Dr. Bhat – My English Teacher

My schooling was in a Malayalam medium government school.  So, when I completed my school and joined the college for Pre-Degree (equivalent to ‘Plus Two’), I was very weak in English.  I realised that if I did not improve my English communication, it would be difficult for me to grow in my career.  Though English was taught in the college, I was finding it difficult as I did not have the basic understanding.  My classmates who came from English medium schools were performing better.  

My cousin suggested me to meet Dr. V Nithyananda Bhat who was a professor of English in the same college.  But Dr. Bhat was not teaching my class.  So, I met Dr. Bhat and requested him to help me with basics of English.  He said, ‘I don’t take private tuitions.  If you have any doubts, you can come to me’.  But that was not enough for me.  I was looking for some guidance and training from him.  When I further requested him, he asked me to meet him after two days.  When I met him, he said, ‘Since you are showing so much interest, I can spend some time with you during the weekends.  This is not a private tuition, I will only handhold you till you reach a certain level. Then you have to be on your own.’ I was extremely happy.

Next Saturday I reached Dr. Bhat’s house.  He told me, ‘Anyway I am spending time with you, I thought let it be beneficial to few more.  So, I have invited three more students from the neighborhood, who are studying in the same class’.  This was a great relief for me because I got company to learn.  Thus, all the four of us sat around a table with Dr. Bhat in the centre.  First thing he told us was, ‘I can only teach you grammar. Nobody can teach you vocabulary.  You have to develop it by reading’.  He also asked us to buy a good English Dictionary. 

Dr. Bhat started with the basic lessons in English grammar.  What followed was a wonderful learning experience.  His style of teaching was so interesting that he used to give us lot of examples.  He made us frame sentences using what he had taught and corrected our mistakes immediately.  This gave us lot of confidence.  He encouraged us to read lot of literature, apart from the textbooks.  During this period, I became a member of the Ernakulam Public Library, which was not far from his residence.  I started reading English books from the library.  We became regular visitors at his residence during the weekends.  This continued for almost six to eight months.  At the end, my communication skills had definitely improved.

True to his name, I have always seen Dr. Bhat as a pleasant, simple, and down to earth individual.  Though I moved to a different college for my graduation, I remained in touch with Dr. Bhat.  The college where I did my graduation was very close to his residence.  When I was the president of the cultural committee, I invited him to my college for delivering a lecture.  My principal suggested us to hire a vehicle to bring Dr. Bhat to the campus.  When we told him that we would come with a vehicle, he said, ‘Why should you hire a vehicle? Your college is just across the road.  I will come by walk’.  The simplicity of Dr. Bhat has always impressed me. 

After retirement, Dr. Bhat is serving as the Honorary Director of Sukrtindra Oriental Research Institute at Kochi.  The Institute is involved in research and publications related to Indian ethos, value systems, Vedic literature etc.  Under the able leadership of Dr. Bhat, the Institute has grown leaps and bounds.  The Institute is celebrating its Golden Jubilee this year and is organising many programmes as part of the celebrations.  Dr. Bhat is in the forefront of all activities.  Looking at the dedication and enthusiasm shown by him, I am sure that he is enjoying his post-retirement assignment as much as he enjoyed his teaching assignments. 

Today, if I am able to communicate reasonably well in English; if I have been a fairly good teacher for the last 26 years in Institutes where the medium of instruction has always been English, I owe it all to Dr. Nithyananda Bhat and his teaching.  Recently, when I spoke to him, I told him the same.  With all humility he refused to take the credit.   Great teachers like Dr. Bhat are like that – they make a big difference in your life; their influence is ever lasting and their teaching lifelong; still they refuse to take credit for anything!

Avalahalli to Avalahalli

Many years ago, I was appointed as the examiner for viva-voce examination at an institute at Bengaluru.  The institute was located at a place called Avalahalli.  Two days before the examination, I got a call from the coordinator of examinations asking me the travel details.  I told him I would be travelling by bus to Bengaluru in the morning.  So, he asked me to take a city bus from Majestic bus station and get down at Avalahalli.  He said he would pick me up from Avalahalli bus stop.  

Accordingly, on the day of the examination, I reached Bengaluru and walked over to the city bus station.  Since I did not know the route number of the bus, I went to the enquiry counter and told the staff that I wanted to go to Avalahalli.  He told me the route number and directed me to the platform from where I could board the bus.  When I reached the platform, a bus with the same route number was already there.  After confirming with the conductor that the bus goes to Avalahalli, I boarded the bus.  After 45 minutes of journey, I got down at Avalahalli and rang up the coordinator.  He told me that he would pick me up in 5 minutes.  After 5 minutes I got a call from him.

‘Sir, are you in Avalahalli?’

