Author: S Ramesh Shankar

Born in Trichy, Tamil Nadu, India, I have been brought up in different parts of India. Graduate in chemistry and post graduate in personnel management and industrial relations. Have been a HR practitioner for 38 years in the industry and have experience in working in steel , automobiles, FMCG and engineering industry. Was head of HR for Siemens in South Asia based out of Mumbai till March 2019. Currently founded hrishti - joy forever, a social enterprise to give back to society and work as Chief Joy Officer.

Celebrate what’s right in the world…

I have met many people in my life who are born to crib. They start their complaining process from sunrise and don’t stop till they sleep. Everything appears wrong in the world for them. Interestingly they do not realise that although birth or death is not in our hands but “choice of the way we live” is in ours.

Imagine a world full of possibilities. A world full of hope and aspirations. If one can enjoy the sunrise, the song of birds, the greenery around us, the smile of family and friends, life would be joyful. Why do many of us look at life the other way around. I honestly do not know why but some of us choose to be unhappy even when there are reasons to be happy.

I have always believed life is full of opportunities and it upto us to open them up for ourselves. Of course, there would be challenges along the way but if we are afraid of them, then life would not be wholesome. It is like a trekker to Mount Everest has to go through a lot of hardship – physical and mental but is always looking forward to scale the peak and launch her or his national flag on top of the world.

On the other hand, the world of cribbers is full of doom and gloom. They see no light at the end of the tunnel as they believe the sun would set before they reach there. They forget that the same sun will rise red and bright the very next day if they are willing to spend the night over at the tunnel enjoying the darkness.

I have met fascinating people around the world in all walks of life. They make every day enjoyable for them. They may not be the wealthiest or the happiest in the true sense of the word but they know how make life fun for them. Even when you are on a highway with a flat tyre, we have a choice. We can curse everyone saying “why me ?” Or celebrate the change of stepnee with a hot cup of coffee and a well deserved break on a long haul.

God has given us enough reasons to celebrate life. It is we who have not tapped all the resources around us or enjoyed every moment the way we could. If we recall our childhood, we did celebrate every day as if it was our last day on earth. They why can’t we rekindle the child in us to enjoy every moment every day.

Why do we need to find fault and increase our blood pressure rather than laugh it out and be healthy ? We always have a choice in every phase of life. It is upto us to live the way we want to. Why do we need to blame the rains for missing a game ? Why cannot we enjoy a steaming cup of coffee and enjoy the rains and take a well deserved break from our game.

As in the photo above, I have celebrated life during the lockout by playing badminton, watching record movies, serials, learning photography and doing what I enjoy most nowadays – writing endless blogs or watching the sun rise and enjoying its splendour in the hills.

The positive attitude to life and living is upto us. We can create infectious hope in people or pour water over high aspirations of others. Our positivity not only makes us healthy but also ensures that everyone is looking forward to our company.

Let us resolve to celebrate every minute of our life from today.

S Ramesh Shankar

17th August 2020

 

Living for others is a rule of “Nature”

I am a great admirer of nature. I believe we have so much to learn from nature. A friend sent me a small video on nature with a lot of life lessons and that video inspired this blog.

We can look all around us in nature and learn life lessons every day. Everything in nature is in a way living for others. The rivers run from the hills to the ocean providing water to everyone who needs it without asking anything in return for itself.

The trees provide shade for others while bearing the brunt of the heat of the sun themselves. We cannot imagine the trees asking for anything in return. Even in the monsoon, the trees are like nature’s umbrellas for us when it pours. The trees do not eat their own fruits nor do they consume their leaves. They share their fruits and leaves with humans and animals without any bias .

The flowers bloom in colourful ways to brighten the lives of all living beings around them. They spread their fragrance and allow bees to carry their pollen from one flower to the other without asking for any compensation.

The sun shines all days of the year for everyone. The moon is also around to help us wade through the night. Neither the sun nor the moon send us any monthly bills for their generously spreading light in our lives.

On the other hand, we as humans are living life selfishly day in and night out. We consume nature in all its forms and give trash and junk in return. We not only destroy nature in all its forms but regrettably are not concerned about our own future generations.

We may think we are happy if we live life full of material comforts. We may be happy temporarily. But true happiness is only when we make others happy. We realise that money cannot buy everything in life. It can definitely not buy health or happiness. Thus one of the best ways to lead a happier life is by making others happy.

Nature gives us opportunities to learn every single day in every possible way to make others happy. But we are so much engrossed in our own happiness that we are oblivious of making others happy. The day we wake up from this slumber, we may kindle our own conscience.

The most important lesson nature teaches us is that “change begins with me”. If we need to change the world, we need to first learn to change ourselves. Last month I learnt thirty one different ways of making life more sustainable every day.

It is like our gardener who designed this colourful art piece did not put her name on the photo nor wanted publicity for herself. Serving others is her nature too.

If each of us are willing to learn from nature, we possibly will give back to nature much more than what we take from nature. We will not only make ourselves happy but possibly make others happy too. Nature teaches us that making others happy because of us is the true meaning of happiness.

Let us learn from nature every day and in every possible way.

S Ramesh Shankar

5th August 2022

 

Ode to my most adorable aunt

Today I would like to dedicate this blog to my most adorable aunt Ms Jayalakshmi, who died at the age of 98 at Trivandrum. She was a human being par excellence. I have had the privilege of learning from her entire life.

Born to a humble lower middle class family in Trichy, she grew up in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka during her childhood. After marriage she settled in Salem, Tamil Nadu. She moved to Trivandrum with one of her sons after the demise of her spouse and decided to settle there for the rest of her life.

A person who taught us more by her silence than her words. An epitome of patience like her elder brother who was my father who was a reservoir of patience and kind heartedness himself.

She taught us invaluable lessons on life and living and I would like to summarise some key learnings from what I could assimilate over the years :

A. Live life with a smile always : She had gone through multiple crisis in life but I have never seen her cribbing about anything in life and her smile was ever present despite all the troubles in her life.

B. Compassion & kindness : In her lifetime, she may have dealt with many people who were unkind and unfair to her including friends and relatives but her compassion and kindness for the members of her family and all her relatives and friends was unparalleled.

C. Patience : Her patience was unlimited. I have never seen her frown or get angry at any instance or any person. Her ability to absorb the most difficult of life challenges with a smile was worth imitation.

D. Power of silence : Like my father she had this innate and enviable ability to communicate more through her silence than her words. Both the brother and sister taught invaluable lessons in life through their silence. They proved to all of us silence is more powerful than words and we often talk much more than we listen.

E. Listening : Her ability to listen to all generations was worth emulation. She had the ability to be affectionate and actively listened and acknowledged through her smiles and her eyes. This made us realise as to how important it is to listen than to speak.

F. Self dependant : I have seen her doing all her chores by herself almost till the age of ninety. She cooked her own food, washed her own clothes and even cleaned her own space. She never depended on anyone to take care of her even at old age.

G.Live for others : She sacrificed her life for the welfare of her family and relatives. She gave everything she could without expecting anything in return. A life dedicated to the well being of others is expression of love unconditionally and true service to God.

I can write a book on my aunt and what I could learn from her. But today, I want to pay my last respects to her by promising to myself that I will try my best to practise what she preached through her actions rather her words.

May her soul rest in peace. Om Shanti.

S Ramesh Shankar

10th September 2022