I have lived across different parts of India. My father was a government servant and this gave me the opportunity to do so. Further, after my studies, I lived and worked in different states in the north, south, east, west, central and south of India.

I found every place fascinating and the people interesting. I have learnt life lessons from each of the places I have lived and from the people living there. Although, I was born in Trichy, Tamil Nadu, I did pursue my education in Kolkata, Jabalpur and Chennai. I started working in Chennai and then moved to Bhilai, Indore, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore and my last stint was in Mumbai.

Each city is close to my heart and made me a better human being in many different ways. Let me start with Kolkata. A city rich in heritage and culture taught me patience and tolerance. It also made me realise the richness of Indian culture and how traditions can be sustained through active community participation.

Jabalpur is almost the city of the defence forces. We can see heavy defence equipment being manufactured here. This city taught me how our defence personnel sacrifice their lives for the nation and protect our national borders for all of us. I also learnt pure unadulterated spoken and written Hindi from this city and its inhabitants.

Chennai is in my home state. I learnt to lead a simple life from this city. I also learnt how education can make a man and external material success is not the ultimate in life. The people in this city also taught me to be rooted in family traditions and understand the multifaceted dimensions of my religion – Hinduism.

Bhilai taught me cosmopolitan living. This steel city is a mini India. I have met people from almost all states of India living and working together happily in this city. Nobody in this city is recognised by his religion, caste or state which they belong. They are only treated as human beings. This city inculcated the values of secularism and co-existence in a beautiful way.

Indore was my next destination. It taught me the tastes of India. The variety of food available in this place is unbelievable. Apart from food, the people in this place are vey helpful and enable you to settle well without you realising it. Today it is the cleanest city in India and has been awarded for being so for the third consecutive year.

I then moved to Delhi, the capital of India. Apart from beautiful wide roads and heritage like the Red Fort, Qutub Minar and the Humanyun’s tomb, it has brought people from all over the country and the world to live and work here. I learnt the meaning of risk taking in this city. Apart from being a planned city to a large extent, it has green well laid out parks almost in every community and has a lot to offer for visitors in terms art, craft and culture.

My next destination was Bangalore, which is the ultimate destination today, where I have settled post my retirement from active corporate life. I have always envied the weather in this city, which is pleasant almost throughout the year. It is greener than most other metropolises in India and can boast to be the Silicon Valley and hub for start ups too. I decided to settle here for the weather and wonderful flora and fauna in the city. Apart from the greenery, it has great world heritage cities within a 350 kms radium and possibly the largest forest cover in India.

My last destination before I hung up my boots from the corporate world was Mumbai. I loved this city for its spirt of living. I have not seen any other city welcoming immigrants from all walks of life with open arms. Further, every dream could be fulfilled for everyone if they were willing to put in their best and luck also favoured them. There are innumerable rags to riches story not because of family lineage here but because of the individual’s talent and the abundance of opportunities. This city taught me to bounce back from every low and believe that there is sun rise after every sun set.

So, having lived in every part of India and also travelled to almost all the continents of the world, I can say there cannot be a more beautiful and diverse country than India. Every city I lived gave me something to learn. It is time for me to give back to my country in my little ways.

S Ramesh Shankar

3rd February 2020

 

I came for a short break to Anaikatti on the outskirts of Coimbatore bordering Kerala. I did not realise that the resort I was booked was on the banks of the river Siruvani.

On reaching this place, I got a room facing the river. This is not only scenic but the gurgling sound of the flowing river soothes your mind, body and soul. You forget the material world around you and sink into the soulfulness of nature.

It is green all around you surrounded by coconut and arecanut trees. As you watch the river from your room, you feel a sense of calm. It flows steadily and without any catalyst. This made me think why we need a push all the time in our life.

A river can possibly teach us a lot of life lessons. First and foremost it goes around its business without any fuss. It flows through the hills, forests and plains and does not look at stones, girders or hills as obstacles on the way. It considers flowing through them as part of its journey to reach its destination.

The crystal clear water of the river signifies that we can be pure at heart even if we are surrounded by people we may not adore. Most of us throw all trash into the river as it flows by but the river purifies itself and flows clear along its way. It not only provides water for drinking, bathing and other ablutions, it also cools the environment around it as it passes through its way forward.

A river never stops on its way. Have we ever heard of a river, which stops mid way. Never. It surmounts all the obstacles on the way and moves forward all the time. We get immersed in life and get drowned and pulled down by obstacles. We wonder whom to blame for all the things going wrong in our lives.

A river shares its resources without expecting anything in return. It provides water for drinking, transport, washing and many other uses and does not expect us to pay back. On the other hand, we as humans expect more in return even for the smallest service we provide to others. It’s time to learn to be selfless from the rivers.

As the river flows down its path and merges into a bigger river or into the sea, it does not cling to its identity. It is willing to give up its name and fame as it merges into its final destination. We as humans are not willing to subsume our ego for the larger good of society. “I” is the centre of everything we do and we want to take credit even for things we may not have contributed much in life.

I was fascinated by the qualities of the river flowing in front of me. It taught me invaluable lessons of moving on without blaming obstacles on the way, sharing resources selflessly and working for the larger good of society by subsuming our egos.

It is time to reflect and learn from the rivers around us.

S Ramesh Shankar

5th March 2020

I have lived and worked in different parts of India – east, west, central, north and south. Although I belong to south of India, I am an Indian at heart and have learnt to respect all religions, caste, creeds and nationalities with my upbringing in family and society.

One thing which I hate is the fanatics in every religion. It cuts across religions and these people make ordinary men and women lose respect for religions. Who is a religious fanatic ? In my view, any person who uses religion to fulfil his or her selfish personal goals is a fanatic. Such people misuse religion for their personal benefit. No religion in the world promotes hatred towards another religion. But it is these fanatics who make people believe it and create discord in society.

I am a Hindu by religion and I am proud of it.(  as in the photo above).  Hinduism does guide us to respect all religions and beliefs. In my view, all religions lead us to the same destination. The path adopted may be slightly different but we reach at the same goal. It is like the skill of a soccer player. Some may dribble the ball while others may use their brute power but ultimately all players want to hit the goal post.

The religious fanatics create misunderstanding and disbelief amongst their followers about other religions. In order to prove that their religion is superior to other religions, they may end up creating hate and violence in society. Sane people in society should isolate such deviants in society and ensure that they do not succeed in their actions.

I personally believe that all human beings want to live peacefully and co exist with others in a harmonious way. Every society promotes peace until such fanatics spread their venom. We need to be guarding against such evil men and women in every part of the world.

Even in India, since Independence our Constitution guarantees a secular democratic republic. It encourages each of us to follow any religion of our choice and respect all others. However, there are fanatics even here who create a deliberate doubt in the minds of their followers towards other religions. We need to boycott such people and condemn their actions.

As a Hindu, I have always believed in the peaceful co existence of all religions. It is like the dress we wear. Every part of India, the dress and fashion is different. It is possibly guided by the weather conditions and peoples likes and dislikes. Nobody is forced to dress the way others do in some other state of India. The same is true for religion. We can follow what our heart says and without any fear.

If the fanatics come in our way, we need to crush their actions and ensure that they never succeed in any of their evil designs for society. We need to promote men and women who respect all religions and beliefs. We need to ensure that every citizen of the world has the freedom to chose what they want to pursue and the liberty to change if they so desire at any point of their life but on their own volition without coercion or force.

Let all religions coexist peacefully and lead us to the same goal.

S Ramesh Shankar

22nd November 2019