‘Yes, I am standing at Avalahalli bus stop’

‘Where are you standing Sir, I am also here in the bus stop’

‘I am standing in front of the bank’

‘Sir, there is no bank at Avalahalli bus stop!’

‘Yes, there is a bank and next to it there is a bakery, I am standing right in front of it’

‘Sir, there is no bakery either at the bus stop, are you sure, you are at Avalahalli?’

‘Yes, I am sure, I can see Avalahalli Branch written on the board in front of the bank’

Both of us were confused.  He paused for a moment and said, ‘Sir, I will call you after ten minutes’

I went to a nearby shop and asked him if the place was Avalahalli.  The shopkeeper said yes.  When I asked him about the institute, he said there was no such institute at Avalahalli.  This added to my confusion.   By then I got the call from the coordinator.

‘Sir, are you in Avalahalli near Banashankari?’

‘Yes, I can see Banashankari written in a board here’

‘Oh, Sir, you are in a wrong place.  Our institute is not there.  There are two Avalahallis in Bengaluru’

‘Oh, what do I do now?’

‘Sir, I will hand over the phone to my senior professor.  He will guide you’

The professor told me that I had travelled exactly in the opposite direction of the institute.  There is another Avalahalli after K R Puram, and I was supposed to go there.  He told me not to return by bus, as I had to change two buses in between.  Instead, he suggested me to hire a rikshaw.  (No Uber/Ola services those days).  Many rikshaw drivers refused to come saying it was on the other end of the city.  At last, one guy agreed.  Almost 20 minutes into the ride, there was an unusual sound started coming from the engine of the rikshaw.  He stopped the rikshaw and got down to check.  He came back and told me, ‘Sir, there is some trouble in the engine, so you please hire another rikshaw’.  Thus, instead of changing the bus, I ended up changing the rikshaw!  Finally, I reached the institute two hours late.

Later I came to know that the coordinator who had spoken to me was also new to Bengaluru and had joined the institute just about a month ago.  So, he didn’t know there were two Avalahallis.  The staff at the enquiry counter of city bus station didn’t bother to ask me which Avalahalli.  Thanks to Google Maps, these things don’t happen now a days. 

There is a famous dialogue in an old comedy Malayalam movie starring Mohanlal: 

‘How many kilometers from Washington DC to Miami beach’.  

‘How many kilometers from Avalahalli to Avalahalli?’, 30 kilometers!

The Girl Next Seat

It was 4.30 in the morning.  The winter had already set in.  There was chill in the air.  I was enjoying a cup of steaming hot tea with my friend Vijay (name changed intentionally) in the railway station at Ahmedabad.  We were travelling to Mumbai by Karnavati Express.  We boarded the train just before it pulled out of Ahmedabad Junction.  The reservation compartment was not very crowded.  Tea vendors were moving back and forth in the compartment.  Cool breeze was blowing through the window, and we could see the first rays of the sun appearing at the horizon.  

Two hours later the train halted at Vadodara.  Two girls boarded the train and occupied the seats diagonally opposite to us.  One of them appeared to be around 20 years of age and the other a couple of years younger.  The younger one was calling the other ‘Didi’, so we assumed that they were sisters.  Initially we didn’t pay attention to them.  After a while we started noticing them.  In fact, Vijay started noticing them more keenly.  The elder one appeared to be calm, composed, and balanced, whereas the younger one was chirpy and naughty.  After some time, the elder girl took out a tiffin box from her bag, pulled out paper plates and served breakfast to her sister.  She helped herself too.   Vijay was getting impressed by the nature and mannerisms of that girl.  He kept looking at them continuously.  When I told him, ‘Don’t stare at them’, he turned his face.  But he couldn’t control and kept looking at her.  Those girls never paid attention to us.  After breakfast, the elder girl started reading a book and the younger one got busy playing video game. 

I too started reading a magazine, which I had bought from the railway platform.  After some time, I asked Vijay, ‘What happened?’.  He said, ‘Yaar, there is something in that girl that instantly attracted me.  Hope I could know her name’.  ‘Go and ask her’. ‘No, baba, how can I go and talk to her, after all I am a stranger’.  The train was running very fast.  Vijay was continuously looking at her.  Rarely when she turned towards us, he turned his face away.  He appeared smitten by her.  I told him, ‘Go, introduce yourself and ask her name’.  Still, he was reluctant.  Finally, he made up his mind to talk to her.  As he was about to walk up to her, she got up and went to the washroom.  The train was slowing down to halt at the next station.  As she returned, the train had already reached the platform of Borivali station.  Her sister was restlessly waving to her.  They picked up their bags and got down at Borivali.

