Thursday, June 17, 2010

Whom do you consider as a role model in your life

This was the topic given to us during the English test that was given to us.That was an year back. I don't remember the essay exactly but the essay goes something like this.


Of-course my dad. Who else can it be. I am actually amazed at how fast i decided on the person who was my role model. I had not even completed reading the question but I had already decided on the answer. At every stage of my life i have been amazed by his nature and attitude. Most of the things that i have learned from him are not the ones he has told me, but the ones that i have learnt from him looking at him handle his daily situations.


The first incident that comes to my mind is the one that might have taken place when I was in Class 2 or 3. I was in a school called Jnaanavaahini School. It was a kannada medium school. Those were the times when convents(A colloqial term for english medium schools) were in lime light, and sending your kid to a kannada medium school was considered no less than a taboo. But my dad had chosen to send me to this kannada school as it was known for instilling values and sense of righteousness into kids, which my dad considered was of foremost importance.

 On a hot noon when my dad was taking me to shop on his scooter, we happened to meet a friend of his. He said hi to my dad and tapped me on my head. He asked me "Which school do you go to?"(Exact translation of the phrase as you use it in telugu). I said "Jnaaanavaahini". He turned his head towards my dad and gave a serious stare.And thus  started his lecture on the benefits of sending kids to an English Medium School and what I was loosing out becuase I was being sent to a kannada medium school. After listening to his lecture quitely my dad said "భాగ చెదివే వాళ్ళు ఎక్కడున్నా భాగే చేదువుతారు"(Bhaaga chedive vaaLLu ekkaDunna bhaage cheduvutaaru). It can roughly translated as "Those are good at studies will be good at it, wherever they are". I stood straight, head held high, with full proud. That was easily the best compliment I had ever got.Even to this day I feel great when I remember my dad's words. The uncle then left the place thinking that the point he was trying to make, didn't go very well with my  dad. The little me(I was little then ;) ) was still in my world of pride when I was interrupted by something my Dad said. He said "చూస్త్వా నేను బేరు వాళ్ళికి ఏమి చెప్పల్లా అని. నువ్వు బాగా చేదివాలి."(choostva nEnu bere vaaLiki emi cheppalla ani. nuvvu baaga chedivaali) which roughly  translates "See what I have to say to others. You need to study well and not let me down". I just nodded and told nothing. But within my mind I made a promise to him. "Dad I will never let you down. I will prove you right."

 That was my first lesson in management : Motivation By Trust. My dad, there he was praising me infront of his friend which made me so happy, and the very next moment he told me something which made me feel so responsible. Those words were reverberating in my ears whenever I was demotivated in the later stages of my life, and giving me the enough motivation to do well because I had a responsibility to fulfill.

In fact I did not let him down and did well in academics from there on. I joined an ICSE school and was the topper of the school from 5th to 10th standard. I had topped the class in all the subjects in 10th. Scored a 96% in PU, and 187th rank in CET. Did my engineering from RV College and now I work as a software engineer in Mindtree. In this time I have given him numerous chances to feel proud of me. Though I might have embarrassed him few times, the number of times I have made him feel proud has definitely outnumbered the other by stretch.

The number of times I was amazed by him is numerous, the ones I can recall are a handful, the ones I can pen down are just a few. I will blog this few memorable incidents in my blog. But before going to those later articles I want to dedicate few lines to my dad. I don't have the patience to wait and write it after completing all the articles so I am writing it now itself.

Everybody loves their Dad. But my respect for him is more than my love for him. He always told me what he felt was right but he gave me the freedom to do wrong (if I considered it right). 

            Thank you dad, thanks for giving me the freedom to be what I am.

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