isn’t just to exist; it’s to evolve, expand, and express the fullest version of yourself. And the only way to do that is to commit—every single day—to being Better Than Before.

"The only person you should try to be better than is the person you were yesterday."

The Clock is Ticking: Why Every Moment Matters

30,000 days. That’s all most of us get. No extensions, no replays. Subtract the time spent sleeping, working, and tending to obligations, and what remains is the real space where growth happens.

  • If you waste today, that’s one less day you have to become who you’re meant to be.
  • If you grow today, even just 1% better, that’s a day invested in your highest potential.

Each dawn gifts you 86,400 seconds—like a fistful of gold coins. At midnight, whatever you didn’t invest vanishes forever. Time won’t pause. Will you?

"You don’t need a grand transformation—just a commitment to small, positive shifts."

You Are Infinite Potential—Unlock It

Every human being carries dormant greatness. Think of the greatest minds, artists, leaders, and visionaries—they weren’t born radically different from you. They simply tapped into more of their potential. Michelangelo saw the David in a raw block of marble. You are that block—and the sculptor. Every choice chips away at what doesn’t belong.

What’s stopping you from doing the same?

  • Maybe it’s fear.
  • Maybe it’s comfort.
  • Maybe it’s the belief that you’re “not ready.”
  • But here’s the truth: You will never feel ready. Growth happens when you push past hesitation and act anyway. Believe this: Every setback is a setup for a stronger comeback.

"Progress isn’t about perfection—it’s about being better than before."

The Only Optimum Life: Striving for Your Best Self

A tree that stops growing, dies inside. So do we. Yet, so many of us live far below our true capacity. A life where you don’t push, learn, fail, rise, and grow is a life half-lived.

  • Am I settling for "good enough" when I should be striving for greatness?
  • Am I letting fear dictate my limits?
  • If today were my last day, would I be proud of how I’ve lived?

If the answers unsettle you—good. That means you still care about living fully.

Evolution isn’t optional—it’s the entire point.

If you’re not growing, you’re stagnating. If you’re not pushing boundaries, you’re reinforcing them.

Keep sculpting your masterpiece.

  • Start Each Day with Intent – Ask: "How can I be better today than I was yesterday?". Every morning is a reset button.
  • Embrace Discomfort – Growth happens outside your comfort zone.
  • Learn Relentlessly – Knowledge fuels expansion.
  • Measure Progress, Not Perfection – Small steps compound into massive change.

Choosing Growth over Comfort

At 52, I tore up my comfort zone’s blueprint. I chose to walk on the less trodden path. Left the cocooned comforts of a corporate job, our entire family opted to relocate to a very unfamiliar tier 2 city, I jumped headlong into being an active “seeker” and the unfamiliar role of volunteering.

The discomfort? Terrifying. The growth? Exponential."

Pic: Courtesy vecteezy.com 

Your Time is Now

How many moments will you waste in hesitation? And how many will you seize to become more alive, more aware, more powerful than before? This is your life. Live it to the maximum.

Because the only real failure is looking back and realizing—you could have been so much more.

Stop. Breathe. Name one thing,—just one—that you will do differently today to honour your potential. And then do it.

Now go.

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Sunday, June 08, 2025

Organic Orthodox Tea! Kinnakorai!

 

Sunday 08th June 2025         Day 23185

Another amazing and interesting week gone by!

After many weeks of discussions and deliberations, land for the Mini Tea Plant proposed to be set up by Guru Sidhagiri Farmer Producer Company Limited (GSFPCL) was acquired and registered at Ooty on Monday 02nd June!

To facilitate the purchase of land for the Mini Tea Plant (MTP), I too had to purchase the adjacent plot of land as the Sellers were adamant that both plots have to be sold at the same time. So now I too own a small tea garden. Plots 11 (for me) and Plot 114 for GSFPCL’s MTP).



Latitude 11.233055, Longitude 76.676963, Elevation: 1580 m

11°13'59.0"N 76°40'37.1"E

https://maps.app.goo.gl/MN891P2C714j9uZGA

Kinnakorai village in Kundha Taluk, Nilgiris District, Tamil Nadu, PIN Code 643219. Kinnakorai is a small piece of heaven on earth indeed. One has to experience it to believe it.

Coimbatore – Mettupalayam – Kattery –  Selas – Kendhala – Koderi –  Kunnakombai – Manjoor – Bikketti – Thaishola – Kinnakorai  (125 kms, 4 hours)

Alternate route is a shorter one via Geddhai falls. Will be trying this today as we head to Kinnakorai for the Bhoomi Pooja. 

First priority is to clean up the Plots and clear all the overgrown bushes and shrubs (see pic above). And uncover the hidden tea bushes beneath the overgrowth. This is planned for the coming week. A lot of hard work waiting ahead, to make these plots of land ready for the objectives for which they have been purchased.   

Then plan and execute the purchase of machinery, run the pre-production trials and establish the SOPs, complete the architectural design and construction of the MTP and commence production runs of Green and Black Orthodox Organic Teas from the MTP. And in parallel, plan for the proper pruning, manuring and care of the tea bushes, plan and execute the intercropping options.

An exciting few weeks ahead. Eagerly waiting to taste the “amrut” tea from the Kinnakorai MTP!

And now Sathu anna and I leave for Kinnakorai for the Bhoomi Pooja and commencement of clearing the overgrowth on these two plots!

Shambho!!!