We looked at each other.  Vijay said, ‘I should have at least asked her name’, I told him, ‘There is a way to know her name’, ‘How?’, ‘Go near the door and see the reservation chart, from the seat number you can find her name’.  The train was still at the platform.  Before I could finish my sentence Vijay ran towards the door.  I followed him. Yes, the reservation chart was there.  But, the top portion, which included her details was torn by somebody!  The train started moving slowly.  I told Vijay, ‘Keep looking through the window, you may catch a glimpse of her on the platform’!

Few years later, I was waiting for the boarding announcement at Bengaluru airport.  Unexpectedly, I saw Vijay and his family waiting for another flight…………. What? You thought that ‘girl next seat’ in the train was Vijay’s wife?  Not at all.  This is real life, not a Bollywood movie!

LIC

‘What is your father doing?’, ‘Working in LIC’ – the usual conversation of grown-ups with a toddler.  Thus, LIC got etched in my mind at a very young age.  My father joined LIC in 1956 when it was founded.  He worked in LIC for 38 long years and retired in 1994.  Those were the days when nobody thought of ‘changing jobs’.  Once somebody joined an organisation, he/she used to work there till retirement.

Among our friends and relatives, my father was the first to work for an insurance company.  During the initial years, in order to promote life insurance products, LIC used to allow its employees working in operations to act as agents and sell insurance policies.  So, my father worked towards creating awareness about life insurance among the people in and around Kochi and also sold policies to many people during late 1950’s and early 1960’s.  My father came to be known as ‘LIC Kamath’ in our community.  Even today those belonging to his generation recognise him by that name. 

My father was very traditional in many aspects, including his dressing, lifestyle etc.  At the same time, he was very much modern and ‘ahead of his times’ in some other aspects.  One such aspect is equity investing.  He started investing in equity shares in late 1970’s, when the middle-class in this country hardly used to look at equity as an investment alternative.  In fact, most of the middle-class people did not even understand the mechanics of equity investing and stock market operations.  My father was not an active trader in the secondary market.  He used to carefully invest in IPOs of companies and hold the investment for long periods.  Those days the companies used to send printed copy of their annual reports to all shareholders.  My father used to get a dozen of such reports and we, the kids, used to love those reports, because they were all printed in glossy paper and carried beautiful pictures of the products of the companies!

Following my father’s footsteps, I too got attracted towards equity investment early in my life.  There is one rule that I always follow while picking stocks – ‘Don’t pick stocks based on emotions.’  Recently, for the first time, I broke that rule.  When the IPO of LIC opened for subscription, within first few hours, I submitted my application.  No analysis, no research, no comparison with peers, I did not even bother to read the recommendations given by leading investment advisors! I was very happy when I got allotment of shares of LIC, because if my father was alive, he would have definitely invested in LIC.  I was connecting my father’s commitment to his organisation with his passion of investing in equity shares.  My status got elevated from the son of an ex-employee of LIC to one of its shareholders. 

For me, investing in LIC was more of an emotional connect than an economic decision!

Specsless 35

During my childhood I had a fascination towards spectacles.  I believed that spectacles added to the glamor of an individual.  My cousin, who used spectacles, had also influenced me.  When I was studying in the sixth standard, I started experiencing some difficulty in reading from the black board.  My father took me to an ophthalmologist.  After the vision test, he recommended spectacles!  My parents were feeling bad that I had to wear specs at a young age, but I was really excited. 

Next day my father took me to Vithayathil Opticals, the leading optician in the city.  I was planning to buy a golden color stylish frame.  But my father didn’t agree.  He got me a black, traditional, old-fashioned frame, similar to the one which he used to wear.  I was thoroughly disappointed, but I had no choice.  Next day I went to the school with spectacles.  Slowly I started realizing the difficulties associated with specs.  In the humid climate of Kochi, having specs was not at all comfortable.  Forget fans, in the government school, where I studied, the classrooms were not even fully built. 

The specs fell off a couple of times, breaking the glass, and I got nice scolding from my father for not taking proper care.   Once I was playing football in a ground near my house.  When I hit the ball, the specs fell in the mud on the ground.  As if that was not enough, another player who was chasing me stamped on it.  I had to literally pull out my specs from the mud!  One day I carelessly left my specs on a chair and went to the kitchen.  Without noticing it, my neighbor sat on that chair.  When I returned, I saw my specs broken with both its legs bent upwards.  What was a fascination once, had turned out to be a menace within no time.

During the next summer vacation, we visited our grand mother at Kollam.  I accompanied my mother to Dr. K R C Pillai, the homeopathy doctor whom she used to consult.  When he saw me with specs, he asked, ‘why is he wearing specs at a young age?’.  When my mother explained, he said, ‘If he gets used to specs, he will have to wear them lifelong.  I will give medicine, you remove the specs, let us try if it gets cured’. Those were golden words for me.  I immediately stopped wearing specs.  I took medicine for almost six months.  He also asked to eat lot of leafy vegetables such as spinach.  Slowly I could experience the improvement and finally, the clarity of my vision was restored.  The medicine was so effective that I could manage without specs till the age of 46.   Dr. Pillai saved me from using specs for almost 35 years – Specsless 35!

Lifelong Student

In 1997, when I was invited by Dr. Gopalakrishnan (Director, B K School of Management, Gujarat University) to teach Finance at their evening MBA Programme, I was more than happy to accept the invitation.  On the first day Dr. Gopalakrishnan introduced me to the class.  I was surprised to see that I was the youngest in that group.  All my students were elder to me and were working in various organisations.  A neurosurgeon, a stockbroker, an executive at Cipla, sales manager of Times of India, project manager at Nirma – they were all my students!  

At first, I was a bit apprehensive, because I was not sure if I would rise to their expectations.  But what followed was a wonderful experience, both for me as well as for them.  While I used to prepare well for each session and explain the basic concepts in Finance, they used to complement my lectures by sharing their real-life experiences.  So, it was a two-way learning for us – they learnt theory of Finance from me, and I learnt practical issues in managing Finance from them.  At the end, they all cleared the course with flying colours, and I received very good feedback.  I was really surprised by the interest and enthusiasm they showed in learning.

Learning is a continuous process.  Dr. M N Channabasappa, my Director at SIT urges the faculty members to keep aside at least one hour daily for learning something new.  With new knowledge being created at the speed of light, one who refuses to learn, becomes obsolete and outdated within no time.  Let me share two recent incidents – Smt. Usha Chadaga, wife of my friend and ex-colleague, Prof. Ramakrishna Chadaga, learnt Sanskrit at an advanced age and went on to receive Doctorate (Ph.D.) in Sanskrit from Mangalore University at the age of 75.   

Smt. Bhageerathi Amma (105) and Smt. Karthyayani Amma (98), two grannies from Kerala were awarded Nari Shakti Puraskar by the President of India in 2020 for successfully completing the examination conducted by the literacy mission.  Later in an interaction session with the Prime Minister, Karthyayani Amma said, she would like to appear for the tenth standard examination and pass the same!  What an ambition!  I am sure, it was never easy for them – but their hard work, dedication and perseverance made it possible.  If these three ladies could achieve this at 75, 98 and 105; we are all far better placed than them to continue the pursuit of knowledge.

Learning has no age – anyone can learn anything from anyone anytime – all that is needed is the burning desire to learn and the right attitude.  Let me also reveal a secret, ‘those who keep learning, always remain Young!’

Meeting the Governor

I had my entire schooling at Government High School, Panayappilly, Kochi.  Since it was a government school, we only had limited facilities.  Majority of the students came from lower middle class and poor families.  The school used to provide mid-day meal for the students.  But there were no facilities for preparing the food.  It was being prepared in a temporary thatched shed.  The school didn’t have a flag mast either.  On Independence Day and Republic Day, the national flag used to be hoisted on a tall bamboo kept for this purpose.  

In 1987, when I was studying in the tenth standard, the Rotary Club of Kochi adopted my school and decided to provide basic infrastructure.  As the first step, a permanent flag mast was erected.  They also constructed a small kitchen for preparing the meal and donated utensils, stove etc. for cooking.  When the kitchen was ready, they decided to organise a function to get it inaugurated.  The Governor was supposed to be the chief guest in the function.  The entire school got into a celebration mode.  The premises were cleaned and decorated with flowers.  We the children were excited that the Governor was visiting our school.

On the day of the function, we all reached the school well in advance.  Many guests, mostly from the Rotary Club, had come to the school.  We were expecting the Governor in a state car escorted by the police.  Finally, when the chief guest’s vehicle was seen at a distance, we were surprised that there were no police.  Yes, it was indeed a high-end car, but not a state car.  The doors of the car were opened and a tall man in a black suit got down.  Probably in my ten years in that school, it was the first time someone was seen in a suit.  We looked carefully, no he was not the Governor of Kerala!

When the function started, we realised that the chief guest was the Governor of Rotary Club.  Till then I had never known that there was a position called ‘Governor’ in Rotary Club.  At the end of the function, we got a packet full of sweets and snacks.  Whatever little disappointment we had that we couldn’t meet the Governor of Kerala, melted away in the taste of the sweets! 

Decades later, when my friend and an active Rotarian, Dr. Nagendra, became the Governor of Rotary Bangalore, I remembered this incident.  I am very happy that Rotary Club continues to support my school even today by providing school bags, uniforms, books etc. to children belonging to poor families.  The flag mast and the kitchen constructed by them in 1987, continue to serve the purpose. 

Few years ago, when I was at Kochi, I was invited for the Independence Day celebrations.  With all its limitations, GHS Panayappilly gave me a bunch of lifetime memories and a small group of good friends!

 (Note: The pictures given below are recent pictures of my school)